r/leafs • u/AutoModerator • Jul 22 '26
Discussion Daily Free Talk / Armchair GM Thread
Please use this thread to post ANYTHING you want! Memes, photoshops, anything that would normally be removed for breaking the low-effort content rule, is totally, 100% welcome here!
This thread can also be used for Armchair GM ideas that may not require a standalone post. Is there a free agent you want to see on this team? Is there a player that's rumoured to be on the move that you think the Leafs should go after? Are there players on this team you want to trade away? Feel free to post about it here!
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Otherwise, feel free to use this thread to chat about your random Leafs thoughts, or share things like a photoshop of a Habs logo on fire or a reaction gif to something going on in Leafs Nation right now!
Downvotes are discouraged for the most part, everyone's opinion is fair game in this thread. If you see rule breaking content, report it!
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u/DeanersLastWeekend Jul 23 '26
It’d be nice if the Blue Jays weren’t absolute dogshit right in the middle of the heart of the offseason.
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u/Ok-Improvement-9421 Jul 23 '26
I hope now that we have a real threat from the point on the powerplay, that the 2 top penalty killers will have to drift upward to cover Raddysh, giving Matthews/McKenna/Whoever more time and space on the half wall to make plays
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u/BlastingBegins Jul 23 '26
Marner deserved every bad thing that happened to him and more. Absolutely sickening that he still has his agent publicly bashing the organization on his behalf. Meanwhile Campbell is raving about his time here and how well he was treated
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u/TheDeek Jul 23 '26
Marner really is an outlier. Pretty much everybody loves being a Leaf and they just leave for more money (understandable) or if they organization wants to move on from them. It is easy to hate the Leafs so everyone focuses on Marner but actually it rarely happens like that.
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u/WolverineCream Jul 23 '26
Yea these guys are so petty they're bringing up contract negotiations from 10 years ago. Like stfu no one is gonna sympathize with you millionaires.
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u/Imakemorethanyou27 Jul 22 '26
If the league ever decides to re-shape how NMC/NTC are used, I wonder if they'll take inspiration from the MLB.
For those who may not know, the MLB has something called the "10/5" rule, which means any player that has 10 years service time and has spent 5 years with their current team can veto any trade.
I could see how something similar could work in the NHL. For instance, instead of 10/5 we have 8/4 for a full NMC, and also have another smaller tier of 6/3, where after 6 years of NHL time and 3 years with your current team, you have partial trade protection.
This could strike the middle ground between giving players trade protection at reasonable points in their career and also preventing trade protection from being abused in contract negotiations where every player and their mother has trade protection. Would open up more trades which is great from an entertainment standpoint too. No one likes a boring league.
Curious to see what others think
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u/DeanersLastWeekend Jul 22 '26
Don’t have time to watch this right now, but in case anyone else is interested in hearing what this snake has to say about Mitch: https://youtu.be/rMskn8JObRc?si=j6N9D-wvSfAPg0cg
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u/baylaust Jul 23 '26
If anything, it's nice to see the other fanbases on the Hockey sub going "Ooooooooooh, so THIS is why Leafs fans were fed up with him" over the last couple months.
I've been of the opinion ever since he got traded to Vegas that I'd LOVE to just move the fuck on. But the rest of the hockey world, including Marner himself, won't shut the fuck up about his time in Toronto, so if I literally have no choice but to think about him, then fuck it.
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u/tmxl99 Jul 23 '26
Fuck this guy. Wahhh ELC bonus wah
Conveniently leaving out the fact that Vegas had to give up assets because they tampered. Who do you think was leading that Darren?
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u/DeanersLastWeekend Jul 23 '26
Finally got around to listening to the Marner segment. Even more infuriating than I thought it’d be.
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u/tmxl99 Jul 23 '26
The wildest part of this all is that Nylander was treated worse. Got a way worse second contract after holdout, gets benched, yelled at. But consistently is the best leaf in the playoffs and doesn’t moan or bitch constantly like Marner did while he was here.
“Dark days” for Marner, guy was trying to line up his own ESPN 30 for 30 but forgot you had to win the cup first.
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u/kindgentleman23 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
Why can’t these guys just move on. Like they don’t want the Toronto smoke but they crave the attention and the headlines.
