Not What We Planned

Good morning readers, apologies for the hiatus but we are back now with another rendition of 2HypeToronto. After an exciting season last year we knew there would be growing pains, but i dont think anyone expected this. Let me paint you a picture.

THE FORWARDS

The forward corps is decimated, with only newcomer Teddy Bleuger(7G,16A) Leafs vet Arturri Lehkonen(11G,9A) and recently acquired(end of last season) Vesey(8G,10A) getting over 15 points over 37 games so far. Returning UFA Adam Henrique has left a lot to desire with his lack of performance to date. With only 6 goals and 5 assists, this is a farcry from the 68 points he amassed last year. Perhaps the forward requires a change of scenery. The argument can be made, that last year henrique was surrounded by all stars. The likes of sidney crosby , Alex ovechkin, Evgeny Malkin and radulov, made up 5 of the top 6 with armia filling in the last spot. This team is definitely not that. The time for the young players has come, and this year , the growing pains are showing. In a couple of years, guys like Kurashev, Abramov(x2), perreault and heponiemi may be impact players, but truthfully only time will tell.

THE DEFENCE

The defence this year features a complete facelift, with players like Brodie(18G,47A), Edler(17G,35A), Boychuk(1G,6A), Roy and Staal(4g,14A) leaving the team. The new(er) additions include PK SUBBAN(3G,15A), Drew Doughty(1G,14A),Josh Brown(1G,5A). GM Marc Gaudreault has made it pretty clear to us here at 2HYPEToronto, that the plan after losing alot of last years defensive core that more young guys get a shot at making the roster, pushing operation full rebuild into gear. his again, this is going to be a painful one for this group, considering GM Gaudreault is looking to move potentially both Subban and Doughty, giving Cholowski and Aho a little more time on the big club.

THE GOALIES

I've always thought goaltending wins, and loses you games, and the winning part is definitely the story this season. This team was destined to be a bottom feeder this year, with the best rated and most veteran forward so far totalling 11 points.( See forwards: Adam Henrique). Enter Semyon Varlamov. He comes into every game looking to win them, sporting a record of 15W, 18L with a GAA 2.64. Given the squad around him, this should be worse. Adam Werner only appeared in 1 game, and did pretty well getting the win. He allowed 2 goals on 27 shots, for a GAA of 1.64. Expect more of Werner down the stretch to meet league requirements. The future of the leafs goaltending lies in Skarek, Point and Chechelev.

THE BLOCK

Previous reports released from the leafs management indicate they are listening to offers on many of their big players. Included in this are Adam Henrique, PK Subban, Drew Doughty, Semyon Varlamov, Michael Frolik. Also shopping Alex Lyon and Matt Martin. With their recent trend to the rebuild, requested returns would include young forwards, Prospects and draft picks. Can eat some salary if that was neeeded.

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK

The leafs have a pretty interesting week ahead, as they make a western swing starting against Arizona( the leafs were shut out their last meeting losing 2-0.), Colorado( who the leafs havent played yet but who have played incredibly well with a 19-13 record). The Golden Knights are the final team they face this week and the leafs lost 2-1.

Hope you enjoy the new style of reporting. Coming next week, we'll do a deep dive into the new stats added into the website, and see how the leafs are comparing to the other teams in the league. Spoiler Alert: it's not great.

This has been Steve B Real Reporting for 2HYPEToronto.