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Joined: Mar. 2018
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Honestly, I'm stumped by this post. Not much to like, not much to hate. So I'm pretty 50/50 on it.
To start off with the big move: I think trading Marner for Ekblad is Hall for Larsson 2.0. Ekblad doesn't have much offence to his game and I'd be cautious to think it's ever gonna come back. Marner plays all 3 zones well and puts up points. Stay away from this move. I don't think he actually gets over $11M. That's just the asking. If the term is lowered, the amount comes down. remember, Matthews was looking for $14M, but that was on a 8 year deal and he came down in term and came down in amount. That being said, if Marner had to be traded I'd like to think it's for a much better return that that (I've proposed a package around Matt Dumba + other assets before which seems reasonable).
I think Brown his a very useful forward and I think at least a handful of teams will be lining up to try to get him. You can argue what he's really worth, I'd argue more than a 4th, but the multiple teams trying to get him would drive the price up so I'd target a 3rd and a prospect for him.
Marleau you're going to have to add something in any deal to move him, that's the unfortunate causality of a cap dump.
Zaitsev won't be playing for Toronto next season, but I'd be fine if he was too in a reduced role. Only problem is that Zaitsev said himself that he'll never play for the Leafs again. So he's as good as gone.
You're right about Ennis. He earned a contract for next season and he's earned a raise. But if it's that much, he can find it somewhere else. He was also hurt last year and didn't score a lot of points. Can't see him getting more than $1M, and he signed in Toronto before for cheap because of the medical team, I'd be willing to bet he'd do it again.
I also wouldn't rush Sandin to the NHL so soon. He's only had 1 season in the AHL and it wasn't a full one because of injury. He looked great down there, but don't rush him and yo-yo him up and down like Toronto did with Percy and ruin him. Liljegren is far more likely to make the team than Sandin. In part for the right handed shot need, and because he was expected to get some time at the end of last season but an injury forced him to miss that chance. I could see him filling Zaitsev's spot once he's moved.
I like your contracts for Johnsson and Kapanen, just switch them. Johnsson is more likely to get the longer term deal since he's older and closer to UFA and it buys out more UFA years so it'll be more expensive. Kapanen is more likely to sign a bridge deal since he'd still be an RFA at the end of it and it's more of a "prove it" kinda deal, Johnsson already did that last summer.
Also with Hyman and Dermott out until December-ish, they'd be on IR and you'd need to find replacement until then (small point and I'm nitpicking but its reality). Internally, guys like Marchment and Engvall I think are most likely to get the shot up front first. And defensively it'd either be Liljegren, maybe a chance of Sandin, or sign a cheap UFA veteran until injuries recover.
But it seems like you know what you're doing for the most part, unlike all the other knuckleheads on here. Lol