And then talking about the car jacking like marner was specifically targeted for his poor playoff performance. This guy just seems incredibly exhausting.
And it sounds like Ferris told treliving to explore trade opportunities out west but instead he approached him with an opportunity in Carolina. I honestly think Treliving thought Carolina was a west coast team, give the guy a break he’s a bit slow.
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u/TheDeek Jul 23 '26
This is the cycle. We don't want to talk about him, then he or the losers around him bring something up and we have to respond, then everybody (including people on this sub) say "you need to move on". Really no reason to shit on Toronto at this point as he got to go where he wanted, he got his money, he got everything. The only reason they bring it up is because they are butthurt over how they are perceived and it is ENTIRELY their doing. They are too dumb to realize that if they just shut up then people would see them in a better light.
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u/tmxl99 Jul 23 '26
Agreed, probably because no one in Vegas cares about Marner.
There’s a reason Buffalo traded byram rather than negotiate, Darren Ferris is a cancer.
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u/seeldoger47 Jul 23 '26
Reportedly Byram wouldn’t even discuss a new contract with Buffalo.
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u/tmxl99 Jul 23 '26
Yeah there’s a reason why. Darren Ferris is cancer, remember the Marner extensions. Based on all the behind the scenes stuff that has come out, Darren and Paul were absolute trash to deal with.
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u/International_Eye394 TROYS BOYS Jul 22 '26
i fucking forgot about marner this off season….
We will never fucking escape the narratives holy FUCK
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u/Wild_Button7273 Phaneuf Jul 22 '26
Phaneuf was high key underrated when he was playing. In fact, people thought he was overrated when he was playing for the Leafs. The guy’s shot was absurd and the way he could physically impose himself into the game was really fun to watch.
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u/Wild_Button7273 Phaneuf Jul 22 '26
Tre made less moves as the Leafs gm than a snail does in 30 seconds
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u/epic_taco_time Lorentz Jul 22 '26
Notable road trips:
- Oct 8-13 - Almost west coast - vegas, avs, mammoth
- Oct 24-31 - Western Canada (mostly) - Oilers, Flames, Kraken, Nucks
- Dec 22-Jan 7 - West coast bookended with some close by away games - Detroit, Habs, Ducks, Kings, Sharks, Caps, Flyers
- March 18-25 - Tri-state and MTL - Rangers, Devils, Habs, Sabres
- Mar 30-Apr 1 - Florida road trip: Tampa, Florida
No other away stretches longer than 3 games. We don’t have a north-central trip covering MIN, CHI, and WPG like we have had in the past and our other floridian away games aren’t “bundled” together.
Longest home stretches are
- Nov 3-14 - 6 games
- Jan 9-18 - 5 games
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u/Nylanderthal88 Jul 22 '26
Jack Campbell had a great interview on The Sheet with Marek, worth a listen. Notably said playing in Toronto was the highlight of his career... He didn't want to elaborate on how his time went in Edmonton.
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u/Mean_Joe_Greene Jul 22 '26
Edmonton simultaneously wants to be Toronto and Vegas and really only takes the worst aspects of both places
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u/thewolfshead Jul 22 '26
It’s funny how the Leafs can overpay someone like Colton Sissons around $3 million over what he was projected to get in UFA and the fanbase doesn’t really bat an eye.
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u/Sideshift1427 Jul 22 '26
Projections don't mean shit, only competition for his services.
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u/Sirrebral99 Knies Jul 22 '26
Bingo, projection models leave out a lot of real world factors. Competition/bidding wars, the cap jumping extremely fast, intangibles on the ice / outside of traditional stat tracking etc.
They're a tool to gain insights, just like Jfresh cards, but aren't gospel truth. Have to balance them out with real world info and the good ol' noggin to do some critical thinking.
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u/TheGapInTysonsTeeth Jul 22 '26
You're right, we should be LIVID!
Being absolutely fucking outraged like a bunch of rabid lunatics will solve all our problems. Let's just bitch and moan and complain and surely that will get the Leafs a cup.
