Toronto Maple Leafs: The Bad-Take Roundup and Review

The Toronto Maple Leafs are endlessly covered and discussed.

And that means that there are a lot of people giving their opinions and ideas, and that, inevitably, some of those takes about your Toronto Maple Leafs are terrible.  Luckily, your charming host for the evening is infallible (himself never guilty of the dreaded ‘bad take’) and is here to point out the craziest takes of the week for your enjoyment, and possibly even safety.

The big one this week is William Nylander.  He’s been featured prominently in the bad take department this year due to his holdout.  But we all know he’s not soft, selfish or a bad teammate. We know that name-based puns are super lame. But mostly, we know that those myths have been mocked and put to rest.

But now, the Leafs have lost three of four since his return, and I’ve actually heard people say – out loud – that they should have just let him sit.  WOW.

Nothing you can say to someone thinks the Leafs should have left an elite player on the sidelines out of petty spite.  Moving on.

Some people have called in to say that Kasperi Kapanen is the superior player to Nylander, even going so far as to use the classic ‘all-round game argument.’   This isn’t true.  Kasperi Kapanen is a great player. I am a huge fan.  But Ron Hainsey has a better chance at winning the Norris than Kapanen does as becoming a superior player to William Nylander.  That is a fact.

Assuming both players play full and healthy careers, I estimate a zero percent chance that Kapanen ends up the better player.

Worst of the Week

The worst of the week isn’t really even a ‘take,’ so much as it’s a discussion. The two things I cannot stand to talk about right now are 1) offer sheets and 2) the expansion draft.

If you asked the most informed hockey expert on the planet to predict the roster of any random NHL team next season, he or she would get a lot wrong.  So asking someone to guess what players will be available for the Seattle Thunder-Chunks to draft prior to the 2021 season is preposterous.

As for the offer sheets, we need to collectively just give it a rest.  The Toronto Maple Leafs won’t let Matthews or Marner make it past July 1st where this is even possible.

But even if they did, no one is offering them a contract.

And if they did, the Leafs would match it.  There is no chance, no possibility whatsoever that the Leafs will lose one of Matthews or Marner to an offer sheet.

It’s just talk for the sake of talk, which wouldn’t be so bad if there was nothing to talk about.  But there is – hockey is the best it’s ever been. The games are fun, fast, and scoring is up while fighting is all but eliminated.  The NHL is blessed with a ridiculous amount of young superstars and it’s arguable that the NHL has never been better.

Oh, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are the best team in the world – a young 2010 Miami Heat, if you will.  The Penguins picked up three Cups over the course of their Dynasty Years, and it is my hope that the Leafs make that total seem lame by comparison.