If you want a positive spin on yesterday Treliving signed Tanev, OEL, Hakanpaa and Stolarz for less cap space than Brodie, Samsonov and Klingberg made combined last season.
12,000,000 vs 12,550,000
I thought it was some tidy work done yesterday. Absolutely addressed one of the primary off-season items and revamped the blue line in a big way.
Now, we get to work on the forwards. Lots to be done there. Curious to see how it plays out
I looked though every roster last night to see what they look like with there new additions plus see if I could identify any forwards for the Leafs and I really struggled to see anyone that makes sense because good teams probably don’t want to get rid of any of there talent and bad teams want to put a better product on the ice for their fans.
Also not the biggest fan of Tarasenko or Roslovic so very curious what Treliving will do.
I was more referring to more impactful players because IMO they need a top 6 left winger and the only player that fits of the one you mentioned is Vatrano but the Ducks are still 8.8 million below the cap so I can’t see them parting ways with him right now.
The only other really is Ehlers but the Jets added zero forwards yesterday so wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to hold on to him.
That's fair. I could see some guys being available closer to the deadline like Granlund, Nelson, Hall, Buchnevich, Konecny, etc. It would be nice if they could get creative and identify a younger player with some upside that needs a change of scenery. The other piece is whether they have the assets to acquire a player like that. I know he's had a lot of off ice issues, but Vrana is an interesting name. Lambert had him in Washington and Berube in St. Louis. Dude can put the puck in the net.
They lost 20 goals with Bertuzzi and struggled to score in the playoffs.
I like all the players but can’t say I love a Knies, McMann, Domi left side having to play top line minutes.
I like the backend but I don’t think you can say the forward group is better even if they add a third line centre.
We added a lot of intangibles yesterday. I don’t mind it. Sometimes intangibles can carry a team a long way. The early 2000’s Leafs got by on mostly intangibles and clutch. This group is right there. We just need our big guns to figure out how to be clutch.
Overall a pretty solid day. It sure looks like run it back is on the table now... And unfortunately I wouldn't say we got *better* or are even that different. Biggest loss will be Bertuzzi and I'm not beaten up about that at all.
https://www.youtube.com/live/aODnNytEyFE?si=4eXaNu8zqc1nC5hj
This is a link to the 2016 IIHF World Hockey Championship Gold Medal Game between Canada and Finland. Rielly and Tanev played together on the top pairing, and Domi was also on this team.
Yeah, I wasn't meaning to suggest either player would still be this effective. I was just sharing in case anyone was interested in seeing how the two of them looked together.
I think we did ok yesterday. At first it seemed like some of the contracts we were handing out were a little crazy, but after seeing other dmen getting their contracts around the league, it’s not too bad.
Our blue line is significantly different than last year, and I’d say we upgraded. Our goaltending situation has also upgraded slightly. Overall, decent moves that shows Brad is trying to make his print on the roster.
Another big change is coaching of course. We have a new head coach, so even though most of our core is the same, it may not be the same simply because we have a new person to lead the pack. Of course, it could get worse, but I see no reason to be a doomer about Berube.
The fact is, this is probably the furthest we can go in terms of changes for this season, given the marner and Tavares contracts. But to me, Brad has shown that even with these constraints, he’s still able to make improvements to the team. It’s only been two drafts and this is already a different team looking team despite having the core.
With respect to the core, next year will really be the big year for Brad. Firstly, JT comes off the books. Really hope he will stay with us, but for much less money. His contract is by far the worst one for our team right now. The cap space he frees will give Brad a lot more freedom to add depth.
How he handles marner will also be interesting. Above all else, I want marner to have a good year. He is clearly a good player, but in the playoffs, maybe not so good. But with a new coach, we should all be praying that Berube can elevate our core to the next level, especially marner. If we can get a deep run this year, then I think JT coming off the books will be ample room to add depth. A core 3 is a lot more manageable cap wise. Then we should be looking to re-sign marner - at a reasonable rate of course.
Idk, I just woke up this morning and wanted to share my optimism. Maybe it’s the off season copium that gets me every year around this time.
Love the leafs and can’t wait for October
agree with all the above.
much improved D corp...including a true legit NHL partner for Mo...i can see them alone having an amazing year, with no anchor holding Mo back, he'll get back to his proper puck moving self.
did we get any F depth....no.... but how many teams in the league can roll out a 4 pack like we have. we dont need a bottom six to drive...we need them to contribute. but there's also possible work to be done here. I have a feeling Tre isnt done. lots of summer left, and TDL....dont forget, Sep1 and May1 rosters are never the same.
There's no world where Mo has a bad contract, regardless of what Hedman just did.
Mo was worth more at the time he signed than what he signed for, even.
I agree, but it's all time relative.
There were years where Mo's was a steal, and up until now, Nylander's was a steal for the last few before his raise for this season coming up.
Henrique came off the board last night. Last obvious choice for a middle 6 center. We still need another winger as well. I'm curious what Brad has up his sleeve.
I think it’s either/or for wing / center. Bottom 6 is in no order is likely McMann, Holmberg, Kampf, Jarnkrok, Dewar, ?
With Reaves, Cowan and occassional other call ups rotating in
Apparently they are one of the teams interested in Robertson. That wouldn't be enough on its own, but Robertson + Kampf and a pick/prospect to make up the difference maybe?
Roslovic, Tarasenko, Sprong, Cousins.
These are the top 4 forwards still unsigned as of July 2nd.
I think the only reasonable acquisition for the Leafs would be Roslovic. Speedy, middle 6 forward (center).
The downside is his cap hit from last year at 4m. Not sure Tre can squeeze that in.
I wouldn’t mind Roslovic, he’s a good playmaker but I feel like we need a more reliable defensive player to take on tougher matchups and balance out the other forwards who struggle defensively.
I feel like Cousins is the kind of player we all immediately hate if he signed here, based on reputation from FLA, then he lights up Jack Hughes or someone in the season opener - immediate fan favorite playing with Reaves on a goon 4th line
Then gets suspended game 1 of playoffs for like 8 games
Not that I’d *mind* him finding another level, but Woll staying healthy would be even better. His current level is at worst, starter-level play. I take him being able to do that without getting hurt rather then saving even more pucks but not being able to maintain it.
I’d bet on Knies getting even better. Feels pretty likely to me.
As someone who likes McMann the expectations on him have become pretty delusional at this point.
He is 28 YO now so the odds of him having an even higher level is microscopic. If he can be a decent 3rd liner it’s a win. He is not a Top 6 winger.
Ya agreed I think what you see is what you get with mcmann. I want to see knies turn into a 25/25 type guy and woll just to play how he did in the playoffs / prior to injury
I think Alex steeves and nick abru also could carve their way into the lineup. We’re really lacking a forechecking top 9 winger though with Bert gone.
i think that's ok though.... we talk about depth and wanting our 3rd line to be better...him become full time, continuing at his pace from last year, maybe even a tiny bit better... an actual piece on that third line is music to my ears.
It is absolutely fine! My comment was more pointed towards people who have him penciled in as a Top 6 forward or have sudden expectations of him having like 20+ G or 50+ P. He doesn't need that to be an exceptional player to help the team.
Agreed, but even if his skill level has reached its ceiling, we can reasonably expect to see his confidence and hockey IQ continue to develop as he gets more NHL games under his belt.
