Leaderboard

I think we're around where the Leafs were before they got Matthews. We have some really nice pieces, we just need that elite player to put us back in the conversation. Let's hope Zadina is that player, or maybe whoever we draft next year. Matthews is better than Larkin, and Marner is better than Mantha, but hopefully they can narrow that gap as the team improves over the next few years. Athanasiou is better than Brown. Bertuzzi is better than Hyman. I think Zadina could be better than Nylander. I think Svechnikov could be better than Kapanen. I think Berggren could be better than Johnsson. I think Rasmussen could be better than what they had in Van Riemsdyk (or whoever his replacement is). Maybe Veleno could be as good as Kadri (I have high hopes for Veleno). I think Turgeon will be better than Gauthier. Tavares was a huge add for them, but we have Nielsen ... I think this is pretty accurate. At least that's what I see right now. The problem is, our defense is still a disaster, with no top end players coming any time soon. The Leafs have Rielly and even Gardiner, and we don't have anything close to that. They also have Dermott, Liljegren and Sandin who look like they could be top 4 defensemen some day. We have Hronek, Cholowski and McIsaac that we're counting on to be top 4 defensemen in the future. We need all of our players to develop, and most to hit their ceilings, we need to add another high (top 5) draft pick next year, and we need to add a top end UFA over the next couple years if we want any chance to compete with our division (Tampa, Toronto, Boston, Buffalo) over the next decade or so...

You're not asking for his improvement. You're asking for him to play a brand of hockey that he may not be designed to do. He's a fast, dangling forward. You think him being a 2 way forward is improvement because Babcock probably instilled that in your head for 10 years. I say he should be utilized for his strength. Which is his speed. He's got great vision at reading breakways. He shouldn't be criticized for it. He's still young and learning, he shouldn't be criticized for it. He may become a lot better than he is, he shouldn't be talked off like he'll never reach a certain level after 1-2 seasons in the NHL.

The only problem is that these players hit the reset button this summer and have to start conditioning and training again ending with camp in sept. I imagine that is something his body may not handle well even if it can play 20 minute games (his ice time). He could go light this summer and skip camp in September but he’ll probably be even slower and worse.

Now compare that to Toronto’s young pieces.

I think everyone should do swimming lessons early in life. I did at a young age, and live in the water all summer, whether it's swimming or water sports. I certainly will have my children in lessons at a very young age. In saying that, you can be the best swimmer in the world and still drown. My grandfather was a great swimmer, but jumped in the water one evening (it'll be 20 years in a couple months), hit his head and drowned. I'm assuming something similar happened to Emery... I think everyone should know how to swim, but more importantly, any time you do go for a swim you should have reliable, able swimmers with you. Unfortunately my pop didn't. It's still unknown whether Ray did or not...

He's too competitive and honestly he was still our best player the last 3 seasons. Maybe Larkin was the better one during a lot of last season but for sure the season before that and in 2016 it was all him. Plus it's not that uncommon to skip practice and play games. I did that in high school Lacrosse during my last season back in the day when I had my meniscal injury. No way would I have been able to do the practice drills, but playing games was much better and less demanding.

Oh. Fantasy fanboy lineups. Got it

You'll never turn, I'm sure. Probably still think Brendan Smith is a great prospect with a ton of potential. But LGW will turn on anyone. Everyone, eventually.

A bridge deal was probably necessary thanks to Holland's cap management. Solid deal for now, but if he does explode like some expect it's going to cost a lot to extend him.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/former-nhl-goaltender-ray-emery-dead-35-drowning-accident/ Sad news out of Hamilton this morning. Apparently Emery was swimming with friends around 6:00am this morning, dove in and never resurfaced. Thoughts are with his friends and family.

Agreed, I put my daughter into swimming lessons before she could walk and eight years later its turned into a huge passion of hers. Water can just be so unpredictable. I had a friend who drowned in highschool at the mouth of our harbour, he was a good swimmer but got caught a current and it took him right under and was found 3 days later washed up on the beach-by his dad of all people, it was a heartbreaking ordeal.