Weekly Takes - Monday, February 26 Edition (Retroactive to February 19)

Weekly Takes - Monday, February 26 Edition (Retroactive to February 19)

1. My three stars from the Maple Leafs impressive win over the Blues on Tuesday…

1. Bobby McMann

2. TJ Brodie

3. Max Domi

The Leafs best defensive game of the season, despite being without multiple stars. There is now no excuse not to play this way for the rest of the season. This has to be the blueprint. 

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

1. Auston Matthews 

2. Mitch Marner 

3. William Nylander 

An uninspiring first period, a breathtaking, memorable second period from Matthews, and a masterclass in how to blow a lead in the third period.

Quite the contrast from Tuesday. 

3. My three stars from the Leafs blowout win over the Ducks on Saturday…

1. Matthews

2. McMann

3. Nylander

Matthews should be the MVP, because he is going to score 70+ goals if he stays healthy. We do not need to overthink this. We are witnessing the greatest season ever by a Maple Leaf.

An incredible performance from everyone, opponent be damned.

I also loved how Domi and Ryan Reaves handled Radko Gudas, who came into the game hoping to be a villain but instead was embarrassed. This was the Reaves we saw through the first two games of the season.

1. My three stars from the Leafs clean win over the Blues on Monday…

1. McMann

2. Matthews

3. Matthew Knies

The last week plus has been the Leafs most impressive stretch of the season. McMann, Timothy Liljegren, and Brodie are finding their roles, which will go a long way in rounding out everyone’s spot in the lineup.

5. My three stars from the Leafs win over the Coyotes on Wednesday…

1. Matthews

2. Marner

3. Liljegren

It is tough to put into words what we are witnessing with Matthews right now, other than saying we are witnessing the greatest stretch of play by a Maple Leaf ever.

We will be talking about the 2023-’24 season by Matthews for as long as we live.

Just as big of a positive is the turnaround from Marner. He is back to being Mitch Marner. 

6. My three stars from the Leafs dominant win over the Golden Knights on Thursday…

1. Domi

2. Ryan Reaves

3. McMann

Arguably the Leafs best regular season game in the Matthews era and it comes largely due to the play of their depth players, who are all rounding into form, whether it is Knies, Tyler Bertuzzi, Domi, McMann, Reaves, Pontus Holmberg, Simon Benoit, Brodie, or Liljegren. All of whom have found their roles during this winning streak.

7. What do all of these players finding their roles mean for the Leafs, combined with Marner and Ilya Samsonov turning their seasons around? It means the Leafs should be clear buyers at the deadline, not that it should ever have been a question given the season Matthews has had.

It also means the trade deadline wish list is way smaller than originally thought. If I were Brad Treliving, I go after a right-handed defenceman who can play with Morgan Rielly and that is it.

Forwards…

Knies - Matthews - Marner

Bertuzzi - Domi - Nylander

Robertson - John Tavares - Calle Jarnkrok 

McMann - David Kampf - Reaves/Holmberg 

Extra: Reaves/Holmberg

Defence…

Rielly - Vacant

Jake McCabe - Benoit 

Brodie - Liljegren

Extras: Mark Giordano and William Lagesson 

Goalies…

Joseph Woll

Samsonov 

There simply are not a lot of holes on this team. The star players are having career years or close to it (Matthews and Nylander having career years, Rielly close to it), many depth players are having career years (Robertson, McMann, Holmberg, Benoit, Liljegren, and Lagesson), and I remain ever so confident that Knies, Bertuzzi, Domi, and Kampf will step it up in the playoffs.

This team has a shot.

(It would also be nice if Jarnkrok and Woll could take their time to come back, allowing the Leafs to keep Connor Timmins, Martin Jones, and even Noah Gregor once the roster size expands to 27 after the trade deadline.) Depth is never a bad thing.

8. My three stars from the Leafs stunning win against the Avs on Saturday…

1. Bertuzzi 

2. Marner

3. Rielly

Here comes the regression for Bertuzzi, while Marner is all the way back, playing the best hockey of his career.

9. If money and power were Kyle Dubas’ main priority when he left the Leafs for the Penguins in the summer, then he would still have no regrets to this day.

But if being the “saviour” for the Sidney Crosby era was his main priority, then he has failed miserably. He inherited an old, declining core and turned them into an even older team with one miss after another in the offseason.

He has to pray that Crosby and ‘co ask for a change, because if they play out their remaining playing days as Penguins, I cannot even fathom how bad the Penguins will be for the next decade.

If he does not get assets for Crosby and ‘co, we are about to witness the longest, most draining rebuild in the salary cap era. Dubas may have committed career suicide.

10. It is time for baseball to put in place a signing deadline.

It is embarrassing for all parties involved that Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, and Matt Chapman are free agents with spring training well underway.

I understand why the PA may not want this, as it is natural to think it would give the teams all the leverage, but in 2021, there was a signing deadline because of a pending lockout and the players who were free agents at the time ended up as massive winners.

11. I cannot fathom how the Jays failed to beat the Cubs offer for Cody Bellinger. 

I would have done that contract every day of the week if I were Ross Atkins.

He is losing Matt Chapman away from having the worst offseason by a Toronto sports general manager since David Nonis in the summer of 2013.

12. My NBA championship power rankings, post All-Star break…

1. Boston

2. Denver

3. LA Clippers

4. Philadelphia (If Joel Embiid returns)

5. Oklahoma 

6. Phoenix 

7. Golden State

8. Minnesota 

9. Milwaukee 

Milwaukee probably should not be on the list based on their play, but it is tough to write them off completely.

I like Cleveland, New York, New Orleans, Sacramento, Dallas, and the Lakers as teams that can upset one of the championship contenders, but I do not view them as championship contenders.

13. It is disappointing that Toronto FC’s season is underway with minimal changes to the roster. Simply hoping for internal improvement under John Herdman is criminal if you are Jason Hernandez and ‘co.

Another wasted season in store.