Preston
MBow30 alt account
And the Leafs signed 6 of them!
The Official 2026-27 Leafs Season Thread: New Regime, Who Dis?
- Thread starter Pwner
- Start date
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
In fairness, a few of those 6 can almost play on a 3rd line.
Preston
MBow30 alt account
I'm interested to see how this ages. Teams like Carolina and Florida and now New Jersey and moving towards skilled depth and having skill on every single line. Chayka is stuck in 2003 with the gudpro bottom 6 Brian Burke thing. And a guy like MacEwan immediately caps how many minutes you can play one of the lines.
But I say it'll work out just cuz
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
I feel like we've seen a version of this movie before. If the top 6 is good and productive, while the blueline is at least average to average plus, it will be fine in the regular season. Maybe even pretty, pretty good. But when the playoffs roll around and the top 6 gets held to 1-2 goals a game, they'll get blamed for losing the series despite the bottom 6 scoring like 1 goal combined the entire series being like a -5 in games 6 & 7....as is tradition.
leafman101
Well-known member
Carolina has a lot of grinders in the bottom 6, but they have Staal and Ehlers who are better than Paul/Cowan.
Though they also have Blake and Hall on their second line instead of McKenna and Nylander.
Though they also have Blake and Hall on their second line instead of McKenna and Nylander.
leafman101
Well-known member
Leafs have to make a move now to sign Blankenburg.
Preston
MBow30 alt account
And there really isn't much room for injuries or extended slumps, so hopefully that top 6 stays healthy. Gonna need to add some scoring one way or another though.
It's encouraging that they've kicked tires on Marchenko at least. One big scorer up front and a #1d = easy cup. EASY
leafman101
Well-known member
Organizing the Leafs lines like the Canes do:
Knies-Matthews-Nylander
Cowan-Tavares-Roslovic
McKenna-Paul-Sissons
MacEwan-Blueger-Duhaim
Svech-Aho-Jarvis
Hall-Stankoven-Blake
Ehlers-Staal-Martinook
Deslaurier-Jankowski-Carrier
Knies-Matthews-Nylander
Cowan-Tavares-Roslovic
McKenna-Paul-Sissons
MacEwan-Blueger-Duhaim
Svech-Aho-Jarvis
Hall-Stankoven-Blake
Ehlers-Staal-Martinook
Deslaurier-Jankowski-Carrier
LeafOfFaith
Well-known member
Very glad that everybody slept on him. Love the guy. I don't know if this means that he'll be stuck on the Marlies, but hopefully he can reestablish himself with the new regime.
LeafOfFaith
Well-known member
Ehhhhh. Who? Roslovic wouldn't be considered a bottom sixer on most teams (definitely not a 4th liner), so he's not part of that group.
The only person you can be referring to is Sissons, and I don't think this guy is going to be a true third liner for us. Of all the contracts given out by Chaykes, this one is the one I really don't get. Like, how is he making more than Roslovic on the same term? Makes zero sense.
That said, I'm perfectly open to seeing the guy in action and having him show me that he's way better on the ice than he looks on paper.
I honestly think that out of all the 4th liners, Lorentz is the closest to a third liner.
MyNameIsJonas
Well-known member
Center
LeafOfFaith
Well-known member
I have no idea if Blankenburg is even any good. The fact that the best he could do was a PTO is a bit worrisome.
But if he is actually really good (like super elite third pairing guy), then, as much as I don't want to, I'd explore an OEL trade now. First stop would be SJ, whose D is absolute trash, and who could use 2 years of OEL at that price. My target would be their 1st rounder. They have more than enough youth now, and would presumably want to shore up D and get more competitive. And unless the D and G just sinks them, I'd expect their 1st to be a midrounder, but with that D and G the way they are, they could still falter and be outside the playoffs (I doubt it, but definitely a chance). If Couture is dead, might be a situation where we could shoehorn Joshua into the deal (you know Chaykes can't wait to get rid of him) and in one fell swoop create almost $7M of cap space while still icing a full roster.
CH1
The Artist Formerly Known as chiggins.
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
Paul, Sissons, Blueger, Joshua. None of them are particularly good 3rd liners.
The only team in his career he's been a consistent top 6'er on was Columbus.
Well this is just fucking crazy. Lorentz has been a back of the 4th liner/13th forward for his entire NHL career. Never remotely close to a 3rd liner. He's the worst of the pile other than probably MacEwen and maybe Duhaim but at least they punches faces while being plugs.
The other 4 I named are well above Lorentz (or Duhaim & MacEwen) in quality.
MyNameIsJonas
Well-known member
If Lorentz was even remotely special as a fourth liner someone would take him for free
LeafOfFaith
Well-known member
He's a legit good player. He actually can do things - skate, shoot, pass, play with some semblance of IQ.
Obviously, he doesn't have the skill to be a top sixer. But he has shown flashes of ability to at least hang with third line duties for a temporary spell, and is definitely an elite 4th liner imo.
Obviously, he doesn't have the skill to be a top sixer. But he has shown flashes of ability to at least hang with third line duties for a temporary spell, and is definitely an elite 4th liner imo.