r/leafs • u/SpicyShitz • 1d ago
Discussion A Very Good Start
Every game the leafs have lost has been by 1 goal. They are #1 in PK, #6 in PP. In the 24-25 season when they took the Panthers to 7… they started 4-4-1. This team is elite and is never out of a game which couldn’t be said before. They are extremely good.
Just so everyone knows I’m a Flyers fan that lives in Canada. If the Flyers don’t win I want the Leafs to because of my friends. I have no skin in the battle. With minor adjustments on D this team can go the distance and I hope they do.
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u/entityXD32 1d ago
They also had an incredibly tough start to the season 5 of the 7 teams they've played were playoff teams last year 3 were conference finalist and it included a west coast road trip with half the roster turing over I would have expected a much worse start
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u/NorthCntralPsitronic 1d ago
Honestly the west coast road trip was probably good for them considering the amount of roster changes. Separate them from their usual routines and give them time together - helps build new bonds quickly
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u/Hockeyspider 1d ago
With the turnover the roster has had, going 0.500 in the first 15-20 games is a win.
Offence has been electric and goaltending looks ok. Goaltending won’t hold up if team defence doesn’t improve. We need 2 more top 4 D to say it’s a good D. Right now it’s patchwork and it’s putting a lot of pressure on the goaltending when we play a quality team.
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u/vancouver2222 1d ago
To be fair the Leafs tend to play to their opponents but to be optimistic even in the losses they've had they haven't been blown out and have shown a competitive spirit throughout.
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u/someasianbro 1d ago
Thank you for this comment, it's nice to see some optimism instead of the usual doom and gloom after a loss
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u/SpicyShitz 1d ago
They’re an extremely good team looking for chemistry which will happen. 8 new forward this year. Things take time. Matthews is clearly healthy. Nylander is clearly healthy. JT is starting to find his way. Mckenna after no points the first 3 games… has at least 1 every other game, this is an extremely good team.
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u/Juicyb17 1d ago
Yep. Lots of good. Still clear what we will need to work on(d zone exits and play, as well as at least 2 more top 4 d by end of year. Hopefully internally promoted, since we have shit all in assets rn, lol. But this does feel like the start of a playoff team
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u/MiamiVicePurple 1d ago
Yea when you factor in travel, opponent level, and the elevation, these last three games were probably the toughest road trip of the season. Coming out of it with three points is fine. It just sucks though because sure we could have had 4-6.
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u/onlyutteraccounting 1d ago
That one goal thing is wild, shows they can hang with anyone even when not at their best
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u/SpicyShitz 1d ago
They can play with anyone, and they’re just getting started. When marchenko gets going… they’ll be a scary team
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u/Purplebuzz 1d ago
It might show teams can coast with a 1 goal lead as well. I am not sure losing by one regularly has much of a silver lining.
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u/Lumini_317 1d ago
Utah was not coasting last night. The Leafs had them on their heels for most of the third period, it was the only reason a comeback was even possible. Teams that are coasting don’t take a timeout with 1 or 2 minutes left.
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u/Spacepickle89 1d ago
Calling this team elite is a big stretch. The defense is pretty awful. But they’re fun to watch again! And their offense is legitimately very strong and will likely get better as the season goes on and chemistry starts to develop.
We might be the team that’s never out of a game again, but we also might give up a good chunk of goals.
In short, bet the come back.
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u/Material-Ice-8285 1d ago
Defense is a concern… still it’s early. Can the defense figure it out? Most would say no, but I think It’s possible (remember new coach, new system). Preferably they can add a guy. Easier said than done but with the right dman they’re there.
Offense can hang with anyone and goaltending is fine with Bobs. Bottom six is good. Defense can be improved.
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u/SpicyShitz 1d ago
They’ll get Whitecloud and it’ll help a lot. The D will figure it out. Tanev was out. Had he been in they’d have won tn. It’s a long season. They’ll be fine.
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u/Biologyboii 1d ago
There’s no guarantee they’ll get whitecloud. Only thing I can guarantee is Chayka is trying real real hard
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u/pulsating_star 1d ago
We give up the puck a lot, and that puts a lot of pressure on D... Defense is not great, for sure, but it's not awful at the defending part. We just need to get much better at getting the puck out of our zone, and stop random turnovers in the neutral zone. Then we'll see them all look a lot better.
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u/shanster925 1d ago
I noticed tonight that it felt rather plausible for them to come back in the third, and the feeling I had when they didn't come back was disappointment, not hindsight bias.
