Weekly Takes - Monday, December 13 Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, December 13 Edition

1. My three stars from the Maple Leafs sloppy win over the Blue Jackets on Monday…

1. Auston Matthews

2. Morgan Riley

3. Michael Bunting

2. My three stars from the Leafs loss to the Lightning on Thursday…

1. Ondrej Kase

2. Alexander Kerfoot

3. Bunting

I thought the Leafs played fine enough to win but Jack Campbell’s regression (which was always going to happen given how high his save percentage was) and a trainwreck of a night from the Jake Muzzin-Justin Holl pairing was too much for the Leafs to overcome tonight.

Between the number of road trips they have had in the last month, plus all of the injuries, they are a team that is in desperate need of the Christmas break.

3. My three stars from the Leafs worst win of the season on Saturday over the Blackhawks…

1. Matthews

2. Bunting

3. William Nylander

They did not deserve to win this game at all, but they deserved to win their game against the Rangers in early October and did not do so. Everything finds a way to even out during the course of a season.

I am not too concerned with how the Leafs played, as I think they are going through a rough stretch right now for a variety of different reasons.

My only concern is Sheldon Keefe playing Holl in the last minute of the game, despite another poor night from him.

Keefe’s biggest strength since becoming the Leafs’ head coach has been his deployment – or lack thereof – of players. The same cannot be said with his usage of Holl right now.

4. Tom Wilson is a legitimate first-line player and a borderline unicorn.

He is also someone who has no business making Team Canada.

Not only can Doug Armstrong and co’ not risk him doing something dumb, he is simply not better than 20 or so other Canadian forwards.

He offers a different element than literally any other player but that element is not needed on the international stage.

That does not mean you have to take the 12 most skilled players but if you want to take players who you can win with, you take the Ryan O’Reilly’s of the world.

5. This debate is likely all for naught, though, as there is no way the players can risk going to the Olympics.

Imagine if Auston Matthews or Connor McDavid tested positive in China and had to quarantine in China for five weeks? It would all but end the Maple Leafs/Oilers seasons, given A) How long they would be without their superstar player and B) How out of shape that player would be once he finally returned.

And who’s to say that player will ever return?

The NHL and PA are better off bringing back and committing to a World Cup of Hockey.

6. I would have had Luke Evangelista and Joshua Roy on my team if I was Team Canada but at the end of the day, the cutting of Hendrix Lapierre and the non-invite to Brandt Clarke are the only two outrageous decisions made by Dave Cameron and ‘co.

Even then, the cutting of Lapierre should not be the end of the world for this year’s team either, as I believe this is the deepest and most talented Canadian forward group in a non-lockout year in recent memory.

The only decision that may come back to haunt them is not bringing Clarke. There is no question that the defence is the weak point of the team this year.

7. I would trade Chase Claypool in the offseason if I were the Steelers.

He is an ultra-talented wideout, with tremendous speed for someone his size, but he represents everything that is wrong with the Steelers right now.

The “Standard” is being tarnished each and every time he hits the field.

It is also a lot easier to stomach trading him, if you are Pittsburgh, given Kevin Colbert’s track record of drafting wide receivers.

Losing Mike Wallace in free agency was less than ideal, as was trading Martivas Bryant. I’m pretty sure Colbert and Mike Tomlin have not lost any sleep over those decisions, though.

8. My top ten NFL teams, since my last ranking after week 9 in November…

1. Tampa Bay (-)

2. Packers (+3)

3. Cardinals (-)

4. Kansas City (+6)

5. Patriots (New)

6. Cowboys (-)

7. Rams (-5)

8. 49ers (New)

9. Titans (New)

10. Chargers (-1)

Out: Bills, Ravens, and Browns.

The issue with the Bills is they have no run game and Josh Allen has regressed, albeit he is still very good. What a wasted season this may end up being for Buffalo.

The Ravens are terribly beaten up and the Browns have an awful wide receivers core and a below average quarterback.

The rise of Kansas City and their defence is shocking and absolutely makes them the favourites in the AFC. I think the Patriots, Titans, and Chargers could beat them in a playoff game but Kansas City is the only team in the AFC that I am confident about when it comes to winning more than one game in the playoffs.

In the NFC, it is going to be a bloodbath. There are three clear elite teams, while the Cowboys and Rams can make a ton of noise themselves.

I do not view the 49ers as a Super Bowl contending team but they can put together an upset in the playoffs.

9. My week 15 NFL picks…

• Kansas City (-3)

• Browns (-5.5)

• Patriots (-1)

• Football Team (+2)

• Cowboys (-10)

• Titans (+2.5)

• Dolphins (-7)

• Texans (+3.5)

• Cardinals (-12.5)

• Panthers (+9.5)

• Broncos (+3)

• 49ers (-7.5)

• Rams (-7)

• Packers (-2)

• Bucs (-11.5)

• Vikings (-4)

I went 7-6 in week 14, with Monday Night Football still pending.

On the season, I am now 100-98 on the season.

10. No, the CFL should not go to four-downs.

If the CFL tries to become more like the NFL, people will just watch the better product of the two, which is clearly the NFL.

The whole point of the CFL, three-down football, bigger end zones, etc, is that its an alternative to the NFL.

If the CFL tries to compete with the NFL, it will suffer dire conqueneces.

They need to focus more on cutting down the number of one-year contracts handed out every offseason, not the product on the field.

Who could have possibly watched the last two weeks of the CFL playoffs and thought the on-field product needs drastic changes?