nashville probably isnt trading ellis. if anyone leaves nashville its subban

Then how about nylander and a 2nd for subban straight up and then trade a 3rd for a cheap third line Center to play pk minutes

Yikes Ellis is worth so much more than that.... Nylander for Ellis straight up wouldn't cut it

That AZ trade is bad. Real bad

Thoughts on how to make it better? I mean we get rid of cap and get a good backup for Andersen and we get picks, they can’t be any better cause u have to compensate for marleau contract going to the yotes maybe 2 2nd rounders instead of 2nd and 3rd?

You sold pretty low on Zaitsev. You can at least get neutral value for him that's not a pick.

You've overspent on Kuemper. He's a backup goalie. Those can be had cheap and I don't see the logic in using Kadri as a sweetener to take on Marleau's contract, especially if Toronto retains on Marleau.

Nylander trade isn't bad value wise. I don't think teams would give Toronto that right now for him, but it's worth a shot. Smith would be a decent 3C so I like the deal from Toronto's side. Even though Nylander will most likely turn things around next season.

Kapanen and Johnsson are likely to take smaller bridge deals. Kapanen likely 2-3 years around $3M and I can see Johnsson going as high as 4 years but still no higher than $3.5M. They both have only 1 year in the league and nothing justifies $4M for them. All of their comparables are right around 3 years and $2.5M per year. So even $3M is a slight overpayment. Save on them while you can and spend later when they price themselves

You're just wildly undervaluing Kadri. Any trade involving Kadri needs one of two things coming back the other way: either a top 6 Defenseman making under 4, or a third line replacement making under 4.

In the trade you outlined I would change it to something like:

Kuemper or a 2nd or even just a 3rd.

for

Marleau
Sparks
Brown or a 2nd

Bang. On.

If Kadri is moved it will be for a RHD or potentially another D that will slot in the top 4.

If the Leafs move Sparks, I see them signing a backup in free agency for 1 or 2 years while they develop Ian Scott.

Looking at these boards, I see a consistent view by Leafs fans. Zaitsev is a bottom pair dman. While RHD have value, he could be replaced fairly easily. Luke Schenn is not as good as Zaitsev, but the difference is not worth $3.5M per year let alone a 5 year commitment.

Zaitsev has negative value to most other teams. That means that the Leafs would need to pay (and significantly ) to rid themselves of this mistake.

If he's not a bottom pair dman, he still doesn't drive offense. So he may be over paid, but by a lesser amount. This probably means that he still has marginal value.

He's not better than this.

So based on this, he's not worth a 3rd round pick

Personally I totally agree with you... But GM's make bad moves all the time. And I have a feeling you're going to be awfully sad when Zaitsev is wearing a Vancouver Canucks Jersey next year. I feel your pain man

Where I don't disagree with what you said, I think GMs could look at Zaitsev in a different way than how Toronto/Babs utilized him.

What we do know is he's capable of logging minutes, he can skate fairly well and he has decent puck handling skill. He did not thrive as a stay at home Dman nor as a stretch passer in a system that relies on stretch passes for their breakout.

I feel in a system where he is used as a quarterback for a second line, he could be worth 3.5M and the extra 1M is just for being right handed.

All reasonable, but nobody should pay for what ifs with that type of money and term already committed to him. Some GM might give you some value, but it would be a bad deal. Too much money and commitment for hope.

Yes we don't have the sharpest GM, but I don't seeing him making this trade.