Leafs Geeks Podcast: Toronto Maple Leafs

Charlie O'Connor from The Athletic joins us this week to break down the many ways we can go about evaluating defencemen in the modern era. 1:58 – How to evaluate defencemen in the modern era. 13:02 – The importance of transitional play (zone exits/entries) 21:12 – Radko Gudas…how the hell does he drive possession? 39:14 – That 3rd pairing D with ridiculous microstats (e.g. Mackenzie Weegar, Julius Honka) 52:57 – Trading for Alex Pietrangelo.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Mirtle from The Athletic joins me this week to break down the Leafs' performance this season, and how they can go about upgrading at RD. 1:00 - The impact of “Chemistry” 4:46 – How good are the Leafs? 10:45 – Trading for a Top 4 RD (e.g. Pietrangelo/Parayko) 20:08 – Less sexy potential targets at RD. 29:08 – Wrapping things up with important #content (Leafs puns, Marleau’s junior days, and Mirtle’s beer league woes)Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jordan Samuels-Thomas from The Athletic joins me this week to break down the William Nylander signing and how it affects the Maple Leafs.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dom Luszczyszyn from The Athletic joins me this week as we grade each Leaf's performance a quarter way through the season. 3:56 – Kasperi Kapanen. 8:23 – Auston Matthews. 13:14 – Patrick Marleau. 18:40 – Mitch Marner. 23:24 – John Tavares. 28:26 – Zach Hyman. 33:01 – Nazem Kadri. 35:31 – Connor Brown. 40:39 – Par Lindholm. 42:32 – Andreas Johnsson. 47:02 – Ennis & Leivo. 50:12 – The Goat. 54:05 – Morgan Rielly. 59:08 – Travis Dermott. 1:05:16 – Jake Gardiner. 1:09:22 – Nikita Zaitsev. 1:15:46 – Ron Hainsey. 1:17:10 – Igor Ozhiganov. 1:20:20 – Frederik Andersen.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Berkshire from Sportsnet joins us this week to break down the Leafs' defence so far this season. 3:07 – How should we evaluate defencemen? 7:38 – Morgan Rielly’s play this season? 13:15 – The Gardiner-Zaitsev pairing (why is it so bad?) 28:34 – Our love for Travis Dermott.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff Veillette joins Ian Graph™ this week to break down some current and former Marlies - most of whom are Swedish

Murat Ates from The Athletic joins us this week to break down the similarities between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Winnipeg Jets...despite what Jim Hughson might think.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meghan Hall joins us this week to break down the Leafs power play this season, and how it differs from last year. 1:00 – PP Research on Toronto’s top unit last year 5:14 – This year’s top unit PP 16:35 – 2nd Unit 22:05 – Pros & Cons of stacking your top unit. 31:26 – Age Curves & the Leafs elite young talent. 39:01 – Andreas Johnsson.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Willis from The Athletic joins us this week to go break down every team in the wonky Western Conference. Central Division 1:59 – Nashville Predators. 5:58 – Winnipeg Jets. 11:47 – St Louis Blues. 18:38 – Dallas Stars. 22:39 – Minnesota Wild. 26:55 – Chicago Blackhawks. 31:09 – Colorado Avalanche. Pacific Division 34:20 – San Jose Sharks. Vegas Golden Knights. 42:35 – LA Kings. 46:28 – Anaheim Ducks. 51:54 – Calgary Flames. 57:40 – Edmonton Oilers. 1:08:30 – Arizona Coyotes. 1:13:50 – Vancouver Canucks.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Berkshire from Sportsnet joins us this week to break down every team in the Eastern Conference heading into the 2018-19 season. Atlantic Division 1:13 – Tampa Bay. 7:28 – Boston Bruins. 13:00 – Florida Panthers. 13:30 – Montreal Candiens. 29:25 – Buffalo Sabres. 35:12 – Ottawa Senators. 38:11 – Detroit Red Wings. Metropolitan Division 41:24 – Pittsburgh Penguins. 44:57 – Columbus Blue Jackets. 50:23 – Washington Capitals. 55:39 – Philadelphia Flyers. 1:01:07 – Carolina Hurricanes. 1:05:21 – New Jersey Devils. 1:08:58 – New York Islanders. 1:13:22 – New York Rangers.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dom Luszczyszyn from The Athletic joins us this week to preview the Leafs' 2018-19 season. 4:00 – Toronto’s incredible Forward group. 12:00 – Point Projections for the Top 9. 21:00 – The Defence. 26:00 – Systemic issues that’ve held them back. 30:00 – The impact of fatigue. 35:00 – Hot takes.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sean Tierney (@ChartingHockey) joins us this week to break down some of the things we learned at the Ottawa Hockey Analytics Conference this weekend, as we apply some of those concepts to the Leafs heading into the preseason. 3:33 – Takeaways from #OTTHAC18 7:26 – Accounting for context. 18:16 – The importance of elite talent. 28:07 – Toronto’s ability to take advantage of 3rd pairings. 32:07 – Running 11 Forwards & 7 Defencemen. 38:34 – Nikita Zaitsev...what is he? 43:11 – Forecasting Nylander's contract.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we're joined by Kevin Papetti, Acting The Fulemin, and Arvind (three of my favourite writers at Pension Plan Puppet) to break down some of the Leafs' best prospects and young players under the age of 25. 