ECQF: Toronto Maple Leafs [ATL2] vs Tampa Bay Lightning [ATL3] - Leafs Win 4-2

[SuperMatt18]

The NHL really does seem to have something against Bunting...that's a super long suspension for the playoffs for a guy with no prior suspensions.

[kermitology]

3 games? That's crazy for that hit. You'd be hard pressed to see that kind of suspension in the regular season let alone playoffs.

[Infinit47]

So 4 games and a 5 minute major in total.

That seems hefty for his first ever enforcement action (fine or suspension).

Wish they would have taken that harsh line with Benn in the playoffs last year.

[Robbob]

using the ole games in playoff calculator, that would be 6 regular season games. I think that is fair, considering there was an injury. Full disclaimer, I don't like the leafs.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

I really like seeing punishment handed out for head hits, but man they need to be that harsh consistently during the regular season.

[SuperMatt18]

How is that 3 playoff games...but the hit from Hartman on Ehlers that was even more vicious only 1 game.

NHL discipline is so random.

[GioforPM]

Wow. That’s a suspension for the rest of the season

[midniteowl]

Originally Posted by Infinit47

So 4 games and a 5 minute major in total.

That seems hefty for his first ever enforcement action (fine or suspension).

Wish they would have taken that harsh line with Benn in the playoffs last year.

The difference is:


Benn hit on a Flames' player


Bunting hit on the league's darling player.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

For me Dubas made his bed and it's why I expect him to be fired if they bow out again in the 1st round or even 2nd round. You have a team that's one of the best regular season teams over the past few years with time ticking on Matthews tenure with the team and you trade for Matt Murray to solve your goaltending woes? Really? To make things worse he came exactly as advertised in that he's overpaid, mediocre, and often injured. The fact that he's not even healthy enough to play in the playoffs is icing on the cake as it's the type of mistake a contending window team simply can't afford. He also fell into the same trap as Treliving in that he fell in love with his guys when it's clear the core as-is isn't the right mix to get over the top. That organization needs a fresh perspective that's not attached to the Marners, Nylanders, Reilly's, etc who can come in and make a cold and collected evaluation on the players and why it's not working.

I disagree completely with this whole assessment. Firstly I don't expect him to be fired as he's had a long and short term vision. I don't believe there's a single player who they're tied to where they're paying big bucks and term that they regret. You could argue Tavares, but he produces when others sometimes don't and they need someone to pick up the slack. Matt Murray is the backup and has been from an early stage. The vision was Murray or Samsonov would be splitting time until one emerged. Samsonov has looked great when he wasn't injured. Murray was a small gamble and he'll be let go this summer in free agency. Look at this trade deadline. He was clearly the most creative and did well in every deal. Teams would line up to pay and arm and a leg to get Marner or Nylander. They're both young and produce a ton of points. And they're the secondary scorers after Matthews. I do think they can be better in big games but again, teams would kill for that. He's drafted well and has managed the budget, and draft picks generally well. I would be floored if they got rid of Dubas in favour of the great unknown.

[Erick Estrada]

You realize Matt Murray has another year left on his contract right? It pays him $8 million in cash and a $6.25 million cap hit. That's no small gamble as IMO it's a borderline fireable offense to take on the last two years of that contract when you are in a Stanley Cup window. The fact that Dubas is in the last year of his deal IMO shows that ownership has decided to wait and see how the season plays out before extending and I wouldn't exactly call Brad Treliving the great unknown as he's probably the guy that they will replace him with if Treliving wants the job.

[Ped]

Originally Posted by bluejays

I disagree completely with this whole assessment. Firstly I don't expect him to be fired as he's had a long and short term vision. I don't believe there's a single player who they're tied to where they're paying big bucks and term that they regret. You could argue Tavares, but he produces when others sometimes don't and they need someone to pick up the slack. Matt Murray is the backup and has been from an early stage. The vision was Murray or Samsonov would be splitting time until one emerged. Samsonov has looked great when he wasn't injured. Murray was a small gamble and he'll be let go this summer in free agency. Look at this trade deadline. He was clearly the most creative and did well in every deal. Teams would line up to pay and arm and a leg to get Marner or Nylander. They're both young and produce a ton of points. And they're the secondary scorers after Matthews. I do think they can be better in big games but again, teams would kill for that. He's drafted well and has managed the budget, and draft picks generally well. I would be floored if they got rid of Dubas in favour of the great unknown.

Sorry, but take off the homer glasses. First of all, he doesn't even have a contract yet. There's a reason for that.

