A New Leafs Perspective - From The Outside

Created by: dannibalcorpse

Team: 2022-23 Toronto Maple Leafs

Initial Creation Date: May 21, 2022

Published: May 21, 2022

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Legend

Left Handed

Original Team

Waivers Exempt

Right Handed

Position

Trade Clause

Max Perf. Bonus

Expiry Status

Term Remaining

McDavid, Connor

$12,500,000 ( Performance Bonus

$250,000)

NMC

UFA - 5

Description

Wanted to try and look at what the Leafs could do from an outside perspective - it feels like TML fans are ready to just burn it all down after the Tampa series, which is silly considering this was literally one of the best seasons in franchise history - and anyone you run out of town isn't getting you fair value back.

There are some places around the edges to make some improvements though, so here's what I think could be a realistic path to take this offseason.

TRADES

-San Jose has Kappo Kahkonen & Adin Hill already under contract next year; a 34 year old James Reimer doesn't really fit. They have very few top-6 forwards though - how about we swap out Alex Kerfoot at his highest value and get back an affordable starting goalie? I'm not sure if this would be one-for-one, but I don't think a ton needs to be added to make this fair. And, of course, this depends on Reimer being open to coming back to Toronto.

-Buffalo fans have made a lot of noise about trying to find a veteran RHD to pair with Owen Power. Justin Holl isn't a superstar, but he's a dependable hand on an affordable salary. Buffalo flips out a 4th rounder to get that veteran presence without paying an arm and a leg for it. If the Sabres don't bite, someone will at this price - it's fair value for an RD3 like him.

MRAZEK: bought out. Bye bye!

SIGNINGS
-Not sure if this is exactly how it shakes out, but assume that Sandin/Liljegren/Engvall eat up about $6M in cap on bridge deals. You do bridge deals with them - get you to the 2024 offseason when you have $50M+ in space. If you have to overpay for them then, it's worth keeping them around now when you're still trying to contend.

-Brought back Mark Giordano, Ilya Mikheyev, and Colin Blackwell as UFAs. Again, contracts might wind up different individually, but feel like getting all 3 signed should cost $5-5.5M total.

-As far as UFAs, let's find our Michael Bunting! AJ Greer is interesting to me as a potentially overlooked player - he's passed through a few organizations with solid AHL numbers and no real shot at the NHL level. He's only 26 and a UFA, so take a little swing and see if you can unlock something with him.

I also like Noel Acciari and Charlie Lindgren as guys who've had success in the past and would be good depth that shouldn't cost a ton of money. To me, I'd rather have these guys sitting in the press box and cycling in a couple times a week than my prospects (same goes for Clifford and Duszak as the other scratches.)

LINES
-First line ain't broke; don't fix it.
-2nd line: Mikheyev slides up to take over Kerfoot's slot. I like the idea of his shot playing with two incredible playmakers like Tavares and Nylander - I could see him pushing 30 goals in this spot.
-3rd line: Kampf & Engvall are your defensive stalwarts (both had positive CF despite starting in the D-zone 2/3 of the time!) Blackwell feels like he slides in nicely here as another winger who might have more to unlock.
-4th line: let's keep this one sheltered as hell! Greer is here to try and unlock something more, Simmonds is your strong, physical veteran, and Steeves strikes me as the center who best fits in here - I think putting any of the higher-upside guys here would be worse for their development than letting them get top line minutes with the Marlies

PAIRS
Reilly-Brodie: duh.
Muzzin-Liljegren: pair the up and coming stud with a steady veteran presence.
Giordano-Sandin: see above

Again, this team was very very good this year. It doesn't make sense to blow it all up and trade guys like Willy Nylander for disappointing returns when your team had 115 regular season points and was a couple bounces away from beating the defending champs. Goalie's the only place to make a big change, and I think it's worth taking a swing there - but you need a solid 1A there who can get you 45-50 good starts while you then cycle in the backup/Woll/Kallgren in for the rest.

Free Agent Signings

RFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Engvall, Pierre	2	$2,000,000
Liljegren, Timothy	2	$2,000,000
Sandin, Rasmus	2	$2,000,000
Duszak, Joseph	2	$800,000

UFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Blackwell, Colin	2	$1,200,000
Mikheyev, Ilya	3	$2,250,000
Giordano, Mark	1	$1,750,000
Acciari, Noel	1	$1,000,000
Lindgren, Charlie	2	$1,100,000
Greer, AJ	2	$900,000

Trades

TOR

Reimer, James

SJS

Kerfoot, Alexander

TOR

2022 4th round pick (BUF)

BUF

Holl, Justin

Buyouts

Petr Mrázek: $1,033,333

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2022
2023
2024

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$82,500,000	$82,073,116	$212,500	$0	$426,884

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Bunting, Michael $950,000$950,000 LW UFA - 1	Matthews, Auston $11,640,250$11,640,250 C UFA - 2	Marner, Mitchell $10,903,000$10,903,000 RW UFA - 3
Mikheyev, Ilya $2,250,000$2,250,000 LW, RW UFA - 4	Tavares, John $11,000,000$11,000,000 C, LW NMC UFA - 3	Nylander, William $6,962,366$6,962,366 RW UFA - 2
Engvall, Pierre $2,000,000$2,000,000 RW, LW UFA - 1	Kämpf, David $1,500,000$1,500,000 C UFA - 1	Blackwell, Colin $1,200,000$1,200,000 C, RW UFA - 2
		Simmonds, Wayne $900,000$900,000 RW, LW M-NTC UFA - 1
Greer, AJ $900,000$900,000 RW, LW UFA - 2	Steeves, Alex $834,167$834,167 LW, RW RFA - 2

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Rielly, Morgan $7,500,000$7,500,000 LD NMC UFA - 8	Brodie, TJ $5,000,000$5,000,000 LD/RD NTC UFA - 2	Reimer, James $2,250,000$2,250,000 G M-NTC UFA - 1
Muzzin, Jake $5,625,000$5,625,000 LD NTC UFA - 2	Liljegren, Timothy $2,000,000$2,000,000 RD RFA - 2
Giordano, Mark $1,750,000$1,750,000 LD UFA - 2	Sandin, Rasmus $2,000,000$2,000,000 LD UFA - 2	Lindgren, Charlie $1,100,000$1,100,000 G UFA - 3

Scratches	Injured Reserve (IR)	Long Term IR (LTIR)
Duszak, Joseph $800,000$800,000 RD UFA
Acciari, Noel $1,000,000$1,000,000 C, RW UFA - 1
Clifford, Kyle $762,500$762,500 LW UFA - 2

Top Comments

May 21, 2022 at 9:37 p.m.

shaf_daddy

Shaf_daddy

Joined: Jun. 2017

Posts: 626

Likes: 147

I think this team lacks a centre that can step in and fill the need at 2C if AM or JT get injured. Again, this is why I wouldn't trade Kerfoot. Mikheyev will get far more. You can drop a guy from scratches to save money, but this team needs another winger/centre dual threat who can move up. That goaltending isn't getting it done. They need someone better than Duszak as their 7th D.

dannibalcorpse liked this.

May 21, 2022 at 9:51 p.m.

dannibalcorpse

we miss leo k

Joined: Feb. 2018

Posts: 6,014

Likes: 5,131

Quoting: shaf_daddy

MIkheyev's contract was the toughest for me to figure out. I think if I'm Kyle Dubas, I really try and sell him on it being like an RFA bridge - take a little less now, you're still a UFA at 29, and we'll pay you what you're worth in 2024 when the money's there. I think he can really thrive in that LW2 role.

Duszak is just a placeholder - I'm sure there's a half dozen guys you could get to be 7th D for under $1M. Same with Clifford.