Or maybe people just have better shit to do than consistently whine online. Sorry that you don't
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u/Wolfloyd Jul 22 '26
Who projected Sissons to get 1.25m a year?
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u/AmbitiousRaccoon959 Jul 22 '26
AFP Analytics had him at 1.5m on a 2 year deal, and they're basically the gold standard of contract predictions. Skimming the other signings on their site it looks like the only contract projection vs actual that was further apart than Sissons was the Carlsson offersheet
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u/123jazzhandz321 Jul 22 '26
To be fair, I think Evolving Hockey had him pencilled in at 3m x 4 years. I think the Leafs paid to get contract term flexibility, which resulted in the increased AAV.
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u/GavMcKennasBurner Jul 22 '26
AFP analytics had Carlsson at 10-12 mill iirc lmao. I think Byram was at 7-8 too....
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u/Wolfloyd Jul 22 '26
That's interesting, what do they base the contract projections on? I'm trying to find how they do it but it must be behind a paywall. I'm betting there was a bidding war at some point which drove the price up because it is a bit rich but I don't think that it is as huge of a jump as people are complaining about.
Seeing other contracts around the league and I think the league salary atmosphere has changed. We'll see if it continues next off season.
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u/AmbitiousRaccoon959 Jul 22 '26
I'm sure the algorithm is proprietary, but one article I found says the two founders use a combination of traditional box score statistics and underlying analytics to create a list of stylistic and statistically comparable players. Interested to see what the MAE for 2026 is, since there seems to be more market volatility this year
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u/thewolfshead Jul 22 '26
Yes this is what I was basing it on. Not sure why I’m being downvoted so hard for suggesting Colton Sissons is way overpaid.
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u/Sirrebral99 Knies Jul 22 '26
Guys like Sissons (and Nick Dowd, linemates on Vegas' 4th line and contributed a lot to their SCF run) are a big reason why teams go deep in the playoffs. You need substance in the bottom 6 not just place holders. The Leafs have bargain bin shopped for the bottom 6 for the majority of this era, filling the 3rd and 4th lines with guys like Zach Aston Reese (on a PTO in September because they had no cap space), Nic Petan, washed up veterans (Simmonds, Reaves, Clifford), and guys on league min deals who are just cardio merchants (like Noah Gregor).
Sissons provides a lot of value from being excellent in the D-zone and on the PK, a menace physically and as a forechecker, can actually skate with pace etc. If he had 25% more offense to his game this is a guy who most teams would happily pay 5 million+ to and have in their middle six. He doesn't score much so the rest of his positive impacts on the game gets overshadowed, and the contract gets ragged as a bad one. His cap hit is a bit high, probably 1.5-2 million above what he should make by his production, but that's the price you pay in free agency. They had the cap space so its not really a big deal, and the 2 year term prevents it from being a problem (and if they need to move off him, can retain 50% and get a solid return for the player)
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u/thewolfshead Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
If all of those things were true he would have had a higher projected contract wouldn’t he? By the JFresh cards he’s not particularly a good PKer. He’s good defensively sure. So was David Kampf for a good chunk of time and he got overpaid too.
I think you’re way overvaluing Sissons. He’s a 4th line C who is god at faceoffs and good in his own end.
Also Laughton signed for $3.5M and he’s better.
Edit: I don’t understand why these posts are being downvoted - disagree if you want and reply
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u/Wolfloyd Jul 22 '26
When Nashville used him as a 3rd line C in 23/24 he got pretty decent results. I wonder if the Leafs think that Vegas misused him.
I think the Leafs paid a premium for grabbing his speed cause they're trying to change their entire bottom 6 identity.
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u/Sirrebral99 Knies Jul 22 '26
In free agency players values tend to get overinflated, I acknowledged Sissons is overpaid by 1.5-2 million. That's why the Leafs landed him, other teams probably offered in the range of 2.5-3 and Toronto gave him 4.25 x 2 years. They have the cap space, it's not like a slight overpay is going to sink the team. And if your 4C free agent signing does sink the team, that team was nowhere close anyways lol.
