Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers Series Preview

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers Series Preview

Well, well, well. Here we are again. Let’s preview this second round series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers. Just like in 2023, the Leafs are going to be taking on the Florida Panthers in the second round. Just like in 2023, the Leafs have home ice advantage to start. What we are hoping to avoid, like in 2023, is the Panthers going up 3 nothing before eventually winning the series in five. But there is a bit of a different tinge to this. You see, in 2023, the Florida Panthers, we just didn’t know what they were yet. They were a fringe playoff team that played very well down the stretch, but fell down 3-1 at the hands of the 65 win Boston Bruins. And a lot of people were like, “Wow, Florida actually won a game. Good for them.” And fans were chanting, “We want Boston. We want Florida.” Because those two teams were still playing. And then it was isolated, like it was only ever just Florida. And then a few people decided to make that their entire personality for several years. Anyway, well, Florida comes back, forces a game seven. Game seven goes to overtime, and gosh darn it, if they don’t win, they won. But even then, we still didn’t know what they were. They beat the Leafs in five. They sweep the Hurricanes before eventually falling to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup final, largely thanks to Matthew Kachchuck having a broken sternum, still somehow playing through it a little bit. Well, what happened to the Leafs? Leafs for years were this topheavy team that were not getting the topheavy performances and they weren’t able to get anything out of their depth either. Year after year after year, whatever combination of things you need to win in the playoffs, the Leafs never seemed to get them all at the same time. Some years they got defense, some years they got some depth scoring, some years they got goalending, but they never put it together. Then they go out and have this massive trade deadline and they go out and they get Jake McCabe, which was a huge deal and is still part of this team, a huge part of this team. But they go out and they get Ryan O’Reilly. So now you’re running out a center depth of Matthews Tvaris O’Reilly. It was absurd. And you’re running out a third line of O’Reilly with veteran Nola and this new rookie the Leafs just got named Matthew Ny. And he’s pretty good. Bennett takes out NY in game one. No penalty, no nothing, by the way. And all of a sudden, the straw that stirs the drink, that third line goes away. The Leafs lose some of their depth punch. Frankly, they just get beat up. They lose Samsonov, who you’re going to have to remember was really good in the Tampa series. And if it weren’t for a huge Mitch Martyr performance in game four, they would have got swept. Game five happens. It looks like Riley scores. He probably did score, but you can’t prove it. Doesn’t count. Game goes to overtime, you lose. Nick Cousins, bro. Nick Cousins. Oh, it felt great to eliminate him. It felt great to eliminate the sends, but he was on them and it was great. Anyway, he got the OT winner despite there was holding the stick on that goal, but we’re not going to talk about that. And Radco Guda screamed in Joseph W’s face and we were very cross about that except there was nothing we could do about it and we’ve just had to stew while the Panthers won the cup the next year. Well, two years later, both teams are very different. Number one, the elephant in the room. I picked the Tampa Bay Lightning to beat the Florida Panthers in round one this year. Obviously, I was very, very, very wrong. I thought I might be very, very wrong after game one. The Lightning were a wagon down the stretch. The Panthers were awful. Panthers also weren’t healthy, and there were a bunch of guys we knew they were going to get back at the beginning of the playoffs, but who knows how healthy they’ll actually be. Listen, I don’t know if Matthew Kachchuck is at 100%, but he looks healthy enough. He was a huge contributor in that series. Brad Marshand, who was injured, very good. Dan Bennett, who was injured, very good. Aaron Ecklad, hilariously out for 20 games, misses the first two games of that series, plays, injures Brandon Hegel, gets suspended again. He’s going to miss game one of this series. Also, remember when Sergey Babsky was like elite and then bad and then elite and then bad, and he sort of alternated as the seasons went. No, he’s just sort of really good all of the time. Now, had I known all those pieces were going to fit in as well as they did and were going to be as healthyl looking as they were, I would have picked the Panthers. They’re the reigning Stanley Cup champions. I thought it would have gone longer than five games, I tell you that much. You don’t generally bet on Nikita Cutrov to go on a 15game goalless streak, but kudos to the Panthers. They’re a massive part of that, and they beat him in two of those series along that streak. So, what are the differences between the Panthers of old and now? Number one, they’ve been there before. That’s a huge advantage for them. They’ve been to the Stanley Cup final twice back-to-back years. They lost, gained experience from that, and then beat the Edmonton Oilers. No one cares that they almost blew a three nothing series lead in the process because when game seven showed up, they won. Number two, there’s a potential element of fatigue there. It doesn’t look like it showed up at all though in that first round series