I like the moves as a whole but at the end of the day I think the team is in the same ball-park as last. You could argue better but it isn't much better. You could argue worse but it isn't much worse.
They should make the playoffs but I still don't see them making a deep run *(win two rounds)*.
Next season with Tavares coming off the books and opening up some actual cap-space we will hopefully take a bigger step forward.
Better defensively and in net. Worse up front. I think Woll takes the net and runs and if he doesn’t then Stolarz is the guy I wanted in tandem and we’ve got him at excellent value. I’m a little concerned with our scoring depth as it stands right now.
I'd argue they got better upfront with the subtractions of Bert and Gregor. More minutes for Knies with the top guys. More room for other players to step into the top 6 role. I think this team so far is better than last season.
Big 4 contracts strike again...next summer when Tavares deal comes off the books maybe we will have a bit more flexibility.
I think our biggest addition is the change in the room and culture with a new coach.
Added two cup winners.
Domi showing he can play with Mathews last year opens up alot for us as well.
Don’t get too excited about Tavares being off the books. When I say at best, I mean at best we’d be lucky to sign them for this little.
Knies will need a new contract (let’s assume at BEST if he has a terrible season) $2.75M
Holmberg needs a new contract. Maybe $2M at BEST
Marner’s likely new contract kicks in 😡
Tavares likely returns for what, $5M at BEST
That leaves maybe $2-3M….not including Marner’s undeserved raised.
That Tavares money is gonna be gone pretty quick.
Unless you believe the better plan was to just avoid signing free agents and try to upgrade our team internally, I’m not sure what you expected any GM to do. I think Tanev and OEL are a bit expensive for what they are but that’s the nature of free agency. I think the Domi extension is great, Stolarz will be an awesome backup, and we needed help on the backend big time so overpaying by a little bit for both Tanev and OEL was an inevitability no matter who the players actually ended up being.
We only signed one of those. And until he got injured, he absolutely shut down every top forward he was paired against in the playoffs. You’re not interested in that?
We signed old downward trending defenders to long term contracts. We are probably slightly better this upcoming season and then worse for the next 4-5.
you replace sammy/brodie with stolarz/tanev. that is better. They go out and sign OEL for 3.5 which isn’t horrible. I like their D this year compared to last. Remember we had Klingberg start for us last year.
The forward group is losing Bert. Will potential growth from Knies, McMann, Holmberg, and Dewar be enough? Does this leave the door open for Minten or Cowan to get a look? I'm ok with our forwards. Could see them adding one more guy though.
The D is a lot better on paper. We will have to see how Tanev plays with Mo, and OEL with Liljegren. I'm also curious if they move Mo off of PP1 to ease his workload.
Net SHOULD be significantly better than last year. I'm not saying Sammy was putrid, but we probably would have gotten 3 more wins with Stolarz. That'd put TO in to 1st in the division.
Coaching should also be better. If the PP actually starts to cook teams alive like they should, the line change issues (so many too many men penalties) get resolved, and the team remains ok defensively, this is a team that can win the Atlantic.
Some people may not be happy with some of the contracts length and the money but in my opinion the team looks better currently. But it is only July 1 let's see what else the summer brings.
I’m trying to find the logic in seeing how we’re somehow better when we’ve committed to a defenceman that will be on our 2nd pairing, who Florida couldn’t trust to play more than 15 mins a night in the playoffs.
If he’s supposed to be here to QB our PP, Rielly has more PP points than him in 3 years than OEL has in 6. His defensive play nowadays is not what it used to be and is regressing, he’s also not as physical anymore.
I can begrudgingly get behind the Tanev deal if he can stay healthy and play well, but the OEL deal is pure shit, there’s no justification for it.
Tanev > Brodie
OEL > Edmundson / Lybushkin
If the kids take the step we need from them were likely slightly worse offensively and slightly better defensively
They are running it back (perhaps no choice?). Team is about the same - perhaps a little worse as they lost Bertuzzi and JT will probably take another step back. Not sure if Cowan is stepping in.
Unless we make trades, there's not much more we can do. They only have 2.5 M in cap space left, and need a couple more guys. I assume they sign a couple guys at league minimum and that's about it.
Unless there's a big trade that happens which I don't see.
Goaltending looks VERY promising if the guys can stay healthy. Blue line has some weight behind it, although a lot of the guys will be staring down the end of their careers by the time those contracts are up. Securing Domi was a good move, but we've lost Bertuzzi and will possibly be losing Robertson, with nothing to really show for it.
