Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Hockey Observations In Mid-May

05/14/2023 at 10:10am EDT

from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- There is almost universal celebration around the NHL when the Maple Leafs get eliminated from the playoffs. like the rich guy took one on the chin. But at the same time, there is significant regard for Dubas as a GM. It didn’t necessarily start out that way when he took over from Lou Lamoriello. But his reputation has grown greatly over time.

- Right now, if given a choice of the roster and payrolls of Top 6 players on Jersey, Buffalo, Ottawa or the Leafs, which team are you taking?

- The trade Kenny Holland made for Mattias Eklholm did two important things for the Edmonton Oilers. It put a solid big-time defenceman on their back end and promoted young Evan Bouchard for power play time — with Tyson Barrie dealt to Nashville. Bouchard has a giant shot from the point and leads all playoff defencemen in scoring, just one point behind Draisaitl and two behind Connor McDavid.

- This is all you need to know about the team’s team that is the Carolina Hurricanes: Their best player in the playoffs has been defenceman Jaccob Slavin. And adding puck-moving defencemen Brent Burns and Shayne Gostisbehere was great work by GM Don Waddell.

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rumbear

Ahhh Simmons on a Sunday morning with a cup o cofeve!  Good questions asked about the enigma wrapped conundrum that is called Maples Leafs.

A lot of great individuals that do not perform as a Team. Shanahan... a leader who isn't leading. "Brilliant" GM that screams at the Refs during the playoffs. Great Coach who cannot, well, Coach in the playoffs. Top Four talent that is'nt come playoff time. Talented "individuals", every one of them.....

Paul

from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,

I have 42 stray thoughts on this hockey team. Here they are:

1. Following Game 3s dismal performance in Sunrise, when the Maple Leafs called must win and lost, a cluster of reporters shared a silent elevator ride down from the press box with GM Kyle Dubas and Jason Spezza.

They glared red straight ahead, a thousand yards through the descending elevators door. You could fry an egg on the back of the general managers neck.

Question the mans plan, sure. Dont question his passion.

2. Dubas and head coach Sheldon Keefe are incredibly smart and hardworking professionals. This was also their first tour at the top level. They were handed the keys to a Ferrari and immediately asked to win the race.

No doubt, they will learn from this experience and be better for it.

At this point, Id be curious to see Keefe work with a different general manager and Dubas hire a different coach.

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Chet

I like how Simmons thinks the teams that are still left made genius deadline moves, but the ones who arent are run by idiots. Hes such a hack. 

rickytar

Simmons: The original sin of this Maple Leafs core will be not starting on time, and believing theyll have enough of it later to figure things out

too late Steve, Wings got that one sewed up..


and about that milk logo on the front of the Leafs jerseys..pathetic.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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