The Motherfucking 2021 Season Thread

[LeafGm]

I definitely don’t get Boyd being more of a bubble boy than Vesey. Even with Vesey’s goals, I think Boyd’s been the more valuable player.

Though it’s a nice sign of progress at least that we’re down to nit-picking the fourth line now, and that’s where Vesey is playing. Barring any more injuries, the top three lines are looking pretty set.

 

[zeke]

I never really realized just how little Lou did as GM here.


Lou Inherited ----> Team Lou

1st Overall -----> Matthews
Marner --------> Marner
Nylander ------> Nylander

Kadri -----------> Kadri
VanRiemsdyk -> VanRiemsdyk
Hyman --------> Hyman

Bozak ----------> Bozak
Lupul ----------> Marleau
Komarov ------> Komarov

Winnik --------> Plekanec
Panik -----------> Martin
Holland -------> Moore

Verhaeghe ----> Grundstrom
Brown ---------> Brown
Kapanen -------> Kapanen
Johnsson ------> Johnsson
Leivo -----------> Leivo


Rielly ----------> Rielly
Gardiner ------> Gardiner

Phaneuf -------> Zaitsev
Hunwick ------> Hainsey

Polak -----------> Polak
Dermott --------> Dermott

Robidas ---------> Carrick
Harrington ----> Borgman

Marincin -------> Marincin
PIT #1 ----------> Liljegren


Bernier ---------> Andersen
Reimer ---------> McElhinney
Sparks ----------> Sparks


lol. he did nothing but replace bad contracts with bad contracts.


Basically the only 2 things Lou did here that were worth anything were:

1. Tanking for Auston. Except that it was barely a tank - he inherited the 4th worst team in hockey, and his 1st year leafs actually finsihed a point ahead of where they finished the year before. And of course they needed a crapload of luck to avoid settling for Laine or Puljujarvi.

2. Trading for Fred. Legit credit for that - good price for a good goalie.

 

[Wayward DP]

I never really realized just how little Lou did as GM here.


Lou Inherited ----> Team Lou

1st Overall -----> Matthews
Marner --------> Marner
Nylander ------> Nylander

Kadri -----------> Kadri
VanRiemsdyk -> VanRiemsdyk
Hyman --------> Hyman

Bozak ----------> Bozak
Lupul ----------> Marleau
Komarov ------> Komarov

Winnik --------> Plekanec
Panik -----------> Martin
Holland -------> Moore

Verhaeghe ----> Grundstrom
Brown ---------> Brown
Kapanen -------> Kapanen
Johnsson ------> Johnsson
Leivo -----------> Leivo


Rielly ----------> Rielly
Gardiner ------> Gardiner

Phaneuf -------> Zaitsev
Hunwick ------> Hainsey

Polak -----------> Polak
Dermott --------> Dermott

Robidas ---------> Carrick
Harrington ----> Borgman

Marincin -------> Marincin
PIT #1 ----------> Liljegren


Bernier ---------> Andersen
Reimer ---------> McElhinney
Sparks ----------> Sparks


lol. he did nothing but replace bad contracts with bad contracts.


Basically the only 2 things Lou did here that were worth anything were:

1. Tanking for Auston. Except that it was barely a tank - he inherited the 4th worst team in hockey, and his 1st year leafs actually finsihed a point ahead of where they finished the year before. And of course they needed a crapload of luck to avoid settling for Laine or Puljujarvi.

2. Trading for Fred. Legit credit for that - good price for a good goalie.

the Phaneuf trade also deserves kudos.

I mean, he then wasted the cap space on Zaitsev, but the trade in isolation was fucking fantastic.

 

[zeke]

I thought about giving him credit for that....but all it was was a way to clear salary, and he wasted all of it on just as bad contracts...so I dunno.

 

[zeke]

and sure Zaitsev was $2.5m cheaper.....but he's signed until 2025!

 

[Wayward DP]

also didn't Lou create Robidas island?

 

[Wayward DP]

I think you need to uncouple Phaneuf & Zaitsev.

Phaneuf trade was good. Full stop.

But then Lou wasted the cap space, separate problem.

and don't get me wrong, I was one of the most anti-Lou people on here when we hired him.

 

[zeke]

hmm tough to praise pure capsaving moves when he that capspace is then just wasted and committed for even longer.

hell, Marleau ended up costing us a 1st round pick too.

 

[hockeylover]

Also... suppose it's a bit early to say for sure that Dubas' drafts are better (but they look that way) but the Lou drafts aren't great.

 

[LeafGm]

I do think Lou deserves credit for how the tank for Matthews was managed.

It was a pretty delicate dance to pull off that last-place finish without stripping everything of value off the roster and subjecting any of our legit prospects to a ton of losing to start their careers.

The upshot was that Matthews & co were able to hit the ground running, instead of stepping into the smoking ruins of an NHL team like McDavid & Eichel did.

And although we didn’t end up winning anything those first few years, Lamoriello’s ruthless management of the cap with players like Lupul, Robidas and Michalek (among others) allowed us to hang on to some of the best players of the Burke era (JVR, Bozak, Gardiner, Kadri) for longer than we otherwise would have.

 

[leafman101]

Lou would have been good in the Fletcher 2.0 role. Just come for a year, dump Phaneuf, Robias and Lupul, tank then add Andersen and then go away.

Dubas probably did learn a lot about running an organization from Lou, from an off ice perspective. And I think that is what Lou was really about. Shanny loved Dubas but he was a literal kid.

 

[zeke]

He inherited the 4th worst team that had just traded its worst player.

And his "tank" finished better than the year before.

 

[hockeylover]

I think he did a few good things but he didn't actually "build" much when you think about it considering the position we were in and think we could be even better right now if Dubas didn't have to unravel some of the bad moves he did.

 

[zeke]

Here's what he added to the organization by the time he left:

Marleau - Plekanec - Martin
Grundstrom - Moore - Brooks

Hainsey - Zaitsev
Borgman - Carrick
Rosen - Liljegren

Andersen
McElhinney

 

[Volcanologist]

what he did with the money was dumb, but unloading Phaneuf was probably his best move. so nice of the sens to take zaitsev too later.

 

[Wayward DP]

hmm tough to praise pure capsaving moves when he that capspace is then just wasted and committed for even longer.

hell, Marleau ended up costing us a 1st round pick too.

fairly simple.

clearing cap space the way he did = good.

using cap space the way he did = bad.

 

[zeke]

One shows he knows the value of capsapce, one shows he actually doesn't, which trumps the first.

 

[hockeylover]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1367926861121134604

 

[Preston]

Am I crazy to pencil in Taylor Hall already?

 

[Preston]

Hall-Tavares-Nylander will be the best second line in franchise history and it won't be particularly close.