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2024-25 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion

CarltonTheBear said:
the Leafs would need to make a tough call on someone like Robertson, Reaves, or Myers.
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Neither of those three are what I would term tough calls, but yeah, I’d like to see how Minten fares with actual wingers. He really does need more seasoning as a top offensive pivot in professional play, and 3C on this team will not help him push his ceiling.

Knies has looked good in brief moments, but overall he might be holding Matthews back. He has very good existing chemistry with Minten so letting the kids cook on L3 would also be interesting to me.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1867585732522487878
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Potentially a big weekend for Minten to show what he's got between two actual top-9 NHLers finally. Barring any other injuries (*knock on wood*) once Kampf returns Minten either gets sent back to the AHL or if he sticks at 3C longer the Leafs would need to make a tough call on someone like Robertson, Reaves, or Myers.
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I'd have the big right-handed D who has been doing ok as a fill in ahead of the other two.
 
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CarltonTheBear said:
Matthews, Domi, and Kampf were all day to day at one point too so I'm still a little worried but I guess it could have been worse.
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It has to be some kind of a strain or sprain so "day to day" probably translates to week to week. I'd guess 3 weeks minimum (grade 1 mild sprain/tear). They're going to want it fully healed before he returns to minimize chances of reinjury and with his history, they may well err on the side of caution. It is a heck of a lot better prognosis than surgery but we might not see him for 6 weeks (there will be a lot of fans hand-wringing by week 5 of day to day). He finished the period so he's not too bad. Like you say "it could have been worse"
 
I see Rielly is back on the #1 PP and OEL is on #2 PP
Both those dmen are pretty good PP dmen
5 forwards PP was not working so I'm grateful for the change.
 
cw said:
I'd have the big right-handed D who has been doing ok as a fill in ahead of the other two.
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Yeah Myers would certainly be the least likely to go. Especially with Hakanpaa's status pretty up in the air. I know most of the fan base wouldn't think twice about waiving Reaves and that's almost definitely the correct pick but I doubt Treliving/Berube reach that same conclusion. Robertson seems to be more on the outs after every passing day but I don't see the Leafs just giving him up on waivers and the trade market isn't very hot.

As much as I'd like to see Minten stay up longer the safest choice would be to just send him back I guess, at least for now. He could always get that 3C spot back later in the season if/when more injuries hit or if a trade ever materializes to clear a roster spot.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Yeah Myers would certainly be the least likely to go. Especially with Hakanpaa's status pretty up in the air. I know most of the fan base wouldn't think twice about waiving Reaves and that's almost definitely the correct pick but I doubt Treliving/Berube reach that same conclusion. Robertson seems to be more on the outs after every passing day but I don't see the Leafs just giving him up on waivers and the trade market isn't very hot.

As much as I'd like to see Minten stay up longer the safest choice would be to just send him back I guess, at least for now. He could always get that 3C spot back later in the season if/when more injuries hit or if a trade ever materializes to clear a roster spot.
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I think you're right about Treliving/Berube. Berube did that tough job so he's going to have some soft spot for Reaves. Treliving likes physical players so he's there too.

If the Leafs could get a 5th round pick for Robertson, I think they'd jump at it. For the good of the team and the player, they both need to move on. I think Robertson could help a NHL team but I don't think his style of game is a fit under Berube's system. I credit him with really trying but it clearly is not working out.

Minten has done better than I imagined he would. It is not just his "Hockey IQ". For example, he's doing better in the faceoff dot than I thought he would. He's hitting people more than I ever thought he would. He's improved physically. The thing about guys with higher hockey IQs - they tend to do better in the NHL than the AHL because the players in the NHL are smarter and more consistently doing what they should be doing. We saw something like that with Matt Stajan. So I don't mind Minten getting the NHL reps now. I do think they still have to consider adding a 3rd line center. But someone is going to get hurt and if they've given Minten lots of NHL reps, he can be called up and fill in without too much of a fall off if he's got the reps under his belt. I think Minten getting those reps is more valuable than Reaves or Robertson.