against Tampa, but it’s a lot of miles on the body. We all remember that Tampa made it to three straight Stanley Cup finals from 2020 to 2022, but they lost the last one. Here’s their top line, and we can only guess because maybe they’ll change things up for the series. The Leafs are not the Lightning, the Lightning are not the Leafs, etc. Carter Haggy, Alexander Barov, Sam Reinhardt. Fascinating line because Reinhardt has not been the destroyer of worlds that he was last year. Still really, really good. Barov gets injured by Brandon Hegel in the first round against Tampa. Is he going to be 100%? Probably not, but still really, really good. And then there’s Carter Verhaggy, who had a downright not fun at all season. Verhagy had 42 goals and 73 points two years ago. He had 34 goals and 72 points last year. This season, he had just 20 goals and 53 points. That’s a step back. Worth noting that against Tampa, he had two goals and an assist in just five games. Both Barov and Reinhardt have been nominated for the Selki Trophy. I can’t even remember the last time. to forget teammates linemates were nominated for the Selki trophy. So who does that line go out against? You would think the Matthews line, but let’s continue. Evan Rodriguez, Sam Mennett, Matthew Chuck. It’s disgusting that the Florida Panthers have the option to put Brad Marshian there instead of Evan Rodriguez. You’re underestimating Evan Rodriguez. That dude is very offensively capable, very good playoff performer, and he’s kind of a jerk. It’s his face. This side is his face. What is it about his face? Well, it doesn’t matter what’s on his face. He’s got a ring on his finger. That is a line of bulldozers. But it’s also a line of guys who had a bit of a tough season. Bennett, he missed some time. Super streaky. Showed up when it mattered most for team Canada at the fornation faceoff, though. Matthew Kachchuck, meanwhile, the fornation faceoff is part of the reason why I bet against the Florida Panthers to start these playoffs. Matthew Kachchuck was clearly hurt at the fornation faceoff. He played anyway ahead of like a very capable guy like a Kyle Connor. Kyle Connor did not play in that final. Matthew Kachchuck played seven less than seven minutes. Who won? Not his team. So when you hear things like, well Kachchuck’s going to be ready to go for game one, you’re like m is he I have no doubt he’s going to play, but how ready is he going to be? Well, his ice time is reduced. His production wasn’t. You’re not going to get much reprieve there. This line is going to give you any team in the NHL trouble. A2 Linen, Anton Lindell, Brad Marshian. Lorenan and Lindell. You know, everyone talks about Barov being the most underrated player in the league. That’s the most underrated duo in the league. No one talks about them because of all the guys they’re surrounded by. People talk about the Panthers like they win games by punching the puck into the net. That’s just not true. They’re fast. They move the puck really well and they’re extremely defensively responsible. This is only a guess. My guess is Bararkov, that line goes head-to-head against Matthews. The Lindell line probably goes up against Tavaris Knander and whoever their left winger is that night, which would probably leave the Lton and Lorent and Yarncroak line to go up against the Bennett Kachchuck Rodriguez line modified, shut down for check. They try to keep you in your end. And remember, these are the matchups that the Leafs probably want and the Leafs have home ice advantage. So, they got to control that in the first couple games. Then leaving for a matchup that is the DOI, Holberg, McMahon line to go up against the Florida Panthers fourth line of Nico Sturm who they got at the deadline. Another guy who was hurt, AJ Greer, former Bruin and Yesper Boowquist. To me, the Panthers fourth line is fascinating because I watched a lot of the Panthers Stanley Cup run. They didn’t have the same guys every single night, but the one constant there was Kevin Stenland. Kevin Stenland has been an underrated player in this league for a long time. the the Seattle Kraken had the chance to take him in the expansion draft from Columbus and ex instead Seattle took a guy who they didn’t even use. Stenland ends up being a huge part of the Panthers depth on route to the cup. Who was on that fourth line? Well, it was a rotating cast of guys. They had Nick Cousins. They had the Lamborghini in Ryan Longberg. They had Kyle Aoso. They had Steven Lorent who’s on the Leafs now. None of those guys are there. AJ Greer, Nico Sturman, Esper Bokquis are all very capable, very good players, but I think people are underestimating the loss of all those depth guys who were part of that run for Florida. They all went on to bigger and better things except for the guys who retired. Lorent obviously signed for cheap in Toronto. He pro he could have probably got more and he probably will with an extension. Stenland got over 2 mil. Lamborghini uh got 2 mil. I keep calling him Lamborghini like that’s his real legal name. It was an extremely good fourth line. The Dor is weird on account of they don’t have Eblad for game one. You have Gus Forsling and Seth Jones. They are going to play a lot. Forsling had a couple goals against the Leafs. One pew pew wristster and one booming slapshot. The guy can shoot. Cover him when he’s at the point. Seth Jones, he’s beaten the Leafs in a series before. You know he’s going to play so so so much ice time. That’s what he does. Jay Bowster. And you have a bruising pair of Nikico Mikola and Dmitri Kulakov. If you are going to drag anyone on the Panthers