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The ****ing Offseason Thread 2018

I'd vote for "without glasses". Love the guy, but not a fan of the thick-rimmed hipster glasses he's favoured.

Anyway, it was a pretty solid interview, for anyone who's got 40-50 minutes to burn on watching it.

Just based on what I can remember after watching it last night, here's a few things that caught my attention:



  • Regarding Josh Leivo, he mentioned that he's in great shape, a hard worker, positive guy and that he expects him to challenge for a spot in this year's lineup. He also further said (and I'm paraphrasing) that if it's not going to work out for him here, that they'll "find a good situation for him". That seemed to me to be a pretty clear indication that he won't keep him in limbo like Lou did if Babcock's not playing him.

  • He wouldn't commit to who their backup goalie will be this year. Mentioned McElhinney, Sparks, Pickard & Kaskisuo will all be battling for the job in camp. Further mentioned that since three of those guys (with the exception of Kaskisuo) are subject to waivers and there's only two spots, that a trade is something they'll consider.

  • No update on the Nylander contract. Regarding whether Nylander will report to camp without a contract, Dubas said that's something that hasn't come up in discussions, but based on the precedent set around the league, he expects that he wouldn't be at camp if he doesn't have a contract.

  • Seemed to suggest that it's likely that Matthews & Marner won't have extensions before the start of the season. He said that he can't speak to whether the players will want their representatives to continue negotiations in-season, but that the organization, with Gilman & Pridham in the fold, would be prepared to do so.

  • A captain will not be named prior to the season. Left the door open to it happening during the season. Feels it's better to let it develop organically than rush into it.

  • When asked of there's any book that Dubas regards as his "Bible", Dubas said it changes, but he keeps coming back to "The Score Takes Care of Itself" by Bill Walsh.

  • Regarding the defense, he says that's the thing people bring up most to him on the street, but that "#1 defensemen" are difficult and expensive to acquire through trade or free agency. Reiterated that he's bullish on the defensemen they already have in the system. Mentioned Ozhiganov, Rosen, Borgman, Carrick, Marincin & Holl. Also specifically mentioned how Marincin-Holl was the top defense pairing the Marlies rode to their Calder Cup.


I'm sure there's more, but that's what I can recall at the moment.
 
Regarding the defense, he says that's the thing people bring up most to him on the street, but that "#1 defensemen" are difficult and expensive to acquire through trade or free agency. Reiterated that he's bullish on the defensemen they already have in the system. Mentioned Ozhiganov, Rosen, Borgman, Carrick, Marincin & Holl. Also specifically mentioned how Marincin-Holl was the top defense pairing the Marlies rode to their Calder Cup.
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in other words, there's no deal out there for anybody worthwhile wherein we don't end up with rectal bleeding.

I think with the three worst defensive players gone and more Dermott, our team defence has improved over last year. I can't see how it won't be. and we got 105 points with essentially half a defence last season, with Bozak at centre instead of Tavares.
 
Yeah, I'd agree. I can't really see how our defense won't be improved either.

Even just the fact that Roman Polak has been subtracted from it and we'll have Dermott for the full season is a big improvement.

You'd also hope that Zaitsev can't be worse than he was last year.

And hopefully Babcock learned something from the way Hainsey's play dropped off in the second half after he'd run him into the ground.
 
LeafGm said:
Yeah, I'd agree. I can't really see how our defense won't be improved either.

Even just the fact that Roman Polak has been subtracted from it and we'll have Dermott for the full season is a big improvement.

You'd also hope that Zaitsev can't be worse than he was last year.

And hopefully Babcock learned something from the way Hainsey's play dropped off in the second half after he'd run him into the ground.
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If Zaitsev is as bad, we're in a bit of trouble because he's not playable on a serious team playing like that. let's assume it was injury and he'll be a #4. or at absolute worst, solid in a #5 RD role against weaker competition. if he can do that paired with one of the kids even, we're still ahead of what we had last year. he'd be overpaid, but not by a huge amount. he's more over-committed to.

And yeah, we can't do that with Hainsey again. they know that. it won't happen. he'll still be relatively heavy on the PK as we're more weighted on the offensive side with this group, but they need a Holl or one of the kids to be able to show in that kind of Polak role. without the blind hammering it down the ice constantly, that is.

