Qualifier Game 5: Blue Jackets @ Leafs - Aug. 9th, 8:00pm - SN, TSN 1050

[L K]

The two guys I was probably the most disappointed with (outside of Marner) were Hyman and Mikheyev.  Hyman looked really pedestrian most of this series and Soupy did really nothing.  A big reminder that he was an NHL rookie.

 

[Andy007]

I didn't see toughness being a main factor in any of the playoff rounds to the Bruins and I don't see it here. Leafs couldn't bury their many, many prime scoring chances and faced superior goaltending to boot. They didn't seem to get very many bounces and had a horrid PP.  I'm also not so sure about some of these game 5 lineup decisions from Keefe either. I don't know, lack of physicality is pretty low on the list of what went wrong, at least from the way I see it.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

The two guys I was probably the most disappointed with (outside of Marner) were Hyman and Mikheyev.  Hyman looked really pedestrian most of this series and Soupy did really nothing.  A big reminder that he was an NHL rookie.

Yeah I was hoping for more from Hyman, especially after his great season. Could probably say that about basically everyone except Matthews though. Even Tavares looked out of it earlier on.

Any concerns about Soup and Dermott getting big deals this offseason have been tossed aside.

 

[Bill_Berg]

If Matthews and Tavares need to be on the same line, they need another centre. Or maybe it's time to try something different.  Love Matthews though.

 

[Britishbulldog]

Felt bad for Spezza.  Nylander, Kapanen and Mikheyev really were not there.  Marner is not worth his contract.  Andersen doesn't seem to have the mental fortitude to win the big game.  Barrie and Ceci were a disappointment all season.

Toughness wasn't an issue.

Love Matthews and most of the others.

Let's hope for 1OA

 

[Guilt Trip]

Tough. Andersen gets outplayed in an elimination game for the fourth playoffs in a row (I guess this doesn't even count as playoffs?), after a pretty rotten year.

Marner and Tavares not earning their pay cheques.

Keefe with some really, really strange decisions tonight. They never looked in sync, even though they have all the star power.

The beat goes on.

I think Keefe noticed shit wasn't going so he really mixed it up. I don't agree with your JT assessment. Next to Matthews he was our best forward. Again huge disappointment with Marner and Nylander, who I think will be gone. Freddie did enough for then to win. They got shutout twice. No depth scoring killed them. Robertson was the only player not in the top 6 to score a goal. That's not good enough.

 

[Guilt Trip]

The two guys I was probably the most disappointed with (outside of Marner) were Hyman and Mikheyev.  Hyman looked really pedestrian most of this series and Soupy did really nothing.  A big reminder that he was an NHL rookie.

Yeah I was hoping for more from Hyman, especially after his great season. Could probably say that about basically everyone except Matthews though. Even Tavares looked out of it earlier on.

Any concerns about Soup and Dermott getting big deals this offseason have been tossed aside.

Hyman looked pretty good on the PK but overall he played Hyman like for about a period. Very strange because he went back to old Hyman who was a boat anchor.
Loved Matthews game. Easily our best. I'll give Superman some, slack here. He did come off a major injury and he's never been in the NHL playoffs before. I mean he hasn't played a meaningful game in 7 months.
Love what Robertson brings and look forward to seeing him full time next  season. 

 

[Chris]

I see a number of comments about physicality not being the issue. Maybe you're right. As I said, the Leafs had a lot of good chances and their goalie(s) was (were) up to the task for the most part.

When I watch these games I get the feeling that the Leafs as a team, aren't tenacious enough. There are so many wasted offensive attempts where puck are dumped in and essentially given away. A lot of the time there doesn't seem to be a forechecker in quickly enough, or when there is there is no support from another forward. And many times the Leaf forwards lose those puck battles when they do occur. Even Hyman who is usually money in the corner, seemed largely ineffective this series. Some credit has to be given to Columbus. The question I have is, how much blame needs to go to the Leaf players and how much to coaching? Is it time to make a big change and trade Nylander or Marner? Can they get back what they really need if they do that, or are they better off just rolling the dice again and hoping for a better outcome? Few of those shots go in off the post and this is a very different outcome.

I don't know, something just seems to be lacking and I'm not exactly sure how to fix it while we have the core players intact.

 

[Kin]

Well, that's a bummer. But, personally, I wouldn't take too much away from it. This whole thing has been so damned weird that making solid conclusions about this team and its future based on these five games strikes me as moves for the sake of it rather than a thought through approach.

That's not to say changes don't need to be made but the playoffs are inherently a crapshoot in the best of circumstances and this was not that.

 

[Guilt Trip]

I didn't see toughness being a main factor in any of the playoff rounds to the Bruins and I don't see it here. Leafs couldn't bury their many, many prime scoring chances and faced superior goaltending to boot. They didn't seem to get very many bounces and had a horrid PP.  I'm also not so sure about some of these game 5 lineup decisions from Keefe either. I don't know, lack of physicality is pretty low on the list of what went wrong, at least from the way I see it.