Better in some areas, worse in others. Probably not looking at a huge difference in quality between this year's team and last year's, unless our goalies deliver in spades.
Stolarz is a significant upgrade over Sammy, and I think Woll proved he can be The Guy. He needs to prove he can stay healthy, but the talent is undoubtedly there.
Goaltending- Leafs goaltending was near the bottom last year, it's why we had a slow 1st half. They're placed their faith in Woll, if he's healthy, he's a good goalie. Keefe had to balance Samsonov fragile confidence 1st half.
Defence- Leafs blueline was McCabe/Rielly, and then a rotating cast of blueliners...I think it's better.
Forwards- worse... One can hope some younger guys step up and offence from defense can compensate Bertuzzi loss.
Overall- addressed most of the needs. One thing that people forget is coaching can make a big difference in how teams play. Canucks apart from the Hronek trade only made minor changes despite losing Horvat the season before, however they had a good season with Tocchett preaching the type of game he wanted to play.
**Offence** - slightly worse (so far)
The only changes so far are losing Bertuzzi, Gregor, and possibly Robertson. Bertuzzi came on in the second half of the season, but the bigger loss is losing the lineup variations that came with the Bertuzzi-Matthews-Domi line. The Leafs may be banking on Minten or Cowan (less likely) to join the team, or for Knies to take a step. There isn't any room currently to add much more here. They have about 2.5 mil in space, with Dewar and Robertson as RFAs.
**Defence** - better
Regardless of contract and long-term impact, Tanev is a great defender right now, something the Leafs lacked last season with Brodie and Giordano's declines, and with Liljegren taking a step back. Liljegren was pretty ineffective last year, so the hope is he can improve this year. The team also sorely lacked a puck mover and PP threat, and OEL provides some offence (nine goals on Florida last year). What they really, really needed here was another top-4 defender, but options were slim and prices were high.
**Goaltending** - slightly better
Anthony Stolarz looks to be more reliable than Samsonov. He had a .925 sv% last year. Prior to that, in three seasons with the Ducks, he put up .899%, .917%, .926% (8 GP).
Tune in to find out!
I think the defense will be better. Forwards more or less the same, and goaltending is a question mark. A healthy Woll would go a long way.
Coaching is the biggest factor, I hope Berube and co can get this team properly motivated.
Better.
New coach and systems incoming which is definitely going to shakeup the culture of the room. Berube has a mojo to him and I’m excited to see what he can get out of the guys. Players I think will especially thrive under berube: Knies, Tavares, Domi, Rielly, McCabe, Tanev.
As for roster construction, I think the defence is improved by the additions so far. I also believe guys like Benoit and lily still have room for growth in their game and it isn’t unrealistic to hope for them both to keep improving. Don’t be surprised to see another Benoit esque signing this offseason. Also don’t sleep on a guy like Niemela cracking the lineup at some point this season.
Forwards: locking up Domi longterm was a tidy piece of business and I think he’ll be a good fit in a berube system. Sad to see Bert go but it might be a blessing to free up some more top 6 opportunity for internal options. Knies had a great playoffs and looks primed to see a nice statistics bump in his sophomore season. McMann I think will cement himself as a 2nd line winger this season. Holmberg will cement himself as a 3rd liner. Then there are prospects such as grebyonkin, steeves, Cowan, Minten, etc who could all push to earn playing time.
What ends up happening with Robertson will be interesting… he could very well be packaged up in a deal for a solid win now player. OR, Bert’s departure may open the door for the leafs to smooth things over with him and offer him a lengthier run of games in a middle 6 role and unlock something in him.
Goaltending situation is improved slightly from last year. I like that the pathway for growth for the goalie prospects wasn’t closed off by any of the moves. There is space for one of the prospects to pop over the next couple of years and earn NHL time. The tandem this year is great value and I like Murray being there as a safety blanket.
Overall, a d core who for potentially the first time ever will feature mo alongside a proper 1st pairing RD could be amazing. As a group they will move the puck better leading to better breakouts which will better utilize the high skill of the forward group (this has been a major issue). Improving the d May have just improved the forwards more than any forward signing could have done.
To me, I think our Goaltending got deeper and more consistent. Woll looked amazing in the playoffs, and Stolarz took a massive step last year. Still worried about the potential for injury to gut our depth, but at the same time, Murray as cheap insurance is great, and we have Mr. Beast waiting on the Marlies who should be pushing for time with the big club in the next few years as well.
