Leafs Geeks Podcast: Toronto Maple Leafs

Jeff Veillette joins us this week to break down the Marlies' Calder Cup run (quick heads up: this was recorded before Game 6). 0:52 – Major storylines from the Calder Cup playoffs. 7:26 – Marlies’ advanced stats (courtesy of Jeff’s manual tracking) 20:49 – Goaltending (Sparks & Pickard) 35:37 – Trevor Moore and Pierre Engvall. 41:32 – Miro Aaltonen and Carl Grundstrom. 47:35 – Our undying love for Justin Holl. 53:09 – Jeff developing into a poor man’s Jason Allison. 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

Jude MacDonald (@JudeLeafs on Hockey Twitter) joins me this week to discuss how our views on hockey have changed dramatically over the past few years. 4:33 – Our (ill-conceived) opinions during the Carlyle/Nonis era. 7:49 – My analytics origin story. 14:11 – The way we look at defencemen. 18:08 – Preconceived notions clouding our judgement. 22:24 – How I overvalued Corsi when I first learned about it. 27:46 – Writers who helped us change our views. 32:40 – Ineffective players we still root for as fans. 37:55 – Stats we like using for player evaluation. 46:58 – Wrapping things up.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gus Katsaros from McKeens joins us this week to take a deep dive into Toronto's systems, breaking down what they can learn from Vegas' success this year. 2:54 – What can we learn from Vegas’ systems? 9:41 – Comparing it to Toronto’s forecheck. 20:20 – Evaluating the Leafs’ DZ play. 32:55 – Toronto’s breakouts. 36:34 – Would moving Nylander to centre help with breakouts? 43:19 – Players we’re looking forward to seeing next season. 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 preview the upcoming NHL Draft. 1st Round Defencemen 2:57 – Ryan Merkley. 7:16 – Bode Wilde. 9:54 – Nils Lundkvist. 12:20 – Best Player Available vs. the added value of a RHD. 14:17 – Calen Addison. 15:52 – Jett Woo. 17:28 – Rasmus Sandin. 1st Round Forwards 19:56 – Martin Kaut. 22:00 – Vitali Kravtsov. 24:22 – Dominik Bokk. 25:58 – Grigori Denisenko. 28:10 – Jonatan Berggren. 1:03:50 – Akil Thomas & Ryan McLeod. 2nd Round Prospects 32:29 – Jonny Tychonick. 34:27 – Nicolas Beaudin. 36:40 – Filip Kral. 38:21 – Toni Utunen. 40:52 – Niklas Nordgren. 43:11 – David Gustafsson. 45:04 – Jake Wise. 46:45 – Jay O’Brien. Mid-Late Round Prospects 48:00 – Aidan Dudas. 49:13 – Johnny Gruden. 49:52 – Ruslan Iskhakov. 50:44 – Bulat Shafigullin. 52:46 – Cole Fonstad. 54:06 – Nando Eggenberger. 56:07 – Nathan Dunkley. 58:07 – Jesse Ylonen. 1:03:02 – Kirill Marchenko. Overagers 59:23 – Jerry Turkulainen. 1:00:46 – Sean Durzi. If you want to help support my Patreon,

Sean Tierney (@ChartingHockey)from The Athletic joins us this week to preview the Leafs' upcoming offseason. 4:05 – Is Carlson worth the money? 11:30 – Other RHD Targets (Tanev/Hjalmarsson/Pysyk/Gudas) 16:03 – Rasmus Andersson. 19:09 – Greg Pateryn. 22:26 – Julius Honka. 31:06 – Patreon Podcasts! 34:57 – Should the Leafs pursue Tavares? 37:57 – 3rd line centre (Nylander, Bozak, or UFA) 48:05 – Does Leivo crack the lineup next year? 52:20 – Trading Matt Martin. 54:49 – PTO Forwards? 57:48 – The best offseason is usually a quiet offseason. 1:02:08 – Bonus overages and the 2019 cap crunch. 1:05:30 – Final thoughts. If you want to help support my Patreon, here's the link: https://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 take a deep dive into the Toronto Marlies' roster as they head into their Round 2 of the Calder Cup Playoffs. 1:11 – Just how good are the Marlies? 9:00 - Their excellent depth on D. 14:45 – Carl Grundstrom. 17:53 – Miro Aaltonen. 23:14 – Pierre Engvall. 27:44 – Mason Marchment. 31:04 – Justin Holl. 47:46 – Garrett Sparks. 55:04 – Sheldon Keefe’s future. 1:06:08 - Patreon Podcasts!Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Theo joins us this week (for once) as we discuss the Leafs' heartbreaking Game 7 loss to Boston, what we learned from this season, and the Dubas/Hunter situation.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthony Petrielli from Maple Leafs Hotstove joins us this week to help break down this crazy TOR-BOS series.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Bourne from The Athletic joins us this week to break down the anatomy of a 2-on-1, breakouts, and our undying love for Travis Dermott. Also don't forget to sign up for our weekly Saturday night hockey pool at Draft Kings – it’s only $3 and really helps support the podcast. Make sure you use promo code “IAN” when you sign up (it gives you a bonus voucher for the contest). The winner will get 5 minutes of airtime on the next podcast!

