Resting Leafs, line juggling and the salary cap: Leaflets

Less than a month until meaningful hockey. It shouldn’t have to be this way. It would be nice if there were something beyond avoiding injuries and roster optimization left to care about for the season, but that’s not how it works. I guess it could always be worse than being a team that has been locked into your playoff opponent since late December, you could be a team that hasn’t had a sniff of the playoffs all year, and then really, after the trade deadline what are you tuning in for? So rather than going completely negative on there still being 14 games left to play, I’ll embrace this wild ride through lineup card construction that will likely lead us back to something very familiar to us in time for the playoffs.
5 Player Units
While Sheldon Keefe is exploring what works and what doesn’t when it comes to his lineup card, I wouldn’t mind seeing him dust off the old Soviet tactic of having five player units that head out together rather than running forward lines and defense pairings separately. To some extent, the Leafs are already trying to do this as much as possible as there isn’t much point in putting Morgan Rielly on …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Prospect Mailbag: Leafs Prospect Roundup

Rather than sticking with our usual formula for the Leafs Prospect Roundup, where we recap what Toronto’s up-and-comers have been up to over the past week, we decided to switch things up this week and take questions on the Leafs’ prospect pool from our followers on Twitter.
We got a lot of great questions, so thank you to everyone who contributed. Let’s get to it!
From @mic_mazz: What can we realistically expect from Matthew Knies at the NHL level based on his play at the University of Minnesota thus far?
The Matthew Knies hype train started gaining steam early last season when he stepped in as a freshman for Minnesota and made an immediate impact. His play since then has done little to slow that hype train, but it’s important to manage expectations.
There simply aren’t a lot of players who step directly out of the NCAA and into prominent NHL roles. That’s not to say it isn’t possible for Knies to hit the ground running, but there is likely to be an adjustment period as he begins his pro career. The biggest hurdle that Knies could be facing in that adjustment period, at least this season, is that he will be left with very little runway if he does indeed sign to close out the NHL …

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Author: Nick Richard / The Leafs Nation

Formula rather sticking than usual with

Blue Jays introducing new Schneiders Porch at Rogers Centre

What’s better than hot dogs and baseball? Dedicating an entire porch at a professional baseball stadium so fans can enjoy the best of both worlds. And that’s precisely what the Toronto Blue Jays intend to do this season.
Amid phase one of the Rogers Centre’s $300-million renovation, the franchise has overhauled its outfield seating section over the winter and added several new fan experience sections, including multiple gathering porches. One, in particular, is being sponsored by Schneiders and will become the ballpark’s new “hot dog headquarters.”

Elevate your hot dog game at the new @Schneiders Porch!
How many will you be eating in 2023?
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) March 3, 2023

This new attraction will be located beyond the right field wall at Section 209 and will invite fans to explore a wide variety of one-of-a-kind culinary creations. Baseball fans will be able to stop by during a game, with the Schneiders Porch’s capacity capable of holding upwards of 150 fans, including a front-row section that can be reserved for a group of up to 20 people.
“We’re excited to partner once again with the Toronto Blue Jays,” said Casey Richards, President and Chief Growth Officer, Maple Leaf Foods. “The Schneiders Porch is designed true to the brand’s authentic recipes, high craftsmanship standards, and irresistible taste.”
Loonie Dog nights at the Rogers Centre were a major hit with Toronto’s fan base last season, and that is likely to continue even further in 2023 as Schneider’s Porch will transform into Loonie Dogs Central every Tuesday home game.
The first Loonie Dog night is scheduled for Apr. 25 against the Chicago White Sox.
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Author: Thomas Hall / Blue Jays Nation

baseball better Dedicating dogs than what’s

Eyes on Knies, Grebyonkin’s great season, Tverberg on the board: Leafs Prospect Roundup

We are now less than a week away from the NHL trade deadline, and with the Leafs having already taken their big swing with the Ryan O’Reilly trade, the focus has shifted from whether or not top prospect Matthew Knies could be on the move to if and when he’s going to sign with Toronto.
Knies and the Gophers wrapped up their regular season schedule with a weekend set against #3 Ohio State. After a relatively quiet one-assist showing in Friday’s win, he was in the middle of everything on Saturday.
Things didn’t start off so great as Knies was assessed a five-minute major for checking to the head in the first period, and linemate Jimmy Snuggerud earned a five-minute major of his own. The infractions allowed Ohio State to get out to a two-goal lead early in the second, but Knies and his linemates made amends and then some.
After Sabres prospect Aaron Huglen brought the Gophers within one, Minnesota’s top trio got to work and quickly tied the game. Logan Cooley made a heads-up play in the neutral zone to spring Snuggerud for a clean entry down the right wing, and sensing an opportunity, Knies darted past his man to the far post, arriving at the per …

