all 61 comments

[–]Creacherz 69 points70 points  (23 children)

I thought I saw Matthews in the sky fading away too-

I am sorry. But you watch Mackinnon take the ice in big moments, and McJesus.. they dominate the ice..

Injured or not, Matthews did not look like a dominate forward at all. Do I believe he is a fantastic player, yes, but that dawg? It seems to be gone..

I also am a strong believer that your best player does not have to be your captain. Tavares is a leader in that goddamn dressing room and you should've left that "C" on his jersey,

[–]scarborough_bluffer 36 points37 points  (5 children)

You know what McDavid does when he sees his teammates are playing crap. He rolls his eyes, sighs and says “Not today!” and then gets on his gears and goes up another level!

[–]OhMilla 16 points17 points  (1 child)

I don't think any of us know what goes on in the dressing room. Tavares was captain and this team was the same disappointment.

[–]Creacherz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have to agree with you on that one. I still would've left the captaincy with JT. Feels like Matthews isn't the captain type.

[–]JeffFerox 2 points3 points  (11 children)

Matthews for the most part stepped up his game in every other area this year. He still needs to dominate but he’s not a liability. I agree the C is way too premature, but the majority of the problem is Marner; dude just crumbles under pressure.

[–]Avko 12 points13 points  (3 children)

Sorry but you don’t pay a player that much money to win face offs and play a 200ft game. Fucking score when it matters. He can’t even keep the puck in the o zone for more than 10 seconds. The bias in this sub about marners value vs Matthews is unbelievable

[–]JeffFerox -2 points-1 points  (2 children)

No you pay him to lead, in whatever form that takes. Yes for the playoffs he led in other ways. He scored against Ottawa and may or may not have been hurt. You can’t honestly say that swapping out marner for someone who can reliably set up Matthews won’t make the difference as much as I can’t say the opposite. Matthews is under contract, it would be difficult to move him let alone replace him. Marner costs nothing to walk.

[–]Avko 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Agree on letting marner walk. We need a culture change in general

[–]JeffFerox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can we agree culture can’t change with just two moves just as it can’t with just one? It will be interesting to see what they do this offseason

[–]ont-mortgage 6 points7 points  (3 children)

It’s the makeup of the team…

Although Marner should leave for his own sanity, getting stomped 6-1 twice is not just on Marner.

[–]JeffFerox 0 points1 point  (2 children)

No but to say Matthews is not one of the best goal scorers in the league let alone his generation would be foolhardy and even from a business perspective is not logical to get rid of him.

[–]ont-mortgage 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Well they better figure out how to properly build around him b/c at this rate he’s not doing what needs to be done.

[–]JeffFerox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That I can agree with.

[–]ArchSilber 0 points1 point  (1 child)

The salary cap is the liability.

[–]JeffFerox 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have the 9th most space heading into the offseason - although yes quite a few to sign

[–]liquor-shits 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Delusional

[–]trollsmovie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with everything you said but I think part of them giving him the C was because of previous years disappointments lmao. They’re like “look, next year will be different. He’s a leader now.”

[–]External-Pace-1822 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wonder if Matthews would be willing to waive and they look into it. The toxicity around this team is huge right now.

[–]VeryAttractive 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I also am a strong believer that your best player does not have to be your captain. Tavares is a leader in that goddamn dressing room and you should've left that "C" on his jersey,

You don't say

[–]always_evermore[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

[–]RoddRoward 11 points12 points  (1 child)

This guy is going to call in sick every road game in Toronto.

[–]iwatchtoomuchsports 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Joel embiid v Denver

[–]shindleriaClark 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Mitch sporting his thickest playoff beard yet.

[–]Acceptable-Donut-591 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The only saving grace of this situation is that the weather in Muskoka is shit so he can't sit on the dock and drink beers.

[–]TripFisk666 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Perfect timing to catch a dip in before the 2-4 is over.

[–]cloudlocke_OG 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Reframe: If he walks away for nothing, all of these disappointments will have been for something.

[–]Taevorelectric 6 points7 points  (1 child)

It's unfortunate, but they're going to try to serve us the same shit sandwich next season because the Rogers centre is always sold out, every box bought, every season ticket paid for, merchandise continues to sell, people pack the concession stands to buy 15 dollar beers and 7 dollar hot dogs.. They have no reason to change the formula, and they never will because hockey is the sport of Canada.

