Weekly Takes - Monday, April 22 Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, April 22 Edition

1. My three stars from the Leafs ugly loss to the Panthers on Tuesday...

1. Auston Matthews

1. Tyler Bertuzzi 

2. Connor Dewar 

A great first period, followed by one of the worst periods they have played in the Matthews era.

2. My three stars from the Leafs ugly loss (again), this time to Tampa Bay on Wednesday…

1. Matthews

2. John Tavares

3. Ryan Reaves

It would have been nice for Matthews to get to 70 and it would have been nice to finish the season strong after playing so well up until the last week or so, but alas.

3. What my lineup would be for the Maple Leafs to begin the playoffs… (written before game one)

Forwards…

Bertuzzi - Matthews - Max Domi

Bobby McMann - Tavares - William Nylander

Matthew Knies - Pontus Holmberg - Mitch Marner

Dewar - David Kampf - Ryan Reaves

Defence…

Morgan Rielly - Ilya Lyubushkin 

Simon Benoit - Jake McCabe

Joel Edmundson - Timothy Liljegren 

Goalies…

Ilya Samsonov

Joseph Woll

If Calle Jarnkrok can play, I would have him in Dewar’s spot to begin. Samsonov’s leash in net should be short, as should Lyubushkin’s and Edumundson’s leash on defence should they look too slow.

4. My NHL Playoffs Predictions… (written before game one)

Eastern Conference…

Round One…

• Rangers beat Capitals in four

• Hurricanes beat Islanders in six

• Panthers beat Lightning in six

• Leafs beat Bruins in seven

Round Two…

• Hurricanes beat Rangers in seven

• Panthers beat Leafs in six

Third Round…

• Panthers beat Hurricanes in seven

Western Conference…

First Round…

• Stars beat Golden Knights in seven

• Avs beat Jets in seven

• Canucks beat Predators in six

• Oilers beat Kings in five

Second Round…

• Stars beat Avs in seven

• Oilers beat Canucks in five

Third Round…

• Oilers beat Stars in seven

Stanley Cup Final…

• Oilers beat Panthers in seven

5. My NHL end-of-season awards…

• MVP: Matthews (HM: Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid)

• Calder: Connor Bedard (HM: Brock Faber and Luke Hughes)

• Selke: Alexsander Barkov (HM: Matthews and Sam Reinhart)

• Norris: Quinn Hughes (HM: Roman Josi and Josh Morrisey)

• Vezina: Connor Hellebuyck (HM: Thatcher Demko and Jordan Binnington)

• GM of the Year: Jim Nill

• COY: Rick Tocchett 

6. My three stars from the Leafs game- one loss to the Bruins on Saturday…

1. Domi

2. McCabe

3. Reaves

Not having Nylander in the lineup for this one swayed the game completely. The Bruins have the better coaching, the better goaltending, and the better defence. The path to victory for the Leafs is their forward depth relative to the Bruins. Without Nylander (and McMann), the Leafs bottom-six is no better than the Bruins.

That meant the Leafs star players would have to lead them to victory, and outside of Matthews, none of them showed up. It is put up or shut up time for Marner. This is a career-defining series for him.

I would also make a goaltending change for game two. Samsonov is not the reason the Leafs lost this game at all, but Woll has the game-breaking upside that Samsonov simply does not. Go and see if Woll can steal a game on the road. There is also the reality that the Leafs need to see whether or not Woll can be the number-one goalie going into the offseason. Give him the chance.

As for the penalty kill, it is simply not good enough and has not been good enough at any point throughout the season. Fixing the penalty kill and defensive core (those two are very much related) will be the focus of the offseason. Until then, the Leafs have to stay out of the box.

7. The NBA was right to ban Jontay Porter for life, as Adam Silver had to uphold the integrity of the game.

But people are right to respond with “how do you let Miles Bridges play after being a domestic abuser?

Playing in the NBA should be a privilege.