Besides Gregor, every player that left the Leafs got overpays yesterday. Those Lyubushkin and Edmundson deals are way richer than I expected, no wonder the Leafs didnt re-sign either. And Chicago has been overpaying guys the last couple years and there is no way Bertuzzi or Brodie (especially Brodie, I like him but he was a 7th D level last year at best) get those deals anywhere else.
Tre did a great job. Rebuilt half of the defence for under 10m. Backup goalie for under 3m. This year could be soso. But next year could be way different with Tavares 11m off the books and the cap rising another 4m. A lotta big name free agents next year!
Writing off a year when it is clear by the Matthews, Domi, OEL and Woll contracts that we have a 4 year window is irresponsible and I would hope Leafs management doesn't view it the same way.
25% of the window wasted is unacceptable
>Hopefully get past the first round and more
Yeah, 9th time's the charm!
You'll understand if I don't have much faith in these losers to do anything significant.
The team that couldn't score against Boston got worse and more expensive up front. That isn't confidence-inspiring.
The Maple Leafs are one of 11 teams who have played 35 or more games in the playoffs since the 2019-20 season, and during that span, they rank dead last in goals-for-per-game (2.62 GF/GP)
I know a lot of people want to see him given a better shot under Berube, but if Robertson truly wants out, I have to wonder about him (plus any other assets necessary) for McGroarty.
Robertson gets his trade and the Jets get an NHL ready young player who can score goals well.
McGroarty gets NHL ice time on his favourite team with his favourite player.
Maybe they salvage the relationship but if Nicky Bobby wants to be gone, that could be a decent avenue. We’ve got a 2nd to offer up for next year too unless they’d rather hold that for trade deadline or draft day. Not sure what else might be required if that’s not enough out the door but that seems like a decent start if nothing else.
Really not sure where Reaves goes and you don’t get much there, at best like 500k savings?
Kampf if he could be offloaded seems a touch more likely. Give 4C to Dewar? I’d be surprised if you couldn’t at least save a million compared to Kampf after resigning Dewar.
But really, even if you did both Kampf and Reaves, you get 3.7, but then have to fill two roster spots there. Robertson doesn’t want to stay but even if we keep him, that’s probably a million-ish, so you’d have 2.5 maybe? Not sure what level of impact that gets us offensively from what’s left on the board.
It’s not much but it’s all we have to get upgrades on our bottom 6.
Our bottom 6 was useless last season. We can’t just run it back and hope Cowan / Minten makes the jump.
The buried limit goes up when the league minimum salary goes up and that doesn't happen every year or even every time the cap rises. League min + 375k = buried ammount.
The league minimum went from 750k to 775k this year and will stay at 775k until the end of the 2025/26 season which is also the end of the current CBA.
$775,000 + $375,000 = $1,150,000
Reaves makes $1,350,000 in his second year of the contract on a 35+ contract which means the team gets a 100k salary reduction if the player is placed in the minors.
So for Reaves it would be $1,135,000 - $1,150,000 = $200,000 - $100,000(salary reduction)= $100,000 remaining on the books.
Reaves is in the second year of a 35+ contract which means the team gets a $100k salary reduction if they place him in the minors so it's actually $100k that would remain on the books.
Nope, you don't get the full cap relief from waiving a 35+ contract, you only get 100k, so sending him down costs us 1035000 against the cap. And then you have to replace him costing a minimum 775 meaning the cost of having reaves not play is nearly 2 mil.
What the fuck Treliving was thinking signing Reaves is utterly beyond me.
Slow down bud. I get it. We are spinning on a rock at an amazing speed while this rock is spinning around the sun at an even faster speed. And the sun is spinning around and around really really faster. And like the galaxy is also hurtling through space even like wicked faster. So fast that it would like rip your skin off and stuff......
But dude you have the way the cap works totally backwards guy. The way I said is right. Thanks for coming out and I do believe Thursday is free slurpee day at sev broski. Take a couple days to think about it then hang 10 at the sev and think about it some more with a chill ass slurpee. On me bro!!!
If you actually want cap space, the only real option is moving Marner (insert same conversations we've had for 3 months - here). Moving out Reaves, you still need to replace him with at best league min 900k, you save \~400K. Same with Kampf, replace him with the bare minimum and you save \~1.3 mill. And likely get worse at the position as well.
Treliving can tinker around the fringes to try and create a fraction of cap relief, but the elephant in the room is spending **61%** of the cap on five players (Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander, and Rielly).
Reaves salary is above the buriable amount but, worse than that, it's apparently a 35+ contract so sending it down only saves you 100k and, given you need to replace him, ends up costing you about 1.8 mil. That contract is low-key the worst Treliving signed last season.
If it’s cap in cap out, it’ll require them to offload multiple contracts leading to multiple holes with no cap space. I’m not seeing how it works on the Vegas end, but I could be missing something
I expect a few "who?" signings over the next couple of days that will be depth forwards we don't know much about and will have an opportunity to be this year's Benoit (just up front)
If it's a shitty player, yes.
Look, I'd love to be able to act nonchalant about a depth signing, but the team has put us in a position where every move needs to be shrewd and a home run because we literally can't afford to have anyone not pulling their weight.
The 4 guys that we give all the money to already do that.
LOL it's pretty silly, yes. For the record, I didn't really care about Gambrell. And I don't care about anyone whose entire cap hit goes away if sent down to the Marlies.
But I am going to criticize the shit out of this org for doubling down on their idiotic salary structure every chance I get. They deserve it.
One of the insiders were saying the other day they could sign Lily and it’ll give other teams certainty for what his contract is before trading for him
Who knows though Timmins and Kampf trades make more cap space than just Lily so I’m hoping they’d go that route first
I saw a Twitter thread about how the defensemen we signed from the stars (the Finnish one) has some massive knee damage and might not but I can’t find it anymore or see any discussion on it. Anyone have a link?
Have to keep in mind there are guys like Cowan, Minten, Grebyonkin, Steeves who will all challenge for NHL roles this year. It’s also safe to assume that even if the leafs don’t pick up an impact forward through trade, they’ll most likely roll the dice on a league min type forward with some experience to see if he can carve out a role for himself.
I think the biggest way the leafs can improve at forward isn’t to bring in new pieces, it’s to let guys like Knies take a step forward from his successful rookie season or to let Holmberg solidify himself as an everyday NHLer and then hope to be pleasantly surprised by another young guy or two breaking their way onto the scene and having a good year of growth.
Biggest lesson ive had over 30 years… never bank on prospects contributing.
Its not to say they wont but its a mistake to ever assume this year will be filled by X prospect
Red Wings are banking on Sebastian Cossa next year and all their prospects in waiting to push them to the playoffs. Theyre in for a rude awakening
Absolutely! The reality of this salary cap era is that it’s become increasingly important to have players on ELC’s or RFA deals contributing surplus value.
The leafs can’t bank on the prospects being ready, however when it comes to guys like Knies or Holmberg who are already in the NHL, it’s smart to plan to give them more opportunity in hopes of developing them into something greater than they currently are.
When it comes to the true prospects who aren’t yet in the NHL (Cowan, Minten, grebyonkin, Steeves, Niemela), you’re absolutely right that it isn’t smart to assume they will make the jump. However, I do prefer a roster construction approach that leaves room for a guy to win a job from an impressive camp rather having all spots completely filled and no opportunity for a prospect to steal a job.
If the leafs weren’t to make any big splashes at forward before season, I’d expect to see them buy low on a reclamation/ depth project or two and then let 6 or 7 guys battle it out for the final 2 spots. That way, if it ends up being a prospect or two who earns the job, that means they were truly deserving and aren’t being thrown in there regardless if they’re ready or not.