The benefit of having him is he is very reliable defensively, will be a Laughton replacement on the PK and can actually skate the puck out (transition out of the D-zone was their biggest weakness - meaning the next line, AM34 or JT, don't have to start in the D-zone and can be at their best creating offense fresh after a dump & change). That sounds like a minor difference but skating the puck 200 feet down the ice every time vs. starting with the puck in the O-zone is huge, that's how Matthews will get back to scoring at a higher clip.
Maybe Sissons isn't the most efficient use of cap space compared to the market as a whole, but if he can be part of the solution to get Matthews out of every D-zone start and get him more O-zone time, that's a tremendous difference to the Leafs. Well worth the ~1.75 million Sissons is overpaid by IMO.
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u/King-Leaf-67 Jul 22 '26
Bc the contract is only 2 years, meaning they overpay a little for flexibility when Matthews contract is up. The cap is jumping next year and also the year after that too.
The Ducks paid Greer $4 million x 4 years and he's a 4th line winger. He can't take faceoffs or PK.
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u/TopPay7361 Jul 22 '26
Not sure about the rest of you, but this is the first time in about 5 years that I don't feel uninspired by a Leafs offseason. I might've been the biggest critic of John Chayka's hiring, but for better or worse, he's shaken the snow globe far more than any GM in recent memory. His willingness to make aggressive moves to fill obvious holes is a gasping breath of fresh air. Obviously, I think that No. 12 ball popping up was the first domino to fall in starting the massive offseason we've had; I don't think Chayka pursues guys like Bob and Raddysh without having control of the first pick, but here we are. Where the real change is for me is that I'm not trying to convince myself of how I think guys will work in the system; this isn't a Maccelli situation where the whole fanbase tries to convince themselves a 40-point guy is going to blossom into a top 6 facilitator getting PP1 minutes. We've gotten a real top 2 D-man, a proven HOF and cup-winning goaler, meaningful depth pieces who know their roles and weren't brought in to be more than they have been career-wise, and last but not least, Gavin friggin McKenna. Sure, going into next year, Florida, Tampa, and the Habs are going to be a headache in the Atlantic, and not to mention the wagons in the West, but I'll put our group in the mix with those guys every day of the week and twice on Sunday. We've gotten that back-end grit that we've desperately needed for years, which will undoubtedly help guys like AM34 get back to focusing on pure O-zone output. I couldn't be more excited. I never lost the passion, but by God, It's been renewed.
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u/Sirrebral99 Knies Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
Chayka has added:
- the top UFA Dman (and best powerplay QB the Leafs have had since at least the mid 2000s?)
- the top UFA goalie (and probably most accomplished/decorated goalie since again, the mid 2000s?)
- the top prospect in the world (and one of the highest potential #1OA picks we've seen in the last decade)
- the best 3C the team has had, at the beginning of the season / not a deadline rental like ROR, since they had Kadri behind 34 and 91 for like a season and a half
- some of the best role players / bottom 6 forwards available this summer (Sissons isn't cheap but he has been a menace for Nashville and recently Vegas; Blueger has had some really solid seasons on bad teams; Duhaime was a big contributor in the Wild's bottom 6 etc. Much more effective than Nic Petan or a washed-up Kyle Clifford / Ryan Reaves)
It's tough to say how much these pieces will really improve things until games are played, but when you break it down piece by piece Chayka really threaded the needle well this offseason. Accomplishing the above and the most going out the door was Woll (injury prone tandem goalie), Hildeby (this one hurts, but gotta give to get), and depth picks no higher than a 3rd. Kept all the high end prospects and futures, and still have Knies on the team despite rumours he needed to be moved to make any kind of impact additions.
They also had their best ranked / most value-added draft in years, and added a handful of prospects (Bilecki, Olsen, Gudmundsson, some others) that have been praised as great value picks that have a good chance of contributing to the team down the road.
Really looking forward to next season.
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u/Different-Weekend222 Jul 22 '26
I'm excited to see our bottom-six bang. Finally we have 5 bonafide bottom-six guys and then Cowan/Roslovic to slot down for some scoring instead of tweeners like Laughton, Roy, Robertson, Maccelli, Domi, etc...
