A couple of CHL free agents for the Leafs to consider

It’s that fun time of the year when we got a number of NCAA free agent signings, a few European free agent signings, and a handful of Canadian junior signings mixed in as well. For the most part, the Leafs have focused their efforts on the European signings and those often come later in the spring, there have been a handful of NCAA free agent signings like Alex Steeves, Max Ellis, and well… I guess that’s it save for a lot of AHL signings. That tends to be Leafs preferred strategy of late anyway, but we’ll look at a couple of potential options that might be worth the Leafs busting out the NHL standard player contracts, after all, if they can take a gamble on Max Ellis, they can gamble on these guys too.
The Leafs also have only 31 committed to contracts for next season out of 50, so they can start having some fun on swing for the fences overagers. They only have three picks in the June draft, so restocking the prospect pool wouldn’t be a bad thing,
So let’s get to the prospects. Both were highlighted on 32 Thoughts this Saturday by Jeff Marek, and while there were a couple of defensemen mentioned as well, I’ve opted to zero in on the two centers that were discussed.
Ivan Ivan
Ivan Ivan …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Raptors news: Gregg Popovich backs Ime Udoka amid Raptors links, Fred VanVleet shouts out fans

Raptors news: Gregg Popovich backs Ime Udoka amid Raptors links, Fred VanVleet shouts out fans

The Toronto Raptors will likely head into next season with Nick Nurse as the team’s head coach, but that doesn’t mean that they are totally done looking for a replacement that could step in if Nurse’s performance is not deemed satisfactory. In fact, Toronto is reportedly extending feelers out to gauge the availability of former […]
Raptors news: Gregg Popovich backs Ime Udoka amid Raptors links, Fred VanVleet shouts out fans – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Some Spring Training Stats That Matter and Also Some That Don’t

With Spring Training coming to a close it’s time to take a look at what happened in these games and if there is anything meaningful that comes from them and what they might mean for the upcoming season.

A good rule of thumb is Spring stats don’t matter. It’s a month of games and players can get hot, especially when the competition isn’t always Major League calibre. What you want to see are a player’s skills and if those skills have changed. If a player comes into camp throwing harder as we saw with Jordan Romano in 2021, or hitting the ball harder as we saw with Santiago Espinal last year it could be the precursor to a big season.
Note Spring Stats as of March 26th and courtesy of Baseball Savant, unless otherwise specified. 
With that in mind, there is nothing to be taken from Bichette’s .314/.352/.529 Spring line. Baseball-Reference has an Opponent Quality metric to determine as the name says, the quality of the opposing batter or pitcher faced by a player. Bichette is at 7.3 meaning he has faced pitchers on a talent level roughly somewhere between AA and AAA. Bichette should be crushing this type of pitcher.
What is interesting about Bichette is he is hitting the ball hard as he normally does (92.7mph exit velocity), but he is hitting it almost exclusively on the ground. Last season Bichette had a launch angle of 8.5°, while in Spring Tra …

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Author: Paul Berthelot / Blue Jays Nation

Woll stands tall, Leafs beat Preds 3-2: Game Highlights

Joseph Woll earned his third win of the season on Sunday afternoon in Nashville. He stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faces. John Tavares scored twice and Auston Matthews had two assists. Below are the highlights from the game.
Woll was tested early but made two nice saves to keep the games scoreless…

Woll stops the deflection and the rebound chance from Barrie pic.twitter.com/6tMSZV5hJX
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 26, 2023

The Leafs rookie goaltender continued his stellar play with a beauty glove save…

Woll flashes leather pic.twitter.com/XpEgbMWQMu
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 26, 2023

John Tavares scored his 150th goal as a Leaf to get Toronto on the board. The captain finished a pretty passing play to make it 1-0…

PERFECT POWER PLAY PASSING 🤌 pic.twitter.com/BhSVNBnvQW
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 26, 2023

 
The Leafs doubled their lead just over a minute into the middle period. Alex Kerfoot scored with a wrist shot off the rush.  His second goal in the last three games…

LET IT FLY FOOTER 🎯 pic.twitter.com/uZXxNiz8j2
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 26, 2023

Later in the second Justin Holl crushed Rasmus Asplund with a clean hit in the neutral zone…

Justin Holl demolishes Rasmus Asplund pic.twitter.com/yGXe14FarY
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 26, 2023

Kevin Lankinen kept the Predators in the game by robbing Calle Jarnkrok with the glove…

what a sequence for the top line pic.twitter.com/QRya9BwWWy
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 26, 2023

A couple minutes into the third Woll made another fantastic save. He stretched out the pad on the 2-on-1 and made the stop…

W🚫LLER! 🧱 pic.twitter.com/x7upcPcNnH
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 27, 2023

Just over halfway through the final period. The Predators finally found the back of the net. As Tavares sat for interference, Codly Glass tipped the the Tyson Barrie point shot past Woll. 2-1…

GLASSER MAKES IT A ONE-GOAL GAME pic.twitter.com/SZYqdhFE1c
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) March 27, 2023

With less than five minutes remaining. The Leafs scored their second powerplay goal of the game. It was Tavares again. He cleaned up a Morgan Reilly rebound for a much needed insurance marker…

JOHNNY ON THE SPOT 🚨 pic.twitter.com/4tzEpDAll8
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 27, 2023

Nashville got back within one with their goalie pulled. Barrie’s point shot deflected off Holl and past Woll to make it 3-2. That was as close as they’d come. 3-2 Leafs final score.

