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Candid Frank NHL & Maple Leaf Talk
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Apr 9, 2025
Candid Frank Stanisci and Aaron William Freeland talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs and the other Canadian Teams in the National Hockey League. The players, the lines, the Coaches, the GM and the fans are all included in the topic of discussion. Is this the year a Canadian Team will not just make it the Stanley Cup but win it?
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0:00
Hi, I'm Candid Frank and he's my buddy David Morissuti. We do a lot of CFL stuff. He's
0:19
stepping in for Aaron William Freeland who got an offer he couldn't refuse to go to a
0:24
concert. He got tickets in his way. So he's off to that. We're here to talk about the Maple Leafs
0:31
And, you know, we're down to, well, we're down to days before the playoffs begin, really. I know
0:37
it's around a week, but still, we're down to a few days, ending up maybe seeing a matchup
0:46
that some are suggesting is being planned. Apparently, there's a, the first thing I wanted
0:52
to talk about was to me the big story is why would any team try to meet a certain opponent that that's
0:59
oh that's tempting fate a little too hard yeah i mean that's that's really a word it becomes right
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you're temp when you do certain things to try to control your own fate when you don't have control
1:13
of your own fate that's where it gets a little dicey in my opinion yeah so what we're talking
1:19
about is there's there's stories out there a few sources it isn't just one um the reality of it we
1:25
can discuss but the fact remains that uh the florida panthers are being it's being suggested
1:33
in certain quarters that they are tanking the season to drop down below the senators who are
1:40
cooperating in that regard having won three straight in a row david um they're on their way
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up if there's room they're only two points back i mean tampa sorry i should say florida has the
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tiebreaker so that in essence they've got an extra half a point i'll call it to be able to to finish
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behind florida so they have to finish with more points than florida to end up ahead of them uh
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of course if there's a whole bunch of you know overtime losses shootout losses all that kind of
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stuff because that's essentially what we're talking about it's about who has the least uh
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shootout losses or overtime losses the wins are what gets you ahead when you're up against another
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opponent with the same amount so that's the the gist of what's going on in that regard
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so it's a real quick quick subject so you you think it's dangerous for a team to
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an organization to do that. Oh, yeah, I definitely think so. I mean, that, like, I get it
2:44
Teams are banged up. They want to be able to say, you know what, why are we going to kill ourselves if we already kind of have an idea
2:50
of where we're standing right now? There's nothing, like, right now for the Florida Panthers
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they don't gain anything other than potentially trying to push for home ice in the first round
3:01
I'm guaranteeing that they they just say you know what we don't care about that
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we don't care about you know home ice in the first round
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they probably also feel between Tampa and Toronto what's the difference in who we play between
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those two teams I'm guaranteeing that's the mindset let's just make sure we get the best
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possible roster we have sure but it maybe also says something about how
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people the reputation of the Leafs and that they don't have the cleanest record in the playoffs
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That's another thing that helps the Leafs and that helps the team. Bulletin board material in the playoffs is paramount
3:44
You remember when Florida beat Boston, right? And everyone was like, we want Florida
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Like when the Leafs beat Tampa in round one. Right. I get that
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That's truly like that year, Florida on paper was not the better team than Boston
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But they got hot at the right time. So maybe they feel like, no, they feel like let's not hit our stride too early
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There's a little bit of that as well. And you know what? They've got a – their leadership structure has taken a hit
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I mean, you look at the players that are sitting out, you know, starting with their alternate captain
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And I don't know if the captain's back yet. that's a lot of leadership that's been drained out of Florida, you know, and a lot of the edge
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that, you know, the leading, if you want the tip of the spear, you know, is obviously we know who
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it is for them. You know, so in actuality, this may not be them trying to lose. It's just their
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inability to win against teams that are hungrier than they are. Because Montreal and Ottawa are two
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teams that are very hungry. They see the playoffs in the distance
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They were being hunted down by teams beneath them. And now because of this great run by both those teams, David
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they pretty much clinched a playoff spot in a matter of the past few games
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Yeah. I mean, that's right. At this rate, the, the, what the East, the four
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If you look at Toronto and Tampa, Florida and Ottawa, they all got a spot locked in
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It may not be officially official, but the only spot available in the playoffs is that second wildcard spot
5:32
Right. So it's for Ottawa. You're like, you know, do we want to play Toronto round one
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We want to play Tampa round one. Right now, it looks like Ottawa wants to play Tampa because they're winning all these games and have a chance to climb over Florida to play Tampa
5:46
right so but you know ottawa is also just like we want to put ourselves in the best position
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to get the more you know potentially the more favorable matchup too they're doing the opposite
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of what the panthers are doing right now i think i think you know i think it's even simpler than
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that i i think teams want to go into the playoffs playing well you know and nothing says you're
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playing well better than winning um you know and and which is why if the the inverse of what of
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that is when you're losing going into the playoffs that's a bit that's sketchy stuff you know it's
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you know i know there have been exceptions that make the rule there are teams who have in history
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flip the switch and boom they're they're going like crazy but david those are few and far between
