Toronto Maple Leafs

[R.J]

Nice debut for Mathews 4 goals and counting at the second intermission.
Keeping in mind he can't keep this pace up I'm predicting 300 goals for his rookie season!!

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/...ason-1.3802506

If people were tired of hearing about Matthews already: tomorrow will not be a good day for them. Matthews has been impressive.

[Will]

An impressive debut for the kid, but as expected the defence and goaltending isn't going to be able to keep up with the forwards it appears. The Senators won the game in OT.

[ArgoGabe22]

So what's with the attendance? Home opener vs the Leafs and a lot of empty seats. Everyone loves to pounce on the Argos so I'm interested how the media will handle this.

[PullTogether73]

So what's with the attendance? Home opener vs the Leafs and a lot of empty seats. Everyone loves to pounce on the Argos so I'm interested how the media will handle this.

Yes, I heard about the poor attendance.
And the fact that there was the usual large amount of Maple Leafs fans there is rather distressing for the Senators I only.

I guess they can't compete with the REDBLACKS for fans!

[ArgoRavi]

Apparently, the Canucks, like the Lions, are struggling to fill seats in Vancouver too.

[Argo57]

An impressive debut for the kid, but as expected the defence and goaltending isn't going to be able to keep up with the forwards it appears. The Senators won the game in OT.

Another season low in the standing will be beneficial as the Leafs have a stockpile of picks again this year.

[Will]

Another season low in the standing will be beneficial as the Leafs have a stockpile of picks again this year.

It definitely would because the Maple Leafs have a stronger prospect pool at forward than their prospect pool at defence. I like Rielly and see promise in Zaitsev and Carrick to a degree, but am not a fan of Jake Gardiner or the other two scrubs who were playing there against the Senators.

http://www.tsn.ca/keon-tops-the-one-...leafs-1.585168

I voted for this a few weeks back and honestly could not come up with 100 players. I was stuck around 75-80 players.

[PullTogether73]

I voted for this a few weeks back and honestly could not come up with 100 players. I was stuck around 75-80 players.

I'm impressed you could get to 75-80!
I wouldn't have been able to get that far.

I was fine with the order of the top 25 generally, and certainly the top 4.

I was most surprised at the number of seasons played on the Maple Leafs by some of the players.
I thought for sure that Mike Palmateer played more seasons than either Felix Potvin or Cujo. Nope.
And Tim Horton. 20 seasons!

[Argo57]

Considering the performance of this franchise since 1967 not surprised by some of the selections further down the list (Tie Domi #93) comes to mind.

[Will]

I'm impressed you could get to 75-80!
I wouldn't have been able to get that far.

I was fine with the order of the top 25 generally, and certainly the top 4.

I was most surprised at the number of seasons played on the Maple Leafs by some of the players.
I thought for sure that Mike Palmateer played more seasons than either Felix Potvin or Cujo. Nope.
And Tim Horton. 20 seasons!

I was probably stretching for the last little bit, but honestly I don't remember.

Good on the Maple Leafs for retiring the #'s instead of honoring them. Some don't understand it, but I think that it was important symbolically to bring Dave Keon back into the fold and this has accomplished that.

[PullTogether73]

Dave Keon is my favourite Leafs player, so getting him back onside (no pun intended) makes me happy.

I can't say I really care about the whole retiring numbers thing, but he wanted it, so I'm fine with it.
I find it amusing that the Leafs were the first NHL team to retire a number, yet they did not want to do it after Bill Barilko.

I find the installation of a player's statue on Legends Row more significant tbh.

[Will]

The policy of only retiring numbers in the event of a calamity affecting that player is something that dates back to the Conn Smythe days. What is interesting is that Harold E. Ballard (may he rot in hell) continued this policy in spite of ignoring much of what Smythe had done in the past.

[PullTogether73]

LOL!
I believe that we both know that Harold Ballard honoring any player (or anyone aside from himself for that matter) would never happen.

[R.J]

I'm not a fan of retiring numbers. I actually thought the Leafs did well with "honouring" them and with legends row.

[Will]

Next summer's draft must concentrate on defence. We don't want the Maple Leafs' rebuilding program to be extended like the Oilers due to not prioritizing defence.

[AngeloV]

Next summer's draft must concentrate on defence. We don't want the Maple Leafs' rebuilding program to be extended like the Oilers due to not prioritizing defence.

They already have a good young core coming up in Dermott and Neilson with Reilly and Zaitsev already looking very good. If they are waiting for draft picks that haven't be made to come in and shore up the D, they will be waiting a long time. Probably need to add a good vet, possibly through free agency.

[Will]

They already have a good young core coming up in Dermott and Neilson with Reilly and Zaitsev already looking very good. If they are waiting for draft picks that haven't be made to come in and shore up the D, they will be waiting a long time. Probably need to add a good vet, possibly through free agency.

Likely that won't be for a few years yet.

[Will]

It wasn't going to be any secret that the Maple Leafs were going to struggle in their own end, but I understand the frustration inherent in giving up 3rd period leads in all four of their losses and especially a 4-0 lead against the Jets and a 4-2 lead against the Blackhawks. Still, people should really not panic because this team wasn't in a place to contend and could benefit from another year near the bottom to continue to build depth in the system. Here's what Leafs fans should be optimistic about:

Leaf rookie point totals now 23 in 5 games. Matthews, Nylander, Marner and Zaitsev have combined for 6 points tonight. #TMLtalk

— Paul Hendrick (@HennyTweets) October 23, 2016

William Nylander and Austin Matthews look like they have some great chemistry going and Marner looks dangerous on a lot of the shifts that he plays.

IMO, there's no sense in panicking and going out there and acquiring a D-man. I agree with Angelo that the time to sign a veteran D-man will come, but it isn't in 2016-2017.

[Argo57]

LOL!
I believe that we both know that Harold Ballard honoring any player (or anyone aside from himself for that matter) would never happen.

Because he was a spiteful asshole.

[PullTogether73]

Still, people should really not panic because this team wasn't in a place to contend and could benefit from another year near the bottom to continue to build depth in the system.

IMO, there's no sense in panicking and going out there and acquiring a D-man. I agree with Angelo that the time to sign a veteran D-man will come, but it isn't in 2016-2017.

Agreed.
Hopefully management doesn't lose sight of the longer term plan and start plugging in short term fixes that result in short term results.