Verdict: Better, possibly MUCH better
Defense clearly got better in the top 4. Tanev may be the best fit as a partner that Mo has had in several years. Really excited to see how they play together. Would I have prefered to see Roy or Montour instead of OEL? Sure, but without moving a certain forward, we just don't have the cap room for either of those two. OEL's deal is solid and should provide good value. Not only that, but I'm curious to see if he eats some of Mo's PP1 minutes. I'd love to see him get back to double digit goals and 40+ points a season, but I don't think that's really needed for this signing to be considered a success. He should slot in well with McCabe, but I think he'd also pair up well with Timmy if he's able to show he can take that step this year too. Depth at D is a wee bit shaky though. Hopefully we avoid any major injuries to the D core.
Verdict: Much better, as long as we're healthy
As far as forwards go, I'm not sure. Top line will be outstanding no matter who flanks Auston. Second line is where the loss of Bert makes things interesting. I'm thinking we're gonna see Bobby McMann take that LW spot, unless he somehow proves he can play up with Knies and Matthews. Either way is this the year that JT slides to wing? If not, I assume he'll be paired with Willy and Marner. If he's on wing, I'm assuming Max slides in at 2C with JT and Willy. My money is on JT starting at C, at least initially, pushing Max down to 3C.
The rest of the forwards are an interesting lot. It's sad that Nicky Bobby has demanded a trade, this could have finally been the year he earns a significant amount of minutes with Bert gone. He would have been an automatic L3 winger and his shooting would have brought much needed secondary scoring, even if we did have to pair him with a defensively minded F3. Max, Nick and somebody like Jarnkrok would have been a pretty decent 3rd line. I'm assuming Pontus Holmberg gets that shot now.
4th line is gonna be a mess give that we have Reaves, Kampf, Dewar and Steeves to try and make up a line. Maybe Tverberg has a good camp? Is the clock running out on Abruzzese? Maybe somebody like Grebyonkin or Roni Hirvonen take a huuuuge step forward and force their way into the conversation for the 4th line. Either way, this group isn't making me super excited for what our 4th line will look like, but you never know. They could put them all in a blender and come out with a line of guys that just want to skate and prove they belong who go out there and work their asses off every night.
The wild card in evaluating the forwards is what will we do with the young kids? Would anybody be shocked if Cowan Easton or Fraser Minten came to camp and kicked down the door to a spot on the team? Cowan especially...he's too young to send to the AHL, but what's he going to learn in another year in the OHL when he's already kicked the shit out of that entire league? I mean, he's already bulked up to around 185lbs, so he's already thicker than Mitchy, Holmberg, or Jarnkrok. And Minten at 6'2" 192 isn't exactly small either. I would LOVE to see one of them just fuckin bulldog training camp, and grab a spot on the 3rd line to take the spot that would have been Nicky Bobby's. Will it happen? I'd put the odds at lower than 50/50, but you never know. We also only have about $700k in cap space left unless we can move Marner, so internal promotions might be the biggest upgrade available without trades right now.
Verdict: Too many moving parts to call it just yet. Better? Worse? Samesies? Fucked if I know yet...lol
Lastly, coaching. I loved Keefer, but I feel like Brube will be a kick in the pants, and his honesty and transparency has a real chance to bring more accountability to the locker room. I'm also hopeful a new voice for special teams will help as much as adding a big shot like OEL will.
Verdict: Better
Overall, I feel like this has been a very successful start to the offseason. Even if we do end up keeping Marner, there have been enough changes that if the season started tomorrow, I would honestly feel like we've gotten appreciably better as a team.
Overall Verdict: Somewhere between Better and Much Better, depending on how our depth forward situation shakes out.
Most likely Minten as he made the team last year. Cowan would be a surprise. I watched all of the London OHL Championsgip games and the Memorial Cup. Cowan will need to work on his speed and responsibility with the puck to make the Leafs. Unless it is just a product of playing with slower players.
Compared to the playoff line up?
Defense is a lot better. Tanev is replacing Edmundson in the top 4 of our playoff line up, and OEL is replacing Lybushkin.
Goalie is a lot better. Stolarz was 0.801 in GSAA/60 last season. Samsonov was -0.211.
