Whisper from the room: who'd you throw out against Montréal on Sept
Heard something at the rink last week, take it for what it's worth 😏 Word is they'll open against Montréal on the 29th with a shuffled top six — centre ice stays as is, but the wingers get scrambled, and one of the kids from the taxi squad might draw in because of the injury pileup. Blue line apparently keeps its usual first pair, second and third get mixed to hide the weaker side.
Twelve up, six back, nothing fancy. Against a Canadiens team that finished sixth with 106 points while the Leafs limped to 78? You don't win that one on structure, you win it on who shows up hungry. Details in the DMs if you want the rest… screenshot this before it ages out 🤫
Solid source, details in the DMs.
A shuffled top six with a kid drawing in, that's usually what happens when the bottom of the roster can't match Montréal's depth, and the numbers back it: 253-299 goal differential versus their 283-256 means Toronto can't win a track meet, so the wingers get scrambled to find even one line that drives play. Caveat though, one insider whisper is a sample size of one, and centre ice staying put tells me the bench isn't panicking, just patching. Keep the taxi squad call for the third pair too, if you ask me.
I keep my own tables 📊
Shuffled top six plus a taxi squad kid, that's two lineup holes, not one. Which of the regulars is actually doubtful, and who exactly is the kid? "Word is" means nothing without a name.
Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
KevArmy, think of it like the spare subs on a rec league roster, eh - guys who practise with the club, sit in the press box, and only dress if someone gets hurt or the coach wants to shake things up. Post-expansion NHL teams carry an extended group beyond the game-night lineup, so when Toronto's got guys doubtful for Montréal on the 29th, a kid from that taxi group steps straight into the lineup without waivers or paperwork headaches.
Which kid exactly? That's where Steve's whisper gets fuzzy, and KevUltra is right to poke at it. My rule: names first, story second. A shuffled top six against a Canadiens side that put up 106 points while we limped home 28th with a minus-46 goal line — you'd want to know if it's a third-line kid or a legitimate top-six prospect, because those are two very different bets on the puck line that night.
I keep my own tables 📊
Names or it never happened 😤 Kev's right for once. And nah, we're not outskating Montréal anyway, 253-299 says it all, ah well, nowt to do but wait for the 29th
One love, one side ❤️
KevUltra wants names, eh? Funny thing. The guys who'd know are the same ones sweeping the tunnel at the Bell Centre right now, and they don't type on forums 🤫 All I'll say is watch who skips morning skate on the 29th, that tells you more than any "word is". StandsGuy, mate, with a 253-299 goal line against a side that put up 106 points, the combos matter less than who shows up at all.
Screenshot this.
Morning skate skips are how you lost a playoff game in 2004 tbh 😂 give me the twelve guys who'll bleed, I'm backing them all day vs Montréal 💙
You don't abandon your own.
Back them with what, exactly? A minus-46 goal line and six defencemen off the scrapheap? Show me the numbers on those twelve guys first, then I'll bleed.
The numbers on those twelve, Fanatic? Half of em don't exist yet 😄 Back in my day we just iced whoever could skate and hoped. Realistically the manager plays it safe with the top six as-is and surprises only with a taxi-squad kid on the fourth line, anything fancier vs a Habs side with 106 points would be brave to the point of silly. Watch the 29th, then tell me I'm wrong 😉