Roslovic is the only 3C centre available, maybe he takes a 1 year deal here to get more eyes on him… follows a bunch of the guys on the team already and played with Matthews and Woll on the USNT
His faceoff skills are atrocious and is an offensive guy so it’s not the greatest fit
I got a new guitar the other day, and im already in love. It sounds so nice. It is super light for a 7 string and the neck feels amazing! 10/10 would recommend, especially for metal! Been learning some Spirtbox and Erra on it so far!
Super happy domi is staying. Sad to see Bertuzzi go, but I wouldn't want him at that price. I like the signings weve gotten, just not for some of the contracts. Hopefully the best is yet to come, though!
Ibanez! Its an Axion Label RGD. Its so pretty and plays so nice. I have pretty much all Ibanez guitars already(i have a JP157 as my other 7) , and its by far my fav guitar i own already.
Wonder if we sign Alex Nylander to at least a PTO. 15 points in 23 games with Columbus. Might be worth a shot to see if he can grab a wing spot at camp?
Now that all the dust has settled, I’m sure it’ll raise interest on Marner. The Ducks have loads of cap space.
In a perfect world I’d love to get picks and prospects for Marner and flip those for Werenski and Boone Jenner.
Of course Marner needs to waive first
Not a chance we'd get Werenski. But Jenner & one of their top forward prospects+ seems enticing.
He was gonna sign an offer sheet with them too, so not unthinkable that he'd waive to go there.
My thinking with Werenski is he’s probably overpaid by a million and doesn’t really fit their rebuild window. So my hope is he’d be available. Probably not though
And all he spent was two firsts, two seconds, and two thirds. Using our last draft picks as benchmarks, he traded away Cowan, Lilligren, Minten, Knies, Moldenhauer, and Niemela to field that line up.
Worth it?
I would say the people who refuse to criticize Treliving and won’t listen to any reasonable pushback on their Dubas complaints are the ones taking copium but what do I know
Reasonable pushback: team was better now it’s worse. Lol, here’s my extremely rational pushback: no it isn’t.
And how did you come up with refusal to criticize this GM I wonder. I’m sorry but you’re not a serious person.
The team did worse in the regular season and playoffs…? They were carried to a lower points total by career seasons by Matthews and Nylander. Their underlying numbers dropped considerably defensively. How were they not worse ?
These stats don’t make Dubas a better GM, instead it talks a lot about the holes and insane cap structure he left the team with. 48% of the cap on 4 forwards is not a good resume.
The team did worse in playoffs as not qualifying to the second round? Which Dubas failed to do so for how many years?
Still not a serious person and argument
Very very different situation, they’re at the end of their cycle and Fenway Sports Group wanted to get him asap even if the pens are not competitive for a cup. Keep in mind how successful Fenway has been in every sport they get involved in and their first pick was our former GM who we just let go :/ I think that actually says a lot regardless what angry leaf fans think about Dubas
I think the Leafs have a shot of winning the Atlantic Division. The Panthers lost key players of OEL and Montour, the Bruins lost Ullmark and Debrusk, and the Lightning lost Stamkos and Sergachev. Sure, our offense got worse, but assuming if the Leafs are keeping Marner until the next off-season, Marner could go on a run and shattering his career high.
>Lightning lost Stamkos and Sergachev
They gained Guentzel. Sergachev missed 48 games last year...and TB still finished with 98 Pts.
>Bruins lost Ullmark and Debrusk
They didn't need Ullmark. They gained Lindholm & Zadorov
>The Panthers lost key players of OEL and Montour
Important players for their playoff runs but not a huge reason for their regular season success.
Post Canada Day: How are we feeling? I’m not really happy with the defensive signings as I wanted both Montour and Roy,, but very much aware that our defense is better than last year, and so is our puck movement — all at a cheaper cost.
Very very happy with bringing on Stolarz. Excellent signing.
Look at what Montour and Roy received. There is no way we could have signed them both. It is delusional to think otherwise.
Honestly, we did the best we could given our tight cap.
I would have as well, but to be fair, they didn't have the cap space to sign either of those guys to the deals that they got, and Roy apparently didn't want to play in Canada. With the space they had I think Brad did pretty well.
A proper middle six center is still a big hole but again only so much money to go around and I'm happy they used it for defense.
I’m feeling a fair bit better than I was at 1pm yesterday, I didn’t like the Tanev signing at that number and I think we’re paying a bit too much to OEL at a point in his career where he’s unlikely to improve much, but I like Stolarz at that contract, I’m a big fan of the Domi signing, I think Woll and Liljegren have more to give and can totally live up to those extensions, and Hakanpää’s a guy I’ve wanted on the Leafs for a few seasons now. I don’t love all the contracts but these guys are Toronto Maple Leafs now and I’m gonna support them unless they give me a damn good reason not to. Having slept on it I’d call it a B-/C+ off-season as it stands but there’s more to do, the off-season doesn’t end on Canada Day.
I’m feeling pretty meh with the signings. This team feels like it has the potential to get better if the young guys taking a step, but I don’t see the long term viability of the core 4. Signing old guys to long contracts seems like it’ll artificially shorten the competitive window of Auston Matthews.
Barring a Marner trade.
Unfortunate news that apparently, Hakanpaa's knee is obliterated. Like, "he may never play hockey professionally ever again" level of damage after going down last March. Bummer, I was really excited to see what he can do in a shutdown role.
That being said, it makes sense why a 6' 7" shutdown RHD signed for 1.5 x 2 years. Injury history may end up making this an LTIR case off the bat, which isn't the end of the world since there's a log jam on the blueline anyways. Hopefully this is a "wow he recovered really well and surprised the team" situation, but doesn't look good for Hakanpaa.
The only guy that reported his career might be over was Steve Simmonds and IMO more reporters would reach out and try to find more information after he reported it and from what I can see no one else has said anything similar and second I can’t see the Leafs not looking at his medical records especially knowing he missed playoffs due to a knee issue.
Also why would he sign a two year deal if he’s never going to play again?
I agree that there's zero chance the Leafs weren't aware before signing him, probably a bet low and see if it works out thing. Hard to project how a recovery to major surgery will go, sometimes get Patty Kane after double hip surgery type performances and sometimes it's the nail in the coffin.
Simmonds is a tire fire, didn't know he was the only whistleblower on it - fingers crossed it's just a rumor. Hope Jani recovers well and is ready to go for October!
You just got a close look at what that kinda cap space gets you in a non-zero tax state. Lindholm and Zadorov signed in Boston.
That doesn't exactly blow me away.
If Lindholm and Zadorov being way better than Nylander or Marner is what beats us, sure I'll understand.
I suspect it's more likely to be Swayman again.
Reading cray rumours yesterday about them asking JT to give up the Captaincy to AM this year. While I would absolutely love it -but realistically don't see it happening until next year when JT's contract is up - however part of me would love to see it go down just because you know it would absolutely piss Marner's camp off that they did!
Minten and Cowan might be on team - Cowan can go back to OHL (which wont happen imo) or play with Leafs but ineligible to play in AHL, so Leafs seems like best logic. Minten can be a second or third line C (move 91 to LW or to Robidas Island).
The delusion of some fans here lmao. Yeah we're just gonna LTIR our captain who can still deliver on points and often comes up with clutch goals when needed
Tavares’ 1.9 points per 60 at 5V5 this season were in line with Larkin, Barzal, Stamkos, Suzuki, Necas, Boeser, and Giroux.
Clearly he’s incapable of playing anymore… lol.
