Weekly Takes - Monday, January 30th Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, January 30th Edition

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

1. William Nylander

2. John Tavares

3. Calle Jarnkrok

The Leafs best players were their best players after an awful first period. A nice display of in-game coaching from Sheldon Keefe.

2. My three stars from the Leafs comeback win over the Rangers on Wednesday…

1. Timothy Liljegren

2. Nylander

3. Ilya Samsonov

Another game of Samsonov out-duelling an elite goaltender. He is starting to become the clear number one in Toronto.

3. My three stars from the Leafs sloppy loss to the Senators on Friday…

1. Joey Anderson

2. Mitch Marner

3. Tavares

The Leafs did not play as badly as the score suggested, but they were way too sloppy and Samsonov was not good enough to hide the situational mistakes.

It happens, especially against a team like Ottawa, who gets up to face Toronto more than any other team.

4. My three stars from the Leafs blowout win over the Capitals…

1. Pierre Engvall

2. Bunting

3. David Kampf

What a game-changer Engvall can be when he was as engaged as he was in this one.

5. I thought Steve Wilks did a great job down the stretch with the Panthers, but anytime you have the chance to go out and hire an offensively-gifted coach like Frank Reich, you do it.

All Carolina needs to do now is do what the Colts failed to do: Get a quarterback.

6. The 49ers need to go all-in on Tom Brady in the offseason.

They cannot rely on Trey Lance, in what would be his true rookie season, to lead them, while they cannot rely on Jimmy Garoppolo to stay healthy.

Go get the quarterback who is always healthy and who at worst will still give you above-average play at the quarterback position.

7. The trio of Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and Travis Kelce, if they hadn’t already, cemented themselves as one of the greatest trios in NFL history on Sunday.

All that is left now is winning another Super Bowl and cementing themselves as a dynasty.