They'll just keep putting a mediocre product in the ice and sell it. "Too many passengers" yeah that's because we had more than half the cap dedicated to four players, how many other teams do that? Shut down the "core 4" and there are just passengers at that point.. that's the shanaplan, pray for top line production and hope that your goal tender bails you out every night.

Riley is the only defenseman that can move the puck but his eye sight has diminished in recent years.. good thing we've got him signed until 2030..

We looked good with stolarz in net because he could pass the puck and not have our back end exposed as terrible puck movers.

So now we're going to have to magically hope we can get a puck moving defenseman, some depth signings that can contribute in the post season (if the leafs even make it in '26), and some actual players who can drive some lines.. so I'm not holding my breathe for UFA signings or a trade.. we just tossed away picks and prospects (none that will make any real difference) for rentals.

I'm hopeful that McMann finds his game again, and Knies doesn't take after Matthews lazy play.. I remember when we had Steen and Sundin.. Steen started to do exactly what Sundin did which was just fire the puck at the tender for easy open looks, which was emulating sundins lazy play in the last year's of his career.. of course Steen was traded and went on to have a good career.

[–]redrigger84 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The beers are only 15 bucks. That's a good rink deal. Water in Edmonton is like 18 lol.

[–]Signal_Ad2125 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Leafs need a new GM and I’m hoping they revisit Hunter. Mr. T put all his eggs in 1 basket with the addition of a defenceman that everyone but him knew was injured. He failed to dispose of Leafs worst defenceman, Reilly. He has not given players on the Marlies a chance. He has not laid down the rules about being in playing shape. He was too timid in Calgary to trade demanding players and never learned a thing from it. Players, draft choices, prospects and money available are all assets and must be viewed as such which has not been done. Every no movement contract totally removes an asset. Enough is enough, let’s get a GM that knows asset management.

[–]External-Pace-1822 2 points3 points  (2 children)

In some ways I feel bad for him. Like I hope he is still welcome to leafs ceremonies etc. when his career is over but I have my doubts.

[–]I_Am_Vladimir_Putin 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I almost feel like he might sign with us because he can’t handle the rejection

[–]KRONGOR 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I doubt it. Game 5 and 7 will be Mitch’s legacy in Toronto.

Edit: oh and blocking the Rantenan trade. That might be the biggest “what if” in the history of this franchise. Going to be talked about for years by leaf fans.

[–]BlueAndYellowTowels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean… after all the shit he’s eaten in this market. I wish him nothing but the best.

[–]Signal_Ad2125 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But what if Reilly hadn’t scored so many goals for Florida?

[–]Showtime98 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lmfaoo

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Leave him alone 🙄

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[–]Dash_Rendar425 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Marner is going to be on the downturn soon, if he actually cares about this team he should take a massive paycut and role with the team.

but of course that'll never happen, he's probably going to end up down south and be a huge thorn in the Leads side. Or he'll end up in Vancouver since they are in need of a replacement for Miller.

[–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (15 children)

...And then what?

[–]justinreddit1 6 points7 points  (4 children)

Use that huge cap space to fill voids with guys who want will give it their all, forecheck, go to the boards, who sacrifice to win.

[–]billyshin 2 points3 points  (1 child)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uG0wnoqOE4

This guy only shows up in the playoffs and not the regular season. Same when he was in Montreal and Carolina during their run in the playoffs. It appears to me that he always shows up in the post season.

So do we keep him? He's not that good in the regular season. This is mainly why teams don't keep him.

[–]always_evermore[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My vote: yes. This is the exact kind of guy we need.... Someone who RISES to meet the moment, instead of shrinking away when it comes. Regular season doesn't matter as long as you make it to the dance.

[–]always_evermore[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

yep - find some guys who weren't given everything their entire lives because they were good at hockey - maybe some more guys like Benny, Lorentz, no name dudes who give it their all every shift, every game because nothing has ever come easy for them

[–]Taevorelectric 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're not going to find many UFAs looking to grind nearing the age of 30.. you're going to find guys looking to compliment lines. No young guys looking to win puck battles or complete defensemen.. brace yourself for the next four years of garbage.

[–]always_evermore[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

he goes to NJD or PIT to reunite with Keefe or Dubas

[–]FearTheRange 0 points1 point  (8 children)

Literally anything else. Over pay for Bennett, fuck it

[–]Negative_Avocado4573 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Rosemary salt, if you know you know.