• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

The Official 2026-27 Leafs Season Thread: New Regime, Who Dis?

Yeah we're not playing nearly well enough for me to get upset at the goalies. Our goaltending is too expensive and was always likely to be mediocre and has been. The hope was that bob could be a difference maker in the playoffs.

I'm a bit surprised that the goalie split hasn't been a bit more even though. I was expecting a pretty even tandem for the regular season.
 
Chayka sure seems available for media soundbytes 24/7. Isn't it Hiller's job to support his goalie?
 
Screenshot 2026-10-29 132758.png
​

5v5 we've been just plain bad, but at least not completely disastrous yet. They can still turn this around. Their offensive skill has helped raise their poor 5v5 play but the poor 5v5 goaltending has more than balanced that out unfortunately.

Thankfully, the special teams have been elite and based on the roster there's good reason to think that's sustainable.

But there's no question we have to be much much better at 5v5. Losing Marchenko has been pretty killer there tbh. After a truly dominant win against the oilers, the team has kinda fallen apart xgf-wise without Marchenko these last two games.
 
I don't usually react too much while watching regular season games, but when he let in that Montour shot I involuntarily just yelled out something like, what the fuck, how the fuck did you just let that in! And then kept talking to the tv for 10 seconds. Some of the goals he's allowing are just awful, easy shots where they should bounce off him if he's got the angle or go straight into his glove or body.
 
This might be the first time I can remember the Toronto media blaming the goalie too much and being too easy on the players.

Not that Bob has been good or hasn't cost them dearly in some games this year... But it feels like the bigger story for me is that they're playing Berube caliber hockey this year despite Matthews having a raging cock, Marchenko being a huge upgrade on knies, Roslovic being the best 4m ever spent, and Cowan becoming a star.

Crazy that they're still shit in spite of all of that, though injuries have been an enormous factor. Just wish they built a team a touch more resistant to injuries, but elite depth can't be built in a day.
 
The downside is, no one will take him if he's rocking these kinds of numbers.

I still have to believe the guy hasn't completely lost it. Because despite letting in bad goals, he does otherwise make good athletic saves to keep things close. I just don't know what his problem is with those high shots and how they haven't quickly addressed it. His positioning is just kind of crap and he's down too early and often. On the winner last night, all he has to do is fucking flex and that puck doesn't go through him.
 
LeafOfFaith said:
I don't usually react too much while watching regular season games, but when he let in that Montour shot I involuntarily just yelled out something like, what the fuck, how the fuck did you just let that in! And then kept talking to the tv for 10 seconds. Some of the goals he's allowing are just awful, easy shots where they should bounce off him if he's got the angle or go straight into his glove or body.
Click to expand...

Oh that was you??
 
Preston said:
This might be the first time I can remember the Toronto media blaming the goalie too much and being too easy on the players.

Not that Bob has been good or hasn't cost them dearly in some games this year... But it feels like the bigger story for me is that they're playing Berube caliber hockey this year despite Matthews having a raging cock, Marchenko being a huge upgrade on knies, Roslovic being the best 4m ever spent, and Cowan becoming a star.

Crazy that they're still shit in spite of all of that, though injuries have been an enormous factor. Just wish they built a team a touch more resistant to injuries, but elite depth can't be built in a day.
Click to expand...
Injuries are big because we're losing key players, not bottom sixers. And there's only so many that can be out at one time, forcing you to put Lettieri and Groulx types in the lineup. They're not playing dump and chase, so it's not Biff hockey, but there's something about their system that just looks off. But maybe it's just guys like Paul playing too high in the lineup too.
 
If Nylander could drive and carry an elite 2nd line, they'd probably be a 100 point team easily. That's my biggest disappointment, but he isn't that guy anymore and neither is Tavares.

The sexy mother fucker plays a lot of minutes and they have consistently lost those minutes. Badly. That alone is gonna make that 5 on 5 play look pretty bad.
 
I'm not worried in the slightest about Nylander. I don't care what the virgin stats say. He's a driver and he's amazing.

Once Tavares and Marchenko are back, I expect him to play with them, and I expect that to be a monster line.
 
The Virgin stats do say he's amazing, let's be clear, just as much as the Chad stats. They just say he's not dragging any line by his dick in terms of driving possession. And the presence of him on any particular line has tilted the ice in the wrong direction at 5 on 5. Not unlike Gav.

But none of that means they're bad. It just means you need your coach to think creatively and put them in the right spots to thrive. Or have prime Tavares or some elite 2C to help them along.
 
Preston said:
If Nylander could drive and carry an elite 2nd line, they'd probably be a 100 point team easily. That's my biggest disappointment, but he isn't that guy anymore and neither is Tavares.

The sexy mother fucker plays a lot of minutes and they have consistently lost those minutes. Badly. That alone is gonna make that 5 on 5 play look pretty bad.
Click to expand...

What would it take for a player to go from sus to good defensively— is it mostly knowing how to play without the puck?

Seems like it couid be taught to a skilled player. If they were willing to put in the time and study video
 
Eye test disagrees with that, to a point. There are some games where he's not engaged, but this is just whatever at this point, you take the good with the bad with every player. On the nights when he's on, he has the puck on his stick for most of the shift and he's controlling play in a big way. Maybe the virgin stats average out to not being great because of those disengaged games, but we should be fine with that when he's still producing at a high level overall.
 
CH1 said:
What would it take for a player to go from sus to good defensively— is it mostly knowing how to play without the puck?

Seems like it couid be taught to a skilled player. If they were willing to put in the time and study video
Click to expand...
Ya I have no idea honestly, I think part of it is that he cheats for offense more than he used to and I recall him winning a lot more puck battles and being generally tenacious but that's all gay eye test stuff. His Chad stats have gone parabolic since his defensive metrics fell, so it's not like it's all for nothing. Part of it could also be prime Tavares being able to cover for some of his warts in the past. I don't know. His xga is hilarious this year tho. It's a problem.

With the first line being super elite for most of the year, an obvious culprit of their shit start is that the line that is centered around Nylander hasn't been good enough. It's not all his fault, but you just wish he could drive it. Marchenko helped with that though. A lot. His injury was crushing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CH1
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top