Weekly Takes - Monday, April 28 Edition
- RyanEakin
- Apr 28, 2025
- 4 min read
Weekly Takes - Monday, April 28th Edition
My 2025 NHL Award Winners…
MVP: Connor Hellebuyck (Runners Up: Nikita Kucherov and Leon Draisaitl)
Calder: Lane Hutson (Runners Up: Dustin Wolf and Macklin Celebrini)
Selke: Sam Reinhart (Runners Up: Alexander Barkov and Brandon Hagel)
Norris: Cale Makar (Runners Up: Zach Werenski and Quinn Hughes)
Vezina: Hellebuyck (Runners Up: Andrei Vasilevskiy and Logan Thompson)
My 2025 NHL Playoffs Predictions…
Eastern Conference…
Round One…
Leafs beat Senators in 6
Lightning beat Panthers in 7
Capitals beat Habs in 6
Canes beat Devils in 5
Western Conference…
Round One…
Jets beat Blues in 5
Avs beat Stars in 7
Golden Knights beat Wild in 6
Oilers beat Kings in 7
Round Two…
Eastern Conference…
Lightning beat Leafs in 7
Capitals beat Canes in 6
Western Conference…
Jets beat Avs in 7
Golden Knights beat Oilers in 7
Conference Finals…
Lightning beat Capitals in 6
Jets beat Golden Knights in 7
Stanley Cup Finals…
Lightning beat Jets in 7
This is it for the Leafs.
They have done what they have never done before — put themselves in the best position possible heading into the playoffs by winning the Atlantic.
They have their best goaltending and defence in the Core Four era.
They have adapted their team game to have success when it matters in the playoffs.
Now it’s about winning.
If not, it will be the ultimate embarrassment and will be the end of the Core Four as we know.
Win, and this group will be celebrated. Lose, and it’s the the end of the most disappointing era since the Harold Ballard era.
No pressure. Let’s see what they got.
My three stars from the Leafs dominant game one win over the Senators on Easter Sunday…
Auston Matthews
Matthew Knies
Mitch Marner
This was the exact type of playoff win that has been long overdue.
For the first time, Toronto used their power play to inflict pain on an opponent in the playoffs.
They used a team’s lack of discipline and inexperience against them.
They went with quality over quantity, backed up by great goaltending from Anthony Stolarz.
Toronto looked like they were in a different league than Ottawa, with the likes of Scott Laughton, Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg, and Simon Benoit looking the best they have all season. Now go do what you have never done before as a group and go up 2-0 in a series.
My three stars from the Leafs overtime, game two win over the Senators on Tuesday…
Stolarz
Knies
Morgan Rielly
Another checkmark for the Leafs, who take a 2-0 series lead despite having to go through adversity to get it.
Knies has completely outclassed Brady Tkachuk as the best power forward in this series, while Holmberg has found a home on the second line.
Lines 1 (Matthews), 2 (Tavares), and 3 (Laughton) are set, with the first line being set all season, the second line being set due to the play of Holmberg through games one and two, and the third line being set since late in the season when Craig Berube put Laughton in between of Steven Lorentz and Calle Jarnkrok.
The defacto fourth line of Bobby McMann-Max Domi-Robertson is the one that may have to be tweaked, with Robertson needing to play like he did in game one rather than in game two if he wants to stay in the lineup.
Go win a game on the road and give yourselves three chances to close the series out.
6. My three stars from the Leafs biggest win in the Core Four era on Thursday…
Benoit
Tavares
Knies
Benoit is not just the first star because he scored the OT winner. He was impactful throughout and made multiple great plays with the puck on his stick.
Knies has continued his domination, while the Core Four did enough in this one given the great play of the bottom six. Full credit to Berube for bringing Max Paciortetty in for Robertson. He added another layer of physicality to the lineup and the line played its best game of the playoffs as a result.
And I say the Core Four did enough, because William Nylander was awful, while Matthews and Marner had a great moment, but did not take over the game at any point.
But when you have the best goaltending, defence, coaching, and depth in this era, it does not matter.
This team is different.
7. My three stars from the Leafs game four loss to the Senators on Saturday…
Knies
Tavares
Nylander
They were not going to go 16-0, while winning in five or six was always more realistic.
Heartbreaking loss, losing in overtime when you had a four minute power play, but you will have heartbreaking losses throughout a Cup run.
Finish them on Tuesday, with bigger games needed from Matthews and Riley.
8. The Oilers may beat the Kings, but that does not change the fact that their goaltending and defence is an embarrassment.
What an epic failure by Oilers management to waste Connor McDavid’s prime the way they have. Inexcusable, a year after getting as close as a team possibly can.
9. What my Blue Jays lineup would be, with May approaching, Daulton Varsho soon returning, and the current lineup construction not working at all…
LF Alan Roden (L)
SS Bo Bichette (R )
1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R )
DH Anthony Santander (S)
RF George Springer (R )
CF Varsho (L)
C Alejandro Kirk (R )
2B Andreas Gimenez (L)
3B Ernie Clement (R )/Will Wagner (L) (Depending on the matchup)
Bench…
Backup C: Tyler Heinemen (R )
Backup 2B/3B: Clement/Wagner
Backup OFs: Myles Straw (R ) and Addison Barger (L)
The bottom of the lineup is concerning, with Kirk struggling and Gimenez regressing back to what we all should have expected from him.
This team badly needs a starting third baseman.
10. The Steelers not drafting a quarterback in the first round, with multiple options in their lap, should tell you a lot about the 2025 class.
They need to swing big in 2026, with the draft in Pittsburgh and no glaring roster holes projected for the 2026 offseason.
The Browns had a fine draft (tough not to with the amount of picks they had) but drafting two quarterbacks and passing on a generational talent is an interesting outcome for a team who has shown over the last two decades that they have absolutely no idea what they are doing.
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