kap and johnsson get more. I think gardiner is the odd man out and then they try and move marleau any way they can to save cash.

Let Gardiner walk as a UFA, trade Brown for picks, and trade/take offersheet compensation for Kapanen

Throwing big money at 2 players who have just arrived at the NHL level and haven't at all established what kind of players they are going to be, is a recipe for disaster. Kapanen disappeared in the second half and the playoffs. Johnsson had a few great stretches but still has a lot to prove. Giving them more is what guys like Chiarelli would do. If these guys want that kind of money, trade them, they haven't at all proved they are worth it. I'd give Kapanen a 2 year deal around 2 million and Johnsson either the same or a little more on a 3 year deal but I wouldn't put either above 2.5 million.

I feel they would get a lot more in return if they traded his rights away and not let someone offersheet him.

So basically what Toronto did with Nylander.... He was overpaid. Even resigning those 2 guys at those numbers you wont have enough to give Marner his $10 mil deal he is looking for.

Teams around the league are not going to do Toronto any favours and allow them to trade Marleau so they can both improve and get cap-relief. Even if Marleau is bought out, his AAV still counts against the cap because he was over 35 years old when they signed him. Zaitsev will be harder to move - possible but not likely - cause his contract length is stupidly long.

Gardiner will walk, because it's mutually beneficial. The Leafs get much needed cap space to help sign players (Marner, Kapanen, Johnnson, Back-Up goalie, and maybe Hainsey for a 1-year deal). Gardiner will walk because teams will overpay him in the open market, he's had enough of the Toronto media, and he can play out his years in a different market and start new. The Leafs will never win with Gardiner in their top 4 - he's Mike Green 2.0. Washington had great success with Mike Green in the regular season, as did Toronto with Gardiner, but he could not play playoff hockey. Gardiner is the same, he's half-forward half-defenceman and his style of play does not suit playoff intensity. He hates physicality, makes terrible defensive zone plays, and cannot rise to big-moment occasions unfortunately.

Brown will be the sacrificial lamb - he makes too much money to be a non-producing 3rd line player. Who the Leafs target on the open market will be interesting. Carolina is not trading Pesce or Slavin, Vegas won't trade Miller, so the Leafs will either have to overpay like crazy or get crafty with another league player (we saw that backfire this year with Ozhiganov).

Exactly - Toronto gladly overpaid Nylander who had not done anything meaningful in two, now three, playoff appearances.

Letting kapanen go to a 5m offersheet could prove lucrative for the leafs. I see way to many people trying to throw bank at kapanen.

It’s plainly easy to see who watches. Johnsson has been more consistant and a better producer yet many people value him at half of what kappy is worth.

Nylanders overpayment is minimal, its 600k per season.

Matthews overpayment is different story, it goes 3M+

Kapanen and Johnsson get more ? Well, with Dubarelli starting the overpayment era in TML you ppl has some laverage in those statements, but logic will give you what ppl with brains here are explaining.....its either Hyman / Brown type of tryout ( Kapanen 9 + 44 and Johnsson 3 + 43 ) and as main comparable check Arvidsson.....7 x 4,25M on top of 16 + 61, so turn his contract into shorter term one and here you go ( tho i think kid screw himself with a term to long for the talent he posses )

You are a sparkling example of someone who talks out of their ass. The first half of the comment was pretty accurate. The part where you start going off on which teams will move players... any sources for that? What exactly was wrong with Ozhiganov? He played well. I hope we bring him back next year.

No one is asking anyone to do the leafs any favours. But if you think teams are conspiring together to keep them over the cap you are very much out of contact with reality. Some players will need to be moved and teams will seize the opportunity to add players that might not normally have been moved at more than a fair price.

Then you trade one of both of them. Its really as simple as that. Marner was good in the playoffs, Kapanen wasn't at all. I find it funny how certain players get free passes while Nylander who played for the most part very well in the playoffs (He is a playmaker playing with the two worst goal scorers on the Leafs in the playoffs) gets roasted because of a couple of mistakes and sometimes looking soft.

I agree he needs to get more engaged but he's also not overpaid, he'll score 70-80 points next year, hopefully on the way to giving Matthews a Rocket Richard Trophy and everyone will be saying, his 6.9 million dollar deal looks great.

Its absolutely clear to me that the number one thing that drives a players value on here is reputation and emotions. Brown gets so much love because he's a blue collar hard worker that has endeared himself to the fans. In reality, he's lost his hands, hasn't been the best penalty killer and isn't big enough to be a physical player.

