2025-26 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion

[Arn]

Bet he signs for someone who ends up winning the cup this season.

 

[Bender]

MacKinnon, Draisatl, McDavid, Rantanen, Kucherov...these are all players who have a higher "Give a shit" factor than Matthews. They want it more and are willing to do whatever it takes. They up the intensity in the playoffs. That's how it looks to me. Remember Matthews getting ragdolled by Chiarot in that horrible Montreal series...he was laughing and looking at the ref. No pushback, no emotion, no evidence that he hates losing or gets mad when it happens. Nylander is similar. Marner I think cared but couldn't handle the hometown pressure.

They got rid of the one guy in that early group that had those traits - Hyman.

I was going to say, isn't MacKinnon the one that went after his teammates for not eating healthy enough? He seems like a psychotic hardass who will do anything to win and will call out his team. How many times did the core here not take accountability and deflect it or say they can't listen to outside noise, implying it's the fan's fault? It's been infuriating for years. I doubt MacKinnon or his group asks coaches to walk back minorly critical comments.

 

[Bender]

maybe this is the answer

https://twitter.com/x/status/1989049355379077318

You have to think this will probably beget some movement.

 

[cabber24]

MacKinnon, Draisatl, McDavid, Rantanen, Kucherov...these are all players who have a higher "Give a shit" factor than Matthews. They want it more and are willing to do whatever it takes. They up the intensity in the playoffs. That's how it looks to me. Remember Matthews getting ragdolled by Chiarot in that horrible Montreal series...he was laughing and looking at the ref. No pushback, no emotion, no evidence that he hates losing or gets mad when it happens. Nylander is similar. Marner I think cared but couldn't handle the hometown pressure.

They got rid of the one guy in that early group that had those traits - Hyman.

You will see who the true assassins are in the league come Olympic time. 4 Nations was telling with the C of USA having zero goals.

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1989080809199083576

Some people in the fan base aren’t going to like this statement because playing defence has become some sort of moral status symbol, but naturally I agree with this and most teams allocate their cap dollars accordingly. Creating offense consistently is THE premium skillset.

 

[Guru Tugginmypuddah]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1989080809199083576

Some people in the fan base aren’t going to like this statement because playing defence has become some sort of moral status symbol, but naturally I agree with this and most teams allocate their cap dollars accordingly. Creating offense consistently is THE premium skillset.

Easy fix bro.

 

[herman]

Easy fix bro.

Stop doing stupid shit? See those guys with the non-Leaf sweaters: don't give them the puck?

 

[Joe S.]

MacKinnon, Draisatl, McDavid, Rantanen, Kucherov...these are all players who have a higher "Give a shit" factor than Matthews. They want it more and are willing to do whatever it takes. They up the intensity in the playoffs. That's how it looks to me. Remember Matthews getting ragdolled by Chiarot in that horrible Montreal series...he was laughing and looking at the ref. No pushback, no emotion, no evidence that he hates losing or gets mad when it happens. Nylander is similar. Marner I think cared but couldn't handle the hometown pressure.

They got rid of the one guy in that early group that had those traits - Hyman.

Zach ‘5 goals in 32 playoff games’ Hyman? That Zach Hyman?

And the leafs didn’t get rid of him. He left as a free agent for a contract that made no sense for what he had contributed up to that point.

 

[rdowdall]

This is starting to look an awful lot like the Randy Carlyle years. Teams outshooting them every night. No cohesion on the team. They win if the goalie stands on his head, and one of the scorers has a good night. I think Carlyle and Berube's coaching reputation may be built entirely on the fact that a goalie on their team got hot during a playoff run.

 

[cabber24]

Getting outshot more than 2-1 is totally ridiculous for a team that's supposed to be "bouncing back" into form. Balls must be flat.

 

[Guilt Trip]

This is starting to look an awful lot like the Randy Carlyle years. Teams outshooting them every night. No cohesion on the team. They win if the goalie stands on his head, and one of the scorers has a good night. I think Carlyle and Berube's coaching reputation may be built entirely on the fact that a goalie on their team got hot during a playoff run.

Fun Facts....When Berube took over and they won a cup.....

Yeo coached the first 18 games that year. They were 7-8-3, scored 56 goals,(3.11GF/Gm~13th best) and 57 against(3.17GAA~18th)
Berube was hired Nov 19 2018. In his first 21 games pre Binnington, they went 9-11-1, scored 54 goals,(2.57GF/Gm~26th), and had 71 against,(3.38GAA~25th).
Binnington played his first game Jan 7. The team went 29-9-5 after he joined. He played 30 of those games, went 24-5-1 with a .930 SV% and a 1.87GAA. Their GAA dropped to 2.14 which was 1.24GAA less per game and was 2nd best in the league. Their goals for also went to 12th best from 25th.
There was no new coach bump and the team actually got worse when Berube took over until Binnington showed up 21 games later. They went on a tear and won a cup because of Binner playing lights out.

The chances of the Leafs winning a cup with Berube are minute at best. Only 3 coaches in NHL history have coached two different teams to cup wins. Bowman, Irvin and Gorman. That's not very good odds.