Andrew Berkshire from Sportsnet joins us this week to take a deep dive into the TOR-BOS series (which is starting to look competitive!)Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shawn Ferris from Hockey Graphs joins us this week to preview the upcoming series between the Leafs and Bruins. 1:38 – Line Matching. 19:43 – Toronto has played Boston well. 26:13 – Marchand’s shenanigans. 31:45 – Toronto’s PP vs Boston’s PK. 37:39 – Boston’s PP vs Toronto’s PK. 43:40 – Goaltending.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Theo joins us (again!) to go through our grades for the Maple Leafs' defencemen in the second half of the season. 1:17 – Hainsey. 9:45 – Rielly. 15:05 – Gardiner. 21:02 - Leafs Geeks Hockey Pool Winner. 28:02 – Zaitsev. 35:07 – Dermott. 37:12 – Polak/Carrick. 46:13 – Andsersen. 50:27 – McElhinney. 51:46 – Babcock. Also don't forget to sign up for our weekly Saturday night hockey pool at Draft Kings – it’s only $3 and really helps support the podcast. Make sure you use promo code “IAN” when you sign up (it gives you a bonus voucher for the contest). The winner will get 5 minutes of airtime on the next podcast!

Theo joins me (for once) as we go through our report cards for each Maple Leaf forward in the 2nd half of the season. 3:12 – Hyman. 10:57 – Nylander. 16:25 – Matthews. 25:08 – Marleau. 33:03 – Marner. 38:50 – Kadri. 44:20 – Brown. 51:53 – JVR. 54:38 – Bozak. 58:20 – Komarov. 1:04:11 – Plekanec. 1:05:49 – Kapanen. 1:06:10 – Johnsson. If you want to help support the podcast, you can sign up for our weekly Saturday night hockey pool at Draft Kings – it’s only $3 and helps me get out of OSAP debt! Make sure you use promo code “IAN” when you sign up (it gives you a bonus voucher for the contest). The winner will get 5 minutes of airtime on the next podcast!

Kevin Papetti from Pension Plan Puppets joins us this week to break down the Leafs’ Top 10 Prospects (for fun we included guys like Dermott, Kapanen, and Johnsson) 1:57 – Travis Dermott (LD) 8:11 – Timothy Liljegren (RD) 17:55 – Kasperi Kapanen (RW) 26:27 – Andreas Johnsson (LW/RW) 31:11 – Leafs Geeks Hockey Pool Winner. 39:22 – Jeremy Bracco (RW) 47:11 – Carl Grundstrom (LW) 53:19 – Andreas Borgman (LD) 1:01:18 – Yegor Korshkov (RW) 1:07:18 – Pierre Engvall (LW/RW) 1:16:01 – Adam Brooks (C/W) 1:20:25 – Mason Marchment (LW) 1:22:42 – Dmytro Timashov (LW/RW) 1:24:16 – Lindgren/Rosen/Nielsen (RD/LD/LD) 1:26:30 – Trevor Moore (LW) 1:27:17 – Igor Ozhiganov (RD) Also don't forget to sign up for our weekly Saturday night hockey pool at Draft Kings – it’s only $3 and really helps support the podcast. Make sure you use promo code “IAN” when you sign up (it gives you a bonus voucher for the contest). The winner will get 5 minutes of airtime on the next podcast!

