Strangelove wrote: ↑Wed Oct 09, 2024 1:16 pm
dangler wrote: ↑Wed Oct 09, 2024 12:03 pm
I'm surprised how many have the leaves top 5, their goaltending looks better, but I don't see that much of a improvement overall.
(from the Media thread)
Leaves goaltending looks just as questionable as ever in my opinion.
They are running with two backups, both covered in question marks.
Stolarz is 30 with a grand total of 108 NHL games under his belt.
Woll has played 36 NHL games and is extremely injury prone.
As a matter of fact Woll will miss Leaves opening game tonight (was scheduled to start).
On defense they let Brodie/Edmundson/Lyubushkin/Giordano go...
And brought in old/injury-prone guys Tanev/OEL/Hakanpaa (Hak on LTIR to start the season).
I mean I like Tanev, but he'll be 35 by Christmas and is due for an extended stay on LTIR.
Their youngest defender Liljegren continues to disappoint.
He is a usual playoff-healthy-scratch and didn't make the top-6 cut this year.
And this after Tree-living handed him a $3M x 2 contract this summer.
Looks like he was knocked out of the top 6 by the underwhelming Conor Timmins.
Timmins is 26 and has played in just 91 career games, averaging under 15 minutes-per-game.
He will join fellow-tweener Simon Benoit on the bottom pairing until when/if Hakanpaa returns.
On offense they lost Bertuzzi and replaced him with over-the-hill injury-prone Pacioretty (36 next month).
I suppose Knies and the disgruntled Robertson could improve a bit
... but Nylander and Old Man Tavares will not be as good this year in my humble opinion.
Leaves start the season with Jarnkrok and Hakanpaa on LTIR, they are out for the first 11 games minimum.
When these two return, Leaves will have to waive someone they'd rather not, or dump Liljegren/Jarnkrok.
(just guessing here, haven't given it a lot of thought)
Anyway, with all the old guys added, and the aging Pajama Boy, they're just asking for trouble.
Speaking of trouble, pending-UFA and self-proclaimed god Mitch Marner should be a major distraction.
I'm predicting a meltdown at the centre of the universe this year.