Tyson Barrie brings the Preds back within one 👀 pic.twitter.com/ODDt24io2h
— Sportsnet (@Sportsn …

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Author: Scott Ony / The Leafs Nation

Raptors draft: 1 prospect from each 2023 Final Four team to consider

Raptors draft: 1 prospect from each 2023 Final Four team to consider

The Toronto Raptors have been watching the NCAA Tournament like a kettle of hawks over the last few weeks, as they are trying to find which players have the skills needed to join this team and contribute instantly. They’ve found some standouts, but none of them have made it to the Final Four festivities. Those […]
Raptors draft: 1 prospect from each 2023 Final Four team to consider – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Pitching prospects Gabriel Ponce and Connor Cooke impress, Zach Pop has a hiccup, and more as the Blue Jays fell 6-2 to the Yankees

Can spring training just be over already?

The Blue Jays took on the New York Yankees on Sunday afternoon, falling 6-2 to the Bronx Bombers. However, there were still some positives to take away from the game, mainly with regards to the minor league pitchers.
Let’s dig in.
Blue Jays Nation’s player of the game: Gabriel Ponce
You may have never heard of the 23-year-old right-handed reliever, but he showed up on Sunday afternoon.
Pitching in the bottom of the eighth inning, he struck out the side, generating six whiffs on just 17 pitches. The only base runner reached on a sharply hit ball which would have been an out if the shift were not banned.
Ponce pitched at three levels last season, High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A, where he posted a 3.54 ERA in 61 innings pitched. He topped out at 95.5 mph with his fastball, and looks to be a reliever to keep an eye on in 2023.

Here’s Gabriel Ponce (@gabriel2ponce)’s strikeout and whiff edit.
He struck out the side and touched 95.5 mph with the fastball.#BlueJays pic.twitter.com/EG192J4HQ0
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) March 26, 2023

Things worth mentioning:
The bats were cold on Sunday afternoon. While they managed to score two runs, Toronto only had four hits with a lineup comprised of mainly big leaguers or fringe big leaguers… and fan favourite Peyton Williams. Kevin Kiermaier hit a triple, while Matt Chapman, Danny Jansen, and Santiago Espinal all had a single apiece.
Connor Cooke was absolutely filthy on Sunday. While he allowed an earned run and walked two in his inning of work, he struck out Giancarlo Stanton on what is best described as a whiffle ball pitch (his slider literally hit 3106 RPM this afternoon), as well as Gleyber Torres. Drafted in the 10th round of the 2021 draft, Cooke spent time between Low-A and High-A last season, pos …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

Leafs fall 5-3 to Hurricanes on Saturday night: Game highlights

The Leafs controlled the play for most of the game against the Hurricanes on Saturday night but Pyotr Kochetkov made 41 saves and  Carolina took home the W 5-3. Below are the highlights from the game.
Toronto got into penalty trouble early and the Hurricanes capitalized on the 5-on-3 to open the scoring. Brent Burns beat Matt Murray glove side to put Carolina on top…

Burn baby Burns! Canes convert on the 5 on 3 power play to open the scoring. 🌪️ pic.twitter.com/M49j9wBBuQ
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 25, 2023

Jordan Stall doubled the Canes lead halfway through the first period. The puck came to him in the slot off a broken play and he swatted it top shelf…

Good things (goals) happen when you forecheck pic.twitter.com/KR6Zy68oKu
— x – Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) March 25, 2023

Near the end of the period Jake McCabe created a scoring chance off a neutral zone draw. Sam Lafferty tried to put the rebound home but Pyotr Kochetkov shut the door…

McCabe breaks through off the draw
Lafferty nearly scored on the rebound pic.twitter.com/9PAXPqvm6A
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 25, 2023

Less than five minutes into the second Calle Jarnkrok got the Leafs on the board. He sniped a wrist shot from the top of the circle to get Toronto within one…

SWEDE SNIPE 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/uBp1T92fKI
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 26, 2023

Midway through the middle frame Auston Matthews nearly tied it up with a scoring chance off the offensive zone draw. Kochetkov kept the Canes in front…