I agree. They actually played well enough to win. I don't mind what Keefe did because that super line was generating chance after chance. Just couldn't bury one. Our 4th line was great but the other lines just couldn't generate anything. D really took a hit when Muzz got hurt. Unfortunately our D isn't deep enough to lose a guy like him. Rielly was a beast. Not mistake free by any stretch but I thought he looked better then he had all season. Look forward to seeing Sandin next season. I still say he's better then Marincin.

 

[Strangelove]

Tough. Andersen gets outplayed in an elimination game for the fourth playoffs in a row (I guess this doesn't even count as playoffs?), after a pretty rotten year.

Marner and Tavares not earning their pay cheques.

Keefe with some really, really strange decisions tonight. They never looked in sync, even though they have all the star power.

The beat goes on.

I think Keefe noticed shit wasn't going so he really mixed it up. I don't agree with your JT assessment. Next to Matthews he was our best forward. Again huge disappointment with Marner and Nylander, who I think will be gone. Freddie did enough for then to win. They got shutout twice. No depth scoring killed them. Robertson was the only player not in the top 6 to score a goal. That's not good enough.

JT was fine tonight but most of the series (and season) looked relatively ordinary, which isn't good enough given how much he's paid and the amount of skill around him. He was never fast but he seemed to lose a step this year and wasn't as strong on the puck as he has been. I'm hoping it's more of an off-year thing than a past-his-prime thing.

Nylander is a little hot and cold but had a pretty great year overall. He just needs to be used correctly. Playing him on the second line with two offensive black holes in Hyman and Kapanen is maybe not the best use of his skillset.

 

[Guilt Trip]

Tough. Andersen gets outplayed in an elimination game for the fourth playoffs in a row (I guess this doesn't even count as playoffs?), after a pretty rotten year.

Marner and Tavares not earning their pay cheques.

Keefe with some really, really strange decisions tonight. They never looked in sync, even though they have all the star power.

The beat goes on.

I think Keefe noticed shit wasn't going so he really mixed it up. I don't agree with your JT assessment. Next to Matthews he was our best forward. Again huge disappointment with Marner and Nylander, who I think will be gone. Freddie did enough for then to win. They got shutout twice. No depth scoring killed them. Robertson was the only player not in the top 6 to score a goal. That's not good enough.

JT was fine tonight but most of the series (and season) looked relatively ordinary, which isn't good enough given how much he's paid and the amount of skill around him. He was never fast but he seemed to lose a step this year and wasn't as strong on the puck as he has been. I'm hoping it's more of an off-year thing than a past-his-prime thing.

Nylander is a little hot and cold but had a pretty great year overall. He just needs to be used correctly. Playing him on the second line with two offensive black holes in Hyman and Kapanen is maybe not the best use of his skillset.

Willy def had a great year but even when he payed with JT and Matthews he didn't look great. I don't think Dubas trades Nylander because of disappointment, I see trading him because they need help with the Cap and on the backend. Should be an interesting off season.

 

[Bill_Berg]

Well time to focus on the next sport, the NFL, where my favorite team surely won't let down, the Cleveland Browns.

 

[ZBBM]

Well, that's a bummer. But, personally, I wouldn't take too much away from it. This whole thing has been so damned weird that making solid conclusions about this team and its future based on these five games strikes me as moves for the sake of it rather than a thought through approach.

That's not to say changes don't need to be made but the playoffs are inherently a crapshoot in the best of circumstances and this was not that.

Very true, all.  Also I'll say again, Columbus won this series by playing their game to perfection tonight ? again.

I won't be watching but it'll be interesting to see how TBL does this time round.

 

[ZBBM]

Tough. Andersen gets outplayed in an elimination game for the fourth playoffs in a row (I guess this doesn't even count as playoffs?), after a pretty rotten year.

Marner and Tavares not earning their pay cheques.

Keefe with some really, really strange decisions tonight. They never looked in sync, even though they have all the star power.

The beat goes on.

I think Keefe noticed shit wasn't going so he really mixed it up. I don't agree with your JT assessment. Next to Matthews he was our best forward. Again huge disappointment with Marner and Nylander, who I think will be gone. Freddie did enough for then to win. They got shutout twice. No depth scoring killed them. Robertson was the only player not in the top 6 to score a goal. That's not good enough.

JT was fine tonight but most of the series (and season) looked relatively ordinary, which isn't good enough given how much he's paid and the amount of skill around him. He was never fast but he seemed to lose a step this year and wasn't as strong on the puck as he has been. I'm hoping it's more of an off-year thing than a past-his-prime thing.

Nylander is a little hot and cold but had a pretty great year overall. He just needs to be used correctly. Playing him on the second line with two offensive black holes in Hyman and Kapanen is maybe not the best use of his skillset.

Willy def had a great year but even when he payed with JT and Matthews he didn't look great. I don't think Dubas trades Nylander because of disappointment, I see trading him because they need help with the Cap and on the backend. Should be an interesting off season.

Nylander had a fine year and while tonight he looks discombobulated I really don't get Keefe starting him at C in an elimination game.

That said, I think he could well be traded.  They have to change things up and he's the most tradeable.

 

[Britishbulldog]

I see a number of comments about physicality not being the issue. Maybe you're right. As I said, the Leafs had a lot of good chances and their goalie(s) was (were) up to the task for the most part.

When I watch these games I get the feeling that the Leafs as a team, aren't tenacious enough. There are so many wasted offensive attempts where puck are dumped in and essentially given away. A lot of the time there doesn't seem to be a forechecker in quickly enough, or when there is there is no support from another forward. And many times the Leaf forwards lose those puck battles when they do occur. Even Hyman who is usually money in the corner, seemed largely ineffective this series. Some credit has to be given to Columbus. The question I have is, how much blame needs to go to the Leaf players and how much to coaching? Is it time to make a big change and trade Nylander or Marner? Can they get back what they really need if they do that, or are they better off just rolling the dice again and hoping for a better outcome? Few of those shots go in off the post and this is a very different outcome.

I don't know, something just seems to be lacking and I'm not exactly sure how to fix it while we have the core players intact.

Nylander and Kapanen have the most trade value I would expect. 

Marner was paid a ludicrous $16 MIL this season and $15 MIL next season with over $14 MIL of that as a signing bonus.  The season after that he ONLY makes $10.4 MIL so after the $9.6 MIL signing bonus is paid he could probably be moved.

 

[Britishbulldog]

I see a number of comments about physicality not being the issue. Maybe you're right. As I said, the Leafs had a lot of good chances and their goalie(s) was (were) up to the task for the most part.

When I watch these games I get the feeling that the Leafs as a team, aren't tenacious enough. There are so many wasted offensive attempts where puck are dumped in and essentially given away. A lot of the time there doesn't seem to be a forechecker in quickly enough, or when there is there is no support from another forward. And many times the Leaf forwards lose those puck battles when they do occur. Even Hyman who is usually money in the corner, seemed largely ineffective this series. Some credit has to be given to Columbus. The question I have is, how much blame needs to go to the Leaf players and how much to coaching? Is it time to make a big change and trade Nylander or Marner? Can they get back what they really need if they do that, or are they better off just rolling the dice again and hoping for a better outcome? Few of those shots go in off the post and this is a very different outcome.

I don't know, something just seems to be lacking and I'm not exactly sure how to fix it while we have the core players intact.

Nylander and Kapanen have the most trade value I would expect. 

Marner was paid a ludicrous $16 MIL this season and $15 MIL next season with over $14 MIL of that as a signing bonus.  The season after that he ONLY makes $10.4 MIL so after the $9.6 MIL signing bonus is paid he could probably be moved.

Nevermind...I see that the bonuses have already been paid for next season on July 1st.

https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2020/07/01/nhl-player-signing-bonuses-to-reportedly-be-paid-on-schedule/

"...That?s good news for the likes of Auston Matthews ($15.2M), Mitch Marner ($14.3M), Connor McDavid ($13M), Artemi Panarin ($12M), Roman Josi ($11M), and Erik Karlsson ($10M) (per CapFriendly), among many others. Not so fun news for the Maple Leafs, who will be shelling out nearly $60M in bonus money...."

Marner should be tradeable if people are actually serious about it...

 

[Guilt Trip]

I don't see them trading Marner. Kappy, Johnnson or Willy are more likely. Outside chance of Kerfoot. Not expecting a major overhaul but we'll see what Dubas does. Things could change quickly if the Leafs get the 1at overall.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

https://twitter.com/1stOhioBattery/status/1292661485924233222

lol

 

[Chris]

I don't see them trading Marner. Kappy, Johnnson or Willy are more likely. Outside chance of Kerfoot. Not expecting a major overhaul but we'll see what Dubas does. Things could change quickly if the Leafs get the 1at overall.

Winning the lottery will give them many options. You basically are subbing in Robertson and Lafreniere (I assume he's NHL ready) on ELCs. That allows you to move out 1 or 2 big contracts and move those $ to where it's really needed, the defense. Whether there is a trade that makes sense is another matter.

Or you go with a completely loaded offense for another year (this years team plus the 2 mentioned players) and roll the dice with Sandin and Lily or one of the other internal options to replace Barrie and Ceci. Then evaluate and make the big move next year.

The other issue coming down the road is Andersen's contract which has 1 more year. Someone will have to be brought in since there doesn't appear to be anyone in the system to take on that role.