Post by Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb 7, 2023 13:41:54 GMT -6
Sportnet 590 Studios
Jeff: Jeff Marek here on the Jeff Marek radio show and we are pleased to be joined by the GM of the Leafs this morning, Vince Gibbons. First off thanks for joining me today Vince.
GM Gibbons: My pleasure Jeff, always nice to connect with some of the local media when I get a chance.
Jeff: I wanted to ask about the GM game on the weekend, saw that you were a -2 in 24 minutes. Impressive ice time for a guy that spends so much time in front of a computer.
GM Gibbons: haha, it felt pretty good out there. I was pretty disappointed about the minus but D partner Scott Davidson put up a couple of points so I felt like I set the table for him to make a couple of plays. Nice to get out with the lads. I hadn’t realized how poor the league was and until we were all sucking wind on the bench. I was getting IV fluids because I brought some training staff but McAndrews could barely afford to fly coach let alone have staff join him at the game.
Jeff: Coming out of the break you made a couple of deals. Is that about where you see you team this year?
GM Gibbons: It’s a combination of things. Nothing happens in a vacuum and when finances were mentioned it was an opportunity for the most storied team in hockey history to help out a couple of teams. Adding the picks is a just a bonus to helping out a few good guys in the league.
Jeff: Anything to the rumors were you were close to a deal with the Canucks..
GM Gibbons: …like I said looking to help the good guys in the league.
Jeff: So what are your plans down the stretch. Are you looking to add, sell, both? Your team is right in purgatory right now not quite in and certainly not out of it right now.
GM Gibbons: Internally we have had a pretty honest assessment of where our team and roster are right now. We love a few guys on our roster Pety and Ehlers have been right on top of their game since the start of the year. They are skilled, dynamic players and give us a real hope for our future. Long term we have some contract work to do on those two but we like what they bring for us. Second line pairing of Mangiapane and Strome have been doing great work too. They both compliment each other well and bring something a bit different to the roster. After that though, there isn’t anyone we would consider untouchable. We are on the outside looking in and if you want to play here long term then the team better be winning or we will look to move on.
Jeff: So Kessel, Backstrom, Niederreiter and others could be on the move?
Gibbons: Its not a fire sale but if there is a good opportunity for us, we will look at for sure. Same with our blue line.
Jeff: Is that because of the success of Timothy Liljegren, giving you some more options on the back end?
Gibbons: Its not because of him but when you have limited cap and a team not in the playoffs you need to be will to examine everything. Timmy has been a real good player for us this year but part of that is getting to enable him to pick his spots. He is making good choices and is our top scoring blue liner this year, over 20 minutes a night is 2nd on our team in +/-. Him and Zub have been really effective in that second pairing role.
Jeff: What about the crease? Happy with the production from there?
Gibbons: Our crease isn’t a problem and we have a couple of good vets in there but overall the team isn’t getting things done and both goalies are sub .900 save %. If someone was looking we would listen.
Jeff: So pretty much everyone is in play from the Leafs, but what about the Marlies. I have seen expectations rising for a couple of young players on the prospect list. What do you think of your prospect depth?
Gibbons: Honestly we are a bit of tweener club right now. Our farm team isn’t stocked and other than a couple bottom 6 replacement level guys we aren’t seeing many challenge for the big club roster this year. The group that should move to the farm this year is quite a bit more promising especially with the play of Marco Rossi, Matthew Knies, Matthew Coronato and Wyatt Johnston. Some of all over them should be joining the Marlies next year and that infusion of youth is really what we as an organization need. Last season we made a big add at the deadline and lost of bit of prospect capital, but gaining that back and having a bumper crop coming into the league next year really sets us up for some future success.
Jeff: There is a nice collection of guys coming along with the club. We don’t want to keep you away from your duties. Thanks for a bit of your time.
Gibbons: My pleasure Jeff. We can follow up after the deadline and see what the last stretch run looks like, hopefully we can get ourselves into the playoffs and make a bit of noise, we have the horses to do it.