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that can do that uh you know sports is a very emotional game and and and it's also uh you know
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basically a lot of uh you know memory you know muscle memory mental memory all these things that
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you have to build up and and and through time takes you know just like uh one of the things
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that's great about the Leafs losing the defenseman is they get to bring up Philip Myers who hasn't
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played in months it seems and who they will depend on in the playoffs because there's one thing you
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know about the playoffs six defensemen isn't what you're going to be you know what you're going to
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get away with you're gonna you're gonna go to eight and we've seen even in the past seasons
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some teams even ones that win the stanley cup have gone to eight and ten different defensemen
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yeah they always say you need eight nine defensemen to go out and uh uh to go out and win a cup
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right you can't just say oh you know our sticks have to be good yeah that's true your six have to
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be your top six have to be your top six injuries guys maybe fall off and play a little bit you got
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to have a little bit of depth to rely on and like the least hadn't really had that right like
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i look at years ago when jake muzzin went down yeah it was tough to replace a jake muzzin but
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um it also one of those things where it like you you just gotta get guy who can do enough a few guys to just give a little bit more right
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And so I think when you look at teams that go deep in a cup run
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they can bring guys in and out based on what's needed. And the simple fact of it is you need a defenseman that can play in the NHL
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on the sidelines. that can come in and play in the National Hockey League
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You know, it's not just numbers. It's the quality of the players as well
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And I think the most important thing is you have a system
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that's plug-and-play friendly. You know, if you lose, if you've got a, let's just say Montreal
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they lose Hudson. Who do they replace them with? Right? That's difficult
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But if one of their two or three or fourth defensemen go, they'll be able to replace him, I think, rather easily
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So the one thing the Leafs don't have, and it doesn't matter other than two defensemen, because even if Riley goes, it's not like they're losing a defenseman that does the kind of work that none of them can do
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You know, and outside of, you know, obviously, Berube relies on his favorite number eight there, his favorite defenseman
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But that's, you know, that's something that the other defenseman can help with a little bit
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The same thing, they lost a defenseman, and now that defenseman is being replaced by Philip Myers
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And he didn't look out of place. They look pretty good. I know Columbus is not a playoff team right now, and they're trying to get in
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But I do know also they've been a team that, given Toronto, fits. So, you know, it's not like it was an opponent that they had no concern with
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They handled them pretty well. Well, and that's it, right? Like, you have to take into account the matchups that they're playing
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how many minutes the how many people are playing each game right competition
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Columbus was not very good in that game that was like that was a bit I don't like to say it
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it's maybe seems a little distrustful that was that was a cakewalk for the Leafs
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just Columbus couldn't really do much at least weren't giving them much I'll credit the Leafs
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They didn't offer much for Columbus to take. And look, like, Philip Myers played some decent minutes in this game, right
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He played about 16 minutes. For, you know, a number six defenseman coming in
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that is some pretty good minutes for him. And I always said, like, Philip Myers, my only issue with him
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he's a big body. He likes to play that way, but sometimes he likes to shoot the puck more than he needs to
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He's a bit of a hogger. He'll shoot, shoot, shoot, high volume of shots
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and they don't do anything. Not enough. So I think, you know, it's good that he's able to come and have an impact
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I want to see these next two games where you have Florida and you have Tampa and you don't have
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and teams are going to go after that pairing. I want to see how it holds up
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That's going to be the true test. And not only is, yeah, well, it'll be the test
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and it'll be beneficial to see, you know, to get him up to speed
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Again, I'll remind people that he hasn't played in like eight weeks. So, you know, it's been a while since he played
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and he needs to get back up to speed. So these are going to be great games to get up to speed with
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As much as you might want to hear that Florida's tanking, which I don't think they are, they're going to play well
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Even if they were tanking, I believe this about hockey players. They're very proud people
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They're very proud. And if word gets out and they start hearing that, oh, you guys not trying
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You guys don't want to win? What's going on? It'll just get that bulletin board material
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not necessarily in the middle of the locker room or dressing room, but that's bulletin board material right in the middle between their eyes
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because hockey players have a lot of pride, and they're going to play with a lot of pride
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and that's what Philip Myers is going to be up against, players that are going to prove they're not, you know, trying to lose
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And I just can't believe that that's the case. It's too late in the season to be playing those kinds of games
12:35
Yeah, no, it is. And, you know, this is also the time of the year where you need to see
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which guys can handle, you know, an uptick in roll, right? Who's able to handle those things. and
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there's guys who are fighting on the Leafs, there aren't many jobs