With McMann & Domi as wingers, I'm very interested to see how he does. McMann & Minten can help cover Domi defensively. Domi can distribute the puck to them. McMann & Domi surround Minten with some muscle and puck retrieval. Minten will have two top 9 NHL wingers to play with. That is a line that might add some bottom 6 scoring (won't be incredible but they could help)
 
cw said:
I think you're right about Treliving/Berube. Berube did that tough job so he's going to have some soft spot for Reaves. Treliving likes physical players so he's there too.

If the Leafs could get a 5th round pick for Robertson, I think they'd jump at it. For the good of the team and the player, they both need to move on. I think Robertson could help a NHL team but I don't think his style of game is a fit under Berube's system. I credit him with really trying but it clearly is not working out.

Minten has done better than I imagined he would. It is not just his "Hockey IQ". For example, he's doing better in the faceoff dot than I thought he would. He's hitting people more than I ever thought he would. He's improved physically. The thing about guys with higher hockey IQs - they tend to do better in the NHL than the AHL because the players in the NHL are smarter and more consistently doing what they should be doing. We saw something like that with Matt Stajan. So I don't mind Minten getting the NHL reps now. I do think they still have to consider adding a 3rd line center. But someone is going to get hurt and if they've given Minten lots of NHL reps, he can be called up and fill in without too much of a fall off if he's got the reps under his belt. I think Minten getting those reps is more valuable than Reaves or Robertson.

With McMann & Domi as wingers, I'm very interested to see how he does. McMann & Minten can help cover Domi defensively. Domi can distribute the puck to them. McMann & Domi surround Minten with some muscle and puck retrieval. Minten will have two top 9 NHL wingers to play with. That is a line that might add some bottom 6 scoring (won't be incredible but they could help)
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Good post
 
One of Minten's top end skills that is a bit underrated (since he is known as a defensive centre who looks like a baby, with a heavy PP shot) is he was a friggin' menace on the forecheck in junior. Since then, he has added a couple of notches of speed to his skating, and a quicker release on his shot.

A safe, two-way center, Fraser Minten is a competitive player, but he balances it with good hockey sense. He really manages ice well for a player of his ilk. He’s certainly a physical presence, especially on the forecheck. His forechecking is a strength – he anticipates defensive zone passes well and employs good stick positioning while applying pressure.

The mature thing about his game is his restraint and timing. Anyone can go in as F1 and destroy a player three seconds after he’s moved the puck, but that’s not a recommended strategy for most. It requires some thought to know when the physical play is the right one, when the stick play is the right one, or when to sink underneath to rotate the forecheckers is the right one – Minten shows this kind of upside. He can play calmly or chaotically at his discretion.
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herman said:
One of Minten's top end skills that is a bit underrated (since he is known as a defensive centre who looks like a baby, with a heavy PP shot) is he was a friggin' menace on the forecheck in junior. Since then, he has added a couple of notches of speed to his skating, and a quicker release on his shot.
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Maybe I've missed it while I have been looking for that. I could be wrong but I think it is a characteristic that needs improvement in his NHL game. His mobility and positioning seem generally good. He seems to make pretty good reads - decent anticipation but maybe a little cautious or not as quickly as he should/will with more experience. Is he winning a lot of puck battles? I'm not sure that he is. Not a lot of takeaways. He needs improvement there if he's going to be a good 3rd line checking center. Having said that, the guy is only 20 years old so that is a hefty yardstick at this point in his career.
 
cw said:
Maybe I've missed it while I have been looking for that. I could be wrong but I think it is a characteristic that needs improvement in his NHL game. His mobility and positioning seem generally good. He seems to make pretty good reads - decent anticipation but maybe a little cautious or not as quickly as he should/will with more experience. Is he winning a lot of puck battles? I'm not sure that he is. Not a lot of takeaways. He needs improvement there if he's going to be a good 3rd line checking center. Having said that, the guy is only 20 years old so that is a hefty yardstick at this point in his career.
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Don’t see it much at this level yet because he has a) played 15ish pro games b) is holding back forechecking most shifts to play above the puck and support F1. Centres aren’t often in F1 position.

I like Knies-Minten-Willy as the budget version of Pacioretty-Tavares-Willy

A promising sign for Minten is he is generating and getting looks at the net. Most new players that aren’t super stars struggle with getting to pucks in the right ice to take shots, let alone scoring. Minten is consistently in the 7-8 rank for forwards in individual CF60, FF60, SF60, SCF60, rebound generation etc. literally the top player who doesn’t get top 6 minutes as the youngest.

He’s not dominant on the puck, but he does know how to pick his spots and time his approaches. He’d had have a few more goals already if he was more experienced with NHL defenses and was able to bear down on some of those net front chances. This is already well ahead of Pontus Holmberg and Stephen Lorentz and Nick Robertson.
 
https://www.reddit.com/r/leafs/comments/1hdquns/spoilers_fun_stories_tidbits_and_takeaways_from
Mats mentioned that during his time in Toronto, he never saw Alexander Mogilny do any off-ice training - no weights, no track, nothing.
  • He touted Mogilny as probably the most skilled player he had ever played with
  • He mentioned that Mogilny would often say how he'd done all the high-intensity training back in his years with the Soviet Union. He'd done things that players had only started doing now. He had no intention of doing it again.
  • One anecdote he shared was a time when Mats and Gary Roberts were in the gym, doing squats and lifts. In walks Mogilny, in street clothes. They egg him on to join, but Alex declines. They continue to ask and eventually Mogilny walks up to a squat rack (200+ lbs) and does a rep - easily - without warming up - in perfect form - in street clothes.
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  • The playoff exit that hit him the hardest, which uncharacteristically made him cry was the loss to the Flyers in 2004 - Roenick's OT winner in Game 6.

The fact this is the only Leaf game where I remember the exact date it was played, probably was for me too. Of course, Mats played great in the game assisting on the Leafs first goal and scoring the game tying goal.

That 2004 team had all the pieces to win, and that game was the beginning of the end for that era of the Maple Leafs.
 
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The MLHS game summary tonight sums it up:

The Maple Leafs‘ lack of offense is becoming a major storyline as the season progresses.

I just went back and looked at the scores so far this season. Two games with 6 goals, 2 with 5, and a fair number with 4. But maybe 1 or 2 games tops you could call blowouts in our favor.

Whatever the stats say, my eyeball test is telling me they aren't threats to score goals in bunches any more. Part of it is Berubeball, part of it (I still think) is guys not at 100%. "Purposeless" is a criticism I've seen Petrielli make a couple of times of the offense. That's a good description.
 
ZBBM said:
The MLHS game summary tonight sums it up:

The Maple Leafs‘ lack of offense is becoming a major storyline as the season progresses.

I just went back and looked at the scores so far this season. Two games with 6 goals, 2 with 5, and a fair number with 4. But maybe 1 or 2 games tops you could call blowouts in our favor.

Whatever the stats say, my eyeball test is telling me they aren't threats to score goals in bunches any more. Part of it is Berubeball, part of it (I still think) is guys not at 100%. "Purposeless" is a criticism I've seen Petrielli make a couple of times of the offense. That's a good description.
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I'd like to see statistics comparing how often the Leafs recover dump-ins compared to other teams. To me it _feels_ like they have a low recovery rate and are often just throwing pucks and possessions away. It's like they haven't fully committed to the idea - they often don't seem to dump the puck strategically, i.e. to the right spot where they have someone attacking. Maybe this is just a bias since I don't watch other teams as carefully. But that would fit with the "purposeless" idea.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1868379745936695783

I'm not surprised in the least.
Very important member of the team strained something.
They would be nuts to risk more injury.
I'm grateful for the warning and that it does not seem to be too serious.
Now, they're going to take the time to let it heal up.
I think that is a positive step
They have plenty of depth/alternatives to help in the short term
 
cw said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1868379745936695783

I'm not surprised in the least.
Very important member of the team strained something.
They would be nuts to risk more injury.
I'm grateful for the warning and that it does not seem to be too serious.
Now, they're going to take the time to let it heal up.
I think that is a positive step
They have plenty of depth/alternatives to help in the short term
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Team has a bit of a light schedule, too. Only 1 more game between now and when he'll be eligible to return, followed by 2 games against less formidable opponents. Might as well let him rest until after Christmas, if he needs it.
 
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