Arvind from Pension Plan Puppets joins us this week to break down the key decisions facing the Leafs this offseason. 1:14 - Is there some conceivable way to bring back JVR? 18:52 - Nylander's contract extension. 22:07 - Who's the 3rd line C next year (Nylander, Thornton, Bozak…?) 32:18 - The new Leafs Geeks weekly contest! 37:24 - Forecasting Toronto's 2018-2019 lineup. 55:54 - Just how good is Travis Dermott? Also don't forget to sign up for our Saturday night hockey pool at Draft Kings (use promo code "IAN" to get a free voucher for the contest), the winner will get 5 minutes of airtime on the next podcast! Sign up here: https://www.draftkings.com/promo-code Weekly contests will be found here: https://www.draftkings.com/leagues/ccxmkxi8Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cam Robinson from Dobber Prospects joins us this week to break down some of our favourite players in the upcoming draft who might be available by the Leafs' pick (in the low-mid 20s). 2:56 - Ryan Merkley (5'11 RHD, Guelph, OHL) 6:53 - Jett Woo (6'0 RHD, Moose Jaw, OHL) 8:40 - Jared McIsaac (6'1 LHD, Halifax, QMJHL) 12:17 - Calen Addison (5'10 RHD, Lethbridge, WHL) 15:19 - Jesperi Kotkaniemi (6'2 C, Assat, Liiga) 19:16 - Dominik Bokk (6'1 LW/RW, Vaxjo, SHL) 23:25 - Grigori Denisenko (5'10 LW, Loko, MHL) 25:35 - Vitali Kravtsov (6'2 RW/C, Traktor, KHL) 28:12 - Joseph Veleno (6'1 C, Drummondville, QMJHL) 31:05 - Ryan McLeod (6'2 C, Mississauga, OHL) 33:20 - Akil Thomas (5'11 C, Niagara, OHL) 34:49 - Benoit-Olivier Groulx (6'1 C, Halifax, QMJHL) 36:50 - Jack McBain (6'3 C, Toronto, OJHL) 40:17 - Jacob Olofsson (6'2 C, Timra, Allsvenskan) 43:08 - Filip Hallander (6'1 W/C, Timra, Allsvenskan) 44:40 - Jonatan Berggren (5'10 C/RW, Skelleftea J20, SuperElit) 46:13 - Axel Andersson (6'0 RHD, Djugardens J20, SuperElit)

Rob Wong from Sportsnet 590 The FAN joins us this week to discuss some of the biggest questions in Leafs nation lately. 1:21 - Nylander at Centre. 9:55 - Gardiner's resurgence. 17:48 - Zaitsev's struggles. 30:14 - Plekanec's role on this team. 36:40 - Getting Kapanen more ice time. 42:51 - How good are the Leafs? 53:36 - Would you rather face Boston or Tampa in the 1st Round?Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TotallyOffside from Hockey Twitter joins us this week to debate whether or not the Leafs should trade JVR. There's a lot to unpack with this decision, so buckle up! If nothing else, I highly recommend listening to the closing arguments. Ian breaks down his case for trading JVR at 1:06:24, while TotallyOffside outlines the case for keeping him as an own rental at 1:09:54.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dom Luszczyszyn from The Athletic joins us this week to break down the Leafs that we think are a bit overrated and underrated when you compare their results with fan perception. 3:23 - Dom: Dermott & Kapanen are Overrated. 10:29 - Ian: Matthews is (slightly) Overrated. 17:35 - Ian: Marleau is Overrated. 25:25 - Dom: Rielly is Underrated. 31:18 - Ian: Marner is Underrated. 36:00 - Dom: JVR and Bozak are Underrated. 40:26 - Ian: Gardiner is Underrated.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Mirtle from The Athletic joins us this week to break down what the Leafs should do at the Trade Deadline, as well as some of the key decisions they have to make this offseason. Here's a list of the topics we discuss: 0:38 - How good are the Leafs? 10:49 - What should Toronto do at the trade deadline? 13:35 - Addressing the centre position in the offseason. 15:55 - Does Komarov come back next season? 19:31 - Babcock wants a 4th line centre...who's available? 25:04 - Finding a Top 4 RHD in the summer. 32:25 - Mirtle's beer league Corsi. 34:17 - How things have been going at The Athletic.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices