Raptors news: Steve Nash impresses, high-scoring wing worked out

Since the firing of former Coach of the Year Nick Nurse, the Toronto Raptors have been quite slow to fill their coaching position. While other openings have already been cut to finalists, the Raptors recently interviewed Steve Nash but still seem to be searching. According to NBA analyst Marc Stein, it is all for a reason. […]
Raptors news: Steve Nash impresses, high-scoring wing worked out – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Nolan Fluke / Raptors HQ

Leafs knock off Lightning 4-3 in overtime to take a 2-1 series lead: Game Highlights

The Leafs won their biggest game of the year on Saturday night. Game three was the first close one of the series. There was plenty of scoring and several lead changes. Toronto tied the game late and won it overtime. Below are the highlights from the game.
Noel Acciari scored the game’s first goal just over three minutes into the game. Matthew Knies set him in the slot and he ripped a wrist shot by Andrei Vasilevskiy…

COOKIE TIME!! 🍪⏰ pic.twitter.com/lPOwqUsBPm
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 22, 2023

Toronto didn’t hold the lead for long. A minute and 26 seconds later Anthony Cirelli tied it up with a wrist shot of his own…

Anthony Cirelli answers right back! ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/L0HEHJszlB
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 22, 2023

Later in the first Auston Matthews found the back of the net for the first time in the series. He tipped in Mitch Marner’s point shot for the go-ahead goal…

TONE TIME! 👀⏰ pic.twitter.com/O4YdWFOYZU
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 22, 2023

The first period scoring wasn’t done there. In the final minute Brandon Hagel’s shot somehow wound up in the Leafs net. The puck deflected off TJ Brodie and Ilya Samsonov before trickling across the line. After review it was determined a good goal…

GOOD GOAL FOR TAMPA! 🚨
Brandon Hagel buries the late period equalizer for the Lightning. pic.twitter.com/lVFE98WO9r
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 22, 2023

Tampa Bay pressed early in the second period and Samsonov kept the game tied with two massive saves…

SAMMY 🗣SAMMY 🗣 pic.twitter.com/idVHNWfSUq
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 23, 2023

Late in the middle frame the Lightning took their first lead of the game. Darren Raddysh circled the net, bounced off a check from Jake McCabe and wired home his first career playoff goal…

Top shelf for Darren Raddysh. 🎯
Catch all the Game 3 action on Sportsnet! pic.twitter.com/uqkZJTZoQ4
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 23, 2023

There was a scary moment in the third when Brayden Point crashed hard into the boards after engaging with Morgan Rielly. Rielly was assessed a five minute major on the play but after review no penalty was called on the hit…

Scary p …

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Author: Scott Ony / The Leafs Nation

biggest Game Leafs’ Saturday their year

Knies and the playoffs, GM opening panic, and an ideal draft lottery outcome: Leaflets

I don’t think there is a time of the year that I am truly more excited about hockey than the few day window between the regular season and the postseason. I’m so happy the season has come to a close and the playoffs still are a reason for hope and excitement. As soon as the puck drops I’ll stop pooping until the Leafs’ fate is decided.
In this small window of fun reflection and looking forward, I’ve got my weekly stray thoughts. Let’s get to them.
Fitting Knies into the Leafs playoff lineup
To say that Leafs fans are excited about Matthew Knies is an understatement. He’s quickly shown that he has the skill set to be a part of an NHL lineup, it’s just a matter of getting him into some practices between now and Tuesday to see if he truly belongs in the Leafs Game One lineup.
If the philosophy is to take a gamble on the upside from the beginning, the Leafs will probably go with Knies. That doesn’t seem like a decision that most NHL coaches would make. There’s a lot more risk aversion than that as well as there needs to be some conside …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

don’t That There think time year

3 Raptors who have earned a spot on the 2023-24 roster

The Toronto Raptors have played most of the year with a very suspect second unit, as the lack of consistent 3-point shooting off the bench and inability to perform when the chips are down are part of the reason Toronto is a play-in contender rather than a playoff fixture. It’s not unreasonable to suggest that […]
3 Raptors who have earned a spot on the 2023-24 roster – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

