Well done Brad. Perfect quote couldn’t have said it better myself. This was NOT the year to go all in and push the chips in the middle when you are trying to clean up the mess the last guy left us on the back end. The last guy gave away these first rounders on a yearly basis like they were candy pushing his chips in the middle with soft teams not built for the playoffs and it showed up in spades every playoff failure. One thing I do know is this team will not be pushed around and it’s going to be a war against Boston and then hopefully Florida. I’d rather go to war with this group than any of the previous iterations and it’s not even close. It’s up to the core guys now to produce as it should be.
by Intelligent_Chair901
![The Official Trade Deadline Live Stream - DTG - [Ep.612]](https://www.lovenhl.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/1710130335_maxresdefault-150x150.jpg)
28 Comments
We ride together, we die together, bad boys for life
Counting on guys like Benoit, Lyubushkin, Edmundson, and Liljigren to massively step up in the playoffs and play above their career average doesn’t sound like the absolute best bet to me.
I get that the team is top heavy on F but even with those guys playing great you kinda need at minimum a competent D group to win and I don’t really see that here.
Hell yeah 💪🏻💪🏻
Treliving has the right approach to rebuilding the blueline here. Parayko, Tanev, Dumba or a big name needing our 1st round pick wouldn’t have done enough to make a substantial difference. Keep the 1st and use it to find a long term piece, keep developing our young guys up front in Cowan, Minten and Robertson, and add in guys like Cade Webber and Connor Dewar who could have some found value in the coming years.
Tre won me over with this deadline. I was worried lilly or Cowan was going to be dealt.
At the end of the day Matthews, Marner, Nylander and JT need to take over. The last two games against Boston Marchand and Pasta have outplayed all four of those players. Yes the D needs to tighten up and the depth needs to be solid but it’s time for the four to get it done. Matthews on pace for 70, three of them on pace for 100 points, JT playing against third line or being used as shutdown. They are now into their mid/ late 20’s. It’s fucking time. Training wheels are fully off. If we lose it cannot be because these four go quiet at the big moments.
Don’t have to be the best team to go far in the playoffs, just have to be the one with the right mix of luck and hot streaks.
I love that he puts the responsibility on the players. We haven’t been on piece away in any year yet – we need our current guys to be better to have a chance.
Also excited for the draft – our scouting has been on fire recently.
Soooo, we don’t have an answer then.
I don’t get the love for this quote.
Logically speaking, is this the correct answer? The big guys on our teams have failed to deliver on their own over and over again. This team has regularly been shut down if the core 4 aren’t scoring. The leafs had their best playoff performance in years last year after adding good players. Important depth players.
You don’t think Vegas/nucks/florida are hungry? Look at what they did.
Really disappointed with Treliving this season/deadline. It was obvious in November, when Nylander didn’t stick in the middle and Klingberg flamed out, that the Leafs needed a middle-six C and top-4 defenceman. Four months to fix those problems and he simply didn’t.
But he’s right: If the Leafs don’t win a round or two, the media will hang that failure on the core forwards, not the GM.
this is the correct approach. This team CAN be the best team in the league on any given night. They need to want it.
This team was built to dominate offensively. Focus on puck posession and staying in their zone. Back check your guts out.
Matthews is likely going to get swarmed and shut down. We have enough firepower to ensure we have at least 3 lines that are legitimate scoring threats.
Its not the year for them, but at least Round 2 again should be doable.
We’ve had all season to address the lack of C depth and top 4 D.
This is management saying “do or die” and not really betting on do
That is an excellent answer from Brad. Time for the core to put their big boy pants on.
Well seeing as though pretty much every other “contender” blew a substantial wad at this deadline, I’m neither surprised nor disappointed about the lack of moves by Brad. The truth is that this teams true competitive do or die window is when JTs current contract is off the books. I’ve said it before and I’ll stick with it by saying this team is likely to win the way Ovi and the Caps did. Many years of disappointment only to finally climb that mountain and succeed.
Well said by Brad and well said by you OP
Yup. Dubas left this team asset broke with nothing to show for it. I’m glad he kept the 1st. There is much more needed for this team to be a true contender, and 1 defenceman this deadline wouldn’t have solved it. Get Woll a full season under his belt, see what he is. Probably going to need a few seasons. Draft some big defencemen, maybe a forward or two taller than 5’8″. Matthews, Marner and Nylander still have LOTS of road ahead.
The fact that we basically have no draft picks for next year’s draft make our first more valuable imo
Brad is 100% right. This team does not deserve him shipping out Cowan, Minten, and all our picks out the door for rentals. We were supposed to win the Atlantic. We’re not close. I get that Matthews and Willy are having career years but we’ve taken a step back as a team. This core and this team finally figuring out how to win in the playoffs is what this team needs. Not yet another random player who won’t re-sign with us and won’t be enough to win because our core disappears.
We will need our picks and our prospects just to ice a roster after all their raises get put on the books. If Tre did anything else this offseason, our window would be closed after 24-25. This way, we actually have a chance to compete after 25-26.
I like how there is no chemistry to create with new pieces on top lines. It’s absolutely up to these guys and they have what they need if they play how they can.
Kind of what I’ve been saying. There was nobody available that would be more effective than the core actually performing in the playoffs.
Y’all are still bitching about Dubas? Kid was over his head. Signed some of the best players we’ve seen in a long time. Definitely wasn’t cut out for the Majors in Toronto. Killed it in the minors. I just don’t think it’s fair anymore. Let it go. He did good and bad for this team. Just like any GM does for any team.
We must have had a lot of bad “other guys” . We haven’t won the cup in almost 60 years. I don’t know what the problem is but I think the problem is more than bad GM’s.
100%, well said by Tre
And if they don’t then what? Pretty much everyone has gotten extensions with NMC’s
Well done?
With how cheap good players were going for doing what he did was a joke. We wouldn’t have needed to go all in at all. We wasted 6 picks on pieces we dont need and arent very good.
Thank god he didn’t take on that Parayko contract lol I was a little worried there. I could see it happening in the offseason maybe but I hope not unless there’s retention.
Faith