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

Preston said:
I know better than to predict goalie performances in any given year. They have made fools of all of us time and time again.

With that said, I still don't like the risk-reward profile of the signing. Just tend to prefer to go cheaper in goal.

Off topic, but beyond the Evangelista bet, another thing that'll be interesting to watch with Mehta is how he handles his goaltending if his tandem this year is disastrous. He doesn't have much appetite to do much there I think:

"Because there is randomness at the position, I’m reluctant to invest significant assets there instead of in areas where the results may be more predictable.”
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Chayka is Leo DiCaprio in wolf of wall street and Mehta is Sheldon from the big bang theory.
 
Preston said:
NSFW:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV5ldOMiCjg


EDIT: this is a very incomplete highlight pack unfortunately. Like the play where he took the pass off the boards seamlessly and his harlem globetrotter shift with Matthews.
Click to expand...


I think what a lot of the eye scouting reports get wrong in McKenna v Stenberg is the over valuing of puck protection vs evasion. Puck protection is considered a part of a polished, professional game because elite evasion skills are so rare but slowing the puck down to win a slightly advantaged 50/50 battle is a much, much worse play than using hands and feet to evade the defender entirely.
 
MindzEye said:
I think what a lot of the eye scouting reports get wrong in McKenna v Stenberg is the over valuing of puck protection vs evasion. Puck protection is considered a part of a polished, professional game because elite evasion skills are so rare but slowing the puck down to win a slightly advantaged 50/50 battle is a much, much worse play than using hands and feet to evade the defender entirely.
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Dude looks like a hybrid of Kucherov, Kane and Marner. So slippery, skilled, better skater than advertised (the agility is wild), and a god damn hockey genius.

At the very least it's gonna be a blast to watch, which I haven't said about the Leafs since Auston was slinging 60+ in his sleep.
 
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Preston said:
NSFW:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV5ldOMiCjg


EDIT: this is a very incomplete highlight pack unfortunately. Like the play where he took the pass off the boards seamlessly and his harlem globetrotter shift with Matthews.
Click to expand...


Doesn't even include his best pass - the backhand pass as he was curling away to the boards just past the blueljne to spring nylander on the mini breakaway splitting the dmen in the 3rd.
 
MindzEye said:
I think what a lot of the eye scouting reports get wrong in McKenna v Stenberg is the over valuing of puck protection vs evasion. Puck protection is considered a part of a polished, professional game because elite evasion skills are so rare but slowing the puck down to win a slightly advantaged 50/50 battle is a much, much worse play than using hands and feet to evade the defender entirely.
Click to expand...

Yeah he instintively knows how to tempt and pull the defender to him to then beat him. It's great.
 
Ya Joshua's thing is unquestionably morbid obesity. Kind of dumb for him to show up to camp on the Byfuglien diet.

And also yeah sure seems like Stecher is the 6 to start the year.
 
Nice to have only 1 thing to realistically complain about though. I guess trying to shoehorn this Knies-Matthews thing that has never worked is dumb, but hey maybe it's worth giving it a whirl with a new coach before Gavin gets his turn.
 
zeke said:
Doesn't even include his best pass - the backhand pass as he was curling away to the boards just past the blueljne to spring nylander on the mini breakaway splitting the dmen in the 3rd.
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Yeah, I loved that one. It’s in Presty’s video posted a few posts up, very last clip.
 
I think reasonably the Leafs are in a cluster with Ottawa, Buffalo, and Boston in the Atlantic.

Florida is better, and Tampa gets the benefit of the doubt, but if i squint they could be in the above group too.

Detroit might be the worst team in the East.
 
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