have most played Raptors Toronto year

A couple of CHL free agents for the Leafs to consider

It’s that fun time of the year when we got a number of NCAA free agent signings, a few European free agent signings, and a handful of Canadian junior signings mixed in as well. For the most part, the Leafs have focused their efforts on the European signings and those often come later in the spring, there have been a handful of NCAA free agent signings like Alex Steeves, Max Ellis, and well… I guess that’s it save for a lot of AHL signings. That tends to be Leafs preferred strategy of late anyway, but we’ll look at a couple of potential options that might be worth the Leafs busting out the NHL standard player contracts, after all, if they can take a gamble on Max Ellis, they can gamble on these guys too.
The Leafs also have only 31 committed to contracts for next season out of 50, so they can start having some fun on swing for the fences overagers. They only have three picks in the June draft, so restocking the prospect pool wouldn’t be a bad thing,
So let’s get to the prospects. Both were highlighted on 32 Thoughts this Saturday by Jeff Marek, and while there were a couple of defensemen mentioned as well, I’ve opted to zero in on the two centers that were discussed.
Ivan Ivan
Ivan Ivan …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

It's number That time when year

Erik Karlsson sticker price shock, the future of the Leafs goal, and more: Weekend Leaflets

It’s a new year and a new me. Part of that means changing up when I post Leaflets. Rather than having them starting your work week, they will now kick off you weekend. Instead of me ruining you Monday with my horrible takes, you’ll start your weekend with coffee spit take. You’re welcome.
The Erik Karlsson trade ask is ridiculous
I’m sure if hop in the way back machine we’ll remember a time when there was some entertaining of the idea of Erik Karlsson being someone the Leafs should acquire. Remember that point when missing Muzzin seemed like a big deal and the blueline was so overwhelmed by injuries that Victor Mete was playing with Mac Hollowell?
Anyway, at that time there seemed to be some interest in Karlsson if the ask was low enough and the Sharks would eat half his salary. Karlsson was playing pretty good at that time too, but was being actively shopped.
Now, I don’t doubt he’s still being actively shopped (why do the Sharks need him?), he’s still playing some of his best hockey, but the asking price on his is far steeper than anyone expected.
Via Frank Seravalli at Daily Faceoff:
This week, the San Jose Sharks reportedly asked for three first-round picks in exchange for Karlsson, with the Sharks willing to retain 18 percent of his contract. That would knock Karlsson down to a roughly $9.4 million salary cap hit.
That shoul …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

changing It's means part That year

Recapping the five best Toronto Maple Leafs goals of 2022

The best part of this time of year is looking back at all of the incredible goals scored — by the Maple Leafs and every other team in the NHL.

Today, though, brings an all-Maple Leafs highlight reel, and 2022 had some of the best goals that I’ve seen from Toronto in a long time. We were able to see vintage John Tavares, Auston Matthews’ dazzling hockey IQ, and even a special goal from Pierre Engvall.
There were a lot of amazing goals to go through for this top five and it was very difficult figuring out where to place them. But I tried my best, and that’s all that matters, right?
Here are my picks for top five Maple Leafs goals of 2022. Enjoy!
5 – Morgan Rielly vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (February 17th, 2022)

An end-to-end masterpiece.
Rielly has scored a goal like this before, back in 2015, and I’d say that goal was even better than this one. Either way, though, it’s always fun when the 28-year-old can go end-to-end like this.
It’s an incredible individual effort.
4 – Pierre Engvall vs. New York Islanders (January 22nd, 2022)

We don’t often get Engvall goals, let alone highlight-reel ones.
This buzzer-beating dangle was far from what a lot of us expected to happen on this play. The 26-year-old is usually using his deceptive speed and strength to find the back of the net, and when he scored this, a lot of people were shocked.
I, personally, didn’t think Engvall had it in him to do this the NHL level. And it makes it even better that the goal was a buzzer-beater.
One of the goals of his career for sure.
3 – Mitch Marner vs. Florida Panthers (April 5th, 2022)

This goal might’ve been number one if not for Matthews and Tavares.
We usually see Marner as a magician with the puck, but as the years go by, he’s slowly solidifying himself as a goal-scorer too. The 25-year-old has three Panthers players on him, yet he somehow still finds a way to get by them all.
Marner even lifts the stick of MacKenzie Weegar just in time to go al …

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Author: Nick Barden / The Leafs Nation

best Looking part This time year

Digging into eight proposed trades involving Blue Jays catchers!

