OffThePost.org

I am back, been blocking out NHL hockey thoughts for a while.

Leafs should be pretty good as they have been for a couple of seasons now Just depends if they can be good in the playoffs.

New faces to watch.

Ritchie - Big body net front presence that should offer some protection for the top line guys he plays with.
Mrazek - Like his body and ice positioning and feels calm and comfortable.
Bunting - The guy has good goal numbers to start his young career. Mirage maybe? not like teams lined up to pay him as Leafs got him on the cheap.
Kampf - nothing in basic stats jumps out, going to guess he has PK skill?
Kase - also know little, looks like showed potential for mid tier guy but then hardly played last two seasons.

Old faces I'm looking for changes from

Mikheyev - continue to hope the shooting percentage creeps up as that is all that holds him back from being a great offensive line add on guy. You just can't give up on that kinda natural speed and hustle.
Nylander - last half of season showed he should take over games more than he does.
Sandin - ready for a more significant roll, well I hope he is

Just keep going

Marner has the target on his back. based on salary and last couple of post seasons I get why but I have no doubt he knows a large set of fans are primed to turn on him.

Tough division better be prepared to be good all year in the Atlantic as at least one team that think they are pretty good now will be on the outside looking in come playoffs I suspect.

No sympathy for Marner whatsoever. Dude wanted franchise player money, so go out there and be a goddamned franchise player instead of a guy who suddenly starts playing perimeter hockey in the postseason and inexplicably launches the puck into the stands unprompted.

Glad for their own sake the Leafs finally moved on from Freddy. He was hampering them big-time. Whether they have the solution in Mrazek/Campbell, well, time will tell, but Freddy just wasn't good enough and wasn't durable enough to be counted on when it mattered the most.

I feel like the Leafs let themselves get waaaay too slow with their slew of veteran signings last offseason. They look a little younger and leaner now, so that's good.

Surprised Gusev couldn't stick, I'm assuming he's KHL bound now.

Ho-Sang signed a 1 year AHL deal. Best of luck to him.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

He has been saying the right things in interviews about learning to play the system and needing time to prove that. But I will need to see it on the ice for a while to believe it so the AHL contract makes sense.

He's almost always said the right things. A few times he was arrogant. I still don't have any problem with him saying he was aiming to be better than Tavares. He didn't say he was or would be. People flipped over that. It was so dumb.

He was good in the AHL, but not great. He was okay in the NHL, but not really good.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Don't really mind comments like wanting to be better than player x my gripes where purely on ice. Just did not like how long he holds the puck, that carried him far against weak d men in lower levels but will get him no where in the NHL. Sure I mentioned it before but watching him live in the OHL I saw line mates twice get visibly annoyed at him for not dishing the puck in the neutral zone when they where wide open and instead elect to attempt to one on one(or two) the opposition as he crosses the blue line.

But I am all for giving the guy a chance at the worse he is a big add to the Marlies team and PP. But he still could have an NHL'er in there if he figures out how to fit into an NHL system.

You know outside of the first ten minutes of the season the Leafs have been playing pretty good. Puck won't go in but that will work itself out.

So Morgan [email protected] per. Guess the dollar figure is okay but could be an issue in the last few years when the age likely catches up with him. As well worry that they are further locking in a group that is yet to get much of anything done when it matters.

I'm not the biggest Rielly fan (but hey man, good for you snagging Tessa Virtue) but he is an elite generator of offense when on his game. Might have the worst gap control of any top-pairing defenseman I've ever seen, but he aint out on the ice to play defense.

I get why they're doing it--there's no real upgrade just waiting out there to be had. Sink or swim, this is the core of talent Toronto is betting on.