Pokey Jones

What talent? Housley is in a Bylsma dilemna now. He wants to play one way, but he has a team that cannot score under any cirumstances. Will he fall into the same death trap and start making them play a slow grind shut down type game where they will ultimately lose 2-1 constantly.............the future is bleak and it could get really boring.

These guys just can't put the puck in the net. Haven't for years, and still can't.

I was playing poker with a bunch of Leaf fans so I missed the game and saw a good portion of the Bruins Leafs game. The good news is despite all the talk about how great the Leafs have rebuilt I wasn't that impressed with what they have. Aside from Matthews (who didn't play) they aren't all that special. Marner is fast but he's a one trick pony. Easy to check. Don't see him as a star. Nylander is really fast but he is soft and shys away from contact. Sooooo if he is the "good Nylander" we should probably forget about our bad Nylander ever amounting to anything. Without Matthews he is nothing. What the Leafs have though is a team that plays harder and is more in sync. These guys forecheck really well and are definitely better than us on the 3rd and 4th lines. Their D is mobile and they pass the puck better than us. I guess that comes down to coaching. But I think that gives us hope. Talent wise its not a huge gulf, we just need to use our speed and play better as a unit. I think the gap between us can close quickly, IF Housley and JBot get it right.

Charlie Lindgren wtf? How come we never seem to find these guys?

So much depends on Nylander actually amounting to something doesn't it? If he and someone else (maybe Mittlestadt) both come in next year and play well you suddenly have a young fast scoring line up front and then all the other lines get better as players bump down.

Do we not have anyone else? I personally thought Baptiste looked like he should head back down in a hurry.

Pominville is slowing down but he is still a better skater than half the roster imo and he can still shoot. They're trying others, but there really are few options on that side right now.

Columbus is actively looking for a top six forward and have D to offer according to TSN. Further building the D while waiting for Mittlestadt and (maybe) Nylander might fit JBot and Housley's plan.

Move Moulson? This is a dream I could get behind, but it is a dream.

From the Vancouver media I know they have interest for sure. They have for years and are still dreaming about finding a winger for the Sedins, the only question I think would be if they think they can make a playoff run this year. That would determine whether they go for him or just wait for him to be a free agent and sign him then next year.

He played center when he first got here didn't he? Before we sent him back to junior? Pretty sure the original idea was for him to be #2 center and not a winger but ok, wait until January that's fair. I said in preseason at some point this year you'd see the "what's wrong with Sam" articles and I stand by that. The only reason they might not trade him is because he doesn't have enough trade value/interest to make it worth while. You might get a bust for a bust type deal but that's about it.

This does not surprise me. I honestly think JBot has zero intention of signing him. He'd rather be free of the baggage and the big contract and work from the ground up with the prospects he gets. So if he times it right, the better Kane is just means we might get more for him.

That was way too harsh on Eichel. Yes, we should stop comparing him to McDavid and Matthews but we should also accept him as what he is and that is by far, the best player on this team. He makes everybody who plays with him look better and that is the mark of a star player.

Pommer is a temporary place holder for sure. I actually liked Bailey on that line but he has to be more physical. Why is Kane getting so many shots? Cause the D strategy of every team we play is - take away Eichel. The more he develops the more teams will key on him which is why you want him with a sniper - and Kane is our best sniper - and I'd prefer a physical body on the other side but they have gone with speed for now. I see the merit in that, it's a choice you can make, but you don't put another playmaker on that line. Look, let's get real on Reinhart, if he was any good at all why isn't he tearing it up playing against third liners????

Kane would sign with Vancouver. That would be his dream destination.

DuClair is a lazy floater I'd steer clear. Eckman-Larsson sure, but you won't get that trade above it's too one sided in our favour.

I think what is missing from the analysis is a focus on what the other teams are doing. They are focusing totally on Eichel and as such he sees Kane open more and passes to him more and this can become a habit. What they could use a little more of is Kane giving the puck back to Eichel rather than shooting.

I think it might signal a shift. There were experienced guys out there with long resumes and they chose younger guys in tune with the new tone and style in the league. I think that was the right decision. We weren't the first to take that route so maybe he has just learned from his mistakes.

Ask yourself this though, how many goals would he have if Eichel wasn't feeding him perfect passes and the opposition wasn't keying on stopping Eichel? Also think about that when you look at how low Reinhart's numbers are.

I disagree with this. Eichel has set up all or close to all of Kane's goals and most of Pommer's too. Without Eichel we wouldn't be scoring at all. Pouliot is showing me that he is a fit for the system, so this also tells me JBot has a vision in line with Housley and he knows what he is doing, he just can't change it all overnight.

You conveniently skipped over the one day celebrate part...........I am hopeful and optimistic JBot will be great and we will get much better but at this moment we are far away from that. So it doesn't look like it'll turn as fast as I hoped, maybe I shouldn't have joined for another year or two until I was 100% sure, but the firing of Murray made me optimistic for the future and I stick with that - even if in the present moment I am not hopeful. I'm a realist.

Crap like what? Winning? Wasn't pretty, and we need to be better, but it wasn't crap. We won't make the playoffs though, I agree with that.

Cool. We won. Gotta love that regardless. The good: Eichel clearly a cut above the rest of this team. Kane scored, value up as mentioned by others. Lehner made a few tough saves. McCabe sticking up for a teammate even though it was against a much tougher opponent. Pouliot fits Housley's system, this gives me hope JBot knows what he is doing. The bad: Lots of chances early but we just can't put the puck in the net. This is year after year the same story. Washington is terrible in the second game of back to backs and we should have been up by 4 or 5 goals at the mid point like Dallas was on us. This will continue to haunt us even when we play well as a bad bounce can turn the score/result. The ugly: Baptiste is useless. Ok he husseled, but he can't play at this level at this time. Send him back. The PP is a disaster. No explanation for that but they need to fix it and fix it soon. Good to win, signs of improvement, but I don't think this win tells us a lot.

lol - perfect!

Totally agree. The Middlestadt expectations are way way too high. I think he could be decent, but he is years away from being great, if ever. I'm not totally giving up on Nylander though. I think he might turn out to be a soft floater but he still might become an equivalent of a young Pominville.