Avalanche @ Leafs - Nov. 10th, 7:00pm - TSN4

[Chris]

Nylander is an enigma. He's going to play his hundred foot game regardless of the coach and his team. He's done that since he showed up. Matthews and Marner are into two way hockey. Nylander isn't. When the guy won't make a consistent effort defensively, you have to question his desire to win hockey games. He's a world class, superlative offensive talent who isn't into playing two way hockey. Phil Kessel was like that and he did alright so it isn't the end of the world. Nylander is a hard guy to read regardless.

I'm still kind of hoping the Leafs fire Hiller and bring in Tortorella, just to see how he interacts with Nylander.

 

[rjd]

I'm still kind of hoping the Leafs fire Hiller and bring in Tortorella, just to see how he interacts with Nylander.

Rogers may do that just for the ratings.

 

[cw]

I'm still kind of hoping the Leafs fire Hiller and bring in Tortorella, just to see how he interacts with Nylander.

This tagging thing has their hands tied. Merzlikins and his $4.4M might be back next month so the cap is going to get tighter - harder to have guys on the IR, etc. I fear a trade for the sake of shaking things up out of a position of weakness.

So I was wondering something similar.
If not Tortorella, Bruce Boudreau.
I think they would light a fire among players starting games half asleep.
Both are short wick coaches.
But this is a short term 'No Cup in the cards for you anyway' problem
Chayka has to be feeling some heat ...

Having said that, I don't think Hiller has been terrible. He came in under difficult circumstances. They have not had a lot of practices. But they've got no passion ...

They have to do something fairly soon or the season is over - they'll be in too deep of a hole

 

[cw]

I imagine the plan is kinda how you've laid it out. Wait till February and see where they are at. If things are bad, then they go to people and start to see if they want to be moved. You leave it up to Matthews, and if he does want to be moved, I imagine Minnesota might be a destination for him. Then it's what can you get from them for Matthews. They have their own first rounders for the next three years. For me that would be the starting point, and then you would want to see if they could throw in some other pieces, like an almost ready prospect, preferably a d-man or center.

Matthews left $53M on the table when he signed for 4 years instead of 8. Rosters are competitive for a while and then they're torn apart. To me, the timing is by design - not an accident. They looked into their crystal ball and concluded in the next 4 years (from signing date) that it might become time to jump ship. If it was too soon, they could add a year or two. They're not a contender and are not likely to be one any time soon so ...

To move him at the deadline so a team gets two runs with him - given how well he is playing, they'll get a hefty return to help McKenna & Cowan. If they wait until next year, they will get less and they have the risk of him remaining healthy.

 

[rjd]

This tagging thing has their hands tied. Merzlikins and his $4.4M might be back next month so the cap is going to get tighter - harder to have guys on the IR, etc. I fear a trade for the sake of shaking things up out of a position of weakness.

So I was wondering something similar.
If not Tortorella, Bruce Boudreau.
I think they would light a fire among players starting games half asleep.
Both are short wick coaches.
But this is a short term 'No Cup in the cards for you anyway' problem
Chayka has to be feeling some heat ...

Having said that, I don't think Hiller has been terrible. He came in under difficult circumstances. They have not had a lot of practices. But they've got no passion ...

They have to do something fairly soon or the season is over - they'll be in too deep of a hole

I get the feeling that it's the same story as last year. They keep hanging the problem hat on injuries. As long as they have that scapegoat they can just keep saying "It's a good team, we just keep getting injured". It's a weak argument. Other teams with injuries win games. Leafs should be able to as well. It's just they aren't that great of a team.

 

[cw]

I get the feeling that it's the same story as last year. They keep hanging the problem hat on injuries. As long as they have that scapegoat they can just keep saying "It's a good team, we just keep getting injured". It's a weak argument. Other teams with injuries win games. Leafs should be able to as well. It's just they aren't that great of a team.

They're one of the oldest teams in the league.
Older teams lose more games due to injury from lengthy wear & tear.
It's a basic fact. I can't accept it as an excuse for management. They know.

 

[Bender]

They're one of the oldest teams in the league.
Older teams lose more games due to injury from lengthy wear & tear.
It's a basic fact. I can't accept it as an excuse for management. They know.

Nevermind the fact that aging curves are what they are. How much improvement do we expect when most of our players have already clearly peaked? Where is this latent upside they were talking about?

 

[cw]

Nevermind the fact that aging curves are what they are. How much improvement do we expect when most of our players have already clearly peaked? Where is this latent upside they were talking about?

I don't recall talk of "latent upside"
They are 3rd oldest team in the league
So maybe whatever upside remains among the aged is 'latent'?
I was concerned about their average age before this season for injuries and performance decline
Nearly all of them are signed up through next season
If he starts trading picks to get teams to eat some of these contracts, you'll know he's feeling the heat.