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Author: Nick Richard / The Leafs Nation

away from less than trade Week

Dubas’ silence is golden, and the importance of Rielly: Leaflets

We are now on day three of no Leafs hockey. It’s now less than a week to go until the Leafs are back at it against the Blue Jackets. And we are now under four weeks until the NHL trade deadline. It seems like the perfect time to get into some Saturday morning Leafs takes.
The lack of information that comes out of the Leafs front office
I’m sure that Kyle Dubas loves the fact that the trade deadline reporting on the Leafs is that they are very much in on a forward. Or a defenseman. Or both. The fact that no one can nail down what the Leafs priorities are and that insiders are left to desperately speculate on what the Leafs could be up to makes Kyle’s job a lot easier.
One of the reasons this has to be a win for Dubas is that pretty much everyone with an audience would be dissecting why his target isn’t right for Toronto or why the price should be so much higher than Toronto is willing to pay. Understandably the second that Toronto gets attached to a player in a rumour it’s probably simpler to just move on to someone else rather than refine the deal as anyone that Toronto is lookin …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Hockey It's Leafs’ less than Three

10 Things to consider about the Leafs and the trade deadline

We are less than five weeks from the trade deadline. It feels like we are at least halfway through the nonsense that starts around the beginning of the calendar year and so far has yielded just a Ryan Merkley/Matt Nieto trade. It’s an interesting time that never lives up to the hype that goes into it, but the trade deadline is the last barrier between Leafs fans and confronting the existential dread that is playoff time, so admittedly I try to enjoy it even knowing that it will be underwhelming.
There are a lot of quantitative elements that go into the trade deadline and throwing mass quantities of numbers at you about random players on random lottery teams is fun, but today I thought I’d just ramble on about 10 qualitative things that warrant a bit of discussion heading into the trade deadline as well.
1. If a player’s numbers say they are playing badly, trust the numbers
There is always a belief that the player that you want the Leafs to acquire who is having a down year is having that down year because they are playing on a bad team. There is one major flaw in this way of thinking and that’s the obvious, “what if the player I like i …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Five from less than trade week’s

Dissecting the Leafs rumoured interest in Tyler Myers

Few things are more troublesome than hearing that the team you cheer for is kicking tires on Tyler Myers. Unfortunately for Leafs fans, that’s exactly what Bruce Garrioch reported this week:
There’s also been talk the Vancouver Canucks are willing to move defenceman Tyler Myers and the Leafs have been among the teams kicking tires there.
Now it’s very easy to yell “HELLS NO” and run off screaming into the horizon, but we’ll go a little bit further in our analysis than that, despite the fact that this clearly looks like a bad idea.
Let’s start with the well established reasons of why this isn’t a good idea. Tyler Myers has an AAV of $6M for not only this season, but next. There is also the issue of despite being listed as a defenseman, very little defense seems to happen when Tyler Myers is on the ice, and goaltenders tend to get shelled. His Evolving Hockey player card put him in the bottom 11th percentile of players in the league, and his RAPM charts very rarely show any blue. His rate stats are modestly better than that, and speak to the Canucks getting shelled with Myers on the ice, but not necessarily seeing puck go in a ridiculous amount as a result of that. I guess that’s something…
Season
GP
TOI/GP
CA/60
CF%
GA/60
GF%
xGA/60
xG%
HDCA/60
HDCF%
PDO
20212022
82
18.31
58.63
49.15
2.16
53.85
2.60
49.39
11.39
47.61
1.013
20222023
14
18.34
…

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

hearing more than That things troublesome

Key injuries, Kuznetsov suspended and Sharks eyeing Bedard: NHL Notebook

Less than two weeks into the regular season and injuries are already piling up. Over the last week several key players hit their respective injured lists, a Washington Capitals forward was suspended, and the San Jose Sharks took the lead in the race for Connor Bedard.
Landeskog knee surgery
The Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche will be without their captain Gabriel Landeskog for the next 12 weeks after his second knee surgery of the year. He missed the last quarter of the 2021-22 season for the same reason before joining the team for their playoff run.
He was held out of the first three games with a lower body injury and ultimately they decided another surgery was necessary.
Red Wings injuries
Tyler Bertuzzi will miss the next four to six weeks after blocking a shot against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. This a massive blow for a young Wings team with playoff aspirations. Bertuzzi was second on the team with 62 points last season.
His teammate Jakub Vrana is also away from the team for personal reasons. There has been no timetable given for his return. Detroit will need depth players to step up with the absence of two top-six forwards. Pius Suter and Filip Zadina have joined the lineup after being healthy scratches early on.
Ekblad groin s …

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Author: Scott Ony / The Leafs Nation

into less regular season than week’s

Raptors’ Fred VanVleet has bold take in NBA GOAT debate

Nothing will get NBA fans more worked up than debating who is the greatest player in league history, as the arguments can get very vitriolic. Toronto Raptors All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet officially decided to dip his toe into these perilous waters. Unless you’ve been living in space for the last few decades, the top […]
Raptors’ Fred VanVleet has bold take in NBA GOAT debate – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

fans more nothing than will worked

BJN Radio – Ep. 108: It wasn’t pretty, but the Blue Jays got the job done against the Pirates

It was a little more stressful than you’d like for a series with the basement-dwelling Pirates, but the Blue Jays came into Pittsburgh and pulled off a sweep.

We talked about Alek Manoah’s excellent start on Friday night, Bo’s putting together arguably the best at-bat we’ve seen from any Blue Jay this season in Saturday’s win, and Jordan Romano coming through with a huge save on Sunday’s afternoon.
After that, we looked ahead at the upcoming series with the Orioles, which is far more anxiety-inducing than we expected it would be back in April.
You can listen to the episode here…
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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

like little more stressful than you’d