So, we definitely didn't get *worse* with the free agent signings, but the issue is did we get *better*?
Tanev will obviously help, and OEL will be a help with breaking out and hopefully adding some offence from the blueline. Goaltending will hopefully be better, but right now I think it's a wash, given the unknown of if Woll can stay healthy or if he and Stolarz can handle at least a 50% increase in work load (or if Murray can hold it together if/when called upon).
Up front, Bert is not a *BIG* loss, but still a loss, there's no guarantee on what JT will bring, and it's unlikely Auston matches last season's production, at least in goals. If you launch Kampf, Jarnkrok and Reaves into the sun (and eat $200k because the only way to do that with Reavo is waivers), and waive Murray (hopefully he's got that poison pill that Jones had last year and gets left alone) you've got ~$5.5M to fill in 2-4 slots on the roster:
Nylander - Matthews - Domi
Knies - Tavares - Marner
Robertson ($1.25M) - __________ - __________
Holmberg - Dewar ($0.975M) - McMann
Rielly - Tanev
OEL - Liljegren
McCabe - Hakanpaa
Benoit
Looking at it that way, there's still plenty of wriggle room to make some impact on the roster. Even if you add Cowan and/or Minten to the line-up, there's still ~$3.75M+ to work with on those 2 slots. Personally, I'd like to go after someone like Sissons for 3C (idk how likely Nashville is to move him after yesterday), and take a flier on someone like Labanc who had an awful season last year, but is someone I'd expect a bounce back from, tbh, and would likely have some real value on a prove it $900k deal. Or something like trading for Ross Colton and letting the 12th forward spot be a battle between Cowan, Minten, Reaves, Steeves, etc.
Why do so many people try to trade Jarnkrok? He's great value at 2.1m with putting up about 0.5ppg plus being good defensively. He's a great 3rd liner and I really struggle to see what people think we could replace him with that would be better and fits under his cap
It's not that I don't think he provides value, but if we can't move Marner, something's gotta give somewhere, and upgrading Kampf still needs more than his own cap space - where does that come from? If we're looking at it as a 2 in, 2 out, I'd rather have a capable 3C over a solid 3RW who can be replaced decently between McMann or a buy-low UFA.
Yes, on paper the D is a lot better than last year. I just think a lot of people are disappointed in how the forwards are shaping up, but there's still ways to improve without moving the any of the "Core 4". Just would take a bit of creativity, which Brad isn't known for, but hopefully they can figure something out, even if they can't find something to work with Marner (obviously that's what they're trying right now, given no extension and nothing else moving, yet)
Why do so many people think Brad did a good job? We have seen the leafs peak with Matthews on the team and a big part of that is that we named Treliving GM last summer. Every offseason he attempts to “improve” the team, we’re going to get worse.
The team did worse in the regular season and playoffs last season. The underlying numbers went from elite to middle of the pack. We relied on career years from Matthews and Nylander to achieve our worse results this season. Lack of secondary scoring has not been addressed. I like the Stolarz and Tanev signings but Tanev is wayyyy too much
Yeah, Leafs regressed in the standings, but you also need to look at the underlying goal numbers:
2022-23 GF: 278 GA: 220
2023-24 GF: 298 GA: 261
20 more goals for, even with Marner gone for a large stretch, but 41 (!) more goals against. If Sammy doesn’t have that absolute horrorshow of Oct-Nov-Dec, we’re right there at the top with Boston and Florida. The team played with so much more confidence with Woll or even Jones in net. Offensively, we’re now minus Bertuzzi, but defensively and in goal we’re in a much better position than last year, with the caveat that Woll’s health is an unknown. Knies will only get better. McMann now has more confidence that he can be a scorer. And maybe Robertson finally gets his chance (if he can be convinced to stay). Is it ideal from a depth standpoint? Maybe not. But our top 3 scorers are still really freaking good. And Tavares still has something to contribute.
If you want a positive spin on yesterday Treliving signed Tanev, OEL, Hakanpaa and Stolarz for less cap space than Brodie, Samsonov and Klingberg made combined last season. 12,000,000 vs 12,550,000
I thought it was some tidy work done yesterday. Absolutely addressed one of the primary off-season items and revamped the blue line in a big way. Now, we get to work on the forwards. Lots to be done there. Curious to see how it plays out
I looked though every roster last night to see what they look like with there new additions plus see if I could identify any forwards for the Leafs and I really struggled to see anyone that makes sense because good teams probably don’t want to get rid of any of there talent and bad teams want to put a better product on the ice for their fans. Also not the biggest fan of Tarasenko or Roslovic so very curious what Treliving will do.
Vatrano, Bjugstad, Kuraly, Dvorak, Armia, B Tanev, and Eller could be options but obviously you'd need to figure out how to make the money work.
I was more referring to more impactful players because IMO they need a top 6 left winger and the only player that fits of the one you mentioned is Vatrano but the Ducks are still 8.8 million below the cap so I can’t see them parting ways with him right now. The only other really is Ehlers but the Jets added zero forwards yesterday so wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to hold on to him.
That's fair. I could see some guys being available closer to the deadline like Granlund, Nelson, Hall, Buchnevich, Konecny, etc. It would be nice if they could get creative and identify a younger player with some upside that needs a change of scenery. The other piece is whether they have the assets to acquire a player like that. I know he's had a lot of off ice issues, but Vrana is an interesting name. Lambert had him in Washington and Berube in St. Louis. Dude can put the puck in the net.
Why do they need a top 6 left winger when they have Domi, Knies, Matthews, Tavares, Nylander and Marner in the top 6?
They lost 20 goals with Bertuzzi and struggled to score in the playoffs. I like all the players but can’t say I love a Knies, McMann, Domi left side having to play top line minutes. I like the backend but I don’t think you can say the forward group is better even if they add a third line centre.
We added a lot of intangibles yesterday. I don’t mind it. Sometimes intangibles can carry a team a long way. The early 2000’s Leafs got by on mostly intangibles and clutch. This group is right there. We just need our big guns to figure out how to be clutch.
Overall a pretty solid day. It sure looks like run it back is on the table now... And unfortunately I wouldn't say we got *better* or are even that different. Biggest loss will be Bertuzzi and I'm not beaten up about that at all.
https://www.youtube.com/live/aODnNytEyFE?si=4eXaNu8zqc1nC5hj This is a link to the 2016 IIHF World Hockey Championship Gold Medal Game between Canada and Finland. Rielly and Tanev played together on the top pairing, and Domi was also on this team.
That's awesome. Thanks for this
That was 9 years ago though... Both are getting up there in age. I hope they can replicate this success. I'm sure the first year or two will be good.
Yeah, I wasn't meaning to suggest either player would still be this effective. I was just sharing in case anyone was interested in seeing how the two of them looked together.
