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2024-25 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion

Guilt Trip said:
What makes zero sense to me is why isn't Patches playing with the Marlies on a conditioning stint. I can't see him going in for game 1 over anyone. He hasn't played in 2 months.
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Schedule might have something to do with it. Marlies have only played 2 games since April 6 and only have 3 left in the season (2 before the start of the first round - including one the night before the Leafs likely start their series). Patches might also not be quite ready to play yet. Skating and practicing is one thing, getting into games - even at the AHL level - is another.
 
dappleganger said:
Speaking of the Leafs series, when do they playoffs start?

Leafs game 1 will be on Saturday?
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Friedman, Kypreos, and Johnston have all said now that they're hearing teams ending the season on Thursday won't be starting playoffs Saturday since it would only give them 1 day off. So expectation is Sunday but obviously not confirmed until it's confirmed.
 
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I had the sense that Pacioretty was just biding his time on LTIR and would inevitably appear on the playoff roster.
With the way they have been playing lately, that doesn't seem so automatic.
He was mediocre or less so that shouldn't come as a shock.
Injuries happen so he'll probably find his way onto the roster at some point due to injury or a need for size.
He hasn't skated a stride in a game in some time. But seems to have fallen down the depth chart during his time off.
 
cw said:
I had the sense that Pacioretty was just biding his time on LTIR and would inevitably appear on the playoff roster.
With the way they have been playing lately, that doesn't seem so automatic.
He was mediocre or less so that shouldn't come as a shock.
Injuries happen so he'll probably find his way onto the roster at some point due to injury or a need for size.
He hasn't skated a stride in a game in some time. But seems to have fallen down the depth chart during his time off.
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I still think we see him in game 1 if he's healthy. He looked a lot less effective prior to getting shut down but maybe a break like this is just what he needed. He's still one of the most physical players on the team and has more playoff goals than anyone else on the roster. Right or wrong those will be things Berube values in a playoff line-up. Especially in what will surely be a spirited series against the sens.

I think we ultimately see the McMann-Domi-Robertson line reunited, Pacioretty with Tavares and Nylander, and then have Lorentz and Laughton with one of Jarnkrok, Holmberg, or Kampf.

With that said I also wouldn't really be totally opposed to starting the series with what we've seen the past 2 games.
 
Guilt Trip said:
He's come a long way this year.
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It would probably be between Knies and Robertson for the most improved.
I think Nick made a heck of a credible effort. He's earned every minute of ice time he got.
I think he had the tougher road because the things he improved on were not rooted in his naturally developed strengths and abilities. I wouldn't have bet on it at the start of the season. And he did it in a non top-6 role.
 
cw said:
It would probably be between Knies and Robertson for the most improved.
I think Nick made a heck of a credible effort. He's earned every minute of ice time he got.
I think he had the tougher road because the things he improved on were not rooted in his naturally developed strengths and abilities. I wouldn't have bet on it at the start of the season. And he did it in a non top-6 role.
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Lots of guys have improved this year. I would even add Willy, Marner, Tavares, McMann, McCabe and Woll to the list.

I mean, it looks like Willy will place second in goals this season. That's monumental.
 
We'll have a lot more discussion about who fills out the bottom 6 for game 1 once L3 and L4 play 38 minutes against Detroit tomorrow night.
 
Ozzie said:
Lots of guys have improved this year. I would even add Willy, Marner, Tavares, McMann, McCabe and Woll to the list.

I mean, it looks like Willy will place second in goals this season. That's monumental.
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I suspect Willy's improvement was the coaching staff throwing up their hands and saying "you're not going to coach this guy to play center or do much else. He's just going to do whatever he sees out there." They double-shifted him on the PP and just let him go.

Marner seemed pretty close to the Marner of the past to me.
Tavares played like he had in years gone by - a credit at his age but not really an improvement to me.
Woll's biggest improvement to me is staying healthy after starting the season injured.

If a pro scout couldn't see what McMann did in the AHL was very likely to translate in the NHL, I would wonder if he needs to be in another line of work. It was so obvious. I've truly enjoyed seeing McMann succeed in the NHL. But I do not see leaps and bounds of improvement over last season. He got more ice time. His hitting, shot blocking, takeaways, etc is all down. Maybe he's been playing banged up. I agree with his claim that his reads on forechecking has improved. He's still got a defensive conscience and is not a big liability on the ice. But other than forechecking reads, I struggle to see significant improvement - particularly in his reads and anticipation of the play when he doesn't have the puck in the neutral zone or d-zone.
 
Marner is still the same player, but with a different mindset this season, per the coach's preference. There were flashes of the old way in the early goings of the season and when Matthews returned from whatever his issue was, but they have since bought in as we hit 2025. There's not much more lollygagging with the puck in the OZ waiting for a seam play to open up in any phase of the game. They're attacking the net, reloading or retaking pucks, and cramming it back in to the attack. Make every play a rush chance against a discombobulated defense.

cw said:
I suspect Willy's improvement was the coaching staff throwing up their hands and saying "you're not going to coach this guy to play center or do much else. He's just going to do whatever he sees out there." They double-shifted him on the PP and just let him go.
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I don't recall anything productive coming of Willy's double shift PP once the first unit got off the ice, but I also don't recall much production from PP2 either way, aside from them taking more direct plays to the net. The exercise was entirely just to goose his TOI and is probably counter productive because he reserves energy on PP1 to finish the PP2. I do think Willy's jump in production was a result of them no longer looking for Matthews as option 1, 2, and 3 on the power play, and giving him the half wall after shifting Marner to D. He's really the only other player on the team that can match Matthews' offensive toolkit (carrying, passing, shooting, hands in tight).

cw said:
If a pro scout couldn't see what McMann did in the AHL was very likely to translate in the NHL, I would wonder if he needs to be in another line of work. It was so obvious. I've truly enjoyed seeing McMann succeed in the NHL. But I do not see leaps and bounds of improvement over last season.
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McMann looked the same to me as he did last season, but under a system that suited his skillset better, which got him more time with a player that suited his production (Nylander). At this age, McMann is what he is. Similar note for Tavares, coupled with a shooting percentage rebound (he has been working on his three or four shots with greater repetition and detail this season during practices).

Biggest difference for the team overall in personnel improvements is the D and G.
 
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herman said:
Biggest difference for the team overall in personnel improvements is the D and G.
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I think what we were really talking about with Knies and Robertson is personal improvement.

McCabe this year was pretty close to last year if we ignore his partnership with Tanev
Rielly & Benoit regressed or struggled much of the season.
The addition of Tanev & OEL seemed like the difference makers - not due to personal improvement but personnel improvement.

Woll finally was healthier this season but I'm not clear that he was leaps and bounds better. The personnel improvement of adding Stolarz to replace Samsonov was again the big difference in the goaltending.

Knies and Robertson improved to become better players. Considering where Robertson was last summer, I think that is a real credit to him.
 
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