Nope, these are the best since Salming...any you'd like to add to the list?
Ramage, Ellett, (Todd) Gill, Yushkevich, and Markov come to mind. Obviously we haven't had elite defence since Salming but solid nonetheless. Rielly has keith/letang potential and we haven't had something that good since Salming for a prolonged period of time, but it doesn't mean these guys are slouches.
Gonchar sucks. Did you see his last game in a Pitts uniform. What a lousy effort in a game 7. Then he signs with the turds only to prove my point further. Gonchar sucks.
Don't want to go crazy or anything but he reminds me more of a Brian Leetch. High hockey IQ, great skater, leader, sound positionally, great offensive instinct, makes the game look easy and amazing passes.
Gonchar at his best certainly did not suck. At his best he was an absolute force on the ice, and more than capable through all 3 zones. If Rielly tops out at that level, the Leafs are laughing all the way to the bank.
Ramage, Ellett, (Todd) Gill, Yushkevich, and Markov come to mind. Obviously we haven't had elite defence since Salming but solid nonetheless. Rielly has keith/letang potential and we haven't had something that good since Salming for a prolonged period of time, but it doesn't mean these guys are slouches.
I guess if you don't include Leetch then it's not that bold of a statement from Berger.
No one is a bigger fan that Gunnar than me, but he looks like a trade possibility to me this year.
If some of the prospect actually make it, you'd deal the bottom of the talent barrel, not the top.
The goal is to get better not younger.
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Woodlief
using his big frame to create space and his skating ability to find open lanes to drive the net. He stands 6-3 and is a natural goal scorer with plenty of confidence.
He's a scout's dream in the way he prepares himself and plays an unselfish game, making smart decisions with the puck. With his bloodlines, he certainly understands what it will take to make it at the next level.
Question, if the NHL season does end up starting on the 2nd, does Reilly still get a look up with the big club?
He'd be allowed to attend camp, since his name was listed by the Leafs during that window where they could submit junior eligible players who they'd want to possibly have play this season. Whether or not they invite him and/or keep him with the team depends on how they feel about having him play a condensed 82-game schedule a year after missing a full season in junior.
For that last part I'm pretty sure Blacker plays RD and Finn plays a mix of both, heard more RD than LD. I'm really high in Finn and have been since before we drafted and I have really limited doubt that he'll be a top 4 guy.
That's my guess, lots will probably change by the time these guys are ready to step in though.
Touche, if Blacker and Finn both play RD, that's good news. Regardless, when Rielly makes the team (I'd guess 1-2 years from now), I think we'll see the Leafs trade Liles. Rielly, Gardiner, Phaneuf and Liles are all left handed dmen who love to handle the puck, seems like an excess of such players on one team. Gunnarsson, Percy and Finn all shoot left too. Obviously plenty of guys who shoot left can play right d as well (Phaneuf is a perfect example, loves to play on the right side so he can get that one timer off), but coaches tend to prefer to have a balance of left and right handed shots.
Pretty crazy to include Brian Leetch as one of the best Leafs dmen since Salming, he played a grand total of 15 regular season and 13 playoff games for the Leafs. He wouldn't even be close to my top 10 Leafs dmen since Salming in terms of what he actually accomplished with our team. Larry Murphy is a pretty marginal inclusion as well, he was here for one full season, then was traded late in his 2nd season because he wasn't working out. By this logic we should be calling guys like Eric Lindros and Owen Nolan some of the greatest Leafs forwards of the modern era.
What we need is steady 2-way dmen to go along with our offensive guys. I'm sorry, but poor skating players like Komisarek or Schenn aren't going to cut it anymore. All our dmen have to be able to skate. Hopefully guys like Finn, Blacker and Percy develop into steady 2-way dmen.
Leetch: rental
Murphy: style never translated with the Buds, but the boo-birds loved him
Berard: Played a couple of seasons w/the Leafs and then the eye injury, he was NEVER the same.
Iafrate: Used his time in T.O to mature, played like a AS on other teams.
McCabe: the boo-birds loved him
Kaberle: was great until Cam Janssen
Phaneuf: still too early to judge whether or not he'll play @ his level in T.O
I think Reilly will play similarly to Scott Niedermeyer, and that would be just fine with me.
BTW, Leech never fought
Larry Murphy scored 100pts in 150gms for the Leafs. That was directly sandwiched between him winning two cups as the #1/#2 dman in pittsburgh and two cups as the #2/3 dman in detroit.
Amazing how ignorant Leaf fans are when it comes to defensemen.
Larry Murphy scored 100pts in 150gms for the Leafs. That was directly sandwiched between him winning two cups as the #1/#2 dman in pittsburgh and two cups as the #2/3 dman in detroit.
Amazing how ignorant Leaf fans are when it comes to defensemen.
We booed a hall of famer out of town. Hilarious.
Now, did you watch ANY of the games he played for TO?? The majority of people (even hockey minds) agreed that he didn't skate like he did for the cup teams, his decisions with & without the puck were sometimes suspect and he just looked disengaged w/the Buds. The problem with the Leafs back then is that they were looking for back-end puck movers and LM couldn't do that that to the degree that management or the fanbase wanted him to. So he was shipped out.
Larry Murphy scored 100pts in 150gms for the Leafs. That was directly sandwiched between him winning two cups as the #1/#2 dman in pittsburgh and two cups as the #2/3 dman in detroit.
Amazing how ignorant Leaf fans are when it comes to defensemen.
We booed a hall of famer out of town. Hilarious.
You dont have to be smart to be a Leaf fan. Examples of this can be found throughout this board.
If some of the prospect actually make it, you'd deal the bottom of the talent barrel, not the top.
The goal is to get better not younger.
I agree with one vital amendment, the goal is to get better, develop, regardless of age. Unless Gunnar is going to be a Leaf when we actually compete for a cup, the development of Finn, Percy and Rielly takes precedence so when we are actually ready to compete, they are prepared for it. I expect they will be more important in 3 years than Gunnar will be. Look 3 years ahead, not hoping and trying to miss the playoffs this season. Gunnar is in his last year of his contract too, something you have to consider also.
^ Gunnar will be rock in 3 years from now, much needed for playoffs (if we get back in by then).
I'm hoping we will be so deep by then that no one will miss Gunnar by then, on a defence that will need size if Gardiner, Rielly, Finn, and Percy on it, I think a bigger D man with size might be better. Again not that I don't like Gunnar, I was the 1st one on his bandwagon a when the Leafs made that 10-11 push. His contract is up and it will be interesting to see if we can sign him.
So how does this thread not end up being about Morgan Rielly?
Morgan Rielly was the best player in that draft. #1 Overall, selected 5th and the 12th best player in that draft, Finn was had in the second round as well. Miracle!
Question, if the NHL season does end up starting on the 2nd, does Reilly still get a look up with the big club?
I hope not! I hope he doesn't see a single minute of NHL ice-time. Keep him down in the dub and let him prosper and come into his own as a player. Coming up at any point would just put unnecessary pressure on a kid who has the potential to sky rocket through our system and become an impact player right away. Personally I can wait a year or two before I see him in a Leafs jersey. Again this gets brought up but in Leafs Nation patience is key when it comes to our prospects.
Morgan Rielly was the best player in that draft. #1 Overall, selected 5th and the 12th best player in that draft, Finn was had in the second round as well. Miracle!