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available. There are maybe a couple and you have to show the coaching staff that
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if you're going to be in the lineup, you're not going to be a negative. Maybe you're not always
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going to be a positive, but you're not going to do something that's going to hurt the team
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Nick Robertson, when he was in the lineup he was taking a lot of penalties and there was a reason he was taken out not just because he
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wasn't scoring he was taking penalties and that was putting his team behind right bad penalties
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at bad times and things like that so it's just like you know what you need to see you needed to
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him just to a calm him down and be give like make him understand that if you want to play in the
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live you need to do things a certain way right i think he did that and look what he did when he
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came back two goals yeah and right he was doing before was he was doing the right thing the wrong
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way which which led to penalties right i know it sounds like a you know a negative and a positive
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but but it is what it is he's trying so hard he's making mistakes that put him in the penalty box
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and the team doesn't want that they need him to stay within his game and his game is playing
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defensively because under a ruby you've got to be defensively minded but you can't you can't cheat
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You've got to do the work. You've got to do what's required and do it in a way that doesn't get you penalized
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And, you know, he can do that. But I guess, you know, the thing about the Leaf lineup
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and this is something that's different than has been in years past
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At least I think it is different. Maybe I'll ask you. It seems to me that depending on how a player is playing, the difference between, let's say
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We'll call them not the bottom six, but the, what do they call them
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Not the green shirts. But those guys that skate after the team leaves the ice, you know
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the five or six guys. Among those five or six guys this year, guys that aren't in the lineup
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let's say a half dozen guys, right? There are better fits for the team now than there have ever been
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especially under this, you know, that we keep talking about, the big four
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era, right? I think the depth at the bottom of the roster is as strong as it's ever been
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if not stronger. And that means that, you know, there's a little bit of what you're talking about
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because you're 100% right. You're basically saying that all those players know if they want to play
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how they play is going to dictate whether they play or not. There's no free pass to the bottom
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six, in my opinion. We've seen it change. And sometimes the definition
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of change has been, oh, that's a surprising move. He's done that finally. Okay
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It's about time he did something like that. We've seen a few surprises in the
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top six, but not like in the bottom six. And the good news is
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that the more those bottom six players have different identities and they play with each other the better it be in the playoffs When let say they get switched up
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it's not the first time to playing with each other. They understand the system. They know what it takes
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And it's a very simple system. You know, it doesn't rely on talent as much as it does in
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in hard work and execution. Well, that's it. Right. And you're right this year
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that's probably been the biggest change under Craig Brubay is accountability in the bottom six
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where if players aren't playing a certain way and they're not playing the way the coach wants it
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he is going to bump their minutes down he is going to take them out of the lineup and I think that's
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a good thing that's something that you know back then it was like oh you know this is all we have
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to offer right this is all we have for uh this is all we have for uh a bottom six it was almost
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like you hope your top line wins its minutes otherwise your bottom six is going to be in a
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big of a it's a it's not as you know there's a major drop off and so i think that's where
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you know the big change has been for this leafs team is that the bottom six has a little bit more
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of an identity it's taken a little while for it to get there maybe more than people would have
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wanted but i think it was necessary to do this because in a way it was you know you didn't have
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this before you needed this these bottom you know bottom six guys to realize all right we needed to
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up our uh you know we we need a little more of a push nothing speaks to that fact more oh sorry
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david no no you're right nothing nothing speaks to that more than the sitting of david camp he's a
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guy that this team paid a little extra money you know in the context of a bottom six player he's
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high paid he's a high paid bottom six player on the toronto maple leafs and they sat him and you
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know and and they think highly of him and yet he sat and nothing sends a message to the whole bunch
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of them, then nobody in the bottom six is safe. So if you want in, you know what you got to do
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They know what they have to do. And you know what? In the adventure that is the playoffs and winning
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16 games, it takes extra players. We talked about the defense and it's also very, very true with the
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offense and uh you know by that i mean the forwards it's it's a it's it's a lot a lot of work
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and there's a lot of injuries that are going to happen it's a very long run to get to may almost
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june um it's going to it's going to be a long road you know and and they need the depth that
