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Toronto Maple Leafs

Re: Maguire - He works for TSN, a company that takes their sports news seriously. I know for a fact (my girlfriend works in sports television) that they would never stand for their fulltime analysts making absurd and unfounded comments because they have billed themselves as a trusted source of hockey news. If Steve Kouleas made those claims, then I'd side with you, but Maguire has to be a credible source because its his job to be as credible as possible. Ya he is known for exaggerations (just listen to him talk about Phaneuf), but it's always based on subjectivity in areas like player talent. Even if he was exaggerating or rounding off to 10 clubs, do you think he would say 10 teams if no one thought that way? Seems like there's a huge grey area between 10 and none. Even if one said that, your argument that No one would have picked Kessel over Crosby is wrong. I like my odds there.

re: the nonsense you just posted - Have you talked to every GM? No? Alright then how do you know it's fluff?

Because only 1 team gets to pick 1st, we have no choice but to make assumptions or trust those in the know as to how teams would pick. I bet if Tampa got the 1st and not NYI, Hedman would have went 1st (just look at their teams to get the answer why). It really was a 1a-1b scenario and actually there were even those that went out even further on a limb and said they would pick Duchene over both of them. It depended entirely on team needs, and NYI couldn't pass on a marketable player that can score some goals. Personally, having seen Tavares and Duchene play in person, Duchene is the better all-around player and depending on my team's needs I'd take him over Tavares but I'd take Hedman over both of them. I think (and based on comments from many players, coaches, gms, scouts, etc.) Hedman has a good chance of winning multiple Norris trophies in his career and given the choice between a stud d-man or a 30+ goal scorer, I take the stud d-man.

I'll let you know who is the real deal in a few months. I have a few friends in the NHL that will get a chance to play against both Tavares and Hedman, and I'll get their take on it. You seem to be well connected with the NHL world. You wanna ask all your insiders too and we'll compare notes?
 
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Crosby is a generational talent. There is no way Kessel would've been picked over him. Kessel dropped to 5th in his own draft. There is no one in the 2006 draft that would've been picked over Crosby...there's no one in the past draft that would've been picked over him either.

I think Kessel can become an elite goal scoring winger, but I don't see him putting up 100+ points a season like Crosby every single year.

As for Tavares and Hedman, there was a definite possibility Hedman could've gone ahead of Tavaraes, whom is likely a notch below the likes of Crosby.
 
Even if he was exaggerating or rounding off to 10 clubs, do you think he would say 10 teams if no one thought that way? Seems like there's a huge grey area between 10 and none. Even if one said that, your argument that No one would have picked Kessel over Crosby is wrong. I like my odds there.
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I don't. Hypothetically, I'd bet you my Rosedale house and my private jet that Crosby would have gone first if they were in the same draft, but the proof is in the pudding: Crosby went first and Kessel went fifth. Nothing trumps what actually happened, and neither draft was significantly deeper than the other.

No need to put down Kouleas -- he's a good guy.

As for this years draft, I agree Tavares would not have been taken first by every team. Crosby absolutely would have in his draft.

For the record, I like Tavares over Duchene. He's more consistent and a better leader, if not quite as dynamic. And this is speaking as a Brampton fan (please send him down Colorado).
 
Maybe part of the reason Burke was so quick to dispose of two 1rst picks was to silence the faction of "fans" who, last year, were practically begging the Leafs to lose in order to gain admittance into the precious draft lottery. (Full disclosure: I was one of those "fans".) I can see Burke hating that culture of losing that clings to bottom feeding franchises like our own; now there's no reason for anyone to will the leafs into last place. Naturally the Leafs will respond by coming in last place just to f**k with us again because that's the only thing they ever seem to excel at.
 
syn said:
Crosby is a generational talent. There is no way Kessel would've been picked over him. Kessel dropped to 5th in his own draft. There is no one in the 2006 draft that would've been picked over Crosby...there's no one in the past draft that would've been picked over him either.

I think Kessel can become an elite goal scoring winger, but I don't see him putting up 100+ points a season like Crosby every single year.

As for Tavares and Hedman, there was a definite possibility Hedman could've gone ahead of Tavaraes, whom is likely a notch below the likes of Crosby.
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I agree that Crosby is a generational talent. What I'm saying is that in 04-05 Kessel was very highly touted and a lot of people were putting him and Crosby in the same sentence. This was obviously 12-18 months before Kessel would be drafted, and he would fall in his draft due to a combination of talent regression (at least in comparison to other players in his class, especially Erik Johnson who came out of nowhere) and some attitude problems that have been well documented, such as being the cause of the US junior team's dressing room problems at the world jr's in 06.

The 05 World Juniors was when the hype for Kessel really came to a peak. He had 6 points in 7 games, which for a 17 year old is pretty amazing (as a comparison, Ovechkin had 7 points in 6 games as a 17 year old. He can't be compared to Crosby in this case because Crosby played that year with the best Junior team in history). The next year he lead the Juniors in scoring with 11 points but wasn't dominant at all with only 1 goal in the touney, and 5 of his assists in a blowout against Norway. That US team was heavily favoured to win the tourney and couldn't even get a bronze due to all the in-fighting that centred around Kessel. It was probably one of the greatest recent examples of a tournament ruining a player's draft.

I think Kessel is a point per game player, but if you asked someone 5 years ago if Kessel would be just a point per game guy, they might have said that was the low-end of his potential.
 
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Marner now the second highest paid winger in the league. Leafs also with 3 of the 7 highest paid players in the league, in Matthews, Tavares and Marner.
 
5th straight loss for the Leafs after tonight's 1-6 shellacking handed by the Penguins.

The defence continues to be horrendous. 22 games and more than a quarter of the way into the season, the Leafs have the second most goals allowed in the league.
 
AlbertC said:
5th straight loss for the Leafs after tonight's 1-6 shellacking handed by the Penguins.

The defence continues to be horrendous. 22 games and more than a quarter into the season, the Leafs have the second most goals allowed in the league.
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If they keep up on their losing streak I think Babcock will be fired when they return home.
 
Richard White said:
If they keep up on their losing streak I think Babcock will be fired when they return home.
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With the Leafs in their current form, the next 3 games are going to be tough. Vegas, Coyotes with a surprisingly good record, and the Avalanche. After that, the Red Wings should be an easier match up, but who knows.

I gotta say that with the changes to the league in recent years, the level of competition is a lot more even.

Apart from Babcock, I think Dubas also holds a fair amount of responsibility in team building. Especially with the lack of strength in defence and toughness.

Players wise, Tyson Barrie has been a pretty major disappointment.
 
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