Leafs have a new jersey and we hope they never wear it

Let’s start off by saying that the Reverse Retro jerseys by Adidas are overwhelmingly good and this was a great project by the NHL to effectively grab our cash. Now let’s take a look at the Leafs jersey that leaves us wanting…

Woven from the fabric of legends.
Introducing the #LeafsForever adidas #ReverseRetro jersey. Hitting the ice in 2021. pic.twitter.com/FFcAw8DTGt
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 16, 2020

Now, that’s an unfortunate looking jersey. The fact that the Leafs use grey as a means to spice up their bland blue and white colour scheme points to one of the biggest problems with anything th Leafs will be able to accomplish. Secondly, the logo is a Leaf. Unless you are going to go away from it completely, it’s always going to be different shades of underwhelming.
In an attempt to mix some elements, like grey, the cool Ballard era jersey template, and one of the lesser know Leafs logos, we’ve wound up with something one of our writers suggests would be most likely found on the shelf at Walmart.
Here are some of their other thoughts:
Nick Richard: I hate this jersey so much. I really …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Darren Dreger reporting the Leafs still in talks with Pietrangelo

Let’s pretend the salary cap doesn’t exist for a moment and enjoy how this could potentially play out…

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights have spoken to Pietrangelo. Interesting to see who else steps forward.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) October 9, 2020

While there is a lot of talk about the Leafs being in serious trade negotiations with Florida regarding MacKenzie Weegar, they haven’t lost sight of the big fish free agent, Alex Pietrangelo.
RUMOUR: Leafs interested in MacKenzie Weegar

We’ve talked a lot about Pietrangelo on this site over the past few weeks, but if you are interested in reading up on Pietrangelo, Scott Maxwell has a breakdown on how he’d fit in with the Leafs…
How does Alex Pietrangelo statistically fit with the Leafs?

Additionally we might be hearing from Dubas soon, and that will probaby let us know that nothing is imminent for the Leafs and Simmonds in the big haul for Day One.

Dubas avail at 3:30. Indication, but nothing written in stone, #Leafs are done for the day.
— Terry Koshan (@koshtorontosun) October 9, 2020

Of course a lot of things can change quickly, and we’ll see how this plays out.

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

What to expect from Cody Ceci this summer

Let’s get the obvious joke out of the way first, and answer the post title with “not much.” Good we’ve covered that off. It’s not going to stop the hilarious replies on social media, but we’ve officially acknowledged you and we can move on.
The reality of the year for Cody Ceci is that is was always doomed to failure. He was the necessary return for the Leafs unloading the Nikita Zaitsev contract and at best people accepted him as a necessity of that. Of course Ceci didn’t win any new fans when Mike Babcock insisted on using him on the top pairing with Morgan Rielly and played him in situations beyond his ability with a partner who didn’t really give him much defensive zone support.
Under Keefe is was a different story for Ceci, and playing roles and situations more fitting of his abilities with partners that made sense for him resulted in a bit of a rebound. And now heading into the playoffs were the defensive defenseman legend takes shape, perhaps we can now expect more from Ceci. I’m kidding, this is …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

NHL and PA close to ratifying their Collective Agreement. Maybe now they can RADify the summer

Let’s start off with the announcements…

Long night of negotiations/hard work between NHL/NHLPA appears to have resulted in agreement on most issues on Phase 3/4 RTP, CBA extension, transition rules. Still a couple of items to finalize today. NOTHING, of course, is actually done until both sides ratify a tentative deal.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 1, 2020
 

Barring any last-minute complications, and we have seen some of those (Vancouver and Las Vegas), the two NHL Hub cities will be Edmonton and Toronto.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 1, 2020
 

Nothing carved in stone just yet, but if there are no hiccups in finalizing the tentative agreement, NHLPA membership could be voting on RTP/CBA/transition/critical dates by Friday or Saturday.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 1, 2020
Cool. Hockey is coming back. There won’t be a labour disruption in a couple of years, and the summer return to play is being handled in the two safest city options left. The only disappointment here is that we don’t get treated to an Edmonton meltdown over not being selected as a hub city.
I can’t think of a better Canada Day present than giving …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Unethical reporting from Steve Simmons leads to speculation on a possible Leafs COVID-19 case

Let’s start with the shared statement from the Leafs that was made to Chris Johnston, one of the most respectable reporters in hockey.

A statement from the @MapleLeafs pic.twitter.com/Oj1v8i9wPp
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) June 19, 2020
Of course the story didn’t start that way, and instead we were treated to a “POSTMEDIA EXCLUSIVE” by Steve Simmons, shared by Steve Simmons identifying a specific player on the Leafs who he had heard from his sources has been infected with COVID-19.
Now I know you already know the player, but damned if we are going to feed into the any kind of mentality where it’s okay to:

Publicly share private medical information
Speculate on other possible cases
Go through any form of ridiculousness where we wonder how this impacts the Leafs.