Rielly simply needs to continue to be the player we've seen over the last season or so. legit top pair dman.

Gardiner is what he is. he'll be this season's JVR contract, and it's a bit scarier because without Dermott essentially supplanting him on the ice it won't be nearly as easy to walk away. he's a legit top 4 dman who's shown he can put up significant offensive totals. Just like JVR was a legit top 6 forward who showed he could score 30 or 35 goals.

we'll be ok if Dermott steps forward, and Liljegren shows enough in the minors this year that he can be promoted next season as well. that's actually a reasonably realistic scenario, in fact. hard to say what we'll get from the other names on the depth chart at this point, or even how many will ever get a chance.
 
Volcanologist said:
in other words, there's no deal out there for anybody worthwhile wherein we don't end up with rectal bleeding.

I think with the three worst defensive players gone and more Dermott, our team defence has improved over last year. I can't see how it won't be. and we got 105 points with essentially half a defence last season, with Bozak at centre instead of Tavares.
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...and Matthews out for 1/4 of the season.
 
If there's one thing that can derail the good vibes of this Leafs train, it's not getting all of the big 3 under contract now.

Whatever the best deal is that they can get on Matty and Marner, they should do it now. Because whatever that number is now, it'll be higher one year from now.
 
Even though everyone is impressed with Dermott, I think he's generally underrated, even by his own fans. I don't think Dubas is blowing smoke when he says he likes the blueline talent.
 
This made me chuckle, because Fins
[Shilton] Kasperi Kapanen found out Komarov was leaving on Twitter, called him and was like, "what are you doing?" Now Leafs Finnish numbers are all off: "We lost a Finn, and then I think we got a couple more Swedes, so I don’t really like this set up right now. It’s very bad. Very bad."
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BeLeafer said:
Even though everyone is impressed with Dermott, I think he's generally underrated, even by his own fans. I don't think Dubas is blowing smoke when he says he likes the blueline talent.
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he was very good last year but in very, very sheltered minutes.

it was a great and promising start. and he's earned a chance to start carrying a heavier load.
 
mbow30 said:
he was very good last year but in very, very sheltered minutes.

it was a great and promising start. and he's earned a chance to start carrying a heavier load.
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Yep.

My point about underrated is that few, if any, project him to have a high ceiling (top four mostly). This, I think, is due to the fact that he was selected outside of the first round and was reported to have skating weaknesses when drafted. He's now a very good skater with nice quick moves for a blueliner.

I think his ceiling is very high. Potential top pairing and even #1 guy.
 
I never heard anything negative about his skating at any point, but I don't disBELEAF you BL. But to me, he is a beautiful skater, great player, loved by his teammates and going to be the 2018 version of Tim Horton.

This is how Dermott is built by the way.....


https://www.google.com/search?q=tim...KHVPCBGoQ9QEwBXoECAYQDg#imgrc=_l-aIudWGPia0M:


That is Tim Horton around the same age as Dermott.

Bobby Nevin and Bobby Baun one night at a saloon in Toronto, told me, that Horton would still be the strongest NHL player of all time, even stronger than Chara. Now I don't know if I buy that one, but, he was pretty damn strong.

Dermott has some applesauce as well, and might start tossing bodies around in front of the net, as he becomes more NHL comfortable.
 
On Sirius radio this week, someone said there was a possible hold out situation with Nylander due to contract negotiation stall.. anyone hear anything?
 
No surprise there. I have been calling this one for a while. I think Nylander loves Toronto, loves how many Swedes are in town for both the Leafs and the Marlies, but his dad wants the max, and Dubas wants Nylander on a decent deal.

It has the potential to get a bit ugly. Too bad the Blues got greedy at the last minute and wanted more than just Nylander for Parayko straight up.

William could well turn out to be just like Micheal, a bit of a NHL talented tumbleweed. Playing for many teams over his career. I like the kid, but would drive him to the airport if he rendered a stud dman.
 
there are a whole bunch of rfas unsigned right now. none of them will show up to camp without a contract.
 
This is nothing new but people will try and make a big deal out of it.

Too much risk for the player going to camp without a contract

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