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Mitch is a talented, largely one dimensional RFA with a good season (followed by a bad playoffs) under his belt. $11 million should never have been on the table. The fact that he rejected it is mind-boggling.

I don't think I was saying that they didn't outscore their opponents in the second half. They're a highly skilled team - of course they will do that. It's that their scoring went from being elite (around top 3) to not elite (top 10). I also have a hard time believing they made a decision...

At home, where Babcock can control line matchups because he has last change.

That's just your opinion, man. Edit: I am not a huge Babcock fan.

During each of the past two seasons, the Leafs' offence has significantly declined as the year goes on. This past season, the Leafs played better on the road than at home. That seems to suggest that when Babcock's "system" is fully implemented, the team plays worse than when the team just goes...

Works for me. Don't think it works for Marner.

To the superstar point, I guess I don't see Marner being on the level of the players cited by Nik. In what universe are Marner's comparables Crosby, Malkin or McDavid, rather than (say) Sebastian Aho? To your second point, at least historically, there has been a material difference between the...

For me, the annoying part is the trend of kids demanding an ever-increasing portion of the cap before free agency. This wasn't really a thing even a few years ago. Mitch is well within his rights to demand whatever he wants but I wouldn't be surprised if GMs start to push back a little more...

Ceci seems like a truly awful defensive player who panics in his own end and doesn't/can't control gaps or prevent the other team from getting shots. I'd love to be proven wrong but to me he just looks like Zaitsev (and may be even weaker on the puck), with slightly more offensive talent. This...

Looking at those highlights, he looks an awful lot like Zaitsev in the defensive end.

I suppose. But by most accounts, his arbitration award would have been high enough to walk away from. Even if Gardiner isn't signed I don't understand how it makes sense to pay $4.5 million to a below replacement level player who had an average Corsi of 44% over the past three seasons. What...

I don't really get why we are choosing to sign a dreadful defenceman for $4.5 million in the middle of a cap crunch with Gardiner still available.

Hilarious that you think this is a knockdown response. "The actual, factual statistics don't matter because I don't like the player." Reminds me of people who didn't like Sundin because he was "soft and European". Gardiner's hockey intelligence (gap control, driving offence, creating space)...

This one hurts. Kadri genuinely loved playing on the Leafs and grinded it out through some brutal years. His possession, hands and hockey intelligence were amongst the best on the team (the guy can really thread a pass). But he was valuable so I guess this is a pill the Leafs had to swallow. I...

Great salary dump. All of Babcock?s favourite deadweight players are being unloaded. Perfect offseason so far.

To me, Zaitsev is a a complete liability at any price. So I am down with this. Interested in what happens with Ceci though.

He pretty clearly set himself up to induce contact and then dive/flop. Not saying it wasn't a penalty, but when Boston's entire modus operandi is taking cheap shots at the other team and diving to induce calls, you have to think/hope refs get tired of it. Marchand slew-footed a St Louis player...

I think I hate Boston more than I like the Leafs. I hate the way their entire system is built around diving and getting cheap powerplays. I hate the way they are allowed to run interference without getting called for it because ?that?s Boston hockey?. Their style and the way it is condoned...

Hyman is a serviceable third liner that is vastly overused by Babcock. His penalty kill skills are pretty easily replaceable. I don't mind him at 2.25 but wish his role could be reduced in favour of actual top six players. I don't think shedding his salary does much for the team's salary...

This is it. To me, it's hard to give Babcock credit for adapting his strategy/process when it takes him months to make changes that should have been obvious to anyone with a half-decent understanding of the underlying stats (particularly possession metrics). Sometimes he refuses to make...