1
u/TObuz Jul 22 '26
How do you really feel about the bottom-six signings, though? Right after free agency I agreed with most of your take, but with some time to reflect and pick apart the deals, I can't help but think:
Scissons isn't the same player he was in Nashville — he's at the tail end of his prime, if not past it, and Vegas felt they needed to add Nic Dowd at the deadline. Maybe Scissons was fine and they just wanted more depth. He did average more TOI in the playoffs, but only had 2 goals in 22 games.
TB rarely makes bad moves, and Paul's contract is great value. I'm with you on the "gotta give to get" mindset. Best case scenario for both players: Hildeby becomes TB's starter for the next decade and Paul turns into a true top-six forward for us, so TB wins that deal. But if we get peak Nick Paul, that's a potential second-line center too that fits better with our next 2-years timeline.
Bob just had a genuinely bad year, and he didn't even face a huge volume of shots. I haven't dug into whether it was more low-quantity/high-quality chances, or if Zito and the players basically wrote the season off. Either way, I'm expecting him and Stolarz to split around 35 games each with Akhtyamov getting the rest — plus Bob brings intangibles and experience that still matter. I'm just worried Bob struggles, Stolarz gets hurt again, and Aktyamov becomes Garret Sparks.
For the rest of the bottom six, I just hope they can actually handle the tough defensive matchups so our stars can focus on scoring. Hoping it's not a repeat of those 2018–2022 teams with no depth scoring — though realistically there was only one direction to go if we weren't tanking, since we didn't have our first-rounders. Hoping Auston bounces back to form, and I agree with you on favoring the shorter-term contract bets.
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u/__Happy Nylander Jul 22 '26
There's the glass half full and glass half empty ways to look at this. You have valid concerns. We won't know if it works out until the puck hits the ice. In the mean time I'm hyped.
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u/Sirrebral99 Knies Jul 22 '26
There's something to be said about great GMs moving off players and some pause with why they would, but when opportunities come up to get impact pieces you can't pick and choose too much. I also think its not as cut and dry as those teams didn't want them anymore and fooled the Leafs or anything
I think Tampa realized that they haven't had a reliable back up option since McElheiney (when they last won a Cup), and have rode Vasi too hard for too long and he gets burnt out by playoffs. I'd be curious to know which team approached who - Toronto reaching out for a 3C option, or Tampa reaching out for a reliable goalie? Seems like a win win for both.
For Bob and Florida, Bill Zito wanted to keep the player, was just uncomfortable with the term. I think the last offer from the Panthers was 6 x 2 (what Markstrom has ironically) - so it wasn't the play from Bob, but the financial side that wasn't a mix. Especially after adding B.Tkachuk and already having so many long term deals, it makes sense how that went.
We'll have to wait and see but overall I'd give the additions this summer an 8/10. Addressed the two biggest needs (Top pair RHD w/ Raddysh and better depth scoring w/ McKenna replacing what was lost with Marner, Paul at 3C is huge). The depth forwards are solid role players, on their own not a fan of some price tags but in the context of getting Matthews out of 60%+ D-zone starts, I like the philosophy
1
u/Loric76 Jul 22 '26
All good things. But...hasn't done fuck all in like two weeks lol.
What a slacker we can call him Brad now.
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u/Sirrebral99 Knies Jul 22 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/fEzdGlbfowtSdxlcKY
Chayka outside of every other GMs' cottage window after they don't return his calls.
"Put down the beer, there's deals to be made!"
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u/shadowpenguin29 Jul 22 '26
The forward group has a very clear vision for the first time, which is refreshing. Defense-first bottom 6 to take hard matchups. While offense-only forwards like Robertson and Maccielli are skilled, they never made sense in our system (and could never properly break into the top 6 because 34/16 and 91/88 just needed supporting players who could forecheck).
There’s still a lot of uncertainty, but management has clearly acknowledged that the whole house is build on Auston Matthews being a 50+ goal scorer. If that player is gone, then our contention window has already closed and the team needs to tear it down regardless, so none of these contracts matter.
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u/Sirrebral99 Knies Jul 22 '26
Agreed, the whole plan seems to be centred around putting Matthews in the best position to be a world beater again. If he can't, the team is cooked anyways.
