Right?
Jim Hiller is the new Head Coach
- Thread starter herman
- Start date
"At this point in time." Only if Rielly says so because of the no movement clause in his contract.
dappleganger
Well-known member
And those were the same reporters who had Hiller on their coaching short list, right?
The same ones in the media circus who said Marner was being traded in 2024, right?
I think it's hard to really say it's a bad hire. I feel better about this hire than I did Berube. Overall I would say that the new management hasn't done anything stupid yet. They also haven't done anything monumental. We'll see where things are at after the draft.There seems to be quite a bit of positive reaction to this hire in the media. Not sure what to make of it.
For what it is worth, Friedman feels the Leafs hiring of Hiller confirms they are 'going for it' in terms of trying to be competitive to help them retain Matthews. Sportsnet isn't providing me a link to the video/audio
I felt many weeks ago that they could take the roster of talent that they have and get a better result than they got last year through adjustments to the system they play - by better tailoring the system to optimize the talent they already have. A classic example of that I gave was Quinn's 1999 run & gun Leafs.
I think this tweet was already quoted in this thread:
To see that Hiller, who didn't express it the same way, seems to be open to system adjustments is very encouraging and underscores Friedman's conclusion.
The UFA market is not good/deep. They don't have a bunch of young assets they can afford to trade on a rental. Their prospect system is shallow. Aside from whatever they can do on the trade market, this is their only option if they're trying to make the playoffs next year.
Even with trades, because they're coming off a poor season, the market value for their players is low. There is probably a better chance that Hiller could improve the performance of the player better than what they could get back in a trade for a devalued asset.
I preferred a rebuild. But since they're not going to do that, bringing Hiller in to adjust their system in the wake of Berube's failure, makes a ton of sense under their circumstances. It is almost the only option they have. They underachieved with the talent they had last season so the potential for improvement is there.
They have the #1 overall pick coming
They have the Calder Cup finalist/champion to help with depth
They have lots of cap space to overpay to buy some of what few UFAs are available. They need to add a top 4 D and a couple of centers and there are a few UFAs for that
It is a challenge but not a totally crazy notion.
I felt many weeks ago that they could take the roster of talent that they have and get a better result than they got last year through adjustments to the system they play - by better tailoring the system to optimize the talent they already have. A classic example of that I gave was Quinn's 1999 run & gun Leafs.
I think this tweet was already quoted in this thread:
To see that Hiller, who didn't express it the same way, seems to be open to system adjustments is very encouraging and underscores Friedman's conclusion.
The UFA market is not good/deep. They don't have a bunch of young assets they can afford to trade on a rental. Their prospect system is shallow. Aside from whatever they can do on the trade market, this is their only option if they're trying to make the playoffs next year.
Even with trades, because they're coming off a poor season, the market value for their players is low. There is probably a better chance that Hiller could improve the performance of the player better than what they could get back in a trade for a devalued asset.
I preferred a rebuild. But since they're not going to do that, bringing Hiller in to adjust their system in the wake of Berube's failure, makes a ton of sense under their circumstances. It is almost the only option they have. They underachieved with the talent they had last season so the potential for improvement is there.
They have the #1 overall pick coming
They have the Calder Cup finalist/champion to help with depth
They have lots of cap space to overpay to buy some of what few UFAs are available. They need to add a top 4 D and a couple of centers and there are a few UFAs for that
It is a challenge but not a totally crazy notion.