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they have they need the system that allows for the depth to be interchangeable as well this is why
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I'm all for Berube. That's the quality I like the most about him
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is that his players are forced to play so similarly that they become more interchangeable
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I think that's a good thing, especially in the playoffs, because they've got guys, they've got
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I know they traded for a, you know, they traded for Lawton, who's a penalty killer, right
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But they got a few guys on that team that can kill penalties. It's not like, you know, if Lawton goes down
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And, oh, no, they traded for their penny killer and it's all over now for penalty
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No, they can substitute him on the short term. In other words, they have depth in that regard as well
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The power play is the only thing, David, that concerns me, the five forward power play
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It looks good now. It looks unbeatable. It looks like they can score at will
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But there always is that concern. I'll ask you, the concern about on a power play is, you know, it's great that you score a power play goal
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right but what you don't want in the playoffs is to allow a shorthanded goal because that could be
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a real game turner yeah no you're not wrong it is something that you definitely need to think about
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when you are no like this this power play has no i will say i've been uh i've been very i've been
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happy with what i've seen from it lately because they're playing the right way but yeah that's
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always the concern is you know what's uh what happens when you have a turnover a guy's going
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to be able to get back our guy's going to be able to defend yeah defend right it's that's always a
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concern but i'll give them credit in that they have um they've paid a little more attention to
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that has it been perfect no but i'm i'm of the belief that you know what you can at least say
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for it's a bit more of a positive than it has been a negative not a coach to not a complete the the
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team and and uh well at least on the ice goaltending it starts it's starting to look like
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we're we're getting a good indication of who's going to start game one would you agree that
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stolarz is the guy i'd say right now yeah if you had to ask me today who's my pick it's stolarz
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now the reason why I never liked and I don't think anyone ever goes
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completely definitive we still have six games left to play in the regular season
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something can change a goalie can have a bad stretch knock on wood that doesn't happen
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but you always have to prepare for the potential of it let's just say
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and as the goalie who may not be the one that's being
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designated the starter in the playoffs there are back-to-back games and those are opportunities for you to change the you know
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the narrative uh the hopes you know if you're looking to be the starter in the class you look
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well goaltenders are all looking to be the starter so wall has some work to do when given
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the opportunity but what's happening now as they get closer they're trying intentionally
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to give stallers more of the starts so it's going to get harder for wall to get an opportunity to
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show that he can be ready for the playoffs as well. Yeah
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No, I don't disagree. I think, you know, if you're Joseph Wohl, it sucks
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but this was the game all year long, right? It was made to believe that you go through a tandem
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and usually at the end, it's the tandem that wins out in the end
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It's the guy who gives you the, you know That gives you the best
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What's the best way of saying it Yeah Right, like the one who gives you the most comfort
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When you send him out there Yeah, and here's the thing The season started
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Before the puck was dropped For the first game of the year Projections by virtue of contracts signed
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were that Wall was the number one goalie and he had it to lose
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Stollars came in and he stole Lars the net quite a few times
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And he had a little bit of a run where he wasn't so good. But I think the important thing is that the Leafs have this year
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is they have goaltenders that won't lose the game for you. And if they do, it'll be not just because of them
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Yeah, no, I don't disagree. more than any previous year let me qualify that statement sorry i should have qualified
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no i i don't i i think you're past years i don't have this like uh nervousness that the
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goaltender is not is going to give up a bad goal because he can handle the pressure right samson we know he had kind of that mental block he needed to get over At times he was able to and at times he wasn able to
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So that's why I have a little more comfort in a Joseph Woldt
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even like a Stolars and a Joseph Woldt, to be able to get the job done. We know that both those goaltenders have the ability to bounce back
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I think that's what you're referring to, and I think I agree with you. That's 100% true. The one thing they do is they have the ability to treat water off a duck's back, where they can get back in the goal and play well
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Their maturity by age is pretty good. Their maturity by physical experience in the National Hockey League is less
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And I know some people were questioning because they don't have so much experience in goal in the National Hockey League that that's a handicap
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I kind of say there's a 50-50 proposition there. They're not as worn out as some goaltenders might be
24:55
No, because, yeah, that's why you're seeing more teams go with the tandem option
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because frankly, the days of goalies going 72 games, that's done. That is done
25:08
That's not happening anymore. I mean, I credit those goalies that were able to do in the past
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but the quality of goaltending you get when they don't play as many games