into taking a silly penalty, Nikico Mika has been like unhinged. Then you have Yuis Bolinskis and Nate Schmidt. Nate Schmidt who had three goals in like two games to start these playoffs. Obviously with Babski in net. If the Leafs are going to have any sort of perceived advantage in this series that isn’t just home ice, Ecman Larson, Lorent, and Stallars need to be vocal in that room. This is going to be a huge team effort, organizational effort. I’m not just talking about coaching staffs. I’m talking about video. I’m talking about pro scouting. I’m talking about you need to know the way the guys in the Panthers locker room think and the way their coaching staff thinks in micro situations. Okay, we got a Dzone draw. It’s after an icing. This line is out there. What are we thinking? Here’s what we can gather from video footage that we’ve seen behind the scenes of the Panthers. Paul Maurice during the Bruins series was miked up and he said, “F the plays. pound their effing d until by game seven there’s nothing left. I’m paraphrasing, but along those lines, you can be confident that if you’re ahead on the Florida Panthers, they’re going to hit you. You can be confident that if you have the pocket against the Florida Panthers, they’re going to hit you. You can be confident that early in the series, if you’re playing the Florida Panthers, they’re going to hit you. They are going to be targeting Chris Tanv and Jake McCabe behind the Leafs net. They’re going to be targeting Morgan Riley and Brandon Carlo behind the Leafs net. They’re going to be targeting Oliver Ecman Larson and Simone Benois, not just to hurt them, but to get them to try to cough up the puck. And Benny has had a terrible whistle this year. And as long as we’re talking about terrible whistles. Hey. Hey, Max. No, no, no. Not you. You’re the older one. Do me. No. If you’re taking a guy, you’re taking him all the way and you’re taking him to the box with you. Okay. None of this punching a guy once and then leaving it and you’re the only one going to the box. I want you out there. You got great playmaking skill. You can hit. You can do all sorts of things. You scored a game two overtime winner against the Suns. But if you’re going to the Bucks, you do not go alone. Do you hear me? So, listen. I really like the Leafs forward group. Panthers might have a better one. I really like the Leafs decor. Once they get Eklad especially, Panthers probably have a better one. I really like Anthony Stler’s in net. He was back up to Babroski. Let’s be totally honest. You don’t say that the Leafs are going to win this series because you’re like, “Yeah, no, they’re the clear favorite.” They’re not. They’re playing the defending Stanley Cup champs. Every sport book has the Panthers not just as favorites, but as heavy favorites. You’re not saying the Leafs are going to get swept or it’s going to be short, but seeing them win four out of these potentially seven games is going to be extremely difficult. The Craig Barubi Toronto Maple Leafs are confident and comfortable playing in onegoal games. So are the Florida Panthers. A couple years ago, that sweep against the Carolina Hurricanes, guess what? All four of them were one-goal games. Two of them were in overtime. Leafs smashed the Suns in game one, but then it was two overtime wins. And the final clinching game, it would have been a one-goal win until there was an empty net. This is going to be tight. Anyone who tells you the Leafs are going to blow the Panthers out of the water, I just don’t think that’s going to happen. Anyone who tells you the Panthers are going to blow the Leafs out of the water, I just don’t think that’s going to happen. I think you have two teams who have had each other in their crosshairs for a long time. Heading into game four of that series against the sends. Maybe the Leafs took their eyes off the prize a little bit. Maybe they started looking ahead because this series is going to be a war. The Leafs have to take advantage of home ice advantage. You got to get the matchups you want. Although the Panthers are so deep, I I don’t know that there’s much difference. The Panthers are going to bring it at you. They’re going to be the ones hitting. How about you hit back, Ben? been hurt. Kachchuck’s been hurt. Sturm’s been hurt. Marshian’s been hurt. Barkov’s been hurt. Hammer them. Everyone’s acting like the Panthers are the only team in the league that can throw a punch. They’re the only team in the league that can throw a hit. They’re made of flesh and bone like everyone else. This Leafs team is willing to lay it all on the line. We saw that with Scott Lton’s beautiful block at the end of game six against Ottawa. Matthew Ny, he’s not some college kid you can push around anymore. That decor beef up front. Beef, dude. Even in net. Beef. Listen, I’m not going to try to back out from it. I’m not I’m not going to try to hide from it. On the podcast, when asked to make a prediction, I said Panthers and seven, but this is anyone’s series. I’m happy to be wrong. I’ve been wrong plenty of times. How do you think this series is going to go down? What do you think is going to happen? Leave a comment in the comment box down below. So, that is it for this one. Thank you very much for watching. Click like if you like this video. Click subscribe if you really liked it. Tell all your friends the calm before the storm is about to pass.

Steve Dangle previews the Stanley Cup Playoffs series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers. Can the Maple Leafs finally make it past Round 2?

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