Weekly Takes - Monday, March 3rd Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, March 3rd Edition

1. My three stars from the Leafs thrilling comeback over the Bruins on Tuesday…

1. Nick Robertson

2. Morgan Riley

3. Max Domi

Another great outing from the Leafs bottom six, combined with more late-game heroics from Mitch Marner.

The Leafs have given lots of reasons this regular season to make people think this spring could be different, but there has been no bigger reason than the play of Marner in clutch moments in these last two weeks.

The Four Nations may have been his TSN Turning Point.

2. My three stars from the Leafs ugly win over the Rangers on Friday…

1. Anthony Stolarz 

2. Marner 

3. Matthew Knies 

Great goaltending + a great night from the Leafs top line carried them in a game where their bottom six was unplayable.

Elite players + elite goaltending = Stealing games on the road once in a while. 

3. My three stars from the Leafs wild win over the Penguins on Sunday…

1. Matthews 

2. Knies

3. William Nylander 

Ugly goaltending and another awful game from the fourth line and defensive pairings. Take the win and run.

4. My wish list for the Maple Leafs, based on their needs of a 3C and a RD (and based on TSN’s trait bait board)

3C’s…

1. Ryan O’Reilly 

2. Dylan Cozens

3. Scott Laughton

4. Brock Nelson

5. Yanni Gourde 

6. Brayden Schenn

7. Ryan Donato 

RD…

1. Rasmus Ristolainen 

2. Brandon Carlo

3. Luke Schenn

4. Connor Murphy 

5. Calle Jarnkrok’s pending return is bigger than I would have thought coming into the season.

With Connor Dewar, Pontus Holmberg, and Ryan Reaves largely giving the Leafs nothing (Holmberg’s recent play aside), the Leafs needed someone to play 4RW with Steven Lorentz and David Kampf.

Jarnkrok can do just that in an overqualified position. 

Yes, his lack of playoff production is a concern, but that concern is greatly lowered if he is playing 4RW while giving the Leafs quality minutes on the penalty kill. 

6. My final draft rankings for the quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft…

1. Cam Ward

2. Shedeur Sanders

3. Jaxson Dart

4. Jalen Milroe 

5. Will Howard

There are no other quarterbacks, including the likes of Dillon Gabriel, Riley Leonard, and Kyle McCord, that I think have a future as an NFL starter. Even Howard is pushing it, and probably Milroe too. Milroe is only on here because of his upside.

The reality is, it’s a weak quarterback class, with two first-round calibre quarterbacks in Ward and Sanders and a fringe first-rounder in Dart.