Secondly, if this team flames out again, then how do you keep him? You coudl argue it's the coach, but it's his coach that he's stuck with. You could argue it's the core, but it's his core that he's defended and coddled.

He's overpaid his top 6 and Rielly and they have yet to find another gear when most needed. He's had to give up quality assets to make the money work, when he coudl have traded any one of htem for a haul and gotten cheaper talent. Instead, he's had to hodgepodge a bunch of guys to try and make the bottom 6 and blueline pairings work, and they often don't.

Murray's not even a free agent this summer. He's got another year left. Everyone knew it was an unnecessarily risky trade for a guy making almost 5 mill, that had little chance of working out.

Samsonov was pretty good, but he's RFA this summer, so he's looking for a raise. Up front, Kampf and Acciari and O'Reilly and Bunting are all UFA, so need replacing or re-signing. They probably can't afford Kerfoot. Is Bunting going to sign dirt-cheap again? Is O'Reilly going to come back under market?

If Holl doesn't re-sign, you have to replace him too, and there doesn't appear to be a lot of internal options. Robertson keeps getting injured,

If they go down early, absolutely heads are going to roll.

[Ped]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

You realize Matt Murray has another year left on his contract right? It pays him $8 million in cash and a $6.25 million cap hit. That's no small gamble as IMO it's a borderline fireable offense to take on the last two years of that contract when you are in a Stanley Cup window. The fact that Dubas is in the last year of his deal IMO shows that ownership has decided to wait and see how the season plays out before extending and I wouldn't exactly call Brad Treliving the great unknown as he's probably the guy that they will replace him with if Treliving wants the job.

I believe the Sens are retaining, so the cap hit is under 5. Still a terrible move.

[SuperMatt18]

I think it likely similar to here in that there is a bit of a power struggle.

In Calgary it was Sutter and Treliving, in Toronto it's Dubas and Shanahan.

I could see something like Dubas going to Pittsburgh on his own accord if he is given full autonomy

[getbak]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1648839330511585281

[GioforPM]

Are people now saying “common” as a joke?

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Ped

Sorry, but take off the homer glasses. First of all, he doesn't even have a contract yet. There's a reason for that.

Secondly, if this team flames out again, then how do you keep him? You coudl argue it's the coach, but it's his coach that he's stuck with. You could argue it's the core, but it's his core that he's defended and coddled.

He's overpaid his top 6 and Rielly and they have yet to find another gear when most needed. He's had to give up quality assets to make the money work, when he coudl have traded any one of htem for a haul and gotten cheaper talent. Instead, he's had to hodgepodge a bunch of guys to try and make the bottom 6 and blueline pairings work, and they often don't.

Murray's not even a free agent this summer. He's got another year left. Everyone knew it was an unnecessarily risky trade for a guy making almost 5 mill, that had little chance of working out.

Samsonov was pretty good, but he's RFA this summer, so he's looking for a raise. Up front, Kampf and Acciari and O'Reilly and Bunting are all UFA, so need replacing or re-signing. They probably can't afford Kerfoot. Is Bunting going to sign dirt-cheap again? Is O'Reilly going to come back under market?

If Holl doesn't re-sign, you have to replace him too, and there doesn't appear to be a lot of internal options. Robertson keeps getting injured,

If they go down early, absolutely heads are going to roll.

Not a homer take at all. They're set up alright for the future. Sure there are a bunch of contracts that come off the book but he will likely break up the core to make other deals to retool this off-season regardless of the outcome. I honestly believe given their core is in their prime that he's giving them every chance to succeed. Murray will be an IR guy. I look at the Flames by comparison and there is no comparison. Toronto has the agility to do a ton this off-season.

[savemedrzaius]

Any person that says the Leafs are favoured by the league/refs clearly never watches the games Leafs play or how hard the league always seems to come down on them when it comes to suspensions.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Haha, he's calling the guy at TSN a common man. I like that.

[browna]

I've said earlier this year when first rumored he may leave, that Treliving figured he would be in line (and knows he would be in line given his sources) for the Leafs job if they faltered early in the playoffs. It's way too early to say they are but there's no way someone doesn't take the fall if the exit in the first round or maybe even the second.

Fine with the suspension. Bunting plays on the edge even though he has no discipline against him.

He jumped AND got his elbow up to someone he 100% knew he was going to hit the guy in the head by doing that. Had he not done just one of those two things, maybe no suspension.

[dino7c]

massive factor is the guy was nowhere near the puck...way worse than being a second late or whatever