3 prospects Toronto Raptors should watch in NCAA Championship

3 prospects Toronto Raptors should watch in NCAA Championship

The Toronto Raptors are hard at work trying to find their next standout in the 2022 NBA Draft. Along with every scouting department worth their salt, Toronto will pay very close attention to the 2022 NCAA Championship Game between Bill Self’s consistent Kansas Jayhawks and Hubert Davis’ upstart North Carolina Tar Heels. Both of these […]
3 prospects Toronto Raptors should watch in NCAA Championship – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

The Jake Muzzin Situation

I left work today with my phone at 1% battery, so I get to the car, plug my phone in, and I’ve got 10 notifications saying “Dance, CBA man, dance!” The people demand to know why Latvian legend Kristians Rubins and KHL stud Brennan Menell have emerged on the Leafs roster seemingly out of nowhere.
As you likely know by now, the Leafs recalled those two defencemen and subsequently loaned Rasmus Sandin to the minors. This was an attempt to get as close to the upper limit as possible before placing Jake Muzzin and his $5.625m cap hit on LTIR. In the most simple terms, teams do this because any unused cap space at the time a player is placed on LTIR is lost.
Typically this is demonstrated by saying a team has an $80m cap hit on an $81.5m upper limit. That team has a $5m player they want to put on LTIR, and no matter what, the day they place that player on LTIR they will have exactly $5m in cap space. If they make no roster moves, $1.5m is essentially lost. If they recall two players with a $750k cap hit before placing said player on LTIR, t …

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Author: Earl Schwartz / The Leafs Nation

News from the Rink: Jack Campbell and Auston Matthews have maintenance days, and Kaše skates prior to Leafs practice

The Leafs flew to Vegas and put in a light day of practice work. Light day of work, means light news as well, but here’s what we’ve got…

Keefe said it was a maintenance days for Matthews, Campbell. Kase skated early and is “progressing”. He wanted them on the ice today for a while =”to keep the guys sharp, touch the puck, get a sweat, have a team meeting” A harder workout coming tomorrow.
— Lance Hornby (@sunhornby) January 9, 2022

No Matthews or Campbell seem like a reason for panic, but in reality we’re just looking at maintenance days as both had a busy Saturday night. Campbell is heading into a back to back situation, and it will be interesting to see if Mrazek gets the first game of it to let Campbell have a bit more rest to head into a very well spaced out four remaining games of the trip where he could potentially start them all.
It’s nice to give Campbell his birthday off, and I’m sure the Leafs will be taking him to the Red Lobster on the strip tonight.
Ondrej Kase still isn’t ready to return to the Leafs lineup, and that’s fine. A little caution here doesn’t hurt, but with Kase along on the trip, and skating before practice there’s certainly hope that he could possibly be ready after the back to backs in Vegas and Arizona.
The just get them on the ice for a while aspect of the practice is probably why we didn’t see any fresh line combinations today.

Keefe says h …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Joshua Ho-Sang signs an AHL deal with the Marlies

Joshua Ho-Sang’s hard work has finally been rewarded and he will be sticking with the Leafs organization for the coming season.

Josh Ho-Sang signs an AHL deal with the Marlies. He attended #leafs camp on a PTO.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) October 6, 2021

In only two pre-season games, he has amassed an impressive  four points (all of which are assists). In spite of a limited showing, he has already impressed a number of players with his hard work and resilience.
Had there not been a log-jam with the forward unit, there was a real chance Ho-Sang could have earned a spot on roster and challenge for the top-six. While I’m sure the Leafs would have loved to keep him on the main roster to begin the season, he would have had to been placed on waivers and be in serious danger of getting scooped up by another team in need of bodies. By signing an AHL deal now, it leaves open the option to convert it into an NHL contract once the time is ripe to bring him up to the main squad (whether that be injuries or he is done enough dominating in the AHL).
Considering how grateful he …

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Author: Michael Mazzei / The Leafs Nation

Mitch Marner’s new mindset could change the Leafs outcome

“It’s time to get back to work, get my body ready, and try to be a better person or better player than I was this year, and make sure I come ready to do that.”
That was Mitch Marner almost four months ago when everything fell apart.
Three-straight losses to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs, and Marner was at the forefront. He was the player that everyone went after.
The biggest question was whether the ‘big four’ could conquer their quest for glory. Could Marner be one of the players who led them on that journey? Everyone was questioning whether this Leafs team could win something meaningful. Everything in the regular season suggested so, yet nothing following that.
Being on the Toronto Maple Leafs can be a daunting task at times. For Marner, it was about discovering his path through the pressure. Growing up, he wanted to play for this team, and the 24-year-old still does now.
How will Marner fight through the pressure? Well, he’ll attack it head-on.
“You want pressure.” Said Marner during the Leafs’ first media availability of the 2021-22 season. “You don’t want to be playing in a …

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Author: Nick Barden / The Leafs Nation

Toronto Raptors: Potential starting lineup after Khem Birch signing

Toronto Raptors: Potential starting lineup after Khem Birch signing

The Toronto Raptors have plenty of work to do when it comes to filling out this roster following Kyle Lowry’s departure, but one area in which they are very thin at the center position, as the free agency of Khem Birch threw the whole outlook at that position completely out of order. Birch, a Canadian […]
Toronto Raptors: Potential starting lineup after Khem Birch signing – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Toronto Raptors: Gary Trent Jr. signs surprising 3-year deal

Toronto Raptors: Gary Trent Jr. signs surprising 3-year deal

The Toronto Raptors might’ve been trying to work out the particulars of their Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade last night, but their other main priority this offseason had to be making sure that Gary Trent Jr. ended up back in Toronto after an encouraging stint with the squad. Acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers in the same […]
Toronto Raptors: Gary Trent Jr. signs surprising 3-year deal – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Toronto Raptors free agency: 3 Atlantic Division free agents to chase

Toronto Raptors free agency: 3 Atlantic Division free agents to chase

Should the front office once again work their magic and create some extra cap room, the Toronto Raptors should have some much-needed cap space that they can use to attack some of the holes that dragged this unit down to the lottery in the 2020-21 season. While this group should be able to compete for […]
Toronto Raptors free agency: 3 Atlantic Division free agents to chase – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Raptors: NBA Draft Combine star Joe Wieskamp could be a solid addition

Raptors: NBA Draft Combine star Joe Wieskamp could be a solid addition

The Toronto Raptors need to work on accomplishing two goals simultaneously over the next few weeks. While they need to narrow down their preferences with regards to who they want to draft with the No. 4 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, they also need to see if a player like Iowa’s Joe Wieskamp would […]
Raptors: NBA Draft Combine star Joe Wieskamp could be a solid addition – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Marlies and Me: records are made to be broken

Marlies continue putting in work to make it to the end of their season.
Even in a week filled with loss, there are a good amount of positives that can be singled out.
When asked what he is most looking forward to, Head Coach Greg Moore looks to team growth as his answer. Specifically, “Just how much we can grow game-to-game.” There are a lot of opportunities to see this progress in the time the Marlies have left.  “Now we have a mix of guys who have been here all year, we have some veteran players and younger guys or just some fresh faces who have also played some pro hockey this year for some time now. With all those mixed variables and players, how quickly we can get them to come together as a team, how quickly we can get them to come together and look really clean and sharp on the ice,” Moore continues.
He also speaks to the effects the constant roster changes has on the team. Moore says, “There’s always challenges at this level with bodies coming and going but we have some really motivated young people that are here to learn and grow and …

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Author: Marsha Joseph / The Leafs Nation