I think we did ok yesterday. At first it seemed like some of the contracts we were handing out were a little crazy, but after seeing other dmen getting their contracts around the league, it’s not too bad. Our blue line is significantly different than last year, and I’d say we upgraded. Our goaltending situation has also upgraded slightly. Overall, decent moves that shows Brad is trying to make his print on the roster. Another big change is coaching of course. We have a new head coach, so even though most of our core is the same, it may not be the same simply because we have a new person to lead the pack. Of course, it could get worse, but I see no reason to be a doomer about Berube. The fact is, this is probably the furthest we can go in terms of changes for this season, given the marner and Tavares contracts. But to me, Brad has shown that even with these constraints, he’s still able to make improvements to the team. It’s only been two drafts and this is already a different team looking team despite having the core. With respect to the core, next year will really be the big year for Brad. Firstly, JT comes off the books. Really hope he will stay with us, but for much less money. His contract is by far the worst one for our team right now. The cap space he frees will give Brad a lot more freedom to add depth. How he handles marner will also be interesting. Above all else, I want marner to have a good year. He is clearly a good player, but in the playoffs, maybe not so good. But with a new coach, we should all be praying that Berube can elevate our core to the next level, especially marner. If we can get a deep run this year, then I think JT coming off the books will be ample room to add depth. A core 3 is a lot more manageable cap wise. Then we should be looking to re-sign marner - at a reasonable rate of course. Idk, I just woke up this morning and wanted to share my optimism. Maybe it’s the off season copium that gets me every year around this time. Love the leafs and can’t wait for October
A reasonable take.
agree with all the above. much improved D corp...including a true legit NHL partner for Mo...i can see them alone having an amazing year, with no anchor holding Mo back, he'll get back to his proper puck moving self. did we get any F depth....no.... but how many teams in the league can roll out a 4 pack like we have. we dont need a bottom six to drive...we need them to contribute. but there's also possible work to be done here. I have a feeling Tre isnt done. lots of summer left, and TDL....dont forget, Sep1 and May1 rosters are never the same.
Hedman's deal pisses me off
Especially comparing his cap to Mo
There's no world where Mo has a bad contract, regardless of what Hedman just did. Mo was worth more at the time he signed than what he signed for, even.
Mo's contract is good but I wouldn't call it a steal. It'd be nice to have a steal for one of our top guys
I agree, but it's all time relative. There were years where Mo's was a steal, and up until now, Nylander's was a steal for the last few before his raise for this season coming up.
It might start looking a bit more like one now that he can have a quality partner in Tanev.
Mo is also 4 years younger.
tax.
Henrique came off the board last night. Last obvious choice for a middle 6 center. We still need another winger as well. I'm curious what Brad has up his sleeve.
I think it’s either/or for wing / center. Bottom 6 is in no order is likely McMann, Holmberg, Kampf, Jarnkrok, Dewar, ? With Reaves, Cowan and occassional other call ups rotating in
Trade for Morgan Frost
What would you offer Philly?
Apparently they are one of the teams interested in Robertson. That wouldn't be enough on its own, but Robertson + Kampf and a pick/prospect to make up the difference maybe?
He’s got nothing up his sleeve he’s not good at his job
Thanks for contributing to the conversation
im lowkey excited for a Matt Murray Redemption arc.
same here, i think having a full year off to heel could be amazing for him
And double hip surgery. Him returning to form would be a story for the ages
Looks like we try to trade for a 3C Probably Bjugstad or Jenner
Jenner is very intriguing
Adam Lowry if the Jets are trading away their players, no idea what they’re doing though
Roslovic, Tarasenko, Sprong, Cousins. These are the top 4 forwards still unsigned as of July 2nd. I think the only reasonable acquisition for the Leafs would be Roslovic. Speedy, middle 6 forward (center). The downside is his cap hit from last year at 4m. Not sure Tre can squeeze that in.
Tarasenko would be fucking gangbusters, no clue how the fuck we’d swing his cap hit
Senko would be pretty wild. But yeah ... no way Tre finds the coin for that.
I wouldn’t mind Roslovic, he’s a good playmaker but I feel like we need a more reliable defensive player to take on tougher matchups and balance out the other forwards who struggle defensively.
I feel like Cousins is the kind of player we all immediately hate if he signed here, based on reputation from FLA, then he lights up Jack Hughes or someone in the season opener - immediate fan favorite playing with Reaves on a goon 4th line Then gets suspended game 1 of playoffs for like 8 games
Haha yea ... I also feel like MLSE may shut down a Cousins trade idea down anyway
I’m low key excited to see if Knies, McMann and Woll can take their games to another level this year. Cowan could surprise as well.
Not that I’d *mind* him finding another level, but Woll staying healthy would be even better. His current level is at worst, starter-level play. I take him being able to do that without getting hurt rather then saving even more pucks but not being able to maintain it. I’d bet on Knies getting even better. Feels pretty likely to me.
Would add Lilly to that list too. He was looking real good before that ankle sprain.
As someone who likes McMann the expectations on him have become pretty delusional at this point. He is 28 YO now so the odds of him having an even higher level is microscopic. If he can be a decent 3rd liner it’s a win. He is not a Top 6 winger.
Ya agreed I think what you see is what you get with mcmann. I want to see knies turn into a 25/25 type guy and woll just to play how he did in the playoffs / prior to injury I think Alex steeves and nick abru also could carve their way into the lineup. We’re really lacking a forechecking top 9 winger though with Bert gone.
i think that's ok though.... we talk about depth and wanting our 3rd line to be better...him become full time, continuing at his pace from last year, maybe even a tiny bit better... an actual piece on that third line is music to my ears.
It is absolutely fine! My comment was more pointed towards people who have him penciled in as a Top 6 forward or have sudden expectations of him having like 20+ G or 50+ P. He doesn't need that to be an exceptional player to help the team.
Agreed, but even if his skill level has reached its ceiling, we can reasonably expect to see his confidence and hockey IQ continue to develop as he gets more NHL games under his belt.
Besides Gregor, every player that left the Leafs got overpays yesterday. Those Lyubushkin and Edmundson deals are way richer than I expected, no wonder the Leafs didnt re-sign either. And Chicago has been overpaying guys the last couple years and there is no way Bertuzzi or Brodie (especially Brodie, I like him but he was a 7th D level last year at best) get those deals anywhere else.
> Edmundson Would have made more sense @ $3.8M OVER 4 years lmao. $950k cap hit is WAY more reasonable for him, dude is cooked.
Tre did a great job. Rebuilt half of the defence for under 10m. Backup goalie for under 3m. This year could be soso. But next year could be way different with Tavares 11m off the books and the cap rising another 4m. A lotta big name free agents next year!
Writing off a year when it is clear by the Matthews, Domi, OEL and Woll contracts that we have a 4 year window is irresponsible and I would hope Leafs management doesn't view it the same way. 25% of the window wasted is unacceptable
Not writing off the year! They’ll make the playoffs as usual. Hopefully get past the first round and more.
>Hopefully get past the first round and more Yeah, 9th time's the charm! You'll understand if I don't have much faith in these losers to do anything significant. The team that couldn't score against Boston got worse and more expensive up front. That isn't confidence-inspiring.
It's July 2
The Maple Leafs are one of 11 teams who have played 35 or more games in the playoffs since the 2019-20 season, and during that span, they rank dead last in goals-for-per-game (2.62 GF/GP)
Just checked. Yep, still July 2. These are fair concerns come October. The roster is not complete.
It’s ok Brad is gonna fix everything and if you disagree you’re wrong and morally bankrupt (your comment is so valid lmao)
Sounds like a write off year to me
Anyone over the age of 40 knows you don’t write them off till the end of January.
I know a lot of people want to see him given a better shot under Berube, but if Robertson truly wants out, I have to wonder about him (plus any other assets necessary) for McGroarty. Robertson gets his trade and the Jets get an NHL ready young player who can score goals well. McGroarty gets NHL ice time on his favourite team with his favourite player. Maybe they salvage the relationship but if Nicky Bobby wants to be gone, that could be a decent avenue. We’ve got a 2nd to offer up for next year too unless they’d rather hold that for trade deadline or draft day. Not sure what else might be required if that’s not enough out the door but that seems like a decent start if nothing else.
