Weekly Takes - Monday, January 16th Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, January 16th Edition

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

1. Matt Murray

2. William Nylander

3. Mitch Marner

Murray’s best game as a Leaf, to say the least. He was fantastic.

2. My three stars from the Leafs loss to the Bruins on Saturday…

1. Michael Bunting

2. Auston Matthews

3. Timothy Liljegren

The Leafs best players, outside of Matthews and Bunting, all played arguably their worst games of the season.

Nylander, Marner, John Tavares, and Morgan Rielly were simply awful.

Despite that, they lost a game that came right down to the wire, on the road, against the best team in hockey.

Disappointing, but no need to overthink this one, more so when the officiating was so one-sided.

Games this close often come down to lucky bounces. Linus Ullmark getting away with throwing his stick and Marner being the victim of a phantom tripping call – robbing the Leafs of a high-grade scoring chance – is just that.

Lucky.

3. How the Canucks have handled – and are handling – the Bruce Boudreau situation is bush league.

The second they determined that he was not going to be the coach of their future, they should have parted ways with him and named someone on their staff as an interim head coach until Rick Tocchet can leave TNT.

Letting him coach out the next few weeks, knowing everyone is waiting for Tocchet to leave TNT, is amateur hour by the Canucks.

4. The Blue Jays signing of Brandon Belt is the definition of a low-risk, high-reward signing.

Suppose he bounces back from his injury-plagued 2022 season. In that case, the Jays will have someone who can come off the bench and mash right-handed pitching, while also providing John Schneider with a legitimate alternative when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. needs a day off.

If the signing does not work out, it is nothing more than a one-year commitment and you hope Spencer Horwitz can move into the role by the All-Star break.

A solid signing by the Jays, who are signing a number four right-handed outfielder away from having one of the deepest lineups in baseball.

Belt being a two-time World Series champion does not hurt, either. You can never have enough winners on your team.

5. The Brandon Staley era should finally come to its rightful end in LA after losing in the most Chargers way possible.

The Chargers should be all over Sean Peyton.

6. It is tough not to be concerned about the Bills moving forward.

Having to go through the Bengals and Chiefs is tough enough as it is. More so when the offensive line, pass rush, and decision-making of Josh Allen and Ken Dorsey are as shaky as it is.

The Bills only saving grace is that the Bengals are so beat up too.

7. Two takeaways from the Giants-Vikings game…

1. The Vikings have to draft a Kirk Cousins replacement this spring. There is zero reasons to continue with the idea that Cousins can win you a Super Bowl. He cannot.

2. Brian Dabbol is a superstar head coach and will be for quite some time. The fact the Giants went on the road and beat the Vikings should not be shocking at all.

8. The Ravens coaching in the last minute of the game on Sunday was truly as bad as it gets.

Letting so much time come off the clock instead of calling a timeout and running a run play on second-and-long is inexcusable from John Harbaugh and Greg Roman.

Even the smart coaches get it wrong once in a while, I guess.

9. My Divisional Round Picks, after only getting Jaguars-Chargers incorrect…

• Kansas City beats the Jaguars (+9.5)

• Bills beat the Bengals (+3.5)

• Eagles beat the Giants (-7.5)

• 49ers beat the Cowboys/Bucs

Against the spread, I went 2-3, with MNF still pending.

10. Kirby Smart cemented himself as an all-time great college football coach with Georgia’s historic blowout win over TCU on Monday.

To go back-to-back is impressive enough. To do it in the fashion they did, after losing so many of their best players in the 2022 Draft, is something special.

The best team in the country, right from the start.