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it's truly outstanding. Like right now, I'm just checking right now. I believe it's probably Connor Hellbuck that leads the league
25:28
in games played amongst goalies. I'm just going to double-check that. Sorry, Vasilevsky
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Oh, Vasilevsky. Vasilevsky has one extra. He has 59 games played. Connor Hellebuck is at
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Sorry, Vasilevsky's at 59. Hellebuck's at 58. Sorokin's 57. Shosturkin's 57. And Montable's 56
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There's no goaltender. Okay, when it's all said and done, probably you'll have a couple of those guys go over 60
25:58
But it's not. Yeah, like there aren't. There are teams that have a lot of those
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but there are only very few of those goaltenders. If I'm looking at this list right now
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Vasilevsky and Hellebuck are the only two goaltenders with a save percentage above 920
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among the goalies who have played more than 50 games. That is why it is so paramount for your goalie
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to have that rest time, but also that support of the second guy
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I don't think Anthony Stollers would have been able to handle that type of workload
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I don't think Joseph Wolfe. Maybe if he gave Joseph Wolfe more time, he is younger
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but he doesn't have that experience on it. So why would you do it
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If you don't have to, a lot of those teams, the other reason why they're doing it is because they're paying
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those goaltenders so much as well. the Leafs are paying their goaltenders
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$3.3 million combined this year getting a lot of mileage on the
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they're getting a lot of bang for their buck on that one that's for sure
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and here's the other thing you know we've talked about during the regular season the playoffs
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are a little different and here's why the playoffs are a little different you don't travel as much as you do
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in the regular season you don't play every day like you can in the regular season
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So I'm not saying the playoffs are built for goaltenders. That's not what I'm trying to say
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But what I am saying is that it isn't built against a goaltender playing every game
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There's the gap all the time, and they go on the road for two games, not just one
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So, you know, and a lot of times people give traveling a tough thing for goaltenders
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We've seen it, the game played by some teams, I think the Leafs even did it
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where they send the goalie to the game that they're playing on the road before they even go there to give them a chance to get settled in and get ready for the game, you know, dealing with time change or anything else like that
28:05
Right. Altitude, all those wonderful reasons why, you know, teams play differently in certain places
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So that kind of consideration isn't a big deal in the playoffs
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Now, the pressure level. That's through the roof. and that essentially is the main thing that a goaltender has to deal with um i don't think
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travel and or uh playing games every other every other day um if you play seven games
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back to back to back to back till you get to the stanley cup okay then then it gets to be a little
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you know but if you win a series early you end up sitting for a week we see that a lot as well
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too so goaltenders playing every game in the playoffs is not an oddity uh it's only happened
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because teams have leaned on the fact boston bruins proved it with all mark and swayman
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that they were going to go with back-to-back you know switching goaltenders and it never happened
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because they they arrived at the conclusion that it's better to have one guy play because
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it's an emotional ramp up that they got to stay on and and it's it's just too difficult to switch
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goaltenders back and forth in the playoffs yeah no that's at some point someone's got to take the
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net but at the same time they're probably going to feel like if we need to give the goaltender a
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night off if he's not feeling as sharp we have another guy more than capable stepping in yeah
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it's going to be it's going to be a fun it's going to be a fun playoffs it's going to be a fun
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end of the season uh this week david is going to be important because the leafs are playing both
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Florida teams and Ottawa will be looking and checking how that works out because it's very
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important to them that while they're close to Florida that's not far from Tampa either now I
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don't know I don't think I don't think Tampa's had trouble winning as much as Florida has Florida's
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like lost three three I think three in a row or four something like that anyway so they're on a
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bit of a downer so we'll just see what happens this week so for the Leafs to win David back to
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back against the Florida teams, what do they have to do? They have to play
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responsible and put pressure on both the Lightning and the Panthers will have defenses that are not exactly at their full strength
30:31
at their best, so you've got to put a lot of pressure on them. And you can't turn it into a
30:35
trap game. In other words, convince yourself that that team's undermanned and play like
30:39
they're under man one of the biggest problems every team has the Leafs have had historically
30:43
and that is playing down to the level of another team what they did against Columbus was the best
30:49
sign that I saw that they were they were they understood that it doesn't matter the level of
30:54
the opposition the only level that matters is the way they play and the Leafs have to play the way
30:59
they can and not look back and put on the gas and play like the games matter and and they could come
31:07
up winning both those games. No, exactly. Yeah. David, thanks for doing this
31:12
No problem, Frank. Thank you for having me. Locked on Maple Leafs, folks
31:16
You can Google it. You'll find it. David does that. And then Mike, they do it five days a week
31:23
I really appreciate the dedication you have to do on your show
31:27
Appreciate it. David Morissuti. I'm Candid Frank. Thanks for watching, everybody. Really appreciate you being here
31:34
And we'll see you again next time. This has been Leaf Talk. We'll be back again on Wednesday
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