Time To BeLeaf Again

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It has been a minute since I wrote a blog post but that is not due to lack of things happening. Actually all Toronto sports teams have been in the news quite prominently over the summer and it started with a major bang with the Maple Leafs at the draft by selecing Gavin Mckenna and then in July with the signings of Bobrovky and Raddysh.

These three moves alone bring a ray of hope back into the minds of Leafs fans and will hopefully put last season into the back burner. I have seen Mckenna play during the World Juniors and he was a standout. Maybe not the best player on all nights, but he was definitely noticeable and he is a type of talent that any team can build their franchise around. Bobrovsky's signing shocked me because he was not rumored at all to be coming here and it just sort of happened on July 1st. Same goes with Raddysh. With those acquistions, the Leafs have proven winners and a goalie that is known to step up when it matters most. Losing Woll as a back up sort of hurts and I have a feeling that Nik Robertson will flourish playing on the Penguins and become a regular 20 goal scorer, but the Leafs do not need more scoring. The team needed depth and grit and that is what management did to fill out the roster. Gone are the likes of Robertson and Maccelli and in are the likes of Colton Sissons and Teddy Blueger. I also like the signing of Jack Roslovic because he a skilled winger than can play center in a pinch. I think he will slot in on the top line but he is versatile and can play all over the line up.

The defence is a bit of a concern for me since Tanev is coming off an injury plagued year and guys like Rielly and OEL will most likely regress. There is a lot of emphasis on Raddysh stepping up on the number one pair and he has only been great for one season. The same goes for Stolarz. The pressure is off of him to be a number one guy, but we have some depth in net with Akhtyamov having a really good season in the A last season. Matthews also needs to bounce back and be himself. He had a terrible season last year all things considered. Kind of like how Vladdy is going now, just not as extreme. I blame Matthews bad season more on the team being bad and him playing with wingers that were not good enough to make him better. Vlad on the other has simply been ass this year in every possible way. Sure, the team has also been bad, but baseball more than hockey is an individual sport and across the board Vlad has under performed immensely. More on that later. I totally expect the Leafs to be back in the playoff picture and continue to play good hockey day in and day out. Last season was a blip, something that rarely happens in Leafs land and the 26-27 season will be more of the norm.