We care a lot about hockey, probably too much, but an individual fighting a serious, potentially deadly virus is a bit more important than who will slot in where against the Blue Jackets in a month or so.
There are few things I can think of that are less ethical than sharing medical records, and for health organizations it& …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Friday Future Stars: Can Nick Robertson make his case for the Leafs playoff lineup card?

Let’s start with the obvious, Nick Robertson will be attending the Leafs camp this summer to get some reps with a team he has a realistic possibility of making next season. There isn’t any expectation that Robertson will be part of the Leafs playoff picture especially with Ilya Mikheyev being healthy, and the very real possibility of Andreas Johnsson being available if the Leafs go beyond the initial play-in round against Columbus. There isn’t any shortage of wing depth and as it is Denis Malgin is probably a permanent fixture in the press box when hockey starts back up.
That being said, it’s hard not to be excited about a prospect like Nick Robertson, who has recently been named the CHL Sportsman of the year, named to the first all-star team of the OHL, and was named the MVP of the Peteborough Petes for his impressive 55 goal campaign. There’s not a lot left for Robertson to do at the junior hockey level, and if that momentum didn’t fizzle out after the pause button was hit, and he’s ready to take a leap forward this summer, Robertson …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Revisiting the Toronto Raptors Championship Run: Kawhi Leonard Erupts against Philadelphia 76ers

With no NBA playoffs for the foreseeable future, let’s revisit the Toronto Raptors 2019 championship run, one game at a time. On this day one year ago, the 2nd seeded Toronto Raptors were ready to take on the 4th seeded Philadelphia 76ers, in what turned out to be one of the most competitive playoff series […]
Revisiting the Toronto Raptors Championship Run: Kawhi Leonard Erupts against Philadelphia 76ers – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Alexandro Fidanza / Raptors HQ

The Outsiders: Who are the top Leafs players outside the NHL?

Since it’s essentially the off season, let’s continue to make with the offseason content with our fresh take on prospect rankings. Well, it’s not really prospect rankings since we’re looking at pretty much everyone who currently plays hockey for the organization while not occupying one of the 23 roster spots on the Leafs.
For the sake of clarity, that means the player is who is likely the top prospect in the organization is exempt from this prospect ranking. For the purpose of this project, Rasmus Sandin is a Maple Leaf. When the world went to shit, he was sitting on the NHL roster. Perhaps this will help make the #1 ranking a bit more debatable, though it still likely comes down to two players.
A couple of other players that are exempt and worth noting are Pierre Engvall and Calle Rosen. As much as I’d love to sing the praises of Engvall who at times looked like a lost cause who would never make it to North America, and has ended up making good. And Calle Rosen, a player who’s return would have been quite welcome even if it didn& …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Leafs Postgame: The worst piece of crap I’ve ever watched

Okay, let’s get through this incredibly quick. There isn’t a whole lot of good to talk about. Presumably the Leafs players were able to dress themselves tonight. That’s a positive. Tyson Barrie was able to return after being hurt, so he can be traded.
Asides from that, the Leafs managed to swiftly injure former Leafs James Reimer. Later, while already looking terrible they managed to injure Petr Mrazek, an incident that should have put them back into the game as they would be facing David Ayres, a goaltender who works with the Leafs and Marlies in their skills practices, and yes, as mentioned several times on the broadcast, is 42 years old and drives a zamboni.
Things looked encouraging on the first couple of shots as the Leafs quickly put the game to 4-3, but an absolute no show from Toronto in the third period resulted in a 6-3 loss, and David Ayres first win in the NHL.
Good for Ayres, and this is a special night for him, and he should enjoy every minute of it.
As for the Leafs, the amount of shame that should exist in this organization can’t be …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Leafs injury updates & their trade deadline impacts

A few updates on the injury front today…
First, let’s start with the good news:

Ilya Mikheyev is baaaaaack shooting pucks. #WeAreGoldStar! pic.twitter.com/Jc70uYnAF5
— Dan Milstein-Hockey (@HockeyAgent1) February 12, 2020
Yep. That’s Ilya Mikheyev back on the ice, shooting pucks. Generally a thing someone starts to do once their wrist is nearly healed.

Keefe, on Monday, about Mikheyev: “He’s taken a step here to be on the ice. He’s still a long ways away from ever even practising let alone playing so we’re not going too carried away”
Timeline hasn’t changed & Ilya will be re-eveluated in late March (three months after injury)
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) February 12, 2020
There’s the cold water. Getting Mikheyev back would have offered the Leafs a bit of flexibility in their lineup, as with a completely healthy forward group, Mikheyev would presently be slotting in on the 4th line at best. A sooner recovery might have made a player like Johnsson or Kapanen even more expendable at the trade deadline, but ultimately this probably doesn’t change the direction that the Leafs were planning on …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation