Weekly Takes - Monday, December 9 Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, December 9 Edition

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

1. Anthony Stolarz

2. Mitch Marner

3. Nikita Grebenkin

One of the worst games the Leafs have played recently, but the dreadful Blackhawks were incapable of taking advantage.

Grebenkin looks like the perfect fourth-liner.

2. My three stars from the Leafs win over the Predators on Wednesday...

1. Auston Matthews

2. Mitch Marner

3. Fraser Minten

It is safe to say Matthews is back, while it may have been the most impressive game of Marner's career.

Not because he had three points -- he has done that plenty -- but because of the pushback he showed. Maybe we underestimated the impact Craig Bruebe would have on the Core Four.

3. My three stars from the Leafs loss to the Capitals on Friday...

1. Tavares

2. Nylander

3. Oliver Ekman-Larsson

It was nice to see Tavares and Nylander play well together, with Craig Berube (wrongfully, in my opinion) going back to Matthews and Marner together.

One of the better games from Ekman-Larsson recently, too.

As for Nick Robertson, this should be his last game as a Leaf.

The Capitals are a good, heavy team.

4. My three stars from the Leafs loss to the Penguins on Saturday...

1. Matthew Knies

2. Tavares

3. Nylander

Not much to write about this one. Play this way ten more times and you win 9 of 10 if you are the Leafs.

5. Juan Soto leaving the Yankees for the Mets is a changing of the guard in New York, with Steve Cohen acting as the new George Steinbrenner.

And while I am sure the Yankees will respond by making major moves in an outstanding free-agent class, make no mistake about it -- it is a crippling loss for the Yankees who probably never doubted for a moment that Soto was going to re-sign with them.

6. As for the Jays, let's be clear here.

The Dodgers could have sold Soto on everything about their team, history, future, etc, and the Mets could have too, albeit to a lesser extent across the board. The Red Sox could have sold Soto on their future, history, etc. The Yankees could have sold Soto on... the Yankees.

The Jays, though? They have a bottom-tier prospect system and a bad MLB roster. If they want to be taken seriously among the big players, simply throwing cash around is not going to be enough. The foundation needs major improvement.

7. My Week 14 NFL takeaways...

• The Lions picked up their most impressive win of the season on Thursday, playing great defensively against a great quarterback, despite injuries to their defence. They are the best team in the NFL

• Maybe the Falcons were right to draft Michael Penix Jr. in April. But if that is the case, that is because they were way off on signing Kirk Cousins. There has been no greater letdown this season than the Falcons.

• Josh Allen is as sure of a thing for MVP as I have ever seen. It is "his year," he has played better than anyone down the stretch, and now has a "signature game" to show for it.