16 things on new Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving’s summer checklist

There really isn’t going to be much of a honeymoon phase with the Leafs and Brad Treliving. There will be an introductory press conference and then likely an expectation that we start seeing some decisions coming out of his office by next week at the latest.
At this point the state of the Auston Matthews and to a somewhat lesser extent William Nylander contracts need to be resolved, and that is certainly on the list and is a process that will need to start early. So we’ll double back to that, but while the Matthews contract is the most significant thing to consider this summer it doesn’t necessarily come up first on the timeline of things that need to be taken of and doesn’t have a hard deadline in June. Here’s the full list of things on the go (and this list is somewhat dependent on what Brad Treliving will be able to do as far as the draft for the Leafs.)
1. Kalle Loponen and Josh Pillar (due today)
Okay, so this is far from the priority for the Leafs or for Brad Treliving, but June 1st is expiration date for Loponen and Pillar’s time on the Leafs reserve list and they are free to go wherever now.
Pi …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Could the Maple Leafs look at the Stars’ Jim Nill to be their new general manager?

Although much of the recent coverage of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ ongoing search for a new general manager has focused on ex-Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving, former Maple Leaf defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo threw a new name out there on Thursday.
Speaking on the TSN 1050 radio show “First Up” with Aaron Korolnek, Colaiacovo mentioned longtime Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill as a potential candidate to replace Kyle Dubas in Toronto.
Nill, 65, won four Stanley Cups as an executive in the Detroit Red Wings organization before joining the Stars in 2013. Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan played for the Red Wings during Nill’s tenure as assistant general manager.
Here’s the transcript of what Colaiacovo had to say about Nill:
Carlo Colaiacovo: At the end of the day, we sit here and we wait to see what the Maple Leafs’ plans are. I think a name that I heard pop up yesterday was Jim Nill of the Dallas Stars. He’s got one year left on his deal and he’s got a really close relationship with [Maple Leafs president] Brendan Shanahan from their days in Detroit. I know Jim Nill really well from my time in Detroit and I think he’d be an outstanding candidate for this job, so we’ll see how this plays out [and] if that’s a guy they choose to interview when Dallas gets eliminated. Clearly, right now, all the talk is [Brad] Tre …

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Author: Mike Gould / The Leafs Nation

The Toronto Maple Leafs need to take it one game at a time

Wednesday night was much, much better.
After a couple of ugly results against the Florida Panthers, the Toronto Maple Leafs needed something much, much better in Game 4. It was do-or-die, and the Leafs played arguably their most complete game in quite some time. Great goaltending, excellent defending and even the Core Four showed up for the first time all series.
And now, we’re getting a fifth game back at Scotiabank Arena.
Given the temperature of Leafs Nation yesterday, it feels like a miracle. But the Buds are still in it, and the hype is starting to seep back in for the first time since the team beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.
The Leafs played with an all-for-one mentality in Game 4, and that can’t waver if the Leafs are going to pull off a miracle here. They still need to win three more times if they’re going to do something only four teams have done in NHL history. We know the Leafs are capable of much better than we’ve seen, but there’s no room for mistakes moving forward.
Everyone knows that. So we can celebrate the effort we saw on Wednesday, but the mountain only gets higher from here. For as one-sided of a win-loss ratio this serie …

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Author: Steven Ellis / The Leafs Nation

3 Toronto Raptors players who hurt their trade value in 2023

3 Toronto Raptors players who hurt their trade value in 2023

The Toronto Raptors’ roster is going to look much different at the end of the offseason, as Masai Ujiri is likely well aware of how poorly the team performed down the stretch. The bench needs multiple players that can come in and make an impact, and more shooting is needed everywhere. The Raptors are right […]
3 Toronto Raptors players who hurt their trade value in 2023 – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Oilers dummy the new look Leafs 5-2: Game highlights

There’s not much good to say about Wednesday’s game. The Oilers led the game from start to finish. Connor McDavid did Connor McDavid things. Below are the highlights from the game.
McDavid opened the scoring as Jake McCabe sat for slashing. He worked a give and go with Leon Draisaitl and scored his ninth goal in his last four plus games…

McDavid capitalizes early on the power play to put the Oilers up by one!🔥 pic.twitter.com/exJBnCXh9n
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 2, 2023

The Leafs evened it up later in the first. Cody Ceci turned it over on the wall and Mitch Marner found David Kampf to make it 1-1…

¯_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/qtYJ6MDRW9
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 2, 2023

McDavid did it again a few minutes later. Another highlight reel goal. Five straight multi-goal games for 97. 2-1 Oilers…

That’s five consecutive two goal games for Connor McDavid! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/yWPjmuEobL
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 2, 2023

Zach Hyman cleaned up his own rebound to make it 3-1. Three point period for McDavid. First point as an Oiler for Mattias Ekholm…

Hyman goes to work against his former squad! 👷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/VooF2D1vp9
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 2, 2023

The Oilers dominance continued in the second period. Ilya Samsonov made a huge stop on Hyman in tight to keep the Leafs within two…

another strong pad save from Samsonov pic.twitter.com/fBgYWGNxQb
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 2, 2023

The two goal lead didn’t last long. Kailer Yamamoto tipped in the Ceci point shot to make it 4-1…

Kailer Yamamoto re-directs it
4-1 pic.twitter.com/H9EGKteDjW
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 2, 2023

The Oilers extended their lead again before the end of the second. Ryan McLeod walked TJ Brodie on the 2-1 and fed Klim Kostin. 5-1…

this game is a runaway. klim kostin extends the oilers’ lead to 5-1. pic.twitter.com/UYUEXscSzn
— zach (@zjlaing) March 2, 2023

