Matt Martin: Will he play on Matthews’ wing? How many goals/points will he get?
Fulemin: Not more than ten nights out of the year. He’ll score 11 goals and finish with 27 points, for career highs in both categories.
Scott: If he assassinates James van Riemsdyk [Species: eyes.gif], Mitch Marner and William Nylander in practice, then maybe.
Arvind: He won’t play on Matthews wing. Matthews will centre him. Get it right. As for goals/points, I’ll go with a conservative 20 points. Per game.
Nafio: He probably will but only in emergency situations. Lou will beat him onto LTIR after finding he stole the crowbar to get the opportunity.
Tyler Bozak: how’s he going to do this year? Tell us a point total or give a general impression.
Katya: career year. He’ll spend the most time in the offensive zone ever in his life.
Fulemin: Tyler is finally going to break the 50 point threshold...with 51 points.
Scott: It will depend who he plays with, but I suspect Bozak finishes below Matthews, van Riemsdyk, Nylander, Kadri and maybe even Marner and Rielly in scoring, which probably puts him around 40-something points.
Arvind: In his lifelong effort to troll bloggers, he will be great for 20 games before suffering a season ending injury so we can argue about this again next year.
How long does Hunwick-Zaitsev last as a pairing? If it gets broken up, who partners Zaitsev?
Katya: a few weeks to a few months, and then it’s Rielly-Zaitsev.
Fulemin: It goes on way longer than makes any sense before giving way to Marincin-Zaitsev sometime in 2017.
Scott: For the sake of the Leafs, it shouldn’t last long. But it could be 10(ish) games before it’s sorted. I suspect Gardiner-Zaitsev takes over after that. They’re probably the two best defenders on the team.
Arvind: Longer than it should. I expect Gardiner - Zaitsev to take over after that
Zach Hyman: Games-played and points estimate?
Fulemin: 75 and 34.
Scott: 41 and 14.
Arvind: all games he’s healthy for, and roughly 25 point pace
Nafio: 40 games and 18 points
James van Riemsdyk: does he break his career high goals/points total (30 goals in 2013-14)? What about his goals against total?
Fulemin: JVR matches his previous high exactly, putting up an even 30. He plays okay defence, while never being mistaken for a Selke candidate.
Scott: I don’t think he’ll best 30 goals or 61 points but I could easily see him in and around 28 and 29 (57 points).
Arvind: No, he only makes it to the low 20s.
Species: He’ll get 31 goals and 62 points just to show all of you people who don’t believe in him that he’s still got it!
Nafio: If he stays healthy I think he breaks his career high but not by much. His goals against total will probably be embarrassing.
Roman Polak: how many games does he play?
Katya: 42
Fulemin: 15
Scott: 41, but it should be closer to 14.
Arvind: for the Marlies?
Species: Too many.
Nafio: on the ice? I'd like to say 10 but it'll probably be closer to the 40s
Mitch Marner: how many games does he play?
Katya: 42
Fulemin: 77
Scott: 78
Arvind: 75
Species: Less than 70.
Nafio: 50. I think he'll have to work to gain Babcock's confidence and then end up playing a lot more at the end of the season.
Joffrey Lupul: does he ever play?
Katya: He gets an offer from the Swiss league, and the Leafs figure out a loan deal under threat of legal action.
Fulemin: Not for us, not this year. He sits on IR through the summer and attempts a last-gasp comeback in 17-18.
Scott: Yes, I think he does. He seems committed to coming back, and once he’s ready to clear a physical there’s not much the Leafs can do.
Arvind: No, because I’m more and more convinced that the poor dude’s body just isn’t holding up.
Species: I think he will draw in at some point. I suspect the Leafs have a lot of leverage over the situation with so many veterans on the market, and no team wanting to take his contract on. Sitting and waiting this out is probably the best option he has.
Nafio: if we'd had any reports of him on the ice or hanging around the facilities at all in the preseason I would have said yes. Unfortunately, if he's actively rehabbing he seems to be doing it out of sight and that suggests he's going to cooperate with the plan to keep him off the roster. If there's a terrible rash of injuries he might miraculously heal up though.
Frederik Andersen: how many starts? How many make you cry? Please specify joyous or mournful tears.
Katya: 55 starts, at least one third of which involve crying. The tears are all from laughter.
Fulemin: Goddamnit, I was going to say 55. Fine, 54. Crying in four from laughter, six from despair, one from overwhelming irony when the Ducks start Bernier against us and win.
Scott: 58. I think Enroth is sneaky-good and capable of carrying more than 24 starts, but it appears the Leafs really want Andersen to be their guy and they’re willing to find out if he can be.
Arvind: Leafs have 17 B2Bs, so I’m setting the range at 50-55.
Species: He’ll flop to start the season and Enroth will draw in. Enroth will have three straight spectacular games so we can have the annual November “Who is the number one goalie?” controversy. Then Enroth will be bad too, and, eventually, we’ll all realise we’re better off with Andersen, and he’ll get up to 50 games.
Nafio: 50. The only tears will happen in the unlikely scenario that he backstops us to a playoff spot.
Leo Komarov: Is he still top line muscle or is he fading? If he needs replacing, who will it be?
Fulemin: He sticks to Kadri, and so as long as Kadri’s line is the top line, Leo will be top line. Martin will get a look in for his job at some point, though.
Scott: There’s almost no chance Komarov re-finds the success he had last year, but he’ll be a lock in the Leafs’ top-nine all season and he’ll be serviceable.
Arvind: He’s probably ‘fading’ in the sense that he won’t replicate last year’s success, but he’ll still be a capable and relatively productive NHLer.
Nafio: Komarov worries me - especially the uptick in questionable hits, which make me think he thinks his time is running out.
Nazem Kadri: career high in points? Dollars fined for diving?
Katya: career high in fines, not points, as his shooting percentage woes continue for a couple of months.
Fulemin: Career high in points, tying Bozak with 51. Only incurs one fine.
Scott: Kadri’s shooting percentage won’t stay as low as it did last year and he’ll have career highs in points and goals.
Arvind: He makes it to the 50 point plateau for the first time, and the $5,000 plateau for diving fines
Nafio: I'd like to see Kadri get a career high in points but I think he'll really have to work for it. I think he hits the $3000 mark before Babcock tells him to knock it off, and his on-ice penalties for diving will go up.
Milan Michalek: Traded? If so, for what and when?
Katya: No. He’s too expensive for too little value.
Fulemin: Yes. At the deadline for a third-round pick.
Scott: I hate hypothesizing over trades. If he makes the team and plays well, he’ll probably be moved at the deadline for basically nothing.
Arvind: Impossible to say.
Nafio: I don't think Michalek gets traded unless he has a career year, but I think he'll be a better player for us than people expect.
Connor Brown: Games played? On what line?
Katya: 60 games, mostly on the fourth, but moving up to the Bozak line when Soshnikov is magically healed.
Fulemin: 45. Agreed they’ll be mostly on the fourth line.
Arvind: 35. Almost all as a ‘skilled grinder’ on the fourth line. He’ll get some time with Bozak too though.
Nafio: TBH I think if Brown plays anywhere it will be the Marlies, at least to start the year.
Brooks Laich, Byron Froese, Frederik Gauthier: who will be the fourth-line centre? Who should be? *We all answered this before Laich was waived.
Katya: Laich will be, but one of the other two is likely better.
Fulemin: I thought it was for sure going to be Laich! But Babs appears to be making the correct call, which is Peter Holland.
Scott: Laich will be the centre but it should be Holland.
Katya: I forgot Holland again. (Except I think if he sticks on this team, it’s as a winger.)
Arvind:
Nafio: Laich but I hope Gauthier gets a look. Holland will stick as a winger who can take faceoffs.
Jared Cowen: Will the Leafs win the buyout?
Fulemin: Christ knows. In the long term it’s not the end of the world if we don’t.