2:57 – SDA. 13:10 – Timothy Liljegren. 24:27 – Adam Brooks. 37:50 – Jeremy Bracco. 47:07 – Dmytro Timashov. 53:40 – Fedor Gordeev. 1:02:30 – Pierre Engvall. 1:05:09 – Mason Marchment. 1:13:18 – Connor Brown. 1:28:28 – The Marner vs Nylander debate. 1:42:00 – Kapanen vs Johnsson.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gus Katsaros from McKeen's Hockey & Maple Leafs Hot Stove joins us this week to break down some of the question marks on Special Teams for Toronto this season. 2:15 – The Power Play. 9:25 – “Building” a PP unit with Toronto’s talent. 23:54 – Why not try a 5-Forward PP? 30:44 – The Penalty Kill. 39:23 – The role of modern-day defencemen on the PK. 45:43 – What we can learn from Carolina’s PK. 51:31 – Projecting Toronto’s PK units & final thoughts.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CJ Turtoro joins us this week to break down the latest research on transitional play, and why it's so important (especially for defencemen). 2:12 – What we can do with Zone Exit, Zone Entry, and Passing numbers. 21:44 – Why puck-moving is more valuable than ‘puck-stopping’ for Defencemen. 31:22 – How does this affect the Maple Leafs? 42:34 – Why passing is SO important. 58:16 – Replacing JVR’s on-ice impact.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Berkshire from Sportsnet joins me this week to break down the Leafs' roster heading into next season. 1:41 – The finer points of Tavares’s game. 8:15 – Auston Matthews’ defensive and transition play. 13:14 – Using skilled players on the PK. 19:24 – The Marner/Tavares dynamic in transition 28:49 – Wingers’ responsibility in the DZ (not much) 34:31 – Why are Centres more valuable than Wingers? 41:50 – Tom Wilson and the value of “complimentary” wingers.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Totally_Offside from Hockey Twitter joins us this week to break down what the Leafs should do with Jake Gardiner. 1:27 – Introducing Toronto's options. 4:47 – Keeping Gardiner as an "own rental" 17:01 – Trading Gardiner for assets (that you'd then flip for a RHD) 43:25 – Keeping Gardiner and re-signing him. 59:50 - Wrapping things up. If you want to help support the podcast, here's the link to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/iantulloch $5 Per Month gets you access to my weekly Patreon Mailbag Podcasts. $10 Per Month gets you the Mailbag Podcasts AND my weekly Player Profile Podcasts.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff Veillette from The Faceoff Circle joins us this week to break down the craziness of the past couple days and how it affects the Toronto Maple Leafs moving forward. 1:36 – What the Tavares signing means. 10:04 – Forecasting Toronto’s lineup. 25:49 – What’s next for the Leafs? (ie. Defence) 35:31 – Justin Holl. 40:55 – Jordan Subban 44:44 – RHD trade…? 47:15 – Why trading Nylander is a terrible idea. 58:12 – Wrapping things up. If you want to help support the podcast, here's the link to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/iantulloch $5 Per Month gets you access to my weekly Patreon Mailbag Podcasts. $10 Per Month gets you the Mailbag Podcasts AND my weekly Player Profile Podcasts.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cam Robinson from Dobber Prospects joins us this week to break down the Leafs' 2018 Draft. 1:22 – 1st Round: Rasmus Sandin (5’11 LHD) 12:55 – 2nd Round: Sean Durzi (6’0 RHD) 19:46 – 3rd Round: Semyon Der-Arguchinstev (5'10 C) 23:26 – 3rd Round: Riley Stotts (6'0 C) 24:59 – 4th Round: Mac Hollowell (5'9 RHD) 27:39 – 5th Round: Filip Kral (6'0 LHD) 37:07 – 6th Round: Pontus Holmberg (5'10 LW/C) 38:20 – 7th Round: Zachary Bouthillier (6'2 G) 42:30 – 7th Round: Semyon Kizimov (6'0 RW) 43:25 – Wrapping Up The Draft 48:50 – Update on the future of this podcast (this summer) If you want to help support the podcast, here's the link to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/iantulloch $5 Per Month gets you access to my weekly Patreon Mailbag Podcasts. $10 Per Month gets you the Mailbag Podcasts AND my weekly Player Profile Podcasts.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan Biech from Canucks Army & The Athletic joins us this week to break down some of our favourite players in the 2018 NHL Draft using both video & statistical analysis (combining 'the eye test' with 'the numbers') 4:47 – Ryan Merkley (RHD, Guelph, OHL) 7:36 – Isac Lundestrom (C/LW, Lulea, SHL) and “The 51% Rule” 11:27 – Jonatan Berggren (C/RW, Skelleftea J20, SuperElit) and Dominik Bokk (RW, Vaxjo J20, SuperElit) 14:13 – Grigori Denisenko (LW, Lokomotiv J20, MHL) 15:47 – Ty Dellandrea (C, Flint, OHL), Ryan McLeod (C, Mississauga, OHL), and Akil Thomas (C, Niagara, OHL) 20:11 – Alexander Alexeyev (LHD, Red Deer, WHL) 22:08 – Bode Wilde (LHD, USNDTP) and K’Andre Miller (RHD, USNTDP) 24:49 – Nils Lundkvist (RHD, Lulea J20, SuperElit) and Calen Addison (RHD, Lethbridge, WHL) 29:26 – Jonny Tychonick (LHD, Penticton, BCHL) and Nicolas Beaudin (LHD, Drummondville, QMJHL) 35:05 – Filip Hallander (C/W, Timra, Allsvenskan) and Jacob Oloffson (C, Timra, Allsvenskan) 37:23 – Jake Wise (C, USNTDP) and Cam Hillis (C, Gue