TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joins Sportscentre to discuss the Maple Leafs failing to move past the second round for the 20th consecutive season, the strong play by Sergei Bobrovsky in the second round, and what to make of the ‘Core Four’ in the series against the Panthers.
@Toronto Maple Leafs
43 Comments
Save the $12-15 million that Matthews wants and keep all these guys they added at the trade deadline. Kyle Dubas has done an amazing job of giving the core four all the support they need to get the job done. If these core guys can’t show up in playoffs then it’s time to move on!
No blame on the Core 4. It's all management.
"Montreal won't win one game" –
Button. Who listens to this guy? He's the Jim Cramer of NHL analysts. Do the opposite of what he says and you'll be alright.
12-15 million for Matthews makes the Leafs problems worse, not better.
Good regular season team, not a playoff team. Trade Mathews he is a primadonna. Pick up a solid defenceman
Mathews is a one dimensional player. Can score that is it. No forecheck, no backcheck, no leadership, no heart and very soft. Shooting the puck don't make an all round player.
A GM that’s learning on the job????? Only in TO! And a prez that rewards failure every year begs the question…what the hell is going on here???
TORONTO SPORTS NETWORK lol
The red Maple Leafs are the True Leafs.
Matthews to Arizona!! And start a new Shane Doan Esque legacy with that team. They would be a factor in the central.
Core Fooooore ⛳️ 🏌️♂️
Trade or get rid of Taveres contract. The guy Is done and way too slow. Doesn’t have any edge left. Get 2 roles players that hits, and rough in the game. Can’t just played hockey. Playing all yr already this time needs to be rough and hits and hates.
Keefer gone for sure
To Angus Glen of course. Core Fore know how to find the "net" there. And the bud lights.
Bunch of pansies those 4…..too soft……no intensity….
No pushback…..no pride….not playoff material….Auston doesnt even care, send him back to home to Arizona for a bag of pucks for all I care
You get paid for production how about playoff production? Trade him.
Love matthews but he has to go! I'm sure he will be amazing on another team tho! And probably score 10 in the playoffs against the leafs! lol But HOCKEY ENDS when the leafs are out of the playoffs. So we wont know or watch any hockey until Oct. Enjoy the summer boys!
No he is not one of the best. Zero goals in second round..
Keefe needs to go, not the players fault. Their play is disorganized and confused at times, puck movement to worse area, break outs start with a 50 foot pass to a player standing still. Leafs need a better coach, a tactical systematic approach, know where to be what to do.
Mathews is toast and won't be missed, Nylander gone to, JT should retire. Marner should be kept, trade Mathews and Nylander for some good players and a Goalie.
The leaves deserve a refund on Matthew's and marner. Marner only looks that good cuz of Matthew's. And both played without heart inboth rounds
I don't want to pay a player 12-15 million dollars per season if he can't "solve the goaltender". Fuck that – that's his damn job. Ship him off before July. Find a way to get rid of Tavares as well – 11 million dollar faceoff man is not good enough!
What the maple leafs will do is say “ look at the blue jays, cheer for them”. And while leaf fans are distracted by the blue jays and think they might do something and crash, the leafs will re invent themselves and fans will invariably buy into it. Just like they do every year.
Everyone is talking about the 56-year drought since they last won it all. But actually, the Toronto Maple Leafs have won 8 championships since then….
in the Intercounty Baseball League.
It was the coach this time. Think it was in game 2, there was a possible coach's challenge he should have done that could have went their way, but he didn't. After that, the team lost their drive like they had against Tampa bay. It was as if they lost all respect for the coach and didn't like his rotations after that non-coach's challenge. But in the final game, camera angle from the blue line looking at Reilly's numbers, in slo-mo u could see the puck go under the goalie's skate and over the line. They showed it once and never showed it again after that, probably didn't show the refs either. The delay of game penalty no ref saw was a drainer. And the final goal the forward corkscrewed the defenseman out of the way preventing a shot block and held his stick to keep from poke checking, all should have been an interference penalty and a no goal.
Oh, what? The leagues most spoiled and useless players didnt show up when it mattered? Surprised…
These players let the money and fame go to their head. Torontos best line hasnt shown up in 7 years. And now they got beat out by Florida. Florida…
Leafs need better defensemen! The current ones are just making too many mistakes and too slow!!
Sometimes I wonder how different things would've been if Shanahan had just kept Lou for ONE more year so he could've been the one to negotiate the Core 4's contracts.
Dubas was a rookie that got taken advantage of, and despite all his other good work (just look at this past trade deadline), he's still stuck with the anchor of mistakes he made 4-5 years ago.
(ofc COVID and the flat cap also screwed him but that's an entirely diff story)
I can hear the chants in the halls of failure now, "we want the golden seals"
find 24 3 million dollar Canadian NHL hockey players and you have your Stanley cup
You pay for production… As he just said he didn't score in the entire second round series 😂
So matthews can sit out and hold leafs hostage?
No trade, and get a new experienced goalie like Panthers.
The Core 4 leafs are over. 5 years and nothing to show. Matthews 0 goals in round 2 elimination. You need more players with grit and truculence. Dubas to Pittsburgh. Toronto needs to retool. Love to see the Leafs eliminated on home ice. Toronto’s Cup window is officially closed. It was this year or bust.
Give Morgan the C. No one is inspired by JT, lead by example guys aren’t Captain material.
There was a time that I believed that Phaneuf was the worst captain ever, but now Tavares has that title and won it by a far margin. He is the biggest waste of money the leafs have ever spent. Marner does great during the season but he is too small and scared of being hurt to provide anything during the playoffs. Matthews has improved on the defensive side but it cost large on his offensive end. Nylander is by far the best of the four, plays hard every game, produces goals and assists (new record for him this year) and he does this while working with the incompetent usless Tavares on his line. Reilly should be captain, he provides defense, offense, leadership, massive time and production on and off the ice AND is a calm person full of hockey instinct.
It’s Craig Button… his track record says you should do the opposite of whatever he thinks.
If Matthews is asking for $12-$15M, trade him as soon as possible before his NMC kicks in. He is most definitely not worth that, and no other team is going to pay that either.
Answer the fucking question Button
0:30–0:40 I'm sorry, what? Get paid for production? What is he producing if he's no-show in the biggest playoff games. What he does in the regular season doesn't matter if he can't elevate his play when it matters most, which is the playoffs. That's where a supposed superstar is supposed to shine. Not disappear.
Poor goaltending and slow defence is not a winning formula. Blame that on their 14 year old GM. That child brought in guys like Giordano and Reilly who were clearly a day away from their Best Before Date. They are only half way through their Hundred Year Rebuilding Program but suckers still pay big bucks to sit in that rink, with cell phones in hand so they can Google when to show up for The Parade.
All of it. They’re too soft & weak minded. It was the working class players that were the best for the Leafs. There is a Lesson in that.
I wouldn't give Matthews 12-15. He's only had over 85 points once. He's probably a 8-9m a year player who doesn't play as well in the playoffs. To me that reduces that value somewhat so 8-8.5m a year. Any more than that and Mathews isn't worth it in my opinion.