Everything was so good except that edmonton deal. Having sheary and letang is way better than 6 million without 60 pts RNH and the return of that horrible Hall deal in larsson.

RNH is having his best season in NHL both scoring points and goals and even defensively he has improvements. He's young and still have a great upside in his career. So, I think he would improve Pens team in so many ways.

Larsson isn't a top 2 d-man. I know that. The trade for Hall was terrible from Oilers perspective. We all know that either. But Larsson is a good d-man anyway and could be useful in our D for short-term. In some moment of the next season Pens could make a big trade for a top 2 d-man, if they need to.

If you look in general, that would be a very good D.

As a Pens fan, I'd love to see all these moves happens.

JVR is asking for 6x6 from the Leafs he will want more on the open market. Sheahan is making $2.075 can't sign him for less as a pending RFA Can't see Chayka wanting Maatta in a OEL he can get better then a D man that has missed over 100 games in the past 5 seasons or so.

I admit I didn't know that rule about pending RFA. Thank you for that information.

I'll improve a little bit JvR's contract.

As for the trade for Ekman-Larsson...well, I still think it'd be a good trade for both sides. Määttä lost most of the games because of a tumor. We can't put him as an injury prone yet. Besides, he's improving his game this season, specially offensively. He's very young and he has a great upside in his career. So, I'm ok with that trade.

I believe rule of thumb is that to qualify an RFA they've to at least receive 10% over their last contract so to qualify Sheahan he would need to make at least $2.3 million for 1 year. Supposedly JVR wants 7x6.5 on the open market or closer to 7x7 he would accept a little less to stay in Toronto the reports were saying. And yeah Maatta has been looking much better here of late.

I see. So, it doesn't worth to re-sign him. That's what I did after what u explain me.

I made the changes about JvR contract.

Thank u.

Yup just don't re-qualify him he becomes a UFA this summer and you can sign him for less, That's probably what Detroit will do with Mrazek.

People are right and wrong about qualify a player yes it is at leasta 10% raise pens do not have to quantify him then he will become a Ufa on July 1st then any team even the pens could sign him for any amount even less what he is making

Why do the Leafs have to trade their 2nd/3rd best forward Nylander, a top prospect and 1st rounder to get OEL, but Pens only have trade Maatta, a first rounder, a cap dump and an AHLer.

My trade are two 1st. I forgot to add one here, but I added in my another armchair.

And I still think that's a fair enough offer to acquire OEL. He's not Doughty or Pietrangelo.

William, I don't disagree with the value in your trade. It's just that I see most OEL trades that the Leafs have to offer so much more than other teams. Regarding comments of JVR from others. May be JVR must get more from other teams, NYR and Devils come to mind. But JVR has seen what success his old buddy Kessel has had with the Pens, maybe he would settle for a little less, just for the fun. of playing of Malkin, Crosby and Kessel.

Well, Palhal...I haven't seen any Leafs trade for OEL yet. So, I can't make any comment about that yet. When I'll see some I'll try to explain, if I can...

As for JvR...I'm sure that some teams will offer better offers than us. But you got the point. No team have Crosby and Malkin in their roster. And no team is a back to back champion recently. For some players that's more valueble than some thousands bucks. Let's see if that's the JvR case...

William: 90% of OEL trades are to the Leafs. Thank you for being the exception.
PS. 95% of Tanev trades are to the Leafs.

Ok. But I still haven't seen none of them. Even trades foe other teams. That's what I'm trying to say.

And it's easy to understand why most of his trades are to the Leafs. They need one elite d-man so badly to be considered as a top contender.

Well, I agree that the Leafs "better dman". Pittsburg won a Cup last year without elite dmen. Tampa and LA missed the playoffs last season with elite dmen. Karlsson has won 3 playoff rounds in seven years. So I just disagree that Leafs have to go "all in" to obtain an elite and it's instant success. Leafs are a couple of years from being a true contender. No use wasting assets now or short term rentals whose contracts expire before the Leafs are in a position to make a run. There are a lot of Dmen being UFAs in 2019/20 and 20/21. (as of now). That is the logical time to make a move for "elites" not now. And even in 2019/20 the Leaf might have a pretty solid unit of Zaitsev, Reilly, Borgman, Dermot and Liljegren. We'll see.