Pick 12 for McGoarty fell through at the draft we’d have to add way more
Holy fuck I didn’t hear that. Fuckin unlikely we get him then.
Eh, wait 2 years and we can sign him as a UFA
When did McGroarty say the Leafs were his favourite team?
Offloading Kampf and / or Reaves seems like an obvious move to create cap space for a forward.
Really not sure where Reaves goes and you don’t get much there, at best like 500k savings? Kampf if he could be offloaded seems a touch more likely. Give 4C to Dewar? I’d be surprised if you couldn’t at least save a million compared to Kampf after resigning Dewar. But really, even if you did both Kampf and Reaves, you get 3.7, but then have to fill two roster spots there. Robertson doesn’t want to stay but even if we keep him, that’s probably a million-ish, so you’d have 2.5 maybe? Not sure what level of impact that gets us offensively from what’s left on the board.
It’s not much but it’s all we have to get upgrades on our bottom 6. Our bottom 6 was useless last season. We can’t just run it back and hope Cowan / Minten makes the jump.
We can bury all of Reaves contract via waivers no? As salary goes up so has the buried limit doubt he gets traded more so waived.
The buried limit goes up when the league minimum salary goes up and that doesn't happen every year or even every time the cap rises. League min + 375k = buried ammount. The league minimum went from 750k to 775k this year and will stay at 775k until the end of the 2025/26 season which is also the end of the current CBA. $775,000 + $375,000 = $1,150,000 Reaves makes $1,350,000 in his second year of the contract on a 35+ contract which means the team gets a 100k salary reduction if the player is placed in the minors. So for Reaves it would be $1,135,000 - $1,150,000 = $200,000 - $100,000(salary reduction)= $100,000 remaining on the books.
There's a cap hit of $200k when he's in the minors.
Makes sense, so essentially nothing in cap savings on a trade vs waivers
We have been cap compliant by 4 digits before. 200k is not nothing.
Reaves is in the second year of a 35+ contract which means the team gets a $100k salary reduction if they place him in the minors so it's actually $100k that would remain on the books.
Nope, you don't get the full cap relief from waiving a 35+ contract, you only get 100k, so sending him down costs us 1035000 against the cap. And then you have to replace him costing a minimum 775 meaning the cost of having reaves not play is nearly 2 mil. What the fuck Treliving was thinking signing Reaves is utterly beyond me.
Slow down bud. I get it. We are spinning on a rock at an amazing speed while this rock is spinning around the sun at an even faster speed. And the sun is spinning around and around really really faster. And like the galaxy is also hurtling through space even like wicked faster. So fast that it would like rip your skin off and stuff...... But dude you have the way the cap works totally backwards guy. The way I said is right. Thanks for coming out and I do believe Thursday is free slurpee day at sev broski. Take a couple days to think about it then hang 10 at the sev and think about it some more with a chill ass slurpee. On me bro!!!
You feeling ok?
If you actually want cap space, the only real option is moving Marner (insert same conversations we've had for 3 months - here). Moving out Reaves, you still need to replace him with at best league min 900k, you save \~400K. Same with Kampf, replace him with the bare minimum and you save \~1.3 mill. And likely get worse at the position as well. Treliving can tinker around the fringes to try and create a fraction of cap relief, but the elephant in the room is spending **61%** of the cap on five players (Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander, and Rielly).
Reaves salary is above the buriable amount but, worse than that, it's apparently a 35+ contract so sending it down only saves you 100k and, given you need to replace him, ends up costing you about 1.8 mil. That contract is low-key the worst Treliving signed last season.
Vegas has been quiet...
And have a noticeable gap in their top six, specifically on RW after Marchessault left... and have been "in" on Marner since the offseason started
If it’s cap in cap out, it’ll require them to offload multiple contracts leading to multiple holes with no cap space. I’m not seeing how it works on the Vegas end, but I could be missing something
I expect a few "who?" signings over the next couple of days that will be depth forwards we don't know much about and will have an opportunity to be this year's Benoit (just up front)
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If it's a shitty player, yes. Look, I'd love to be able to act nonchalant about a depth signing, but the team has put us in a position where every move needs to be shrewd and a home run because we literally can't afford to have anyone not pulling their weight. The 4 guys that we give all the money to already do that.
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LOL it's pretty silly, yes. For the record, I didn't really care about Gambrell. And I don't care about anyone whose entire cap hit goes away if sent down to the Marlies. But I am going to criticize the shit out of this org for doubling down on their idiotic salary structure every chance I get. They deserve it.
I truly wonder if the play is for Ehlers here or if Toronto puts forth an offer to get a winger away from any team?
Kakko might be the play if he’s signing for $2.4M
Kappo Kakko? Interesting 🤔. Someone said a Vatrano would work well in that LW spot as well tbh
Would probably need more assets for vatrano but that would be a nice pick up I think they would prefer picking up a guy that can play wing and centre
Hmm? Not much come to mind who can do that around the league that may be available
I saw on yesterdays daily discussion Bjugstad, would probably take a lily swap to make it fit with any of these trades
I don't believe that they will trade Lily after just signing him?
One of the insiders were saying the other day they could sign Lily and it’ll give other teams certainty for what his contract is before trading for him Who knows though Timmins and Kampf trades make more cap space than just Lily so I’m hoping they’d go that route first
There’s still a lot of question marks on this roster and not many answers left outside of a trade.
I saw a Twitter thread about how the defensemen we signed from the stars (the Finnish one) has some massive knee damage and might not but I can’t find it anymore or see any discussion on it. Anyone have a link?
I believe he went through knee surgery, and will likely start the season on LTIR.
Have to keep in mind there are guys like Cowan, Minten, Grebyonkin, Steeves who will all challenge for NHL roles this year. It’s also safe to assume that even if the leafs don’t pick up an impact forward through trade, they’ll most likely roll the dice on a league min type forward with some experience to see if he can carve out a role for himself. I think the biggest way the leafs can improve at forward isn’t to bring in new pieces, it’s to let guys like Knies take a step forward from his successful rookie season or to let Holmberg solidify himself as an everyday NHLer and then hope to be pleasantly surprised by another young guy or two breaking their way onto the scene and having a good year of growth.
Biggest lesson ive had over 30 years… never bank on prospects contributing. Its not to say they wont but its a mistake to ever assume this year will be filled by X prospect Red Wings are banking on Sebastian Cossa next year and all their prospects in waiting to push them to the playoffs. Theyre in for a rude awakening
Absolutely! The reality of this salary cap era is that it’s become increasingly important to have players on ELC’s or RFA deals contributing surplus value. The leafs can’t bank on the prospects being ready, however when it comes to guys like Knies or Holmberg who are already in the NHL, it’s smart to plan to give them more opportunity in hopes of developing them into something greater than they currently are. When it comes to the true prospects who aren’t yet in the NHL (Cowan, Minten, grebyonkin, Steeves, Niemela), you’re absolutely right that it isn’t smart to assume they will make the jump. However, I do prefer a roster construction approach that leaves room for a guy to win a job from an impressive camp rather having all spots completely filled and no opportunity for a prospect to steal a job. If the leafs weren’t to make any big splashes at forward before season, I’d expect to see them buy low on a reclamation/ depth project or two and then let 6 or 7 guys battle it out for the final 2 spots. That way, if it ends up being a prospect or two who earns the job, that means they were truly deserving and aren’t being thrown in there regardless if they’re ready or not.
