Hear me out

Team: 2023-24 Toronto Maple Leafs

Initial Creation Date: May 23, 2023

Published: May 23, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

IDEAS:
1. Saros and Glass for Samsonov and Nylander. Reasoning: Saros is an elite goalie the Leafs haven't had in years. Yes Samsonov is younger, and had a great regular season BUT, he was awful in the playoffs. I don't want to hear anything else, his career playoff save percentage is 902. That isn't winning you a cup. Bob is proving right now a hot or elite goalie gets you to the promise land. Saros career save percentage in playoffs is 915. Leafs also get back their third line center replacement in Glass which is a nice touch. Nasville then gets a 40 goal scorer / 90 point player in Nylander they can afford to sign to an extension. They will have to likely move some cap the following year when said extension kicks in but most of the players they will need to move will be on the last year of those deals. They also get Samsonov to mentor their elite upcoming goalie as well. You pretty much get better for the future with this deal as Saros wouldn't be the starter in a couple of years and you get better offensively for years to come.

2. Sign Brown and Patiroetty. Both are coming off MAJOR injuries and will likely be added with a side of caution but I like both ideas. Brown is a hometown fav and I would like to get him back. He is pretty much a poor mans Hyman. He can move anywhere in the lineup and will hopefully be a solid 40 point player. Patches however is the wild card. He will miss nearly the entire season recovering from his second ACL injury. He is simply here for his shot to replace Nylanders. The idea is he can run PP2 and help the team score off the rush. He will likely be back near the end of the season so even if he has sit all year on LTIR, I feel like Robertson or a trade could work to help scoring in the season if needed.

3. Resign O'reilly, Accari, Schenn. I don't need to tell you why these are important.

4. Don't trade Murray. It might sound wild but with this team, there is no reason to move a first in the deepest draft in years to move on from him. Better yet, he could be ready to go if Saros or Woll get hurt. He also seems like a guy who could go on a run if needed. If we have the cap space use it. Hold on to him and IF you need to move it, move it at the deadline where a team taking on the remaining cap of his deal will likely on cost a 3rd round pick.

5. No spending on UFA Ds. The D for this years UFA is less than ideal. Some of them could make the team better but the following UFA class is significantly better. If we are going to spend a lot of money on UFA Ds, just wait till next year. The D will be fine with these guys. Won't be amazing but will hold up better than most of the league.