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GDT #4: TOR @ DAL

zeke

zeke

Well-known member
still finalizing the numbers.

But lineup news:

Good: Kappy is still on the 1st line, with ennis on the 4th.

Meh: Ozzy back in for Marincin.

Bad: Goat in for Johnsson.

Funny: Leivo demoted to the 4th line for......Lindholm.
 
Full lines:

Patrick Marleau - Auston Matthews - Kasperi Kapanen
Zach Hyman - John Tavares - Mitch Marner
Par Lindholm - Nazem Kadri - Connor Brown
Josh Leivo - Frederik Gauthier - Tyler Ennis

Morgan Rielly - Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner - Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott - Igor Ozhiganov

Andersen
Sparks
 
Like...on the one hand, I don't really object to Babcock sending Johnsson a wake-up call. So far this season, Johnsson hasn't even resembled the player who was awesome as a late-season call-up for the Leafs last year, and the Marlies best playoff en route to a Calder Cup championship.

But I don't at all get replacing him in the lineup with Freddie Gauthier. Or moving the guy that we're grooming for the 4th line center spot (and who hasn't been impressive so far) up to the wing on Kadri's line three games into his NHL career, so that you can bump Josh Leivo down to the fourth line.

Should also be funny to see how little ice-time that fourth line gets tonight. I'm betting it'll be under seven minutes of ice-time at even-strength by the end of the night.
 
LeafGm said:
Should also be funny to see how little ice-time that fourth line gets tonight. I'm betting it'll be under seven minutes of ice-time at even-strength by the end of the night.
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If this happens, though, that is actually a good thing.

I won't complain at all about the 4th line getting next to no minutes, even if it includes my boy Leivo.

The big 3 centers shoujld be getting all the minutes.
 
On the other hand, good to see Kappy on the top line.


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jesus did Kadri fart in Babs' car or something?? damn.

Johnsson getting scratched for Gauthier is lol, although he did deserve to sit.
 
Ignoring the bottom six weirdoness lines, let's hope Kapanen rips it up again tonight. Do it and Willy will be signed Wednesday morning.
 
MyNameIsJonas said:
that bottom 6 is very strange.
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I'm going to give Babs a bit of credit here and say there is more going on than meets the eye. At least, that's what I am hoping is true, cause the alternative is less pleasant...

Could just be a matter of setting the right tone or sending the right messages early in the season. Could be.

Or, Babs has doubled down on some of his worst tendencies.
 
Also as a casual observer i would suggest everyone but Kadri in that bottom 6 has been a certain level of dissappointing, the forward depth this team was supposed to have hasn't exactly been shining through. Marner, Matthews, Tavares have been even better than people have thought, and Kadri and Kapanen IMO look good, but to me all of Johnsson, Leivo, Brown, Ennis, Per/Par have been varying degrees of garbage.
 
4 - 2 dallas leads defence has sucked so far this year (except MR offensively).
Leivo has done nothing to even keep him in the lineup. He looks slow and keeps giving the puck away....
Hope kap has a hell if a game
 
MyNameIsJonas said:
Also as a casual observer i would suggest everyone but Kadri in that bottom 6 has been a certain level of dissappointing, the forward depth this team was supposed to have hasn't exactly been shining through. Marner, Matthews, Tavares have been even better than people have thought, and Kadri and Kapanen IMO look good, but to me all of Johnsson, Leivo, Brown, Ennis, Per/Par have been varying degrees of garbage.
Click to expand...

I haven't seen enough of Lindholm to pass judgment quite yet, although maybe I should be more concerned with how invisible he has been.

Brown, Johnsson, Ennis have all been super poop.

I thought Leivo looked better in the first two games, but wasn't as strong against Chicago.

But overall, yeah, bottom six has not been a strength. Naz was great in game one but hasn't been as strong since, but he also has Brown on his right wing sucking.

The bottom six is something Babs will have to figure out.
 
Our bottom 6 has been good. We have been missing one of our best forwards and haven't missed a beat. We just had a 4th liner legitimately, and deservedly step up into a first line role to fill in for Willy. Kadri has been good. Lindholm has been good. Leivo-Ennis is a skilled 4th line.

It would be nice if Johnsson didn't start slow, but once he gets back to form and Willy returns all of a sudden a Johnsson-Kadri-Kapanen line is a very skilled 3rd line.

Our bottom 6 has been better than any team we have faced so far. Dallas has:

Shore-Faksa-Pitlick
Nichuchkin-Hintz-Ritchie

The alternative is to not stack the top 2 lines and throw Marleau, Kapanen or Marner on the third line but that is the exact opposite of what people here usually want.
 
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