The Leafs. ....moving forward...ummm defence
Posted 11:59 PM ET | Comments 0
ok....in my last blog i looked at the shape of the Leafs' forwards. ...looking into next year.....now lets look at the D....with what has been said by Lou regarding Hainsey, the probable pairings may look like this..
Reilly - Hainsey
Gardiner - Zaitsev
Marincin - Carrick
Extras: Dermott, Rosen, Borgman
Looking at next year, everyone would be back, but Marincin and Carrick are RFAs....but there may be more competition coming in Nielsen and Liljegren.
Now my feel is Lou is making a deal....at the least I think he will grab one of Vegas's extra D....although i am hoping for Hanafin or Trouba.....lets see what happens...what would you give up for them? Would you give uo more for Trouba because the Jets are in the other conferene? Right now they know their D needs help...how many pieces do they need? What will make Babcock feel comfortable?
For me, Hainsey is no number 2....but he may allow Reilly to wheel a bit more. I am really looking for Zaitsev to improve...it seems he doesn't get in the lanes, when guys are driving back door.....so I am just looking for him to be better positionally, so he has easier reads.
For me Marincin is on the bubble, just really inconsistent....he can look like a shut down guy, then look like he's totally lost the play....if he doesn't get it straightened out, I think the Leafs will let him walk next year...maybe even this year...waivers are a possibility. Carrick I like....for Babcock he might just be too small....I am not sure why he didn't play more in the playoffs, but Babcock wasn't playing him.....injured? Only they know.
For the others, camp will decide their fate...but there are definitely opportunities.
Well that covers the D.
Robert in Vancouver stuck in a Canucks haze
Reilly - Hainsey
Gardiner - Zaitsev
Marincin - Carrick
Extras: Dermott, Rosen, Borgman
Looking at next year, everyone would be back, but Marincin and Carrick are RFAs....but there may be more competition coming in Nielsen and Liljegren.
Now my feel is Lou is making a deal....at the least I think he will grab one of Vegas's extra D....although i am hoping for Hanafin or Trouba.....lets see what happens...what would you give up for them? Would you give uo more for Trouba because the Jets are in the other conferene? Right now they know their D needs help...how many pieces do they need? What will make Babcock feel comfortable?
For me, Hainsey is no number 2....but he may allow Reilly to wheel a bit more. I am really looking for Zaitsev to improve...it seems he doesn't get in the lanes, when guys are driving back door.....so I am just looking for him to be better positionally, so he has easier reads.
For me Marincin is on the bubble, just really inconsistent....he can look like a shut down guy, then look like he's totally lost the play....if he doesn't get it straightened out, I think the Leafs will let him walk next year...maybe even this year...waivers are a possibility. Carrick I like....for Babcock he might just be too small....I am not sure why he didn't play more in the playoffs, but Babcock wasn't playing him.....injured? Only they know.
For the others, camp will decide their fate...but there are definitely opportunities.
Well that covers the D.
Robert in Vancouver stuck in a Canucks haze