 
Mitch Marner got the comeback started with a powerplay goal early in the third. He took the Morgan Rielly pass and wired a wrister past Stuart Skinner to cut the lead to three…

Marns gets us one back! pic.twitter.com/EtQVKzpGa9
— Toronto Mapl …

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Author: Scott Ony / The Leafs Nation

Spring Training 2023: A look at Blue Jays’ upcoming roster battles

Following a productive off-season, much of the Toronto Blue Jays’ 26-man roster has been already set as team workouts begin at the franchise’s Player Development Complex this week, leaving few roster battles to be decided. But there are still a few spots up for grabs ahead of Saturday’s spring training opener versus the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Blue Jays have the next four-plus weeks to polish the edges around their big-league roster, determining which players will fly north with them ahead of Opening Day and which will be assigned to the minor leagues. It will almost certainly be challenging to decipher between the good and the bad, though.
As with every spring training, player performances have to be taken with a grain of salt during this time of the year as they can often be misleading – think last season’s Greg Bird, who slashed .261/.393/.565 with two home runs in 23 at-bats before being cut by the team. Evaluating small sample sizes for hitters can often be difficult, especially when they’re facing pitchers just looking to get their reps in and vice-versa.
Luckily for Toronto, manager John Schneider likely won’t be forced to make many tough roster decisions out of the gate. That is, of cour …

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Author: Thomas Hall / Blue Jays Nation

Raptors 905 G League roundup: Best performances vs. Westchester Knicks

Raptors 905 G League roundup: Best performances vs. Westchester Knicks

Much like the Toronto Raptors, G League squad Raptors 905 have seen individually brilliant performances overshadowed by what the kids are calling a “mid” record. Raptors 905 sits at 9-8 despite constantly getting pumped full of NBA-level reinforcements. 905 split a series against the Westchester Knicks, who it may not surprise you to learn are […]
Raptors 905 G League roundup: Best performances vs. Westchester Knicks – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Recency bias and the trade deadline

Recency bias and the trade deadline

It’s not often that you hear much praise for recency bias, but I’ll make the argument that coming into the trade deadline it might be one of those times you lean into it a little. After all, would you rather bring in someone who is riding a heater or someone who has significantly seen the performance fall off, and then you are crossing your fingers that they’ll come back around at the right time? I think the correct answer is you want someone who has been consistent and performing at a rate they can sustain, but alas Erik Karlsson is expensive and there is only one Timo Meier out there.
Really the hope with this exercise is less about panicking about those who have fallen off, and more about identifying players who are in the process of getting back on track to where they should be. I’d share the data table and then share a few players that stood out to me when looking at which trade targets have performed the best since January 1st.

So first of all, so explainers on the data. The data from the left up to P/60 is all situation data, after that looking at the On Ice numbers for CF, GF, and xG are all looking at 5v5. The numbers highlighted in blue are the top ten players on the list in that category.
The first thing that stands out to me are two players who are certainly finding their game of late. Brock Boeser might not be scoring goals at the rate you’d hope to see from him yet, but he is picking up points, and his 15 points in 18 games certainly illustrate that he can be a lower cost to acquire addition to the top s …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

How much grit does the backline have?

How much grit does the backline have?

Last week we examined how much grit the Maple Leafs had up front. A day later, Dryden Hunt was placed on waivers (went unclaimed and has since played games with the Marlies), while Pontus Holmberg and Joey Anderson were called up. Both of them made positive contributions to the forward group last week. With just over a month to go before the trade deadline, the musical chairs in the bottom 6 will continue.
As the Leafs d-core nears full health (Brodie returned from injury last game, and Victor Mete is back skating), let’s take a look at the grit (or perhaps lack thereof) the Leafs currently have compared with what they had in the playoffs last season. There are many familiar faces this season, and some have continued to develop at impressive rates.
Morgan Rielly, Mark Giordano, and TJ Brodie each played 7 games last spring against Tampa Bay, while Justin Holl played 5. Combined, the four defencemen averaged 2 hits per game. Barring any injuries or trades (Holl is the only one that could possibly move), the four veterans of the group are each firmly part of Sheldon Keefe’s top 6 and they’ll be in the lineup for game 1 of the playoffs. We shou …

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Author: Bennett Jull / The Leafs Nation

There was mutual interest in Ross Stripling re-signing, plus digging into his Blue Jays tenure!

It was pretty much a given that the Jays and Ross Stripling had a mutual interest in the pitcher returning.

Although he ended up signing a two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants, his decision was between the Giants and the Toronto Blue Jays.  
According to this article from The Star by Mike Wilner, there were a few reasons why he chose San Francisco. The biggest reason was that the Giants were willing to give him an opt-out after one year, which gives the player a ton of leverage.
The other reason was that a day prior to Stripling signing with the Giants, the Jays signed free agent Chris Bassitt to a three-year, $63 million deal. Despite getting their #3 in the rotation, the Jays still had an interest in re-signing Stripling.
In my opinion, this very well could mean that the Jays aren’t done with looking to improve their rotation. Adding a fifth starter such as Johnny Cueto (who they’ve been linked to) or Corey Klueber.
However, let’s look at Ross Stripling’s career as a Blue Jay:
A Ross Stripling retrospect:
The Jays traded for Ross Stripling on August 31st, 2020 at the plague year deadline. They sent then Top 30 prospects Kendall Williams and Ryan Noda (who was recently selected in the Rule 5 draft) to acquire the swingman. Let’s look at his season-by-season numbers with the Jays.
2020:
In the short time after the trade, Stripling posted a 6.32 ERA and 3.70 FIP in 15.2 innings pitched. His K …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation