Weekly Takes - Monday, December 26 Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, December 26 Edition

1. Denis Malgin grew on me throughout the preseason and the start of the regular season, but his best hockey came on the fourth line and not the second line, which was always going to lead to his downfall.

It is clear that Kyle Dubas and Sheldon Keefe want the fourth line to be a pure forechecking/shutdown line and that was always going to lead to Malgin not being a fit.

Zach Ashton-Reese-David Kampf-Dryden Hunt is the type of fourth line that championship teams have. He will look to do what Nicolas Aube-Kubel was unable to do on that line to start the season.

2. At the start of the season, I wrote that 2LW, 2LD, and the goaltending were the question marks that may need to be addressed at the deadline if poor performances/injuries occur from Malgin, Nick Roberston, Jake Muzzin, and Matt Murray/Ilya Samsonov.

The goaltending will not need to be addressed at all, with both Murray and Samsonov being everything Dubas could have dreamed for and more, while it is starting to become increasingly clear that they may not need a second-pairing left-handed defencemen either, due to Mark Giordano showing he can still play top-four minutes.

That leaves second-line left wing as the only hole, with Malgin gone/never showing he could play in that role and Roberston’s season all but lost.

There are two options for Dubas when it comes to this hole: A) Make a big trade to acquire a top-six forward or B) Sign Matthew Knies in the spring and slot him into that role.

The latter is a risky option, but it is hard to think of a better fit on that line than Knies himself.

3. All things considered, this is ideally what a healthy Leafs lineup looks like down the stretch…

Forwards…

Michael Bunting - Auston Matthews - William Nylander

Knies/someone via trade - John Tavares - Mitch Marner

Pierre Engvall - Pontus Holmberg - Calle Jarnkrok

Ashton-Reese - Kampf - Hunt

13th Forward: Alex Kerfoot

Defence…

Morgan Rielly - T.J. Brodie

Giordano - Justin Holl

Rasmus Sandin - Timothy Liliegren

Extras: Jordie Benn and Connor Timmins

Goaltending…

Murray

Samsonov

The reality is, the Leafs do not need to be big spenders at the deadline because even outside of everything I have already touched on, a whole lot else has gone right for Toronto this season.

Up front, the swapping of Marner and Nylander has worked, Tavares has dialled the clock back, Holmberg is everything you want in a third line centre, and Ashton-Reese and Kampf have begun to form a “playoff style” fourth line.

The third line has been dicey at times, but Engvall has turned his season around and between him and Jarnkrok, they can provide the secondary scoring.

On the back end, Sandin and Liliegren are playing great together and should only continue to do so once Rielly is back, since they will be playing more sheltered minutes.

Rielly plays his best hockey with Brodie, while Giordano and Holl have been a terrific shutdown pairing since becoming a pairing.

Never mind the fact that Benn and Timmins will be on the outside looking in, despite the fact that their play has been worthy of playing every day.

4. My three stars from the Leafs dominant win over the Lightning on Tuesday…

1. Bunting

2. Matthews

3. Nylander

One of their better performances of the season, if not the best. Not one player underwhelmed.

5. My three stars from the Leafs win over the Flyers on Thursday…

1. Holl

2. Kampf

3. Marner

A dominant 50 minutes before completely letting things get off the rails.

6. My World Juniors Predictions…

Group A…

1. Canada

2. Sweden

3. Czechia

4. Germany

5. Austria

Group B…

1. USA

2. Finland

3. Slovakia

4. Switzerland

5. Latvia

Gold: Canada

Silver: USA

Bronze: Finland

7. I am largely anti-salary cap across all sports, but it is hard to wrap my head around the fact that one team (the Mets) will have an Opening Day payroll of around $300M, while another team (the Athletics) will have one of around $22M.

A happy medium is needed somewhere.

8. It is a boring take, but the Jays-Diamondbacks trade was a classic win-win trade for both sides.

In Gabriel Moreno, the Diamondbacks get their catcher of the future, while the Blue Jays deal from a position of strength to get a star outfielder that they so badly needed.

9. The trade almost completes what has been a fantastic offseason for the Jays, despite many being critical. (I say almost because they could still use a starting pitcher and a left-handed reliever.)

They have gone from having an awful defensive outfield to having the best – by a country mile. Dalton Varsho will be a star in left field, Kevin Kiermaier is a star in centre field, and George Springer was still an above-average defensive centre fielder, so there is no ceiling on how impactful he can be in right field.

This trade, plus the Kiermaier signing and Matt Chapman trade last offseason has turned the Jays into an elite defensive team. It has been a while since anyone has been able to say that.

10. Another layer to the trade is it is another trade that reboots the Jays roster, on and off the field.

On the field, they are obviously a way better defensive team and more diverse from an LHB-RHB perspective, but off the field, it is another culture-changing trade.

I think Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins did not like how certain players on the team conducted themselves throughout the season and how comfortable some players got. After the trade of Teoscar Hernandez and the trade of Lourdes Guerriel Jr., things will be different.

Further to that, this team’s window was shortening with Hernandez and Guerriel up for contracts in the 2023 offseason.

After trading both for players with team control, it leaves just Chapman as the one player they need to make a decision on. And out of the three, he is without question the player you bring back.

At the end of the day, the 2023 Jays will be a more complete, properly built, championship-worthy team.

Offence alone does not win championships.

11. Every time I watch Pascal Siakam play basketball, it makes it impossible for me to think that the Raptors should blow it up completely.

Re-tool by trading older vets and pending free agents, sure. Go all in by trading young players and draft picks, sure. But blowing it up, trading one of the best players on the planet in Siakam, throwing away your hard-working, winning culture, etc is not the answer.

Teams who rebuild can do so for a decade and may not end up with a player like Siakam.

12. The tragic, sudden passing of Steelers icon Franco Harris – days before he was going to have his number retired – should serve as a reminder to teams that they should not wait to retire the numbers of slam-dunk franchise legends.

For as special as the moment of retiring a number is, it is all that more special if the player is alive to be there for it.

The same thing happened with Roy Halladay and the Blue Jays and the same thing almost happened with Johnny Bower and the Leafs.

13. My Week 17 NFL Picks…

• Cowboys (-9.5)

• Browns (+2)

• Dolphins (-1)

• Cardinals (+3)

• Jaguars (-4)

• Giants (-3)

• Kansas City (-10)

• Panthers (+9.5)

• Lions (-5)

• Eagles (-3)

• 49ers (-6)

• Seahawks (-1)

• Vikings (+3.5)

• Chargers (-7)

• Steelers (+6)

• Bills (-1)

I went 6-8 in Week 16, with MNF still pening. On the season, I am 103-127.

14. My College Football Playoff Predictions…

• Peach Bowl: Georgia beats Ohio State

• Fiesta Bowl: Michigan beats TCU

• National Championship Game: Georgia beats Michigan

15. My 2022 year-end awards in the North American sports scene…

Best Moment: Steph Curry cements his legacy with one more NBA Championship

Best Game: Kansas City beat the Bills (AFC Divisional Round)

Best Team: LA Rams

Most Impressive Team: Golden State Warriors

Best Executive: Joe Sakic

Best Coach: Dusty Baker

Best Player: Aaron Judge

Most Impressive Player: Curry

Breakout Player: Jalen Hurts

16. My 2022 year-end awards in the Toronto sports scene…

Best Moment: Argos win 2022 Grey Cup

Worst Moment: Blue Jays meltdown vs Mariners (WC, G2)

Best Game: Lightning vs Maple Leafs (R1, G5)

Best Team: Argos

Worst Team: TFC

Most Impressive Team: Argos

Least Impressive Team: TFC

Best Executive: Pinball Clemons

Worst Executive: Masai Ujiri

Best Coach: Sheldon Keefe

Best Player: Auston Matthews

Breakout Player: Alek Manoah

Most Disappointing Player: Jose Berrios