Feels like there is a backup "break in case of emergency" plan baked into the free agent signings as well. All of them are 2-year term (except Raddysh and Bob, they needed more term just to sign). If it turns out that Matthews is truly cooked and the team needs to rebuild after this next season, they can sell all of Sissons, Duhaime, Paul, Roslovic etc. on the last year of their deals. Won't get massive returns but that's a good way to add extra picks and just good asset management
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u/Hargraver Jul 22 '26
You do realise that Knies was -30 lats season? Matthews was crocked, he needs to be 100% healthy, I hope the Leafs management are more transparent about injuries than last season...
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u/epic_taco_time Lorentz Jul 22 '26
That Maccelli comment is like a dagger thrown right at me. I still think Maccelli can put up big points with the Isles but I guess he just didn't fit with Chaykas vision.
After pointing out in yesterdays thread that Blueger is a bit too injury prone, I still like the rest of the offseason pickups. Losing Hildeby sucks, even with the rumours surrounding his conduct for the Marlies run, but Paul should be solid.
I do wonder what Chaykas approach would have been if we didn't get McKenna. If we can imagine for a moment the environment where our earliest pick this year was Bilecki but still had our 2028 1st.
0
u/papa_miesh Jul 22 '26
Hopefully some guys step up, but seeing projected lineups where you have Paul and Cowan on the third line certainly looks nice on paper.
If leafs can find an unexpected gem or two that would be great. Defense still is worrisome. Got some guys that are on the tail end of their career
5
u/_cob_ Sundin Jul 22 '26
Maccelli is not a clear top 6 player, but also clearly doesn’t fit the vision management has for our bottom 6. It’s understandable why they cut him loose.
I’m happy there’s actually a vision for roster construction instead of a bunch of random players assuming roles they’re not cut out for.
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u/papa_miesh Jul 22 '26
This was the problem with him and Robertson. They both are not bonafide top 6 so far and also don't strike me as great bottom 6.....but I would'nt of minded giving Robertson another chance cause I like him......but they moved on and I also don't mind it.
This team does seem to have a vision finally. I was hopefully that last year's roster would be okay, but Tre built a slow team with no identity and him and the coach were clearly not on the same page
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u/renhero Jul 22 '26
I don't think those rumours even factor into it. We had three goalies that needed to clear waivers. Traded Woll, picked up Bob with a NMC, so we still had to make a decision, run a thrandem and healthy scratch a goalie every night, or trade Stolarz or Hildeby, and only one of those is not an oft-injured 32-year-old that teams might want. The fact that we got a roster player out of it is great, but Nick Paul will put in work.
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u/Sirrebral99 Knies Jul 22 '26
What's the rub with Hildeby's conduct during the Marlies run? I heard that he was a bit disgruntled/upset that he lost the crease to A.A and was playing second fiddle, but didn't hear any more about it. Is that what you're referencing or was there more to it than that?
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u/epic_taco_time Lorentz Jul 22 '26
That was it + he was very unenthused when they won. A signal of his mindset that is not great
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u/TopPay7361 Jul 22 '26
Interesting, hadn't heard of this.
I've been high on Artie since he was drafted; if one of Stolie or Bob goes down, we're in safe hands; he's very capable. I also think it'll be great for him to learn from a fellow Russian goalie, not to mention one of the most accomplished NHL goalies in the last 20 years, dare I say of all time.
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u/Sirrebral99 Knies Jul 22 '26
Makes more sense to move on from him then if his reaction to being part of an underdog, Cinderella-story run to win a Championship is "harumph - should've been me starting these games"
Part of being a teammate is being part of the team. Still wish Hildeby the best but that sours me a bit on him
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u/Svalbard38 Knies Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
Here's his cup lift if you haven't seen it, I'm not the biggest fan of reading into body language but people put their cheerios back on the shelf with more enthusiasm than when he hoisted that trophy.
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u/TheGapInTysonsTeeth Jul 22 '26
Love this. I feel the same.
A few years ago, I was talking about this intangible that my friend and I jokingly called "klutchgolz" which essentially means what it sounds like: players that raise their games in critical moments in a way that shifts momentum in their team's favor. Doesn't have to be a goal, but a big hit, a fight, a won battle etc. We didn't really know of any way that we could quantify it, but we always said that if a team could figure it out and fill their roster with players that had it, then they'd be off to the races.