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u/ZippoFindus 1d ago
I highly doubt this is the year. Chayka rebuilt the entire forward group, but was barely able to touch the d-core. Outside of Raddysh, this is still Tre's and Berube's d-core. And Chayka and Hiller clearly don't look to build or play the same way.
The team is absolutely playing better but nothing I've seen makes me think they're a contender for the cup. A contender for the playoffs? Absolutely. And that's a great step
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u/Many_Werewolf_7271 1d ago
Very worried about the XGF% for the team and the defence. I also think the depth scoring could use some help in the bottom 6. Other than that I’ve liked what I’ve seen.
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u/Upper-Hunter5623 1d ago
They're one top pairing D and one top 4 D away from being a serious contender imo.
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u/Cdnraven 1d ago
Basically but where are we getting a 1D?
Unicorn Raddysh Whitecloud McCabe OEL Blankenburg Stetcher
Tanev: IR Reilly: cap buyout
Maybe Danford will be ready to step into that bottom pairing later this year, but what assets do we actually have to fetch a 1D?
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u/Upper-Hunter5623 1d ago
It would be nice to get Edvinnson but yeah, doubt we have the assets right now.
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u/Unlikely-Bee5040 1d ago
Hopefully Raddysh starts using that slap shot instead of the wrist shots he keeps taking. Everytime he send a writer I think “Yea that’s why we signed you, for your fucken wrister ‘sarcastic tone’”
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u/SpicyShitz 1d ago
It’ll all work out. Just have faith. They’ve only played 7/84 Raddish will get going. All will be well!
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u/Tigolelittybitty 1d ago
Good start against top quality teams
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u/SpicyShitz 1d ago
Correct. They beat Colorado 6-3. With Tanev out in the second. This team is going to be tough to beat all year
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u/WankasaurusWrex 1d ago
Leafs being #1 in penalty kill certainly makes watching less stressful, and #6 in power play even more exciting.
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u/FlySociety1 1d ago
Great offense, great special teams, bad defense. We are a playoff team, and we may even do some damage
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u/Sarge1387 1d ago
Great post. The Matthews era teams are notoriously middling starters, discounting last season of course. October was more middle of the pack then we'd find the groove in November and not look back.
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u/thursday51 1d ago
If Tanev is out for a meaningful number of games then I’m worried they will need more than minor adjustments.
But the forward group is legitimately a threat to score across the top three lines, and the fourth looks like a great energy line.
Special teams are actually looking special.
And last night notwithstanding, the tendy tandem has been very solid.
Lots to like about this year’s squad. They’re back to playing an exciting brand of hockey at least!
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u/FunkyLobster1828 1d ago
I'm a Leaf fan and they are not "elite". The forward group is much improved from last year but their defense isn't. In all three recent games they have been heavily outplayed in the second period when there is the long change and good breakout passes are crucial. Morgan Rielly is still Morgan Rielly and the overall age of the defensemen is well over 30.
I know there is a ton of new players and it will take time to gell. Gavin McKenna looks like the real deal and Matthews and Nylander look great, but right now they are a middling team and need to get better in several areas to be a top team.
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u/baylaust 1d ago
The Leafs are a good team right now. I feel comfortable saying that. Our offense has been the best its looked in ACTUAL years, I'd say rebuilding our forward group has been a smashing success.
Our defense hasn't changed enough to keep up with that, though. They're built for Berube hockey, not Hiller hockey, and that's showing its limitations very quickly. Tanev is the exception just by how good he is, but look, he's injured already. The good news is that by all accounts, the Leafs organization seems to already know this, and are still in the market for d-men, though I frankly doubt much is going to be available at this stage of the season.
Bobrovsky has looked great, Stolarz has looked inconsistent. Wish we kept Woll, but he was the only one who had trade value after last year, I get why he was moved. At this rate, the "1A, 1B" tandem of the last few years is quickly turning into "starter and back-up," and that may not necessarily be a bad thing with how Stolie has looked.
The Leafs are good. Pretty good, even. My main concern is that with the competition we have in the Atlantic (and the East in general), "good" may not be enough to get into the wild card.
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u/jonnieSnow11 1d ago
I was actually thinking same, wish we kept Woll instead but then we wouldn't have Marchenko who's been a great addition on the forwards. But I agree the competition is just nuts in the atlantic as it has been for few years now.
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u/Outrageous_Fix_5738 23h ago
Stollie absolutely caused the L last night. Those 2 wristers in the second were rough
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u/Mustard__Tiger 1d ago
Tbf Bob looked and played like ass his first 2 games. They gotta find they're stride.
