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Originally Posted by wingsnut19
You're talking like this is still the post-cap era. Many teams are being forced to make patch-up jobs, and sometimes it pans out. What moves could the Leafs have made to push the team over the top this offseason? I really don't see it, and I think they did the best that they could with the resources that they have. Bringing in Toskala, Bell, and Blake were good decisions, and filled some holes that the Leafs have. There are plenty of other teams with worse defense than what the Leafs have, they just need to learn how to play as a unit.
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It's a team with defenceman that can't play defence, and they've displayed it year after year. It's not just about playing as a unit, some of them really do just suck in their own end of the ice as they will eventually collapse time and time again, as they have shown year, after year, after year, after year, and so on and so forth.
When it comes to pushing the team over the top
this off-season: Most of the major damage was caused by JFJ and his no-movement clauses and bizzare contract signings LAST off-season. The defence can't improve much, unless they trade Ian White (as suggested earlier) and drop McCabe to a 5-6 d-man that plays limited time on the ice and is mainly only used on the Powerplay.
And of course they had and still do have opportunities to at least try and drop off dead weight like Chad Kilger and Wade Belak, but won't.
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We're talking to different fans and watching different TV stations, because all I hear and see is criticism for the Leafs.
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Yes, only now it is different, which is a first and quite a shock. Missing the playoffs 2 years in a row and not seeing any Leaf playoff Hockey in 3 years is bound to start something, which is great news to me considering the circumstances and how things have gone in the past. Long overdue.
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A team that would have done better if there were not extended injury problems for Wellwood, Carlo, Tucker, and Peca. I don't really see how it is fair to say that the Leafs were wrong in deciding that if those players can remain healthy it'd be possible to be in the middle of the playoff pack.
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That's the problem, and somewhat the good of the situation. If those players were in the line-up, they probably would have mad the playoffs... but that's just about it. That seems to be the only goal of this organisation - Playoff money .
It's actually a good thing that they missed the playoffs, and (dare I say it) the wayhtings are going now, I'd prefer that they miss the playoffs again this year. All they'll do if they get there is go in, and fall out in the usual fashion. They aren't much better than they have been for the past decade... they're not even that good of a team begin with really.
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And what are you talking about little to no change? They brought in 3 players than can make an impact on the team in Toskala, Bell, and Blake, and let go an aging player in Peca who was injured for most of the season, and they hopefully have Wellwood, Tucker and Antropov healthier than they were last year. I do think that this should be a playoff bound team, they just need a little time before fans start writing them off already. I mean, you barely missed the playoffs last year, and made improvements to the roster, and other teams got worse.
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Little to no change as in not only little change in the roster, but little change in the approach of this team.
Rather than trying to fix up the defence, they get another goaltender (Toskala) and another goal-scorer (Blake).
Then again, they can't do much with the defence since JFJ has pretty much trapped them with for the most part.
Mark Bell... well, if he is an impact player, he's gotta' prove it.
As for Nik Antropov: If it's wait and see with anything, it's with him. I'll leave it until the TD to finally give him his praises, but I will admit that he's playing well... but like I mentioned before, I've seen this from him before.
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Just give it time. Again, if at the 25-30 game mark this team is far below 500, then start your whining.
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Wait for what? This is years and years of watching management turn the blue and white into what it is now.
This didn't only start in the 2007-2008 season.