Nylander is a different player and sometimes looks disinterested, but at the same time, creates a tonne of offensive possession time and offense and is right up there with Kapanen for the fastest player on the team. He also is a turnover machine and takes the puck back a lot, a disinterested player doesn't get the puck back. But because he held out and a couple of idiots on Sportsnet said he sucks, everyone loses their minds.

Kapanen has an amazing reputation because he scored a lot at the start of the season but completely disappeared in the second half. His reputation has washed all the negative away regardless of how ineffective he was in the playoffs.

Exactly. I may disagree a bit with brown, he is a very smart player who is generally not surrounded with the right staff. The nylander Marleau brown line has no shooter. When he was with Kadri he looked better but Kadri hit a lot of iron this year.

The amount people actually know about hockey and players on this site is always trumped by rumours and hearsay.

Totally. Watching Brown this year though, I have no idea how he scored 20 goals in his rookie season. He has stone hands. That one setup by Nylander where he had an open net on Rask and Rask "stoned him" was a perfect example of how bad he is as a shorter now. He may have missed the net if Rask wasn't in crease, Brown had the whole net and shot it right at Rask.

What would you rather have... Trade them for picks or prospects? Or let 3 or 4 teams try to send them an offer sheet and possibly get more for them then you would for trading their rights away?
He's the easy player to pick on because he is making almost $7 mil and held out.

I hope you're right! I hope that he returns next year pops 70 plus points and make people like me look bad. Hahahaha

I think babcock needs to play his top players 20 mins a game though. If Nylander, Matthews and company were playing 20-22 mins a night they would score even more.

I think Babcock is very overrated. He seems to talk about a lot of things but fails to understand what is actually happening. I think you ride your stars when you are in a tight game or trailing and if you have a big lead which TO often had in the regular season, you can ease off the top players to keep them fresh. Babcock though has his favourites and habits that are not conducive to the new NHL.

Probably but it depends if a team wants to give him over 4.06M AAV

Marner for Williams. Game 7 issue solved.
Kadri for any cheaper center that won't get suspended when it matters most. Cap issue solved.

I don't think he is work 4.06M though... That is a high price to pay

I never said that teams would conspire, but if you have time just go and see how many people have posted arm-chair GM threads with Marleau and Zaitsev traded. Those are the people who are out of touch with reality, because they just assume other GMs will absorb the Leafs cap-related errors. Marleau has a NMC and unless the Leafs eat a portion of Zaitsev's deal it's not likely to be moved.

I think you're looking at this the wrong way - you should be concerned with the people who say Pesce, Slavin or Miller are going to be traded. Who are their sources? Cap-era trades that feature roster-for-roster changes are rare in the NHL - not impossible, but rare. Why would Carolina make one of their strengths weaker? Why would Vegas move Miller a year after re-signing him?

If Ozhiganov played so great, why was he rotated out of the line-up for Holl, Marincin and Rosen in the last 30 games? Yes, they traded for Muzzin but if Martin Marincin is ahead of you on the depth-chart when injuries happen to your team's d-core then that is a telling sign that you're not able to play consistently well in the NHL.

Your guess is as good as mine on ozzy, another reason why Babs should go.

This isn’t reality, it’s arm chair GM’s. Some trades are awful some are good and others are fair. Not one person on this site knows what plans GM’s have and which guys fit which dressing rooms.

If that muzzin Trade was posted on here I would have called it out for not being the player we needed. And I believe I did actually. Turned out that he can’t play the right side but we had some injuries on the left so it worked out well.

Roster for roster are rare? Since when? I think they get diluted by TDL trades for futures but they certainly aren’t rare. Karlsson Trade, hanafin trade, Pacioretty, petan/lindholm, gudbranson/Pearson, Stone Trade, granlund/fiala, Neiderieter/Rask, the dzingel Trade. And dozens more that were made just this season. These trades happen all the time. They are hard to guess because you don’t know all the motives.

Why would Toronto make one of their strengths weaker? The same reason as Carolina. To make their weaknesses stronger. I think Toronto and Carolina match well as trade partners. So long as management keeps their word and spends. Toronto has a surplus of talented wingers and no cap space. Carolina has a surplus of RHD and lots of cap space. Seems like a good spot to make a deal.

On the topic of Marleau and zaitsev.... you aren’t trading Marleau easily and would have to retain 50% likelyhood of finding a suitor he waives for us 0.00001%... zaitsev May be better to hold onto. I don’t think he has negative value just not any positive value due to his contract. But he is solid defensively and an rhd... sounds like something the leafs need.