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u/Different-Island1871 1d ago
As usual, they need to be better on D. They are 4th in shots against with Seattle, Vancouver and Philly the only teams above them and they are tied with Chicago.
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u/jordok92 Belfour 1d ago
It's been great that it looks like this team has some fight back. The Nashville comeback was great and last night was at least inspiring. Last year's team 100% would have rolled over and died both of those games. As long as we can stay healthy(ish) and hover around the wildcard for a month or two im confident the team will start to gel and do some damage.
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u/golowgogolf 1d ago
With the amount of turnover on the roster they were never going to hit the ground running. In my mind I was willing to give them 10 games before I made any judgements. I'm optimistic based on the line changes recently and things seem to be clicking, but we'll see in the next 10 game stretch how it goes.
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u/papa_miesh 1d ago
I definitely can't put them in an elite or great category, but all I know is they are much better than last year.
If I had to make a prediction based on how they are so far, I would say a fringe playoff team unless they can address the D.
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u/GavMcKennasBurner 1d ago
*A very average start, but everything on reddit has to be positive+glazy therefore bad turns into average, average turns into good, and good turns into amazing
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u/DarkhorseCanada 1d ago
Defense and goaltending have always been the issue with the leafs, prob since they had Belfour / Cujo. Our upgrade in goal is promising but our defence still has a lot of holes.
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u/Mr-Squlliums812 1d ago
It’s been a very promising start. If they can figure out the situation on defence going forward this team will be dangerous
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u/Falconflyer75 22h ago
I’d feel much better if Tanev wasn’t injured
The team has a horrible win record when he’s not playing
And part of why last year was such a disaster was we only had him 11 games
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u/ThorButtock 20h ago
Theyre also exciting games even when they've lost.
Last year, even games where they won were so incredibly boring to watch
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u/Sufficient-Group9802 19h ago
LOL > it's ONLY been 7 games! D is still weak, depth is lacking, 3rd / 4th line scoring not top-tier. AND why does no-one ever factor in just how well or poorly the OTHER team played in these early games?!:) Leafs = Playoff Bubble Team AT BEST for fans with an objectively critical brain
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u/BlastingBegins 1d ago
They're 23rd in CF% and 28th in xGF%. I know how things go on here. Nobody will believe that playing terribly will ever catch up to them until it does, but they are not playing well. The defense is among the worst in the league and that's not just going to fix itself.
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u/Electronic_Rain_6063 1d ago
They might genuinely have the worst defense in the entire league, and Stolarz between his inconsistency and injury concerns if played more than like once a week is practically unusable.
The only saving grace of this team is the top 6, and I’m sorry but unless they’re gonna combine for 4+ goals a game this team won’t be winning games.
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u/SpicyShitz 1d ago
The Defence will be be fine. I’m sure they trade for Zack Whitecloud. When Tanev is back there won’t be problems. Stolaz had a bad game, however he’s a good goalie. Had a bad night. I’m a flyers fan that lives in Ontario… this team is the real deal. The chemistry will take time. But PK being almost perfect is a great sign and like I’ve said every..single game they’ve lost has been by 1. By game 41 you’ll be all in.
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u/Electronic_Rain_6063 1d ago
Zach Whitecloud and like 5 games of Chris Tanev before he breaks again won’t fix this defense, I have been a Leafs fan for a very long time and this might genuinely be the worst blueline I’ve seen them have, that includes years like 2015-16.
The PK and 5-on-5 defense are so different they cannot be compared, 5-on-5 defense today requires gap control off the rush which is non existent with this old slow crop of defenders. Penalty killing is 95% done in a small part of the ice, which this crop of slow old garbage defenders excel at
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1d ago
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u/puns_are_how_eyeroll 1d ago
How fucking pathetic must your life be to come and troll here?
Get fucked.
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u/Forsaken_Ad4807 1d ago
The Oilers should have ended the Canadian Cup drought 2 and 3 years ago. Why is it that no Oilers GM can seem to find competent, average goaltending? Unless things change in net in Edmonton they aren't winning anything.
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u/Sixgod801 1d ago
Truth be told this defense is ass but on the flip side the offense is really good and hasn't hit it's peak yet. Once Marchenko finds his groove and Gavin is on pp1 it's going to be even more lethal. The way the puck flows in the offensive zone when Gavin is on a pp is a sight to see.
When Hiller finally says "ok kid you've earned the full time roll" then it'll turn another corner. I get not wanting to give it to him on a silver platter. But the writing is on the wall and its inevitable. Im not saying he's wrong I understand why he's letting things run its course.
We really do need to add a body back there if we want to be serious. It's literally a boat made up of sticks and duct tape.