TLN Monday Mailbag: September 19th

Watching Roman Polak live is so fun. I think I’ve said this in a mailbag before; I don’t think that he’s an overly effective player, but he’s so fearless and willing to do anything for his team that it always looks like a perfect disaster. While answering these questions, I watched him block a shot, look definitely injured, shake it off, and crosscheck a Team Europe player. Bless that man.

Speaking totally technically and seriously about this issue: Drake is technically used as a catch-all MLSE asset; he tweeted about the Leafs during the Boston series in 2013, shouting out Phil Kessel specifically, and helped Toronto FC sign Jermain Defoe. Basically, he’s around but a bad omen if you aren’t a Raptor.

Playing along: Find out what Jay-Z’s up to. He displays all the qualities that a Leafs ambassador should represent, most notably the fact that he’s been around forever, his fans cheer for him because of what he once was, and every time he promises something different we all hope for the best and swear that this’ll be the year where he returns to greatness. When that didn’t work well, he rebranded by changing his name to JAY Z, and attempted to use a huge album endorsement deal to get back to the top faster.

It’s not impossible. The Leafs are going to try to win hockey games, they players should have a couple of camp weeks to prove themselves with, and Carrick has some momentum to carry in with while Corrado is healthier than he was at the start of last year. If Toronto cares about shot-hand balance, Hunwick is already out of this equation, and with the way Polak has played during this World Cup, I don’t think he’s a huge threat if those two show up prepared.

I don’t think that the spotlight really diminishes for Nylander just because he’s not the absolute #1 player to watch. Even the most casual fans aren’t going to tunnel vision themselves towards one player, and if Nylander is going to be starting on Matthews’ line to begin with, that further eliminates the chance of his play hiding within a shadow.

Not much is really known there yet. He hasn’t shown up to any Leafs PR events yet, nobody is really talking about where he could draw into a lineup, and quite frankly, it’s been ages since we’ve gotten a health update on him. I’m not expecting much to happen here; probably a failed physical of some sort and a regular IR placement.