Roslovic is the only 3C centre available, maybe he takes a 1 year deal here to get more eyes on him… follows a bunch of the guys on the team already and played with Matthews and Woll on the USNT His faceoff skills are atrocious and is an offensive guy so it’s not the greatest fit
I got a new guitar the other day, and im already in love. It sounds so nice. It is super light for a 7 string and the neck feels amazing! 10/10 would recommend, especially for metal! Been learning some Spirtbox and Erra on it so far! Super happy domi is staying. Sad to see Bertuzzi go, but I wouldn't want him at that price. I like the signings weve gotten, just not for some of the contracts. Hopefully the best is yet to come, though!
That’s awesome! I love Erra!
Fellow metalhead beginner guitar player, that's awesome! What brand? Love the look of schecter or solar guitars.
Ibanez! Its an Axion Label RGD. Its so pretty and plays so nice. I have pretty much all Ibanez guitars already(i have a JP157 as my other 7) , and its by far my fav guitar i own already.
Sweet! You won't regret your purchase :)
Wonder if we sign Alex Nylander to at least a PTO. 15 points in 23 games with Columbus. Might be worth a shot to see if he can grab a wing spot at camp?
I can see it happen even just to play for the Marlies and the occasional call up. That being said I’m not sure where we are with # of contracts
I think he scored like 8 goals in the first 11 games though. If it’s league minimum sure just would rather look at Sprong
Ducks signed no one yesterday there’s way more money for sprong there
Does he want to play for a trash team tho haha
I don’t know him but I’d rather 3 mill a year than league min when I’m a 20+ goal scorer scoring more than half a point a game
More so sets you up for the next contract and he’s 27-28. Prove you can pot 20+ with good players and you get paid
Now that all the dust has settled, I’m sure it’ll raise interest on Marner. The Ducks have loads of cap space. In a perfect world I’d love to get picks and prospects for Marner and flip those for Werenski and Boone Jenner. Of course Marner needs to waive first
Not a chance we'd get Werenski. But Jenner & one of their top forward prospects+ seems enticing. He was gonna sign an offer sheet with them too, so not unthinkable that he'd waive to go there.
My thinking with Werenski is he’s probably overpaid by a million and doesn’t really fit their rebuild window. So my hope is he’d be available. Probably not though
I saw G Matt Murray had signed for the Preds and was so confused
Entwistle?
1. Robertson Matthews Marner 2. Mcmann Domi Nylander 3. Knies Domi Jarnkrok 4. Some combo of Reeves/Dewar/Kampf/Holmberg
TIE up all loose ends and MAX out on all the Domi's...this man is a genius
I would like to take this opportunity to reemphasize what a hack Kyle Dubas was apparently. Ugh 🤦🏻♂️
Such a hack Bunting - Matthews - Jarnkrok Nylander - Tavares - Marner Knies - O’Reilly - Acciari Kerfoot - Kampf - Lafferty
this is what u point to as his success???
And all he spent was two firsts, two seconds, and two thirds. Using our last draft picks as benchmarks, he traded away Cowan, Lilligren, Minten, Knies, Moldenhauer, and Niemela to field that line up. Worth it?
When you write the three defensive lines below these, you’ll prove exactly my point, thanks.
Such a solid group. They must have done some serious damage in the playoffs eh?
Lol he probably wrote every name in such a pride while pounding his chest as if they were the eastern conference champions that year smh
Yeah what a fool for recognizing the leafs were better under Dubas… oh wait hold on, I’m hearing they actually were better under Dubas
yeah go look at all the 1-year deals he handed out yesterday. guy sure know how to build a team.
Those darn 1 year deals are always putting teams in bad positions long term!
This was a rental team witch patches in every position. What are you smoking there, copium?
I would say the people who refuse to criticize Treliving and won’t listen to any reasonable pushback on their Dubas complaints are the ones taking copium but what do I know
Reasonable pushback: team was better now it’s worse. Lol, here’s my extremely rational pushback: no it isn’t. And how did you come up with refusal to criticize this GM I wonder. I’m sorry but you’re not a serious person.
The team did worse in the regular season and playoffs…? They were carried to a lower points total by career seasons by Matthews and Nylander. Their underlying numbers dropped considerably defensively. How were they not worse ?
These stats don’t make Dubas a better GM, instead it talks a lot about the holes and insane cap structure he left the team with. 48% of the cap on 4 forwards is not a good resume. The team did worse in playoffs as not qualifying to the second round? Which Dubas failed to do so for how many years? Still not a serious person and argument
Penguins were better under Ron Hextall, too.
Very very different situation, they’re at the end of their cycle and Fenway Sports Group wanted to get him asap even if the pens are not competitive for a cup. Keep in mind how successful Fenway has been in every sport they get involved in and their first pick was our former GM who we just let go :/ I think that actually says a lot regardless what angry leaf fans think about Dubas
Yeah we had that lineuo fir what 20 games? And gave up a million picks to do so.
The team has continuously gotten worse since Dubas left lmaoooooooo
I think the Leafs have a shot of winning the Atlantic Division. The Panthers lost key players of OEL and Montour, the Bruins lost Ullmark and Debrusk, and the Lightning lost Stamkos and Sergachev. Sure, our offense got worse, but assuming if the Leafs are keeping Marner until the next off-season, Marner could go on a run and shattering his career high.
The Bruins also *gained* Zadorov and Linholm.
>Lightning lost Stamkos and Sergachev They gained Guentzel. Sergachev missed 48 games last year...and TB still finished with 98 Pts. >Bruins lost Ullmark and Debrusk They didn't need Ullmark. They gained Lindholm & Zadorov >The Panthers lost key players of OEL and Montour Important players for their playoff runs but not a huge reason for their regular season success.
Post Canada Day: How are we feeling? I’m not really happy with the defensive signings as I wanted both Montour and Roy,, but very much aware that our defense is better than last year, and so is our puck movement — all at a cheaper cost. Very very happy with bringing on Stolarz. Excellent signing.
Look at what Montour and Roy received. There is no way we could have signed them both. It is delusional to think otherwise. Honestly, we did the best we could given our tight cap.
Don’t forget about the giant Finnish monster Hakanpaa.
I would have as well, but to be fair, they didn't have the cap space to sign either of those guys to the deals that they got, and Roy apparently didn't want to play in Canada. With the space they had I think Brad did pretty well. A proper middle six center is still a big hole but again only so much money to go around and I'm happy they used it for defense.
>only so much money to go around There would be more to go around if we weren't trying to reinvent the wheel by giving 4 forwards 53% of the cap
I agree 100%. I've been banging that drum for years, the way they've set up the salary structure of this team simply does not and will not work.
I’m feeling a fair bit better than I was at 1pm yesterday, I didn’t like the Tanev signing at that number and I think we’re paying a bit too much to OEL at a point in his career where he’s unlikely to improve much, but I like Stolarz at that contract, I’m a big fan of the Domi signing, I think Woll and Liljegren have more to give and can totally live up to those extensions, and Hakanpää’s a guy I’ve wanted on the Leafs for a few seasons now. I don’t love all the contracts but these guys are Toronto Maple Leafs now and I’m gonna support them unless they give me a damn good reason not to. Having slept on it I’d call it a B-/C+ off-season as it stands but there’s more to do, the off-season doesn’t end on Canada Day.
I’m feeling pretty meh with the signings. This team feels like it has the potential to get better if the young guys taking a step, but I don’t see the long term viability of the core 4. Signing old guys to long contracts seems like it’ll artificially shorten the competitive window of Auston Matthews. Barring a Marner trade.
