General Hockey Talk - Injuries, signings, factoids + other news from around the league

wprager wrote:Shanahan tempted fate when he said they earned the Matthews pick the hard way. Karma was listening.

Well we better be careful for what we wish for. Their 1st this year is top-10 protected and they're the exact team that needs to draft Askarov. Last thing we need it Toronto having potentially elite goaltending at $900K for 2-3 years.

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:

wprager wrote:Shanahan tempted fate when he said they earned the Matthews pick the hard way. Karma was listening.

Well we better be careful for what we wish for. Their 1st this year is top-10 protected and they're the exact team that needs to draft Askarov. Last thing we need it Toronto having potentially elite goaltending at $900K for 2-3 years.

Too little too late. That kid wouldn’t make an impact by the time matthews is in Arizona

Yep. Name the last goalie who made an impact in the league as a teenager.

Toronto down 0-1, outshot 21-13. If they lose, does Babcock last the road trip? Does Dubas?

I hope they stay on long term so they can continue to suck like a vacuum. Terrible

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:

wprager wrote:Shanahan tempted fate when he said they earned the Matthews pick the hard way. Karma was listening.

Well we better be careful for what we wish for. Their 1st this year is top-10 protected and they're the exact team that needs to draft Askarov. Last thing we need it Toronto having potentially elite goaltending at $900K for 2-3 years.

Interesting that a team that thought they were good and were supposed to be good would still protect their traded 1st rounder. Novel idea isn’t it Dorion?

I've never seen a 1st round pick protected for more than 1 draft. Dorion had protection built in by easy of choice. If the Leafs have a top-10 pick this year and the next they will lose the second one.

#FireBabcock

IIRC the last regulation lead was held in the 3rd period Nov 5th against 31st place L.A. Also, the Leafs only have 2 wins this season against teams better than .500. #stickaforkinhershesdone #FireBabcock #FireDubas

What is Ken Hitchcock doing for the rest of the season? #FireDubas #FireBabcock

Yes, press box Harry Potter is the real problem! He’s put together a speedy version of the Vienna Boys Choir and it’s a disaster. The season is slipping away and major changes can’t come soon enough! #Firedubas #FireBabcock #Leafs

Buffalo is now ahead of them. Legit two teams to pass for the last wildcard spot. 22 points after 23 games is officially under .500. Ottawa could pass them if they win both games in hand.

Tampa lost last night but they are still only 2 back with 5 in hand, so it's only a matter of time. Columbus is 2 back with 2 in hand. Both play tomorrow against beatable opponents - Columbus at home against Detroit and Tampa traveling to Chicago. Both would be ahead of the Leafs if they win.

Spezza with a couple of points as the Leafs lose to Vegas last night! I wonder if Babcock will really get fired if they keep struggling....hopefully not, I love the circus.

The Leafs didn't play badly, it's didn't look like they stopped listening to Babcock, so he's somewhat safe, for now. But they could have 4 teams to leapfrog by U.S. Thanksgiving which usually means no playoffs. If they are still close at that point I could see a coaching change as a last gasp effort to turn things around.

Nylander was so soft on a couple in-close attempts that should both have been goals. All skill no jam whatsoever.

tim1_2 wrote:Spezza with a couple of points as the Leafs lose to Vegas last night!  I wonder if Babcock will really get fired if they keep struggling....hopefully not, I love the circus.

yeah, I'm loving this. hopefully, both Babcock and Dubas both stick around a while longer to further peg this disaster in the ground.

I think a terrible trade up next would be entertaining

Flo The Action wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:Spezza with a couple of points as the Leafs lose to Vegas last night!  I wonder if Babcock will really get fired if they keep struggling....hopefully not, I love the circus.

yeah, I'm loving this. hopefully, both Babcock and Dubas both stick around a while longer to further peg this disaster in the ground.

I think a terrible trade up next would be entertaining

It's hilarious until they have a higher draft pick than us. Hopefully they miss the playoffs and draft after the top-10 so the pick goes to Carolina. The 1st they gave up to take Marleau is top-10 protected.

I wonder if a team like Toronto or Calgary will look to Ottawa for help. Different needs but the Sens have pieces that could help both teams.

I can totally see Pageau in Calgary and can see Anderson going also in place of Talbot. Not sure what a trade would look like as Calgary would need to shed some salary to make the numbers match. Not really sure what is going on in Calgary save the fact that last year was a blip and their goaltending sucks.

As for Toronto, a Boro/De Melo would be a cheap fix for their blueline woes, and a depth forward like Tierney would help.

And someone like Duclair would tear it up in Toronto with all that talent around him but it's hard to see Duclair going anywhere at this point.

Babcock shown the door. Keefe up to replace him.