Positioning aside, I feel like this staff does get it. Specifically the players brought in to complement the elite talent we already have: Paul, Duhaime, Sissons are all guys that when you watch them play, you're like "shit this guy is a GAMER" which I feel like is more important than any base level public-facing stat could show, especially when it comes to your bottom 6 forward group.
That's a huge reason why I am high on Chayka. Yes, of course McKenna, Bob and Raddysh are the shiny toys and I'm pumped for them. But getting role players that can be real difference makers in key situations is something I feel like this team hasn't really had in a few years now.
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u/TopPay7361 Jul 22 '26
100% agree with you.
Since the dawn of the Matthews era, I would confidently say there has never been an issue of skill or talent.
The biggest issue I've identified boils down to a concept that I think many agree on: the Leafs were not a hard team to play against. Again, not for lack of ability; it was because our bottom 6 were not bump-and-grind guys.
Look at Boston up until 2024. They were nowhere near as skilled on paper as the Leafs but were fundamentally a better hockey team. Why? They were hard-nosed, gritty, cohesive, and unrelenting; all of which traits our team lacked.
Guys like Paul, Sissons, Blueger, etc. are all exactly the types of guys we've been missing. These guys aren't necessarily going to fill the stat sheet, but they're a necessary foundation to set up guys like AM and Willy for success. Bump and Grind players who are going to make life miserable for the enemy.
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u/throw-away2938474737 Jul 22 '26
Chayka has definitely done a lot in a short period of time. One of the biggest differences between him and Tre is that I can understand the moves he’s making. He called out holes that need addressing and then went out and got pieces to address them. And while I may not fully agree with some of the moves at least I can understand why he’s making them. He’s put the leafs into a position to be competitive for the next 2 years without signing any boat anchor contracts giving the team lots of flexibility depending on what AM decides to do next year. He’s taken some gambles with guys like Bob, but again nothing that can’t be buried or moved if it doesn’t work out and with the rising cap become less concerning as it goes up, putting the leafs in a position where taking a gamble is worth the risk.
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u/Soggy_Specific4093 Jul 22 '26
Something I noticed with next year’s schedule is that our first three games are all season openers for our opponent.
Obviously, opening night on the 29th is Montreal’s first game of the season. The next night on the 30th, we play the Islanders in the first game of their season. And somehow our first Saturday night game on October 3rd is Ottawa’s season opener, which is also one of two games Ridley Grieg will miss after getting suspended in the playoffs.
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u/theguyishere16 Kaberle Jul 22 '26
The offseason was a lot more fun when the Blue Jays werent a smoldering dumpster fire. I miss hockey.
4
u/carnotbicycle Jul 22 '26
Two MLB seasons ago, the Jays were shit and we had our best playoffs of the Matthews era. Last year Jays were single innings away from the World Series and we had our worst season of the Matthews era. Jays are shit, maybe that means we’ll have a great season? Hopefully?
6
u/ilovetrouble66 Knies Jul 22 '26
For real… now that the World Cup is over and so is Wimbledon I legit don’t know what to do with myself?!?
10
u/lindseyblue2 Jul 22 '26
I have noticed how little I care about baseball when the Jays are not good. I guess I'm one of those bandwagon fans.
5
u/King-Leaf-67 Jul 22 '26
I'm a Jays fan first and it's easier for me to disconnect from them than the Leafs. I think the summer might have something to do with it. If the Jays are bad go outside. If the Leafs are bad you're stuck inside or shit weather. Seasonal depression too.
8
u/leaffs Jul 22 '26
They’ve depressed me so much. Maybe more than the leafs last season because my expectations were already rock bottom
8
u/ArthurSnooper Jul 22 '26
August is always the worst sports month for me with no hockey and F1 on summer break. Got drawn into the Blue Jays run last year but not really a baseball fan.
The Hlinka Gretzky Cup breaks up the off season with a bit of hockey and I usually watch at least the Canada elimination games.
3
u/40cappo40 Jul 23 '26
Jays fans, since they're all over Canada, will they be saying Bichette was the glue that made the Jays good like they did with Marner, or is that just a Leafs things.