What is it with everyone on about two players that have hardly shown anything of any caliber make crazy money or such a big lose to a team that appears to have real studs as forwards. You trading brown a babcock favorite that kills penalty’s. kapanen and Johnson haven’t proven anything and if they play on the top lines which I don’t understand why the leafs would until they have them under contract. There stats are going to be inflated due to the real players JT, AM, MM, WN and NK. These are the players needed anyone else is honor to be asked to play on this team. This is becoming as bad as the Parayko deal.

Ellis will probably get closer to 8-8.5.

Every leaf fan loves Brown. He is the hardest working guy on the team. But his ceiling is not as high as Kapanen or Johnson. He is a great guy to keep on board if we can afford to. I would hope that Kapanen and Johnson would be on the Kadri line and not anywhere near our top 4 guys. For salary issues obviously. I think putting their defensive game to the test....hopefully improving it. You really need to not look at stats and watch those two on the ice, same way you would with brown. There is certainly something there. It’s a long season and a hard road in the playoffs. Having a guy like brown to jump in is a real asset.

Picking up Ellis is something I don’t think our team needs. I have a lot of faith in our drafting and our development program which I think is one of the best in the league. I don’t see why our defense shouldn’t be coming from within the program. Making a lineup without Ozhiganov in it is a mistake right there. I have a lot of confidence in our prospects and I think they will help us to keep guys like brown and Hyman. Two of the hardest working guys on the team.

I'd rather See Sandin over Marincin. I'd rather find a way to keep Brown. All we have to do is be patient until Marleau leaves. As for defense I think we need to wait and see what we have in Hall, Liljegren and Oz before we sign/trade. We have time, we don't need the cup this year, lets do this right and win several cups in several years.

I don’t see Johnson as anything special Kapanen has the speed and is showing more upside. Brown and Hyman have more grit and I prefer that since the big 4 can do the scoring. I see some giving them 3 to 4 Milion I don’t think they are anywhere near that kind of money. I agree that if the D issue is resolved in house it will give you a few more years as they will all be on ELC but once they are done. You are back at the same spot either give kapanen and Johnson the money or sign the D. Ellis is an easy fix if you sign him then you aren’t giving up anything except not beable to sign kapanen and Johnson.

??????What????? Currently one NHL Dman makes more than 8m....Subban. Next year you can add Karlsson, OEL and Doughty. Leafs and likely no team is going to pay Ellis top 5 NHL money just because he's a UFA.

Is Eichel better than Crosby? No, but Eichel is still in the top 5 for cap hits for forwards. It is due to cap inflation. OEL and Carlson have set the market for players like Ellis. In like 4-5 years Ellis won’t even be in the top 10 highest paid defenseman.

Glad you mentioned Crosby. At the time Crosby was close to the top salary. But Crosby was smart enough to know being a captain on a perennial potential long term was worth more in "outside money" that scrambling for a few dollars more in the NHL. Hence Crosby's net worth is apparently 150m. So maybe players might give money discounts be Leafs....especially if they see Leafs as future Cup winners, Sorry over 7m is an overpayment for Ellis, and if wants top dollars just to join team, do you really want him. Apparently Tavares was offered 13m to sign with San Jose. It's more important to have players who want to play for your team instead just getting. players because you paid them the most.

Okay, that’s great and all that Crosby is a Saint, but that doesn’t change that the market for players like Ellis has been set by OEL and Carlson. I wouldn’t want Ellis for 8mil but that’s likely what he is going to get in a thin D free agent pool. You’re basing your evaluation on ideals, not the market.