Weekly Takes - Monday, October 18 Edition

1. My three stars from the Maple Leafs home-opening win over Montreal on Wednesday…

1. Jack Campbell

2. Pierre Engvall

3. William Nylander

2. My three stars from the Maple Leafs’ loss to the Senators on Thursday…

1. Jason Spezza

2. Nylander

3. Rasmus Sandin

A poorly officiated game (stick lifts are no longer allowed, apparently) but the bigger story is the effort to begin games. The Leafs are good but they are not good enough to “flip the switch” late in games and hope for heroic comebacks on a consistent basis. No team is.

3. My three stars from the Maple Leafs’ Saturday night win over the Senators…

1. Campbell

2. Sandin

3. Michael Bunting

Their best performance of the young season. They did tack on a goal in the third period but I liked how they didn’t need to. They completely locked down the Senators defensively in the third period, something they did a great job at last season.

4. The Leafs cannot be a cold and pulled groin away from having to play shorthanded.

It is a serious indictment on Kyle Dubas, who has overpaid numerous players on this team. That does not mean one contract on the team is “bad” (if the league allowed each team a compliance buyout there would be no player on the Leafs that would be worthy of buying out) but that does not mean the David Kampf’s, Ilya Mikhyev’s, Engvall’s, and Travis Dermott’s of the world are not overpaid.

I will continue to beat the drum that there is little to no need for both Mikheyev and Engvall on this roster. Having one is fine. You cannot have both.

(It is also a serious indictment on the NHL’s salary cap rules, as teams should not be punished for spending to the cap to maximize their roster.)

5. What Atlanta has done and is doing right now without Ronald Acuna Jr. and Mike Soraka may very well be the most impressive playoff run in recent memory. In any sport.

6. My 2021-2022 NBA predictions…

Eastern Conference...

1. Milwaukee

2. Brooklyn

3. Philadelphia

4. Atlanta

5. Miami

6. Boston

7. Indiana

8. Toronto

9. New York

10. Chicago

11. Washington

12. Charlotte

13. Cleveland

14. Detroit

15. Orlando

Western Conference...

1. Phoenix

2. Denver

3. Los Angeles Lakers

4. Utah

5. Portland

6. Golden State

7. New Orleans

8. Dallas

9. Los Angeles Clippers

10. Memphis

11. Minnesota

12. San Antonio

13. Sacramento

14. Houston

15. Oklahoma

NBA Finals Prediction...

Milwaukee defeats Phoenix (I have Brooklyn winning if Kyrie Irving stops being Kyrie Irving)

Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Individual Awards Predictions...

• Most Valuable Player: Joel Embiid

• Rookie of the Year: Cade Cunningham

• Most Improved Player of the Year: O.G. Anunoby

• Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert

• Sixth Man of the Year: Matisse Thybulle

• Executive of the Year Award: David Griffin

• Coach of the Year: Erik Spoelstra

7. My two takeaways -- outside of the most obvious takeaways -- from the Jon Gruden story…

1. Do not get on Roger Goodell’s bad side

2. Jon Gruden is… not the only one that should feel the wrath of the Football Team investigation

8. I understand he is playing injured but as each week goes by, my confidence that Baker Mayfield can lead the Browns to a Super Bowl is dwindling.

Cleveland has to seriously consider moving away from him at the end of this season.

9. I do not care how many interceptions Trevon Diggs ends up with this season for the Cowboys -- Cameron Heyward is the best and most dominant defensive player in the NFL this season and should win defensive player of the year.

The only player that may take that award away from him is his teammate T.J. Watt.

10. My week seven NFL picks…

• Browns (-4.5)

• Kansas City (-4)

• Patriots (-6.5)

• Panthers (-3)

• Bengals (+6.5)

• Falcons (-1.5)

• Packers (-9)

• Eagles (+3)

• Rams (-15.5)

• Bears (+13.5)

• Texans (+17)

• Colts (+4)

• Seahawks (+3.5)

Survivor Pick: Cardinals (Through the first six weeks, I have taken the Rams, Packers, Ravens, Bills, Vikings, and Kansas City)

I went 8-5 in week six, with Bills-Titans still pending. On the season, I am now 47-43 on the season.