The leafs are losing 5-2 to the habs right now.  I'm starting to get a wee bit concerned.  Not sure where to point the blame but they need to start figuring things out and plugging whatever hole the team has.

When are Dermott and Hyman coming back?  Maybe that will help.

Don't waste the energy. They will get it together eventually, hopefully lol. This team isn't a Hyman or Dermott away from getting their crap together. They will help tho.

I think it's too early to panic or reach firm conclusions about the team.  That being said I think it would be great if they could somehow figure out some cap space flexibility.  I'm not sure if they can offload Ceci, and if they can I have no idea what they will have to pony up in terms of prospects/picks.  It kind of makes the Zeitsev trade seem stupid.  It was six of one for a half dozen of the other.

If the team fires Babcock, who is available to replace him?  I could only see them firing him if things get really bad and there is actually someone out there that could do a better job.

In the calendar year (2019) the Leafs have played at a pace that wouldn't make the playoffs. Changed out a bunch of players and getting the same results, overall team play doesn't look any better. Getting back their 3 roster players will help, but there will probably be other injuries at some point and they'll just have to figure out how to get past them.

I try to keep in mind that St Louis had a horrible first half of last year and of course won the Cup, so trying to not get too worried. But I'm not seeing much evidence of the expected year-to-year improvement one would expect from the young core. That is concerning.

Nylander is playing *much* better this year and Matthews started the season off on fire.  Marner has had a slow start but I think the whole contract thing affected him.  It seems so common in pro sports that the athlete gets the big contract and then goes into a slump.  Not entirely sure why.

As for the rest of the young guys I haven't been following them closely enough to comment.  I personally didn't quite understand sending Sandin down when he clearly earned a spot on the team.  He looked great to me.  The big issue with the team could be their complete lack of salary cap flexibility which ties the hands of management in terms of getting the best team they can on the ice every day.  It has also affected the whole backup goalie thing which is a complete mess.

Dubas may have to trade Ceci and an asset/prospect/pick to fix that problem.  I have mixed feelings on that, though.

I think the real error in Dubas' judgement has been making a run at it twice in a row the past two years when he could have gotten a king's ransom for expiring contract players at both trade deadlines (JVR 2 years ago and Gardiner last season).  It would have given the team so much more ammunition to make a run at things now and for the next several years.

Now things are looking a bit murky.  Apparently next season the Leafs will have a fair bit more cap space just due to how the current contracts all work out.  We shall see.  This season just may not be the year.  It could still pan out if Dubas is able to be shrewd about it.  I just don't trust his judgement in terms of whether we should be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline.  I could see him making a run at things this year which could turn out to be foolish yet again.  And if he makes a run at it this year, the cupboard will be pretty bare going forward in terms of our picks and prospects that are expendable.

The leafs are losing 5-2 to the habs right now.  I'm starting to get a wee bit concerned.  Not sure where to point the blame but they need to start figuring things out and plugging whatever hole the team has.

When are Dermott and Hyman coming back?  Maybe that will help.

Eh what happened to Tortorella? He looks all mashed up.

https://hockeytroll.ca/2019/10/20/trade-rumors-the-toronto-maple-leafs-are-apparently-looking-to-move-forward-nic-petan-for-a-backup-goalie/

Regardless of anything else, this entire article posted here is ripped word for word from a Pension Plan Puppets article. And by the looks of it every single article from this website is the same: literally copy and pasted from another article elsewhere. I don't know if you read these guys regularly or if this was just a one-off but if it was the former I'd suggest not supporting them anymore.

Fitting website name then.  I just Google searched and that's what came up; that's the first time I've heard of that site.

I know a lot of you guys subscribe to the Athletic.  I don't really believe in paying for that type of content.  My own preference is the Flipboard app.

Now they are alluding to the fact that Petan may get traded for a better backup goalie.

Who is? Never heard that. I heard they need to move players for Hyman and Dermott to come back next weekend.

They said during the HNIC broadcast last night that Petan is going to be moved.  There is no room for him once those guys start coming back.  It only makes sense that they might try to move him for a better backup goalie if they can.  There was an article on Sportsnet today about it.

https://hockeytroll.ca/2019/10/20/trade-rumors-the-toronto-maple-leafs-are-apparently-looking-to-move-forward-nic-petan-for-a-backup-goalie/

Now they are alluding to the fact that Petan may get traded for a better backup goalie.

The thing is, what if Andersen goes down with an injury?  It would be catastrophic.  We're dealing with a situation now where only back to back games are affected, and it's already dragging the team down.  It's a real shame Dubas doesn't have even a bit more cap flexibility.

Should be a good game tomorrow against Boston.  It will look good on the team if the Leafs can beat Boston without Tavares in the lineup.

How bad could the injury even be?  He scored a goal after breaking his finger.

I'm serious. He looks way too shaky back there.

This thread makes me think about Jeff Finger.

Hutchinson hasn't won a game since January. This is becoming problematic. Discuss.

So do we know what the Leafs' forward lines and defensive pairings are going to look like on opening day?  Also, who's the backup goalie this year?

Thanks.  Less than a month away.