Jeff: Jeff Marek here on the Jeff Marek radio show and we are pleased to be joined by the GM of the Leafs this morning, Vince Gibbons. First off thanks for joining me today Vince.
GM Gibbons: My pleasure Jeff, always nice to connect with some of the local media when I get a chance.
Jeff: I wanted to ask about the GM game on the weekend, saw that you were a -2 in 24 minutes. Impressive ice time for a guy that spends so much time in front of a computer.
GM Gibbons: haha, it felt pretty good out there. I was pretty disappointed about the minus but D partner Scott Davidson put up a couple of points so I felt like I set the table for him to make a couple of plays. Nice to get out with the lads. I hadn’t realized how poor the league was and until we were all sucking wind on the bench. I was getting IV fluids because I brought some training staff but McAndrews could barely afford to fly coach let alone have staff join him at the game.
Jeff: Coming out of the break you made a couple of deals. Is that about where you see you team this year?
GM Gibbons: It’s a combination of things. Nothing happens in a vacuum and when finances were mentioned it was an opportunity for the most storied team in hockey history to help out a couple of teams. Adding the picks is a just a bonus to helping out a few good guys in the league.
Jeff: Anything to the rumors were you were close to a deal with the Canucks..
GM Gibbons: …like I said looking to help the good guys in the league.
Jeff: So what are your plans down the stretch. Are you looking to add, sell, both? Your team is right in purgatory right now not quite in and certainly not out of it right now.
GM Gibbons: Internally we have had a pretty honest assessment of where our team and roster are right now. We love a few guys on our roster Pety and Ehlers have been right on top of their game since the start of the year. They are skilled, dynamic players and give us a real hope for our future. Long term we have some contract work to do on those two but we like what they bring for us. Second line pairing of Mangiapane and Strome have been doing great work too. They both compliment each other well and bring something a bit different to the roster. After that though, there isn’t anyone we would consider untouchable. We are on the outside looking in and if you want to play here long term then the team better be winning or we will look to move on.
Jeff: So Kessel, Backstrom, Niederreiter and others could be on the move?
Gibbons: Its not a fire sale but if there is a good opportunity for us, we will look at for sure. Same with our blue line.
Jeff: Is that because of the success of Timothy Liljegren, giving you some more options on the back end?
Gibbons: Its not because of him but when you have limited cap and a team not in the playoffs you need to be will to examine everything. Timmy has been a real good player for us this year but part of that is getting to enable him to pick his spots. He is making good choices and is our top scoring blue liner this year, over 20 minutes a night is 2nd on our team in +/-. Him and Zub have been really effective in that second pairing role.
Jeff: What about the crease? Happy with the production from there?
Gibbons: Our crease isn’t a problem and we have a couple of good vets in there but overall the team isn’t getting things done and both goalies are sub .900 save %. If someone was looking we would listen.
Jeff: So pretty much everyone is in play from the Leafs, but what about the Marlies. I have seen expectations rising for a couple of young players on the prospect list. What do you think of your prospect depth?
Gibbons: Honestly we are a bit of tweener club right now. Our farm team isn’t stocked and other than a couple bottom 6 replacement level guys we aren’t seeing many challenge for the big club roster this year. The group that should move to the farm this year is quite a bit more promising especially with the play of Marco Rossi, Matthew Knies, Matthew Coronato and Wyatt Johnston. Some of all over them should be joining the Marlies next year and that infusion of youth is really what we as an organization need. Last season we made a big add at the deadline and lost of bit of prospect capital, but gaining that back and having a bumper crop coming into the league next year really sets us up for some future success.
Jeff: There is a nice collection of guys coming along with the club. We don’t want to keep you away from your duties. Thanks for a bit of your time.
Gibbons: My pleasure Jeff. We can follow up after the deadline and see what the last stretch run looks like, hopefully we can get ourselves into the playoffs and make a bit of noise, we have the horses to do it.