It’s the time of year when we all make hypothetical trade suggestions. It doesn’t help that this off-season has felt incredibly slow. Grab a snack and get curled up, this article is going to be a long one.

A few days ago, Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic wrote an article pitching eight trades involving Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk. She spoke with the other team’s beat writers of The Athletic to compile these trades, while former general manager Jim Bowden gave his assessment.
As a somewhat rational Jay fan, I also wanted to take a look at these trades and give my opinion. The fact of the matter is that some of these trades actually make sense, and I want to dig into those ones in particular.
We’ll start by looking at Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk by the numbers and attempt to gauge their value.
Danny Jansen:
The 2022 season was a career year for the 27-year-old catcher, at least with the bat. He slashed .260/.339/.516 in 248 plate appearances and had a 10.1 K% and 17.7 BB% during that time.
Where he really impressed though, was the fact that he hit a career-high 15 homers in such a short span, which was good enough for a 140 wRC+ and 2.6 fWAR.

FREE TIP: To shift Danny Jansen, place your outfielders BEHIND the wall pic.twitter.com/N7y35YnNoG
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 27, 2022

Defensively, he just hasn’t been the same as his 2019, whe …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

hypothetical It's make time when year

Keith Petruzzelli: What to expect

Another year of Maple Leafs hockey, another year of the injury bug causing goaltending issues.
With all of Ilya Samsonov, Matt Murray, and Joseph Woll at various phases of recovering from injury, the Leafs have been forced to lean on their depth. Erik Källgren, who saw some time with the Leafs last season, has filled in as starter, with mixed results.
The goaltender that intrigues me, however, is the acting backup Keith Petruzzelli. I wrote in my goaltending primer earlier this year that Petruzzelli would “have to have some degree of AHL success this season” in order to continue being considered an NHL prospect. And a degree of success he has had. Through six games with the Marlies so far, Petruzzelli is 6-0-0 with a .922 save percentage. This strong play, coupled with the Leafs’ injury issues, resulted in him signing his first NHL contract on November 6th.

Some Keith Petruzzelli highlights from this season. The 6-foot-6 netminder is 6-0-0 and has a .922 SV% with the Marlies. Coming off of a strong first professional season with the @NLGrowlers pic.twitter.com/09g3cj1WzB
— Kyle Cushman (@Kyle_Cush) November 6, 2022

To go from starting in the ECHL to earning an NHL contract within a year, injuries or not, is very significant. I spoke with TLN’s Dylan Murphy (@dylanmurphy329 on Twitter) who covers the Growlers for the site about him, and he praised Petruzzelli’s work ethic and positive attitude. Further, Dylan spoke with Growlers head coach Kyle Wellwood, who echoed that sentiment, saying that “[the organization] always said he was a gamer, he just had to learn to be a pro …

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Author: Colin Hunter / The Leafs Nation

another Hockey Leafs’ Maple year

Things to look forward to about the Leafs season

It’s that rare time of year when even the Habs and Sens are undefeated and everyone has a slight sense of optimism around their team except for Coyotes fans. We have roughly seven months to kill before actually finding out whether or not the Leafs can win a round, so in the spirit of having too much time on our hands, I’ve asked the TLN crew to share what they are excited about this season.
This is also an opportunity for us to introduce you to a number of new contributors on the site and give you a chance to know some of the new and old faces on the site. Without further adieu, here we go:
Colin Hunter:
Hi, I’m Colin, and I recently joined The Leafs Nation team as a writer. I am currently a student in Newfoundland, and am involved in the local coaching scene. I hope to contribute to improving public access/coverage of goaltending analysis in the sport. As a retired goalie and current coach myself, I’m looking forward to seeing how the goalies at various levels of the Leafs’ pipeline perform, with many of them entering pivotal years.
James Reeve:
Hi everyone, my name’s James and I am a Toronto Maple Leafs fan and writer all the way from the United Kingdom. I’ve been followi …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

It's rare That time when year