Matthews is denied again pic.twitter.com/MOuMPUOu3M
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 26, 2023

Matthews found the back of the net 12:41 into the second. He pounced on the puck at the top of the circle and ripped a wrist shot past Kochetkov to make it 2-2…

PAPI POTS IT 🏡 pic.twitter.com/sOjPPXkrjJ
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 26, 2023

Just over eight minutes into the third period Stefan Noesen gave the Canes the lead again. Jesperi Kotkaniemi threw the puck on net and Noesen picked it up. He attempted a wrap-around then forced the puck into the net. 3-2 Canes…

UNREAL EFFORT pic.twitter.com/S1jlYOONR2
— x – Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) March 26, 2023

With less the …

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Author: Scott Ony / The Leafs Nation

Raptors news: Raptors 905 season ends, ex-Raps big man shares cancer diagnosis

Raptors news: Raptors 905 season ends, ex-Raps big man shares cancer diagnosis

The Toronto Raptors have placed a ton of energy in making their G League team the pride of the NBA’s minor leagues. Names like Ron Harper Jr. and David Johnson have been grinding in Mississauga for most of the season with Raptors 905, with additional NBA players like Christian Koloko and Dalano Banton have also […]
Raptors news: Raptors 905 season ends, ex-Raps big man shares cancer diagnosis – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Roster moves galore, as Jay Jackson gets his release, Nate Pearson optioned to Triple-A, and more!

Well, the Blue Jays’ bullpen depth just got a bit weaker.

On Saturday afternoon, it was announced by Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith that reliever Jay Jackson was granted his release, as he would not be added to the roster.

Jay Jackson, who impressed in #BlueJays camp with a 95-96 m.p.h. fastball & hard slider, is now a free agent per source.
The Jays had until noon ET today to add him to the roster. They declined to do so, which meant granting Jackson his release instead.
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) March 25, 2023

 
The 35-year-old righty pitched 9.1 innings with the Blue Jays and didn’t allow a single run. Moreover, he had 14 strikeouts facing just 37 batters for a 37.8 K%.

Here’s his second strikeout of the game on an 85.7 mph slider. pic.twitter.com/6Eb5MtDsgX
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) March 20, 2023

It’s easy to say that a team will add Jackson to their 26-man roster, as he has major league experience and pitched well this sring.
Blue Jays roster cuts:
If Mitch White is to hit the injured list to start the season, it had appeared that spot would either go to Zach Pop or Nate Pearson. Well today, we got our answer as Pearson was optioned to the minor leagues.
That doesn’t mean Pearson won’t play a role with the 2023 Blue Jays. The 26-year-old flame-throwing right-handed pitcher struck out 13 batters in 8.1 innings pitched, and has a 3.24 ERA. This came after pure dominance in the Dominican Winter League over the winter. Pearson’s talent has never been in question, but if he can stay healthy, that’d be a huge boost for the Jays.

In this outing, Nate Pearson showed why he’s more than just a flame throwing pitcher.
Yes, he hit 101 mph to get his only strikeout, but look at the knuckle curve (second clip), or even his two sliders for whiffs.
If he can stay healthy, he’ll be fantastic.#BlueJays pic.twitter.com/Qr30NGgm8j
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) March 2, 2023

Nate Pearson wasn’t the only pitcher optioned, as Zach Thompson, Trent Thornton, and Thomas Hatch were …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

The Leafs can clinch a playoff spot this weekend, here’s how

The Leafs can clinch a playoff spot this weekend, here’s how

That tiny little “x” next to the Toronto Maple Leafs on the standings tables can be a real mood elevator. We should all feel pretty confident the Leafs are going to get there but there is a benefit to getting things squared away early too. Here’s what the Leafs need to do in their back-to-back this weekend or what other teams need to do over the next couple of days to give the Leafs their x, and what is still required to clinch home ice advantage in the remaining games of the season.

As it sits right now the Panthers winning all ten of their remaining games would give them 99 points and if they win their way out in regulation or overtime they’d have 44 regulation or overtime wins. With the season tiebreakers like goal differential and season series results still not fully determined, Toronto wouldn’t clinch this week if the Leafs won both of their games, they’d still require a Panthers loss. The Panthers have a game Saturday against the Rangers, if they win that it wouldn’t be until Monday that the Panthers can help the Leafs clinch.
Pittsburgh has the potential to reach 100 points if they won their way out of the season, but they can still help the Leafs clinch this weekend if they lose to Washington on Saturday. If the Leafs win both of their games and the Penguins lose, the Leafs are in. It would be nice if Brian Burke could successfully get the Leafs into the playoffs.
(Save for Islanders section)
Clinching Home in the first round
It goes without saying that this is going to take a bit more time to pull off, but as strange as it is to say, I don’t think the Leafs can really screw this up. The Leafs have a 5 point lead over the …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation