louisstamos
Active member
At first, I thought that it was just a lot of reverse psychology in this thread, but now I don't know anything about the world anymore...
Rangers @ Leafs - Jan. 19th, 7:30pm - TSN4, Fan 590
- Thread starter CarltonTheBear
- Start date
disco
New member
I'm convinced this team has what it takes to get into a playoff spot this year. But this is essentially a .500 league with the 3-point game and everyone spending $72-million on payroll. Anything can happen. We've been lucky with injuries this year. Our team is stacked with youthful enthusiasm and Babs won't let them let up right to the end, it not in his character.
Highlander
Active member
Trump is inaugurated tomorrow, the works is not spinning on its correct axislouisstamos said:
Kin
New member
It should be noted that there is a real downside to a team getting competent a little too quickly and I think we're seeing that with the Islanders where they've really failed to add any elite talent to play with Tavares and have sort of been stranded in a first round exit holding pattern for a few years now.
Coco-puffs
New member
Nik the Trik said:
Certainly. Luckily, we have some elite talent to work with Matthews already in Marner and Nylander. The book isn't finished on Rielly yet either.
Edit: Furthermore, they didn't get too good too quickly after drafting Tavares either. The following three years they also picked in the top 5 and ended up with:
Niederietter instead of Skinner or Tarasenko
Strome instead of Scheiffle or Hamilton
Reinhart instead of Rielly or Lindholm
Poor drafting with high picks in the years after hitting a home-run shouldn't be used as an example of why the Leafs should just try and suck a bit more.
Kin
New member
Coco-puffs said:
That's not what I said.What I said is they've effectively reached a holding pattern because they've struggled to add elite talent to play with Tavares.
You can call them out on "poor" drafting all you want but realistically drafting 4th and 5th in so-so draft years aren't great ways to add that kind of talent even if it did turn out to be available later in the draft. Do Scheifele, Rielly, or even Hamilton really fundamentally change the nature of the Islanders right now from also-ran to top of the league competitor?
Second guess the Islanders all you want, it's undeniable that going right from where you are in the best position to add elite talent to a place where it's a dice roll carries a risk with it. It certainly puts a burden on someone like William Nylander to actually be elite as opposed to just a pretty good player.
Coco-puffs
New member
Nik the Trik said:
So, in a draft year that has been described as pretty lean (see link below), especially on top defensemen, you prefer this team doesn't do so well and hopes to get lucky at the draft instead of taking the steps that make more than a few of us believe we might be able to contend at the end of Marner's and Matthew's ELC's?
It's not like they are trading away their 1st round pick to go for it. If the pick falls from 10-12 overall to 18-22 overall due to making the playoffs, I'll be happy to take the playoff experience and the slightly worse odds of getting a good future piece.
https://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/2016/12/06/2017-nhl-draft-class-shaping-up-to-be-rather-lacklustre.html
crazyperfectdevil
New member
only one team of 30 (soon to be 31) wins the cup each year. to me that means there's a lot more ways to screw this up then to succeed. So i find "x" happened so therefore that might be a bad sign a little useless. I think if the leafs were in dead last messing it up with arizona and the avs there wouldn't be too many people on here saying that this was the best possible outcome for the team.
I could be mistaken but I think learning how to win games is a good thing for rookies. learning how to play when things get stressful is also good for rookies. Other than skirting the injury bug does anyone think the leafs are just luckyt to win the games they do? does this seem like carlyle's team to you? I'm asking honestly..because I watch this team and it doesn't seem like smoke and mirrors. are they on a hot streak? yes of course. but are playoff bound teams not allowed to have hot streaks?
I could be mistaken but I think learning how to win games is a good thing for rookies. learning how to play when things get stressful is also good for rookies. Other than skirting the injury bug does anyone think the leafs are just luckyt to win the games they do? does this seem like carlyle's team to you? I'm asking honestly..because I watch this team and it doesn't seem like smoke and mirrors. are they on a hot streak? yes of course. but are playoff bound teams not allowed to have hot streaks?
LuncheonMeat
New member
herman said:
This may be something he's taken note of as well.
LuncheonMeat
New member
Zee said:
Stamkos had the option of staying with a serious (at that time) Stanley Cup contender. Tavares... not so much. I realize it's unlikely, but I think the direction the team is going in makes Toronto a more appealing UFA destination than it was last year.
Kin
New member
Coco-puffs said:
1) I tend to be pretty skeptical of the ability to judge drafts before they happen in a macro sense. I buy that there's no McDavid/Matthews level talent at the top but the overall strength of the draft I think is something that can only really be told a few years out.
2) If you're asking me if I'd prefer the team take the best route to building assets vs. the intangible benefits of playoff "experience" then yes as I don't really think those benefits exist.
3) That you would lean the other way is great and everything but all I said is that there's a risk to getting too good too quickly in terms of building up the club into what you eventually want it to be. Take the risk or not, it exists.