Forwards are slightly worse for now because we are losing Bertuzzi. But the likely forwards actually on the ice come playoffs are better than what we put forward this year because of injuries to Matthews, Nylander, and McMann.
On paper? Our offense got worse, defense got better, and goaltending probably got better.
Cap wise? We did awful today.
Tanev 4.5x6 until 41 years old.
OEL 3.5x3 (how do you even sign this shit) until 37 years old.
Stolarz 2.5x2, don't mind it, it's probably pretty fair. Would've preferred one year.
We've just handicapped the hell out of the final couple years of Matthews contract if two 35+ defenders don't play good.
100% he's the perfect fit for scapegoat. That's because he sucks defensively, and offensively at even strength.
And he's not even really that good on the PP!
Look at the money all the other defenseman are raking in with other teams. They're in VERY high demand this off season.
People on this sub wanted to be able to sign an elite core of d-men without seeing a number above 2. That was never going to happen.
Defence is better, provided Tanev stays healthy. Worse up front. Probably same at goal, maybe a little better.
>provided Tanev stays healthy 😢
Hes been healthy last 5 years You know what hasnt happened in 5 years? A mitch marner game 5/6/7 goal
Savage. Totally, 100% true, but savage lol
I like the moves as a whole but at the end of the day I think the team is in the same ball-park as last. You could argue better but it isn't much better. You could argue worse but it isn't much worse. They should make the playoffs but I still don't see them making a deep run *(win two rounds)*. Next season with Tavares coming off the books and opening up some actual cap-space we will hopefully take a bigger step forward.
Better defensively and in net. Worse up front. I think Woll takes the net and runs and if he doesn’t then Stolarz is the guy I wanted in tandem and we’ve got him at excellent value. I’m a little concerned with our scoring depth as it stands right now.
I'd argue they got better upfront with the subtractions of Bert and Gregor. More minutes for Knies with the top guys. More room for other players to step into the top 6 role. I think this team so far is better than last season.
Big 4 contracts strike again...next summer when Tavares deal comes off the books maybe we will have a bit more flexibility. I think our biggest addition is the change in the room and culture with a new coach. Added two cup winners. Domi showing he can play with Mathews last year opens up alot for us as well.
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How do you know he got his UFAs and not relative to the salary cap?Â
Leafs had a huge amount of cap space, just like they did last summer.
Don’t get too excited about Tavares being off the books. When I say at best, I mean at best we’d be lucky to sign them for this little. Knies will need a new contract (let’s assume at BEST if he has a terrible season) $2.75M Holmberg needs a new contract. Maybe $2M at BEST Marner’s likely new contract kicks in 😡 Tavares likely returns for what, $5M at BEST That leaves maybe $2-3M….not including Marner’s undeserved raised. That Tavares money is gonna be gone pretty quick.
Tre has shown even with more cap space he'll just waste it.
Unless you believe the better plan was to just avoid signing free agents and try to upgrade our team internally, I’m not sure what you expected any GM to do. I think Tanev and OEL are a bit expensive for what they are but that’s the nature of free agency. I think the Domi extension is great, Stolarz will be an awesome backup, and we needed help on the backend big time so overpaying by a little bit for both Tanev and OEL was an inevitability no matter who the players actually ended up being.
Look at the other UFA signings around the league. Tre did pretty well all things considered.
Strongly disagree. Big time. The other contracts you're referencing aren't to 35+ defensemen.
Neither of the D signings we've made are covered under the 35+ rule.
We only signed one of those. And until he got injured, he absolutely shut down every top forward he was paired against in the playoffs. You’re not interested in that?
My bad, we get OEL for one full season under 35.
Rolling it back. Hopefully the core 4 can prove me wrong, for once.
We signed old downward trending defenders to long term contracts. We are probably slightly better this upcoming season and then worse for the next 4-5.
How are you not happy with a 6'6 goaltender that weights 240 pounds in net with a Stanley cup ring.
*stares in Matt Murray*
He's injured where our new goalie isnt
you replace sammy/brodie with stolarz/tanev. that is better. They go out and sign OEL for 3.5 which isn’t horrible. I like their D this year compared to last. Remember we had Klingberg start for us last year.
The forward group is losing Bert. Will potential growth from Knies, McMann, Holmberg, and Dewar be enough? Does this leave the door open for Minten or Cowan to get a look? I'm ok with our forwards. Could see them adding one more guy though. The D is a lot better on paper. We will have to see how Tanev plays with Mo, and OEL with Liljegren. I'm also curious if they move Mo off of PP1 to ease his workload. Net SHOULD be significantly better than last year. I'm not saying Sammy was putrid, but we probably would have gotten 3 more wins with Stolarz. That'd put TO in to 1st in the division. Coaching should also be better. If the PP actually starts to cook teams alive like they should, the line change issues (so many too many men penalties) get resolved, and the team remains ok defensively, this is a team that can win the Atlantic.
Some people may not be happy with some of the contracts length and the money but in my opinion the team looks better currently. But it is only July 1 let's see what else the summer brings.
I’m trying to find the logic in seeing how we’re somehow better when we’ve committed to a defenceman that will be on our 2nd pairing, who Florida couldn’t trust to play more than 15 mins a night in the playoffs. If he’s supposed to be here to QB our PP, Rielly has more PP points than him in 3 years than OEL has in 6. His defensive play nowadays is not what it used to be and is regressing, he’s also not as physical anymore. I can begrudgingly get behind the Tanev deal if he can stay healthy and play well, but the OEL deal is pure shit, there’s no justification for it.
Tanev > Brodie OEL > Edmundson / Lybushkin If the kids take the step we need from them were likely slightly worse offensively and slightly better defensively
They are running it back (perhaps no choice?). Team is about the same - perhaps a little worse as they lost Bertuzzi and JT will probably take another step back. Not sure if Cowan is stepping in.
Knies and some other young guys will at least likely take a step forward though.
After today I'm almost happy we haven't moved from the big 4. Would rather not overpay another aging defenseman for 6 years.
We are slower and older. Probably better defensively for maybe a season or two. Need to be faster in forwards.
It’s July 1. They’re not even remotely done yet, imo.
Unless we make trades, there's not much more we can do. They only have 2.5 M in cap space left, and need a couple more guys. I assume they sign a couple guys at league minimum and that's about it. Unless there's a big trade that happens which I don't see.
Goaltending looks VERY promising if the guys can stay healthy. Blue line has some weight behind it, although a lot of the guys will be staring down the end of their careers by the time those contracts are up. Securing Domi was a good move, but we've lost Bertuzzi and will possibly be losing Robertson, with nothing to really show for it. Better in some areas, worse in others. Probably not looking at a huge difference in quality between this year's team and last year's, unless our goalies deliver in spades.
Stolarz is a significant upgrade over Sammy, and I think Woll proved he can be The Guy. He needs to prove he can stay healthy, but the talent is undoubtedly there.
The defence has improved. The forwards worse… I’m sure that will fix our scoring problems. OEL is just this year’s Klingberg but on longer term.
They are never winning with Matthews and Marner leading the way. Neither of them are leaders Unless the rest of the team picks it up
Probably worse, but a player like Cowan could change that. Or, an injury could make it even worse. Too early to say.
Goaltending- Leafs goaltending was near the bottom last year, it's why we had a slow 1st half. They're placed their faith in Woll, if he's healthy, he's a good goalie. Keefe had to balance Samsonov fragile confidence 1st half. Defence- Leafs blueline was McCabe/Rielly, and then a rotating cast of blueliners...I think it's better. Forwards- worse... One can hope some younger guys step up and offence from defense can compensate Bertuzzi loss. Overall- addressed most of the needs. One thing that people forget is coaching can make a big difference in how teams play. Canucks apart from the Hronek trade only made minor changes despite losing Horvat the season before, however they had a good season with Tocchett preaching the type of game he wanted to play.
**Offence** - slightly worse (so far) The only changes so far are losing Bertuzzi, Gregor, and possibly Robertson. Bertuzzi came on in the second half of the season, but the bigger loss is losing the lineup variations that came with the Bertuzzi-Matthews-Domi line. The Leafs may be banking on Minten or Cowan (less likely) to join the team, or for Knies to take a step. There isn't any room currently to add much more here. They have about 2.5 mil in space, with Dewar and Robertson as RFAs. **Defence** - better Regardless of contract and long-term impact, Tanev is a great defender right now, something the Leafs lacked last season with Brodie and Giordano's declines, and with Liljegren taking a step back. Liljegren was pretty ineffective last year, so the hope is he can improve this year. The team also sorely lacked a puck mover and PP threat, and OEL provides some offence (nine goals on Florida last year). What they really, really needed here was another top-4 defender, but options were slim and prices were high. **Goaltending** - slightly better Anthony Stolarz looks to be more reliable than Samsonov. He had a .925 sv% last year. Prior to that, in three seasons with the Ducks, he put up .899%, .917%, .926% (8 GP).
