The Motherfucking 2021 Season Thread

[BG]

If the players see the results of competent management - they will go wherever it is the manager takes them.

It's the player's job to perform, and be a good teammate. The trading of other players is out of their hands, but there is obviously an emotional consequence of seeing a friend and teammate traded. That said, they all know that it part of the business - and if they trust management, then they will push forward looking toward better results.

The big fear that fans have, is that a star player will sour on a team if they trade a friend/teammate (see Lowery/DeRozen). Athletes are paid millions to perform their jobs at the risk of serious physical injury - and yes, maybe a few tears.

 

[CH1]

You guys have to stop listening to the media that you so clearly hate and disrespect. #thisistheway

 

[Artnes]

I dont mind CJ. Seems to be the closet link to the team and often times is a mouth piece on their behalf

The rest of them can take a lap

 

[LeafGm]

I dont mind CJ. Seems to be the closet link to the team and often times is a mouth piece on their behalf

The rest of them can take a lap

Yeah, I agree CJ’s usually pretty good.

I’d be surprised if, in full context, he was actually suggesting Fred’s friendship with Matthews would be an impediment to moving on from Fred for Dubas.

 

[MindzEye]

You guys have to stop listening to the media that you so clearly hate and disrespect. #thisistheway

Damn near impossible

 

[zeke]

It's all a fancy way of implying our guys are unprofessional entitled primadonnas.

 

[zeke]

Yeah, I agree CJ’s usually pretty good.

I’d be surprised if, in full context, he was actually suggesting Fred’s friendship with Matthews would be an impediment to moving on from Fred for Dubas.

As always, he was just trying to fill air.

 

[LeafGm]

Lebrun just released an article/interview with Dubas.



Nothing earth shattering, but here are Dubas’s quotes on potential additions.

On acquiring a top-6 winger:


“I think the emergence of Galchenyuk playing with John and William, both in terms of the fact he’s produced a little bit but in terms of how hard he’s playing and the effectiveness that he’s brought to the group, I think certainly reduces the urgency.”

“But with all that said, if we can do something that we think is going to be a good fit in the locker room and on the ice, I think we would still very openly explore that.’’

On adding a goalie:


“Jack has obviously played excellent goal for us and has been outstanding. “A great story. He’s an incredibly hard worker and a talented person who has put it all together and has everyone rooting for him because of his character and who he is as a teammate and a person.

“(Michael Hutchinson) has come in and played solid hockey for us as well. So we’re very happy with him.’’

Dubas also made the point of saying the Leafs are developing three young goalies in Joseph Woll, Ian Scott and Veini Vehvilainen.

“So though I appreciate the anxiety and the consternation because of the position that it is, I think what we’re going to do in the coming days is continue to see where Fred is at. We don’t expect that it’s going to be anything that is long-term, and use all the time that we have up to the deadline to continue to evaluate that. And then roll from there.’’

“It’s my expectation that in the coming weeks here that the three goalies between the roster and the taxi squad will be Freddy Andersen, Jack Campbell and Michael Hutchinson.’’


On adding a defenseman:



“We feel confident in our depth there. That said, we’ll see how the market shakes out on D. If there is an opportunity to upgrade, if you look at the teams that go far, they tend to go through a lot of D.

“We’ve really only used our six so far and not really test it, but even in training camp it was an area we felt really good about.’’

 

[Artnes]

I will continue to hold on to hope that the goalie situation answer is lip service until the deadline.

 

[axlsalinger]

lol why do people coddle this guy so much.

LOL, I liked this post before scrolling down and realizing it was meant to mock Boudreau.

I've heard him interviewed a lot, and he knows what he's talking about.

And it's absolutely a criticism of Andersen, certainly framed to not upset someone he coached and may well be friendly with. Also his idea that if they are both healthy, they should alternate games down the stretch with whoever's playing better start in the playoffs is definitely what most teams would do, which is why I'd like to see Freddie traded, so we don't have to deal with it.