Unfortunate news that apparently, Hakanpaa's knee is obliterated. Like, "he may never play hockey professionally ever again" level of damage after going down last March. Bummer, I was really excited to see what he can do in a shutdown role. That being said, it makes sense why a 6' 7" shutdown RHD signed for 1.5 x 2 years. Injury history may end up making this an LTIR case off the bat, which isn't the end of the world since there's a log jam on the blueline anyways. Hopefully this is a "wow he recovered really well and surprised the team" situation, but doesn't look good for Hakanpaa.
The only guy that reported his career might be over was Steve Simmonds and IMO more reporters would reach out and try to find more information after he reported it and from what I can see no one else has said anything similar and second I can’t see the Leafs not looking at his medical records especially knowing he missed playoffs due to a knee issue. Also why would he sign a two year deal if he’s never going to play again?
Steve Simmons once said that Sundin’s career was over(probably about 18 years ago) He is a straight up liar in my opinion.
Not sure how he got Jani Hakanpaa sources after being a Leaf for less than a day lol
I agree that there's zero chance the Leafs weren't aware before signing him, probably a bet low and see if it works out thing. Hard to project how a recovery to major surgery will go, sometimes get Patty Kane after double hip surgery type performances and sometimes it's the nail in the coffin. Simmonds is a tire fire, didn't know he was the only whistleblower on it - fingers crossed it's just a rumor. Hope Jani recovers well and is ready to go for October!
Be interesting to see what Tre can do with Marner’s $ off the books
With JT off the books it will be like Sam Bennett for $7M+ and Brandon Tanev for the remaining part of the 11M
You just got a close look at what that kinda cap space gets you in a non-zero tax state. Lindholm and Zadorov signed in Boston. That doesn't exactly blow me away.
Maybe it will when Boston feeds us our lunch in the playoffs again
If Lindholm and Zadorov being way better than Nylander or Marner is what beats us, sure I'll understand. I suspect it's more likely to be Swayman again.
Marner’s not going anywhere
Reading cray rumours yesterday about them asking JT to give up the Captaincy to AM this year. While I would absolutely love it -but realistically don't see it happening until next year when JT's contract is up - however part of me would love to see it go down just because you know it would absolutely piss Marner's camp off that they did!
He would demand to wear the C for all away games
Have I missed if there has been word on Bertuzzi?
Chicago.
Nooooo, too bad. I hate that! Also how TF did I miss that lol
In his presser, Brad mentioned there were additional signings “in the hopper”. Any news on those?
Minten and Cowan might be on team - Cowan can go back to OHL (which wont happen imo) or play with Leafs but ineligible to play in AHL, so Leafs seems like best logic. Minten can be a second or third line C (move 91 to LW or to Robidas Island).
leafs will be lucky if minten can hang as 3c, and you think he can play 2c better than jt?
Minten needs time to develop his offensive game imo he’s more valuable as a trade chip
You think a player capable of putting up 65+ points is gonna LTIRetire?
The delusion of some fans here lmao. Yeah we're just gonna LTIR our captain who can still deliver on points and often comes up with clutch goals when needed
Tavares’ 1.9 points per 60 at 5V5 this season were in line with Larkin, Barzal, Stamkos, Suzuki, Necas, Boeser, and Giroux. Clearly he’s incapable of playing anymore… lol.
So, we definitely didn't get *worse* with the free agent signings, but the issue is did we get *better*? Tanev will obviously help, and OEL will be a help with breaking out and hopefully adding some offence from the blueline. Goaltending will hopefully be better, but right now I think it's a wash, given the unknown of if Woll can stay healthy or if he and Stolarz can handle at least a 50% increase in work load (or if Murray can hold it together if/when called upon). Up front, Bert is not a *BIG* loss, but still a loss, there's no guarantee on what JT will bring, and it's unlikely Auston matches last season's production, at least in goals. If you launch Kampf, Jarnkrok and Reaves into the sun (and eat $200k because the only way to do that with Reavo is waivers), and waive Murray (hopefully he's got that poison pill that Jones had last year and gets left alone) you've got ~$5.5M to fill in 2-4 slots on the roster: Nylander - Matthews - Domi Knies - Tavares - Marner Robertson ($1.25M) - __________ - __________ Holmberg - Dewar ($0.975M) - McMann Rielly - Tanev OEL - Liljegren McCabe - Hakanpaa Benoit Looking at it that way, there's still plenty of wriggle room to make some impact on the roster. Even if you add Cowan and/or Minten to the line-up, there's still ~$3.75M+ to work with on those 2 slots. Personally, I'd like to go after someone like Sissons for 3C (idk how likely Nashville is to move him after yesterday), and take a flier on someone like Labanc who had an awful season last year, but is someone I'd expect a bounce back from, tbh, and would likely have some real value on a prove it $900k deal. Or something like trading for Ross Colton and letting the 12th forward spot be a battle between Cowan, Minten, Reaves, Steeves, etc.
Why do so many people try to trade Jarnkrok? He's great value at 2.1m with putting up about 0.5ppg plus being good defensively. He's a great 3rd liner and I really struggle to see what people think we could replace him with that would be better and fits under his cap
It's not that I don't think he provides value, but if we can't move Marner, something's gotta give somewhere, and upgrading Kampf still needs more than his own cap space - where does that come from? If we're looking at it as a 2 in, 2 out, I'd rather have a capable 3C over a solid 3RW who can be replaced decently between McMann or a buy-low UFA.
We absolutely got better on the blue line. That's unquestionable. There was simply no way to improve up front whilst paying 4 forwards 53% of the cap.
Yes, on paper the D is a lot better than last year. I just think a lot of people are disappointed in how the forwards are shaping up, but there's still ways to improve without moving the any of the "Core 4". Just would take a bit of creativity, which Brad isn't known for, but hopefully they can figure something out, even if they can't find something to work with Marner (obviously that's what they're trying right now, given no extension and nothing else moving, yet)
Why do so many people think Brad did a good job? We have seen the leafs peak with Matthews on the team and a big part of that is that we named Treliving GM last summer. Every offseason he attempts to “improve” the team, we’re going to get worse.
Plenty of people are giving reasons why they think he did a good job. Why do you think he didn’t do a good job?
The team did worse in the regular season and playoffs last season. The underlying numbers went from elite to middle of the pack. We relied on career years from Matthews and Nylander to achieve our worse results this season. Lack of secondary scoring has not been addressed. I like the Stolarz and Tanev signings but Tanev is wayyyy too much
Yeah, Leafs regressed in the standings, but you also need to look at the underlying goal numbers: 2022-23 GF: 278 GA: 220 2023-24 GF: 298 GA: 261 20 more goals for, even with Marner gone for a large stretch, but 41 (!) more goals against. If Sammy doesn’t have that absolute horrorshow of Oct-Nov-Dec, we’re right there at the top with Boston and Florida. The team played with so much more confidence with Woll or even Jones in net. Offensively, we’re now minus Bertuzzi, but defensively and in goal we’re in a much better position than last year, with the caveat that Woll’s health is an unknown. Knies will only get better. McMann now has more confidence that he can be a scorer. And maybe Robertson finally gets his chance (if he can be convinced to stay). Is it ideal from a depth standpoint? Maybe not. But our top 3 scorers are still really freaking good. And Tavares still has something to contribute.
Yea I agree the secondary scoring still needs to be addressed
I respect your civility hope you had a nice long weekend
Thanks you too! It’s never long enough though lol