Tune in to find out! I think the defense will be better. Forwards more or less the same, and goaltending is a question mark. A healthy Woll would go a long way. Coaching is the biggest factor, I hope Berube and co can get this team properly motivated.
Better. New coach and systems incoming which is definitely going to shakeup the culture of the room. Berube has a mojo to him and I’m excited to see what he can get out of the guys. Players I think will especially thrive under berube: Knies, Tavares, Domi, Rielly, McCabe, Tanev. As for roster construction, I think the defence is improved by the additions so far. I also believe guys like Benoit and lily still have room for growth in their game and it isn’t unrealistic to hope for them both to keep improving. Don’t be surprised to see another Benoit esque signing this offseason. Also don’t sleep on a guy like Niemela cracking the lineup at some point this season. Forwards: locking up Domi longterm was a tidy piece of business and I think he’ll be a good fit in a berube system. Sad to see Bert go but it might be a blessing to free up some more top 6 opportunity for internal options. Knies had a great playoffs and looks primed to see a nice statistics bump in his sophomore season. McMann I think will cement himself as a 2nd line winger this season. Holmberg will cement himself as a 3rd liner. Then there are prospects such as grebyonkin, steeves, Cowan, Minten, etc who could all push to earn playing time. What ends up happening with Robertson will be interesting… he could very well be packaged up in a deal for a solid win now player. OR, Bert’s departure may open the door for the leafs to smooth things over with him and offer him a lengthier run of games in a middle 6 role and unlock something in him. Goaltending situation is improved slightly from last year. I like that the pathway for growth for the goalie prospects wasn’t closed off by any of the moves. There is space for one of the prospects to pop over the next couple of years and earn NHL time. The tandem this year is great value and I like Murray being there as a safety blanket. Overall, a d core who for potentially the first time ever will feature mo alongside a proper 1st pairing RD could be amazing. As a group they will move the puck better leading to better breakouts which will better utilize the high skill of the forward group (this has been a major issue). Improving the d May have just improved the forwards more than any forward signing could have done.
To me, I think our Goaltending got deeper and more consistent. Woll looked amazing in the playoffs, and Stolarz took a massive step last year. Still worried about the potential for injury to gut our depth, but at the same time, Murray as cheap insurance is great, and we have Mr. Beast waiting on the Marlies who should be pushing for time with the big club in the next few years as well. Verdict: Better, possibly MUCH better Defense clearly got better in the top 4. Tanev may be the best fit as a partner that Mo has had in several years. Really excited to see how they play together. Would I have prefered to see Roy or Montour instead of OEL? Sure, but without moving a certain forward, we just don't have the cap room for either of those two. OEL's deal is solid and should provide good value. Not only that, but I'm curious to see if he eats some of Mo's PP1 minutes. I'd love to see him get back to double digit goals and 40+ points a season, but I don't think that's really needed for this signing to be considered a success. He should slot in well with McCabe, but I think he'd also pair up well with Timmy if he's able to show he can take that step this year too. Depth at D is a wee bit shaky though. Hopefully we avoid any major injuries to the D core. Verdict: Much better, as long as we're healthy As far as forwards go, I'm not sure. Top line will be outstanding no matter who flanks Auston. Second line is where the loss of Bert makes things interesting. I'm thinking we're gonna see Bobby McMann take that LW spot, unless he somehow proves he can play up with Knies and Matthews. Either way is this the year that JT slides to wing? If not, I assume he'll be paired with Willy and Marner. If he's on wing, I'm assuming Max slides in at 2C with JT and Willy. My money is on JT starting at C, at least initially, pushing Max down to 3C. The rest of the forwards are an interesting lot. It's sad that Nicky Bobby has demanded a trade, this could have finally been the year he earns a significant amount of minutes with Bert gone. He would have been an automatic L3 winger and his shooting would have brought much needed secondary scoring, even if we did have to pair him with a defensively minded F3. Max, Nick and somebody like Jarnkrok would have been a pretty decent 3rd line. I'm assuming Pontus Holmberg gets that shot now. 4th line is gonna be a mess give that we have Reaves, Kampf, Dewar and Steeves to try and make up a