19 Jun 2021 18:22:17
Rielly for Mercer McLeod 2nd
2nd Liljegren Mikheyev for Ristolainen
19 Jun 2021 23:31:02
Prolly too much for Risto.
20 Jun 2021 04:16:25
Too much for Risto and not enough for Rielly. Why do you guys want to get rid of Rielly so bad? He’s a solid defensemen, I wish the flames had him.
20 Jun 2021 05:23:57
@NotACasual No kidding. Leafs fans are insane. I'd take Rielly over Brodie any time.
20 Jun 2021 11:32:04
@moxnix 100% their two best defensemen.
20 Jun 2021 15:08:59
Ughhh? Jake Muzzin? @Notacasual.
20 Jun 2021 23:32:34
Muzzin>Brodie=>Rielly, imo.
Muzzin has the most obvious mistakes but they aren't common and he's good on the offensive and defensive sides of the puck. Brodie's probably our best defensive dman without offensive upside and Rielly's probably our best offensive dman without defensive upside.
21 Jun 2021 01:05:11
@nylander Jake Muzzin is solid but I think Rielly and Brodie are better overall.
21 Jun 2021 07:13:56
If Brodie is your "best defensive dman" you're in big trouble. He's terrible defensively, won't play body, never hits, is scared to get hit and can't clear the front of the net.
21 Jun 2021 13:20:37
Jake Muzzin is better then both he does absolutely everything.
21 Jun 2021 17:35:22
@Mox there's more to defence than just hitting, otherwise Ben Chiarot would be the best dman in the league. Being able to move the puck away from the defensive zone, up to the forwards without giving the puck away is a key asset for a defensive dman. Adding the physicality is a bonus, but it’s not end all be all. If we’re using hitting only as the benchmark, guys like Roman Polak and such would be considered great dmen. Guys like Brodie, Ryan Pulock in NYI, Devon Toews in COL, etc. Are all solid positional dmen who are good at transitioning the puck away from dangerous areas. that's what makes a good dman, imo.
21 Jun 2021 20:14:03
@TopShelfSlappers
Of course there's more to D than hitting and I never said there wasn't. The big problem with Brodie is he's averse to contact period.
Yeah he's pretty good with the puck. In the easy games. In the tough games he rushes things and coughs it up far too frequently.
Besides not hitting, he won't play the body even just to get in the way or tie a guy up, rarely blocks shots (mostly by accident) and he's useless at clearing the front of the net.
Case in point during this year's playoffs vs Montreal. There was scramble in front of the net. Perry was trying to get a bouncing puck past Campbell, Campbell was out a ways stopping him.
Brodie was standing just inside the blue paint on the other side. Then Toffoli cruised in behind Brodie giving Brodie a little nudge on the way in. Contact averse Brodie obligingly got out of Toffoli's way instantly and turned himself into a spectator watching the rest of the play unfold.
Toffoli was practically in the middle of the crease but Brodie didn't try to move Toffoli out of the crease or even tie him up. Campell saw that, decided not to try to get back into his crease since Toffoli was in his way and Perry wound up scoring. That was a huge goal, the turning point of the series.
Now if Campbell was more experienced he like would have gone back into his net anyhow, making sure he ran into Toffoli and the challenge would have overturned the goal. But Brodie still deserves most of the blame on that goal for NOT doing what he should have done.
Flames fans saw far too much of the same kind of thing out of Brodie over the years. Too many games lost because Brodie can not or will not play a physical game at all.
I could go into more detail about how few partners have been able to make him look good and how terrible he's been with everyone else and so on but that's enough.
22 Jun 2021 06:21:38
@Mox That’s one example of one case though. We can agree to disagree though, frankly, all of the Leafs tans have loved Brodie and his style of play, physical or not - and this is from a fanbase that loves tough guys nonetheless. Sure he isn’t great at clearing the front of the met, but he’s a smaller guy, that's why on PK duty he’s often paired with the bigger Jake Muzzin or Zach Bogosian or even Justin Holl. What they lack in footspeed, or awareness, or agility, he makes up for and is able to dump the puck out prefty effectively. For a partner to the all offence Morgan Rielly, what Toronto’s been looking for has been someone who could match Rielly in pace, agility and would be able to have situational awareness - Morgan takes the offensive side of the puck, TJ the defensive. They aren’t going to overwhelm you in front of the net, but often they’re matched up against McDavid, Drais, Gaudreau, Monahan, Norris, Stutzle, etc. They need footspeed to keep up with those guys, and need to be able to transition play effectively up to the forwards.
Again, the Leafs did lose this year, but it wasn’t at all because of the defence. Even in the playoffs, Morgan stopped making bad reads and pinches and was conservative, and for the most part, played his role extremely well. Along with Brodie and Muzzin, there wasn’t much fault amongst the blueliners, apart from one bad Travis Dermott gaffe in game 6. The leafs were never overwhelmed in the d-zone, save for the beginning of game 6 which was a tire fire all round for the team - the reason the team lost is because of Matthews and Marner playing awful. The team wins if those two were able to beat Price, which, credit where credit is due, Price was a wall. Campbell was damn good too, but Price was facing Auston and Mitch and shut em down (props to Danault too) . But the defence to be honest, isn’t really an issue. Next year we have Brodie, Muzzin, Rielly (or a replacement if he's traded), Holl, Sandin, Liljegren and probably Bogo is he gets resigned ( which I think they'll do) - the need for dmen at this point, especially guys like Seth Jones who are going to command way more thsn their worth, aren’t necessary in this system. More than anything, Toronto needs to get their big guys (Marner/ Matthews) to wake up or get traded, and get a bottom six like the Habs’ (Love Armia btw, if he's cheap i'd love to sign him) which can score and be pesty.
22 Jun 2021 17:03:31
Our defense is looking absolutely outrageous for next year. Muzzin played pretty good in the playoffs, but his in season play isn't all that great. He rarely uses his size to his advantage. If he could return to his form that was present in LA I'd love him back there. Holl is useless. He's too slow and for an NHL defenseman has a lackluster shot from the point. His only advantage is he's RH. I just genuinely hope we address it for once instead of standing by as usual. Also not mentally prepared to lose Hyman, but it's sounding like we will.