I guess we’ll stick with the theme from yesterday and keep on talking about Finnish defensemen. A lot of the same things can be said about Niemela and Kokkonen, so excuse me if it looks like I plagiarized Nick Richard’s article, but that doesn’t change that like Niemela, Kokkonen is smooth skating defenseman with a…
We are 100% in the downtime of hockey and that kind sucks, since there’s snow outside, we’re locked down(-ish, if you’re in Alberta like me), and December is normally around the quarter mark for the season when we’d be jumping into hockey analysis mode. Dealing with hockey downtime is a lot more tolerable in August,…
We’re halfway through ranking and reviewing the Leafs prospects, and we’ve come to the point I’d consider my favourite part. The part where we get to criticize the rankings from our readers. I mean celebrate them. Yes. That’s it. In fact, it’s hard to criticize the rankings because they are pretty close to what we…
There’s been a lot of talk about the Leafs’ ability to take a big swing at fixing their defence corps this offseason, usually in the form of a run at Alex Pietrangelo in free agency or moving a substantial name up front to get help elsewhere. Then beyond that, the sort of B-squad gets a…
Next weekend the Leafs will be playing in playoff games. Call it the “play-ins” or “play-downs” or whatever, but for all intents and purposes, when Toronto goes up against Columbus on August 1st, they’re in do or die mode. Lose 3 of 5 and go home. It’s as important as any other postseason matchup they’ve…
I’ll preface this by saying the NHL is right now in midst of what I think is the most crucial period of this potential restart, and if they mess it up, everything goes to pot. The ongoing training camps all over North America should make people uneasy about what could happen in the next two…
The Leafs selected SDA in the 3rd round in 2018, Kyle Dubas’ first draft as GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. SDA came with an odd amount of hype right off the bat, as many prospect gurus were quick to point out that he was a small, skilled player that had a chance at being…
It’s crazy, with everything that’s happened in the last year, it seems like it’s been ages since the Leafs fired Mike Babcock, and yet it also doesn’t seem like it’s even been a year with how much hockey has happened since then. I still remember when it happened. I was filming an interview for a…
The NHL has spent the last week teasing their new Reverse Retro theme around the league, and with them finally being unveiled today, the internet surprisingly loves and hates every jersey. So with that, I’ve decided to rank every jersey based on it’s looks and how well it matches the Reverse Retro theme. Who better…
Kyle Dubas and the Leafs’ scouting staff have zeroed in on Finland in recent years, selecting six Fins over the course of the last two NHL drafts. When Finland announced their preliminary roster for the upcoming World Junior Championships on Friday morning, three of those draft picks found their names on the list. Finland's preliminary…
The Maple Leafs organization is currently experiencing the results of some poor drafting under the guidance of Mark Hunter, with a lack of young NHL-ready talent capable of stepping into the lineup and contributing on the cheap. Though Kyle Dubas has addressed that deficiency to some extent by signing value free agents and undrafted players…
We might not know exactly when we’ll see the Maple Leafs playing hockey again, but the organization is sure to be well represented at the upcoming World Junior Championships. Despite having no players suiting up for the Canadian squad, the Leafs could have anywhere from six to eight players representing their respective countries in the…
In the 2014-15 KHL season, Artemi Panarin, Nikita Gusev, Nikita Zaitsev, and Nikita Soshnikov were 4 of the top 5 u24 scorers. Gusev had already been drafted to the NHL, and by 2016 the rest were signed as Free Agents and in the NHL. While Soshnikov suffered from injuries, Panarin and Zaitsev immediately stepped into…
In Kyle Dubas’ final OHL draft, with his 2nd to last pick, he selected Mac Hollowell. He was only 5’8″ and 169 lbs when the Greyhounds snagged him 237th overall, but he would wind up cracking the OHL the season after he was drafted. When it came time for Hollowell’s NHL draft in 2017, his…
The Leafs selected Filip Kral in the 5th round in 2018, the first draft under Kyle Dubas as GM. He is the first (and only) Czech the Leafs have drafted since Jiri Tlusty in 2006. He has a late birthday, so he was selected after his 18 year old season in the WHL. To that…
You can love the way Travis Dermott plays, you can hate it, or you can be indifferent. But I’m here to argue that what you cannot deny is that he is, off the ice, by far the most lovable goofball on the Toronto Maple Leafs current roster. I want to disclaim, before I begin making…
According to Brian Burke, the NHLPA has dug in their heels on being able to spend Christmas/holidays with their families. As a result, they would not be available to cross borders or begin quarantining in hub cities until December 26th or 27th. With a 14 day quarantine necessary, that means camps would not be be…
Hello there drama fiends. I won’t lie, your author took a Twitter break and wasn’t super aware of the latest happenings until last night, when our TLN blog daddy Jon told me to check out what had been happening with Evander Kane the last few days. So, everyone, while there are a few other little…
Welcome to the yearly wrap up of the top read articles over the last year!
Welcome to the yearly wrap up of the top read articles over the last year!
Welcome back to another edition of Throwback Thursday!
After four seasons coming up short, the Tampa Bay Lightning are back in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Leafs made a big trade last week, effectively stealing the spotlight from the playoffs by dealing Kasperi Kapanen to the Penguins. The Canadiens then decided they should do the same thing.
After having to use the Maple Leafs’ top pick in the 2020 draft to dump Patrick Marleau’s contract, Kyle Dubas has traded his way back into the first round.