Campbell does seem injury-prone so they would absolutely need to at least bring in a 1B.

 

[hockeylover]

Uh, I don't really think I'd say I was "mocking" Boudreau there. But yes, I'm tired of the excuses for him. It doesn't really make sense unless he's been injured since last year.

 

[MindzEye]

I will continue to hold on to hope that the goalie situation answer is lip service until the deadline.

It fucking has to be.

There's no way he can be comfortable with Freddy back there. He knows as well as anyone what the statistical trend on Freddy's play is. This isn't a slump, this is 2 yrs of steady decline.

 

[hockeylover]

“It’s my expectation that in the coming weeks here that the three goalies between the roster and the taxi squad will be Freddy Andersen, Jack Campbell and Michael Hutchinson.’’

I can't express how deeply disappointed I would be if he actually thinks this is a good goaltending situation for a conteder.

 

[Wayward DP]

It fucking has to be.

There's no way he can be comfortable with Freddy back there. He knows as well as anyone what the statistical trend on Freddy's play is. This isn't a slump, this is 2 yrs of steady decline.

one of the few cases where the out to lunch hockey media in this town could help us in a trade

 

[zeke]

He just publicly said "hey I don't really need to trade for any forward dman or goalie everybody a week before the deadline. We know what that is.

 

[hockeylover]

He just publicly said "hey I don't really need to trade for any forward dman or goalie everybody a week before the deadline. We know what that is.

Yeah, logically this makes the most sense. The damaged Leaf fan part of me still worries I guess.

 

[zeke]

So our current roster has zero Lou players on it other than the lottery win Matthews.

 

[Artnes]

Full quote from CJ on the Andersen situation.

One thing to consider with Frederik Andersen is just how popular he is with the team. This is an organization looking to win a Stanley Cup and you have to make hard decisions, but I do think that factors into any decision they make with his future. There has been some talk and speculation about whether you move Andersen’s contract as part of a deal to create cap space for other moves. I am not so sure that would go over too well with some of his teammates, and we are talking about players at the top of the roster.

This is a delicate one, but they need to have some clarity on his health situation — when he can play, what the odds are that he can play at his best; he certainly hasn’t played his best this season, to say nothing about how last season ended.

The incentive is there to go get a goalie for depth, but they don’t have a lot of cap space if they are not moving a contract out. That is sort of where the decision hinges: If we are operating on the idea that they are not trading any players out the door to open up cap room as part of the deal, they can only bring in about a $2.5 million player give or take. They want to use that cap space to get a forward.

It is going to be an interesting one. I think they have been pretty cagey about Andersen’s status. This is an organization that is usually quite up front about injuries and injury timelines. They don’t always use upper and lower body. Consistently, since Kyle Dubas has been the manager, they’ve identified the issue. In this case, they have said nothing publicly.

Frederik Andersen has been day-to-day for two-and-a-half weeks. He hasn’t skated at all. They are talking about follow-up appointments and this and that. It is a hard one to get a read on. I think it is a huge gamble for them either way if they don’t add another goaltender. They have huge expectations this year, and right now, Michael Hutchinson is probably a little closer to the starter’s net than they would prefer.

Toronto Maple Leafs Rumours: The latest on Kyle Palmieri, Taylor Hall, and the Leafs' goaltending situation

In today’s Leafs Links, we have a roundup of the recent chatter from the NHL insiders on the Kyle Palmieri and Taylor Hall sweepstakes with both players now sitting out games for their respective teams ahead of the trade deadline, as well as the latest rumblings on the Leafs’ goaltending...

mapleleafshotstove.com

 

[LeafOfFaith]

So again, if we put Freddy on LTIR, we bank no cap space, but if we leave him on the roster as he is while he's not playing, we do bank it with each day he's not available?

 

[zeke]

So again, if we put Freddy on LTIR, we bank no cap space, but if we leave him on the roster as he is while he's not playing, we do bank it with each day he's not available?

Basically the move would be to put him on ltir the minute the trade deadline passes.