Monday Mailbag: Scooter Edition

It’s your boy Scoot with the mailbag, as boss man DAdam Laskaris has given me the green light to do this weeks mailbag. So, without further ado, let’s make him regret that decision.

Honestly, I’m all aboard this idea. The Leafs defense has been a trainwreck this season, between Rielly and Hainsey’s decline, Gardiner having an off year, and Babcock’s unexplainable insistence to have Polak in the lineup. The Leafs still need that top end right handed shot, and right now it looks like Mike Green is their only option. But, my issue with trying to trade for a defenseman is that we all know that Babcock doesn’t want a Mike Green type defenseman, he wants a Erik Gudbranson type defenseman, which would be a terrible idea. I’m all for upgrading the defense, but I’m not 100% faithful in management to make the right deal here.

Yes, despite Babcock not knowing it. A lot of people forget that he was solid in a top 4 role last year, albeit sheltered with Jake Gardiner, and he’s been fine this season, despite the inconsistent appearances and the fact that his defense partner is a rookie. He’s without a doubt one of the six best defensemen on this team, and he suits the style of play that the Leafs *should* play. He probably won’t be much more than a solid top 6/fringe top 4 defenseman, but there is nothing wrong with having that, especially at a young age of 23.

To be completely honest, I’ve never heard of this Brick Bowser guy until tonight, and was surprised to see that he already has 22 goals this season. I usually only care about teams when they’re competitive, so in the case of the Canucks, it was only until opening day, and around that time, Barack Boozer was a healthy scratch, so I assumed he was a bum.

Well, the only way to tell if a player is #ActuallyGood is if they can make the only #ActuallyGood team, the Leafs, and honestly, I don’t see Beck Baser making this team. If Josh Leivo can’t crack the lineup, there’s no way Broke Besser could.

Well, Matthews is by far the best player in the history of hockey, so that’s not even a question, and that’s comparing him to other NHLers, not this made up bum that you’ve mentioned, Michael.

Honestly, I don’t know at this point. As much as I want to figure it out, it hurts my head trying to think about it. I’ve started listening to Babcock/the Polak supporters about “watching the games”, and gluing my attention to Polak when he’s on the ice, and I just don’t see it. Maybe there’s animosity in the Leafs management about analytics regarding guys like Polak and Martin, and Babs has picked them as his hill to die on. Or maybe Roman Polak is #actuallygood, and we’re all just idiots.

I’m not gonna go into too much detail over actual contract details, but I’m going to have this as my ideal lineup for 2018-19:

Kapanen – Matthews – Brown

JVR – Nylander – Marner

Hyman – Kadri – Marleau

Martin – Aaltonen – Leivo

Gardiner – Zaitsev

Rielly – Liljegren

Borgman/Dermott – Carrick/Hainsey

Andersen – Pickard/Sparks

Obviously, the only UFA I’m re-signing is van Riemsdyk, and I decided to shuffle the lineup around a little bit as well, that way Nylander can slide into Bozak’s spot, and all of the team’s excess wingers can finally slide in. Hopefully Liljegren can make the jump, and be solid in a top four role.

As much as I want to say Dermott’s a lock for next season, it’s hard to tell right now. He’s only played one game, albeit a good one. The Leafs have a lot of NHL-calibre defensemen, but most of them are at best bottom pairing, so unless Dermott proves to be a solid top 4 defenseman this season, he’s going to be fighting for two spots with at least three or four other guys next season.

I’m constantly surprised that Nazem Kadri is never on the PK, considering that Babcock has him as the shutdown centre on the team. You’d think that he’d be relied on a bit more to kill penalties. I’d also maybe start trying out how the big three are on the penalty kill, see if they can handle. Marner seems to do fine in the rare occasions that he has been on the PK, but we haven’t seen Matthews and Nylander on the PK yet. If that duo can dominate at even strength, I’d imagine they could at least hold their own on the PK.

As for defense, I’d honestly be willing to start trying out other defenseman on the penalty kill instead of running Hainsey, Zaitsev, and Polak into the ground, especially when you consider that they might be the three worst defensemen on the team right now. Start giving Gardiner a bit more time, and try out Borgman, Carrick, maybe even Dermott, and see what they’re made of.

At this point, I’d rather face one of the Metropolitan division teams than Boston. The East is very weird in that the top three Atlantic teams are the best teams, then it’s the entire Metropolitan division, and then the rest of the Atlantic division. Boston has slowly returned to their dominant possession form from last year, so they’d be a team that I’d be afraid of to meet in the postseason, as great as it would be for the Leafs to exorcise some demons. If I could choose any of those three, I’d definitely take New Jersey, as they’ve kind of emerged as this year’s bad, but lucky team, while Washington and Columbus would be about equal with Toronto. It won’t be fun regardless, but that would probably be my order of preference: New Jersey, Columbus, Washington, then Boston.