Fair enough. So, what Leafs still needs, in your opinion, to face and win the serie against teams like Bolts, Pens, Kings or even Jackets in an eventually playoff matchup?

William: I may not sound like a Leaf fan when I say the following. Right now, the Leafs play Bruins in round one. (2nd against 3rd). Despite winning the last six games against the Bruins, the Leaf couldn't beat the Bruins. Some players have regressed this year....Gardiner, Carrick, Brown, Komarov, even Nylander and Marner though the last two seem to be on the swing upward. And no trades this year can change the fact the Leafs aren't winning two rounds this year. So IMO, the best thing the Leafs could do is not make trades, not to give up assets, for any short term help (which really wouldn't help).
The Leafs will only get better, in a few years when Nylander, Marner, Matthews play like stars. Improved defencemen internally, Reilly.Zaitsev, Borgman, Dermot and Lilijgren. Leaf do have prospects than can be good NHers. I've waited 50 years for a Cup, and there isn't going to be another this year, or next or probably even the next. IMO trading good assets now for short term help to me is wasteful. Improvement will have to come internally, and maybe in a few years it might be time for big UFA splash or a major trade. Nothing I see can really speed up the process to beat the top teams this year or next.

Very well explained your point view. And I think you're probably right about everything you said.

Winner teams aren't build in one, two or even three years (Vegas is a huge exception. But I don't think they'll win the cup this year. Not yet.). Leafs is one of the teams with the highest upside right now and can be considered a top contender in 2 or 3 years at most, in my opinion. I really think this young core generation will win one or maybe two cups in the next few years. Specially because they have Bab as their HC.

But I have a one million dollar question for you. If I understand well enough your thoughts, you're against to sign Tavares after this season, right? Do you think Leafs should pass this huge oportunity to sign a superstar like him, even after all the rumours indicating that he probably wants to sign with Leafs next season?

William: To answer you million dollar question, I will give you my 50 cent answer. Yes, as a Leaf fan and I'm sure Leaf management would love to have Tavares as long term player (as would 30 other teams.)
I have yet to see a post, and I can't make one, on how getting Tavares fits into the Leafs salary cap, IF the Leafs want to sign their young stars (well if they become stars)
Part of this salary cap dilemma is the expectation of the higher salaries of Matthews, Nylander, Marner and other by 2019 and 2020..(if you want those guys is the question). When you consider Leafs high performance bonuses from this year carried over to next year, next years high performance bonuses that likely have to put 2018/20 salary cap and the inclusion of Horton on the opening day "roster", I just don't see how Tavares is possible next year, and maybe in future years.
The Marleau signing of 6.25m seems to have tied the Leafs hands with some cap flexibility. And Marleau doesn't contribute enough to justify such a high cap.
Now does Tavares want to return to Toronto? I don't know. I'm one that believes as time goes on and players have made their lives elsewhere and this "hometown desire" isn't so important. But every one is different. Maybe Tavares truly wants to return to Toronto. Just a note, I think Leafs like Marner and Brown, who are Toronto boys, and have only played for the Leafs would have more desire to stay with the Leafs when they reach free agency. It's the only place they have really known. Tavares, he just might have just as much comfort living in the New York area than any other NHL city.

"I will give you my 50 cent answer." Lol
I love this one.

Sign Tavares is the obvious and easy choice to do, but sometimes those choices are not the better ones. Maybe that's the case. You clearly believe in long-term solutions. And I admire that, cause short-term good solutions can make winners, but good long-term solutions can make dinasties. And Leafs can make one with their current young core players, if they have some patience and make some smart moves in the next few years, like my Pens did for many years, winning 3 cups since they draft Sid.

That's why I think you're right to think outside of the box about Tavares possible signing.