That's quite the overpayment for a guy like Ekblad. He had a good rookie season and hasn't progressed much since. I feel like your paying for his name and not his actual play/value. That's not a smart way to GM, unless you're on NHL 19

The Panthers say hell no

what's fair for Ekblad?

Where's Moore? I put him with Matthews instead of Kapanen.

It's hard to say right now because it seems like Florida is gearing up for both of Panarin and Bobrovsky. If they get both, they may need to move cap space and then Ekblad's price is affected slightly. If they don't get both or only get 1 then he'd be harder to get. Also depends how confident they feel in their defence to replace him internally or if they need to sign or trade for another replacement. If they only got Bobrovsky, they may be willing to move him straight up for Nylander or maybe for Kapanen, Liljegren and a pick. If they only got Panarin, they probably look to keep him. So it's tough to say right now until things become clearer with Florida's direction.

The thing is Toronto can't move Kapanen and Liljegren and picks for Ekblad unless salary is retained. My guess is Kadri, Kapanen, Picks and $2mill in retained salary if FLA get both Bread and Bob.

*Leafs

I thought you said you heard CJ talk about the deal? .. If you did, you woulda heard him say that Toronto was trying to make multiple deals to make cap room so they could acquire a big name. Florida isn;t going to retain on Ekblad. That would take a severe overpayment to do. Toronto would have to move other players.. maybe like Connor Brown, Nazem Kadri, Nikita Zaitsev, to create the cap space, and then bring in Ekblad. Teams operate like that all the time. It's not like every deal is made dollar for dollar for cap reasons. Other moves get made in accordance for cap purposes.

I found this post on here from a few days ago that actually talks about the CJ talk and Leafs rumours at the deadline better and in more detail. It's not about Ekblad, but the idea is there for other moves to be made to be able to bring in a big name guy. Give it a read and see how it works. Shoutout to @Ryminister_27 for this one:

https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/1166462

What's with all thee nutty LTIR trades? Ducks probably don't want to add Zaitsev's 4.5m to their cap. Seems like an overpayment just to get 7.5m Ekblad, Zaitsev, Nylander, Liljegren 2nd and a 3rd.

Panthers wouldn’t want Zaitsev though, and Nylander is even questionable.

Panthers definitely won’t retain salary. Dubas wants a big time RHD and likes Ekblad but Kadri, Zaitsev, Brown, those guys aren’t getting you Ekblad.

Realistically, I could see Kadri being part of a deal for Ekblad. Panthers needed scoring all season long, Kadri fits that and gives them a good 2/3C for depth scoring. It's more about Florida's depth behind Ekblad at RHD that causes issues. Personally, I'd see something like Kadri, Kapanen, Liljegren and a 3rd for Ekblad + a couple depth pieces/prospects as something that's close to fair value. Keep in mind that Ekblad hasn't progressed much in a few years and injuries are a big concern with him. But again, it would depend who Florida could think would fill Ekblad's spot

Needed help scoring? They were 9th in the entire league in scoring. Scoring isn’t the issue, it was goaltending and defense.

all year they talked about how they needed secondary scoring. Their big guys were incredible last season, but they didn't have anyone outside of their top 4 forwards score more than 40 points. And only 5 players total had more than 40 points. So yes, they need secondary scoring.

There’s a difference between needing scoring and needing secondary scoring. The Cats need their bottom 6 to produce more. Vatrano will continue to improve, as well as Matheson, Borgstrom, Trocheck will be back full healthy. Prospects like Noel, Tippett, and Heponiemi all offensively gifted will have the chance to make the team. Panthers will be just fine scoring. They need goaltending and defense.

If they get bob that settles one need so why trade a dman for scoring which is a team strength. Ekblad to the leafs won’t happen.