Arvind: probably
Colin Greening: Who will he be traded to?
Katya: First he’s going to the Marlies and then he’ll end up on the Islanders at the deadline with a lot of retained salary.
Fulemin: Anaheim, for virtually no return.
Arvind: No one.
Jhonas Enroth: Reliable backup, 1B or starter by the end of the season?
Katya: Reliable backup proving the new equipment, when it’s introduced, will have no effect on smaller goalies.
Fulemin: Reliable backup.
Scott: Reliable backup. He is what he is, I don’t think we’ll see a significant change in Toronto.
Arvind: We know who he is. Reliable backup
Jake Gardiner and ???: Who is he paired with most?
Fulemin: Connor Carrick.
Scott: Nikita Zaitsev.
Arvind: Zaitsev
Katya: I’m saying Carrick for pretty much the whole year, but when Polak gets in a game, well, he’s gotta play somewhere is all I’m saying.
Morgan Rielly and Martin Marincin: Is that a good idea or just pairing up the spares?
Fulemin: It’s worth a try assuming we bizarrely insist on playing Matt Hunwick all the time, which appears to be the case. In an ideal lineup, no.
Scott: It’s a worthwhile experiment, but I think Rielly should also be given an extended look with Frank Corrado.
Arvind: I can tolerate it. They switch sides, so Rielly can play on the left. It got mediocre results last year against tough competition, and I’m ok giving it a bit of a test run. But I’d like to see Rielly with a natural, half-decent RD at some point.
Morgan Rielly: Is he actually any good?
Fulemin: He’s actually any...great. Rielly will take a step forward this year and be chosen for captain next season.
Scott: Yes, he is. He’ll take steps forward defensively, though not huge ones, and his offensive production will continue to seperate him. If he can be as good as he was with Tanev and Parayko at the WC and WCoH, Leafs fans are in for a treat.
Katya: He is fabulous. Just shut your eyes when he’s trying to stand someone up at the defensive blueline. It’s a price worth paying for the rest of it.
Arvind: This comes across harsh, but I think Rielly is pretty much a slightly above average even strength player in a very fun to watch package.
William Nylander: Will he stay in Babcock's good books all season or spend a week or two with the Marlies at some point?
Fulemin: I think Nylander will get scratched for a couple of games at some point, but I doubt he gets sent down.
Scott: If Nylander plays as well as he did down the stretch last year, he won’t be sent down or scratched. And I expect he’ll be better than that.
Katya: I think you can be in the bad books and not be sent down. I also think Nylander is absolutely the type of guy who responds to the occasional negative reinforcement. Whereas Matthews is a guy who will all on his own want to be the best player on the team.
Arvind: No, but he’ll get called out by Babs at least once in the media.
Species: There will be at least one mittenstringer column where “sources” say he's a cancer in the locker room or something.
Peter Holland: Did you notice we forgot him?
Katya: just barely.
Fulemin: SOME OF YOU DID. I did not.
Scott: #FreePeterHolland
Arvind: Who?
Nafio: Poor guy. He wants to be on the team so badly and he's just barely going to make it.
ADMIN BOT 4000: I HAVE AN ULTIMATE STORAGE CAPACITY OF FOUR HUNDRED QUADRILLION BITS. I DO NOT FORGET ANYTHING. [END]
Auston Matthews: What’ya think?
Katya: He is already the “drive train” of the team. And young men don’t progress in a straight line, so he will have a bumpy ride and so will the rest of us as we ride along.
Fulemin: There will be half a dozen moments where you’ll remember he’s still 19. There will be many, many more moments where you’re ecstatic he’s a Toronto Maple Leaf.
Scott: Calder Memorial Trophy.
Arvind: Oh, you mean Matt Martin’s centre?
Nafio: I do believe I will take advantage of that GCL isolation feature thing and just watch Auston all by himself for one game this season.
Species: On his first three game stretch without a point we'll be hearing he's a bust. It will be really ugly if Laine is on a hot streak at the same time.