[Friedman] There was a feeling amongst the entire [Toronto] group, other players on the team, coaching staff and front office that there’s too much about the Leafs ‘core 4’. They’ve felt it’s interfered in the growth of the team.
by TheGapInTysonsTeeth
23 Comments
Worth the listen. Talks about many of the recent themes we have been discussing: Team Identity, etc.
I don’t think I’ve ever watched a more skilled Leafs team in my entire life.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a softer Leafs team in my entire life.
Sucks both statements are true.
I’ve mentioned revolving door outside of core 4 many times being an issue here and with friends. It’s hard to get a team working together, hard to establish culture, work ethic, friendships and even plays/systems. It’s nice to see its being talked about.
They also mention they establish themselves and when the contract comes up and reward is needed, it’s a trade as they can’t afford the 1-2 million for the league min guy that surprised us. But when you tie up almost half the cap on 4 of 25 spots it’s not gonna go well. 1-2 million a year is not gonna change the core 4 financial lives at this point, but it will change the course of history for nhl record books and their ability to win
I’ve never seen a more talented, soft, entitled player in my life in Marner. He’s the toxicity that needs to be traded to Arizona or Minnisota.
They occupy so much of the cap space, how can they *not* be the focus? And I liked Dubas but if we can be critical with the benefit of hindsight then it didn’t really help that he made them even *more* of a focus instead of downplaying it because he genuinely believed in them. I did too. We said, “No one thought we could keep all four, but we found a way. A-ha!”. But we assumed that would be enough and now it’s been seven years and the results speak for themselves.
Last year I actually felt like we were about to turn a corner and that things were coming together and that our failure in the first round was more bad luck and bad reffing than our own play. This year, I feel like we checked a few items off the list (escaped first round, won a second round game), but other than that I feel like we took a step backward and I have no reason to believe it’s going to be any better going forward and I don’t know how you can conclude anything other than we’ve plateaued. We’ve reached the ceiling of our potential and any improvement we can possibly hope to expect is going to be marginal at best.
May e they shouldn’t have held out for the absolute most money they could get then…
If the Core 4 did their job, there wouldn’t be as much focus on them
Is that their excuse?
If they want more of an identity, they need to give contracts with term to the right people so they can grow and outperform those contracts. Jarnkrok should be the first of many.
Part of that is money, and that starts with Matthews. Marner’s contract will be benchmarked against Matthews, as will Nylander.
Say what you want about the 4, but it sounds like more of a coaching and management decision to single them out. This shouldn’t be the culture.
I get Tampa has won, but Cooper benching top players for a whole period is what we need. We just honestly over corrected after Babcock. Keefe has good systems but seems to suck up to guys.
On the other hand it could be paranoia that these guys will leave if you press them, or that they are fragile. Either way the culture needs to change
What other players? Almost no one is signed or if they have they were signed two years last year or are a bottom 6 D.
This does not surprise me at all. When the majority of the core 4 contribute nothing in the playoffs. They are not scoring, they get hit they won’t hit back, get punched in the face and just smile at the other guy. If your any player on the team outside of these 4 you have to be thinking so I am going to work my ass off and sacrifice my body by hitting and fighting the other team and watch these guys do nothing for 10 or 11 mil fuck that.
you have to break up the core four. it’s obvious that it’s a strangle hold on the team, we need a top 2 defenceman and a bonafide starter to guide woll.
it comes down to either marner or nylander. who cares if they get future success with another team, what’s the point of keeping ppl (marner) who disappear every time in the postseason?
I’ve said all along that kerfy and holl needed more attention and shine from the front office and fans
perhaps after their extensions more can be done to market and put the focus on them
I saw a rookie get a Stone Cold Stunner, and not 1 Leaf went to his defense or stuck up for him…core 4 or rest of the team.
I think the Leafs have a bigger issue than the core 4, it is a team that needs a heart and soul.
I would love to hear ROR’s honest opinion on this team. He came in looking like one player with a certain mentality, and by the time they were out of the playoffs he looked like a different player and had a different mentality. I feel like the time spent around the team and organization had an effect on him, you can see it in his last interview. Even if he had no intention of coming back, usually guys will say they’re considering it and it’s a great group. But he was pretty blatant in saying he’s going to test the FA waters. I’d love to hear if he’s one of the players that saw too much focus or whatever on the “Core 4” and by the end of the playoffs it looked like he was thinking “This group just doesn’t have it” and that’s why he wouldn’t think twice about coming back
You did that when JT came in at 7 x 11 and handed him the C. Bravo!
Most skilled. Yes. Great job Kyle
Most soft. Yes. Great job Kyle.
Remember everyone. This is the grittier team we have had in years and it got us past the first round. Why didn’t Kyle do this before his job was on the line. WTF
If this team wants to win a cup a good place to start would be to pull their pants up and tell Matthews and Marner they’re gonna be playing for less for more cap space. Oh the caps gonna go up soon so they’ll want more? Well you have to earn that privilege first. Don’t like it? There’s the door. This is not up for debate. If they choose to leave it shows where their priorities were all along.
Should lock up Matthews, Marner and Nylander and let the Tavares contract run its course. That puts $11 million back on the table in two years. By then the cap will go up and we will have a very solid top three plus Reilly to build a team around. Tavares is a very good player but significantly underperforms that contract. He has to be dominant almost every night to make the $11 million contract make sense. Trading away Matthews especially and to a lesser extent Marner or Nylander could be a big mistake as that production is not easy to replace. All three are entering the prime of their careers.
Core and everyone else. It was how Dubas treated everyone and communicated with the media. Two teams within a team.
They’re just figuring this out now?
There was another thread today where some Sportsnet guys were talking about the leafs. One mentioned that this is the first year that a cup winning team will have a player making $10 mil. Both teams have one guy (eichel and Bob were mentioned). Montreal came close with Price a few years ago.
If that’s true it really puts into perspective how far out of whack the leafs salary structure is.