Weekly Takes - Monday, April 15 Edition (Retroactive to Apr 8)

Weekly Takes - Monday, April 15 Edition (Retroactive to Apr 8)

1.  My three stars from the Maple Leafs win over the Panthers on Monday…

1. Auston Matthews

1. Tyler Bertuzzi

2. Ryan Reaves

A dominant performance against an elite team. 

This team continues to pass each test that comes their way.

2. My three stars from the Leafs loss to Tampa Bay on Wednesday…

1. Reaves

2. Matthews

3. William Nylander

Reaves needs to be locked into the lineup the rest of the way, while Joseph Woll is going to have to go on a run if he wants to be the game-one starter.

The clock is ticking.

3. My three stars from the Leafs win over Montreal on Saturday…

1. Matthews

2. Max Domi

3. Reaves
   

The best Leafs-Habs game on a Saturday night in quite some time.

Reaves is everything the Leafs would hope he be and more.

4. My three stars from the Leafs win over the Penguins on Monday…

1. Matthews

2. TJ Brodie

3. Ilya Samsonov 

5. My three stars from the Leafs win over the Devils on Tuesday…

1. Matthew Knies

2. Jake McCabe

3. John Tavares

The Leafs are a well-oiled machine heading into the playoffs, while Matthews’ quest for 70 is keeping an otherwise boring finish to the season interesting, to say the least.

6. My three stars from the Leafs chaotic loss to the Devils on Thursday…

1. Tavares 

2. Matthews 

3. Nylander 

An awful game from Samsonov, mixed in with situationally mind-blowing awful plays, was enough to lose this one. 

On a positive note, though, this was Tavares’ best game of the season, while Domi should never leave the wing of Matthews.

7. My three stars from the Leafs overtime loss to the Red Wings on Saturday…

1. Mitch Marner

2. Matthews

3. Tavares

It was nice to see Samsonov rebound after a tough first period.

Otherwise, the amount of takeaways from this one is small. Get Matthews to 70 goals and stay healthy the rest of the way. That is it.

8. The Coyotes never should have stay in Arizona for as long as they did.

Relocation is devastating, I understand.  There is great appeal to having a team in Arizona, I understand. But at no point in my living memory did they have stable ownership or a downtown arena.

Destined to fail for 20 years, yet Gary Bettman did nothing about it. Now they are Utah bound, a market that has no business having a hockey team.

9. The worst part about all of this is I am sure Arizona in the next half-decade will secure a downtown arena, allowing them to receive an expansion team. Ditto with Atlanta and probably Houston.

That is not the bad part, as I think all three of those markets can support an NHL team if ran correctly. 

But a 36-team league, if you throw in Quebec City or Kansas City? The product is going to be so watered down, if it is not already.

9. My takeaways from the second and third weeks of the Blue Jays season…

• I will not let myself get worked up about Kevin Gausman’s awful start to the season. He is one of the best pitchers in the world. He had no spring training. Breathe.

• I am concerned about Tim Mayza’s awful start to the season, given his bad results are combined with bad “stuff.” You do not know how badly you need a shutdown lefty in your bullpen until you no longer have one. The Jays are experiencing that right now. (It does not help that Genesis Cabrera has been every bit as bad as the team’s secondary lefty)

• The Jays bullpen otherwise looks like it will be the team’s strength once Jordan Romano and Erik Swanson arrive, however. Romano + Swanson, combined with the early season play of Yimi Garica, Trevor Richards, Nate Pearson, and Chad Green is a positive.

• Davis Schneider needs to be an everyday player. He has been as consistent of a bat as the Jays have had since he arrived in the big leagues. 

• It is not too early to be concerned about the offensive output, given it is a continuation of a season ago. Bo Bichette will figure it out, but Daulton Varsho and Alejandro Kirk? The Blue Jays better hope Danny Jansen can stay healthy upon his return/

10. My NBA Playoff Predictions…

Eastern Conference…

Play-In…

• 76ers beat Heat

• Bulls beat Hawks

• Heat beat Bulls
  

First Round…

• Celtics beat Heat in five

• Knicks beat 76ers in seven

• Cavs beat Magic in seven

• Pacers beat Bucks in seven
  

Second Round…

• Celtics beat Cavs in five

• Pacers beat Knicks in seven

Third Round…

• Celtics beat Pacers in five
  

Western Conference…

Play-In…

• Pelicans beat Lakers

• Warriors beat Kings

• Lakers beat Kings

First Round…

• Thunder beat Lakers in six

• Nuggets beat Pelicans in six

• Clippers beat Mavericks in six

• Timberwolves beat Suns in seven

Second Round…

• Thunder beat Clippers in six

• Nuggets beat Timberwolves in seven

Third Round…

• Nuggets beat Thunder in seven

NBA Final…

• Celtics beat Nuggets in six

11. My NBA awards…

• MVP: Nikola Jokic

• ROY: Victor Wembanyama 

• MIP: Derrick White

• EOY: Brad Stevens

• COY: Jamahl Mosley 

12. The Bills had no choice to move off Stefon Diggs, a declining asset who was beginning to cause too much drama relative to his on-field value.

That does not mean this trade is not a massive win for the Texans, though. They are Kansas City’s biggest threat in the AFC.

13. There is only one takeaway from Drake’s diss response to Kendrick, Future, Metro, Rick Ross, and the rest.

He is the best in the world at what he does. There is no one better and there hasn’t been anyone better throughout this entire generation. We can act like it is close. We can act as if both sides are throwing haymakers. But when we put every bias aside, the only thing that is clear is that Drake is untouchable.