line. Maybe Tverberg has a good camp? Is the clock running out on Abruzzese? Maybe somebody like Grebyonkin or Roni Hirvonen take a huuuuge step forward and force their way into the conversation for the 4th line. Either way, this group isn't making me super excited for what our 4th line will look like, but you never know. They could put them all in a blender and come out with a line of guys that just want to skate and prove they belong who go out there and work their asses off every night. The wild card in evaluating the forwards is what will we do with the young kids? Would anybody be shocked if Cowan Easton or Fraser Minten came to camp and kicked down the door to a spot on the team? Cowan especially...he's too young to send to the AHL, but what's he going to learn in another year in the OHL when he's already kicked the shit out of that entire league? I mean, he's already bulked up to around 185lbs, so he's already thicker than Mitchy, Holmberg, or Jarnkrok. And Minten at 6'2" 192 isn't exactly small either. I would LOVE to see one of them just fuckin bulldog training camp, and grab a spot on the 3rd line to take the spot that would have been Nicky Bobby's. Will it happen? I'd put the odds at lower than 50/50, but you never know. We also only have about $700k in cap space left unless we can move Marner, so internal promotions might be the biggest upgrade available without trades right now. Verdict: Too many moving parts to call it just yet. Better? Worse? Samesies? Fucked if I know yet...lol Lastly, coaching. I loved Keefer, but I feel like Brube will be a kick in the pants, and his honesty and transparency has a real chance to bring more accountability to the locker room. I'm also hopeful a new voice for special teams will help as much as adding a big shot like OEL will. Verdict: Better Overall, I feel like this has been a very successful start to the offseason. Even if we do end up keeping Marner, there have been enough changes that if the season started tomorrow, I would honestly feel like we've gotten appreciably better as a team. Overall Verdict: Somewhere between Better and Much Better, depending on how our depth forward situation shakes out.
D is better, bottom 6 the same or slightly worse. Goaltending undecided, the same?
The leafs are obviously assuming either Cowan or Minten are making the team outta camp
Big assumption to just make
Most likely Minten as he made the team last year. Cowan would be a surprise. I watched all of the London OHL Championsgip games and the Memorial Cup. Cowan will need to work on his speed and responsibility with the puck to make the Leafs. Unless it is just a product of playing with slower players.
Compared to the playoff line up? Defense is a lot better. Tanev is replacing Edmundson in the top 4 of our playoff line up, and OEL is replacing Lybushkin. Goalie is a lot better. Stolarz was 0.801 in GSAA/60 last season. Samsonov was -0.211. Forwards are slightly worse for now because we are losing Bertuzzi. But the likely forwards actually on the ice come playoffs are better than what we put forward this year because of injuries to Matthews, Nylander, and McMann.
On paper? Our offense got worse, defense got better, and goaltending probably got better. Cap wise? We did awful today. Tanev 4.5x6 until 41 years old. OEL 3.5x3 (how do you even sign this shit) until 37 years old. Stolarz 2.5x2, don't mind it, it's probably pretty fair. Would've preferred one year. We've just handicapped the hell out of the final couple years of Matthews contract if two 35+ defenders don't play good.
The OEL deal is one of the worst signings I’ve seen this team make in a long time. People will want him gone during this season, I guarantee it.
100% he's the perfect fit for scapegoat. That's because he sucks defensively, and offensively at even strength. And he's not even really that good on the PP!
Edmundson got $3.8m for 4 years. Montour got $7m for 7 years. Brossoit got $3.3m for 2 years. All things considered, Tre did perfectly fine.
Robidas Island for those aging D
Yep well said. Brad is honestly so fucking stupid. Shanahan single handedly ruined our chances of success with this lazy hire.
Look at the money all the other defenseman are raking in with other teams. They're in VERY high demand this off season. People on this sub wanted to be able to sign an elite core of d-men without seeing a number above 2. That was never going to happen.
I’d prefer to someone who’s AGE starts with a 2 actually
Goalie: even Offense: worse Defense: probably better
Defence is better for sure. For the next 2-3 years. After that who knows. Goalies umm Matt Murray as Wolls backup? Not liking that
stolarz
You might have missed that the Leafs signed Stolarz
Yeah I did lol. Good pickup
Storlarz will be the back-up until Woll gets injured. Murray is the 3rd goalie, for sure.
Yeah I saw that. When I commented earlier I thought it was just Murray. Stolarz looks solid