I see what you're saying with someone who can step up if need be - Kerfoot is probably the easiest asset to move without moving one of the big boys, though, and I think you take that chance. Tavares has only missed 10 games in his 4 years with TML, and was just as reliable with the Islanders (except for when he got hurt at the 2014 Olympics). Matthews misses a couple games here and there, but if you just need to bring up an Abramov or Abruzzese for 8-10 games, I think you can live with it.

Goaltending is the toughest part for me - you really have to try and drag out some bang for your buck there. I think Lindgren is worth a swing - he didn't put up great numbers during his last couple years in Montreal/Laval, but I'd argue that *no* goalie besides Carey Price has done well in Montreal and you might want to point more of a finger at the system than the player. He was lights out in a handful of games with the Blues this year (.958!!) and was very solid in the AHL (.925 SV%/2.21 GAA in 34 GP). Reimer also makes sense as a guy who knows what it takes to play in Toronto and who still puts up solid numbers (.911/2.90 for an aggressively mediocre Sharks team this year).

Part of me wonders if you can throw Mikheyev's UFA rights to San Jose for Reimer, instead? Not sure how well that would work but if you're trading for a goalie, I think Reimer works for it - and then you can swap Kerfoot in for Mikheyev at LW2 and try and scratch out the extra $800K from somewhere else on the roster.

May 21, 2022 at 11:36 p.m.

Waffelz

Joined: Jun. 2019

Posts: 838

Likes: 316

[quote=dannibalcorpse;Part of me wonders if you can throw Mikheyev's UFA rights to San Jose for Reimer, instead? Not sure how well that would work but if you're trading for a goalie, I think Reimer works for it - and then you can swap Kerfoot in for Mikheyev at LW2 and try and scratch out the extra $800K from somewhere else on the roster.[/quote]

Why would the Sharks give you a real asset for a 27 year old putting up like .6 ppg on an offensively talented team who is probably going to hit free agency anyway?

May 21, 2022 at 11:44 p.m.

dannibalcorpse

we miss leo k

Joined: Feb. 2018

Posts: 6,014

Likes: 5,131

Quoting: Waffelz

Why would the Sharks give you a real asset for a 27 year old putting up like .6 ppg on an offensively talented team who is probably going to hit free agency anyway?[/quote]

Every GM in the league can look at a team with two 27-year old goalies and one 34-year-old and do the math. Reimer is on his way out the door, and has some control over where he goes with a partial NTC.

Not saying it'd be an even swap, Toronto probably throws in a pick/prospect as the main return and adds in Mikheyev's rights if the Sharks are interested. I think San Jose is going to need *some* top 9 help next year and he's shown he can be a decent finisher.

May 22, 2022 at 2:42 a.m.

Waffelz

Joined: Jun. 2019

Posts: 838

Likes: 316

Quoting: dannibalcorpse

Why would the Sharks give you a real asset for a 27 year old putting up like .6 ppg on an offensively talented team who is probably going to hit free agency anyway?

Every GM in the league can look at a team with two 27-year old goalies and one 34-year-old and do the math. Reimer is on his way out the door, and has some control over where he goes with a partial NTC.

Not saying it'd be an even swap, Toronto probably throws in a pick/prospect as the main return and adds in Mikheyev's rights if the Sharks are interested. I think San Jose is going to need *some* top 9 help next year and he's shown he can be a decent finisher.[/quote]

As far as I can remember, UFA rights for non-superstars are usually worth at most a 5th round pick. The Sharks traded UFA rights for Antti Niemi to Dallas in 2015 for a 7th round pick. I think the Sharks are much more likely to try and find a new home for Hill, but I think the ask for him would be around a 3rd/4th round pick. Reimer could probably get a late 2nd or any 3rd. The Sharks need depth scoring, but they don't have the cap space or resources to pay a premium for it, so trading for UFA rights seems like a poor choice.

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