By creative you mean trades a ton of assets for a rental D man right?

Leafs say no in Minnesota deal. Not dealing Liljegren when he would likely be as good as Spurgeon and is 10yrs younger. Getting better is important, not sacrificing future is more important. I think Vancouver will learn that quickly.

That Wild trade is awfully terrible. Spurgeon is really good but he is going to turn 30 next year. Liljegren is going to be a very good NHLer, Kapanen is already above average and you are giving up a 1st and a 2nd. That is just poor asset management.

I am not confident that Benning has any idea of how to do his job, I highly doubt he'll ever learn anything.

I hope Aquilini learns and fires him.. they would have salary problems before signing both Petey and Hughes..

No way do I think Marner should get what Matthews got and the main reason why is Matthews is overpaid. Matthews should not have gotten that deal, but because he did, Marner has a point to push the Leafs. Given the Leafs situation, Marner is not Matthews money but he's close and a $11M (6+ years) per year deal is fair IMO...again given what Matthews got. That said, on the open market Marner is not worth more then $10.5M on a 6+ year deal.

I think Aquilini likes Benning because he's a yes man.

Matthews is the best 5v5 goal scorer in the entire league. Give him a full season and 100 points and 50+ goals shouldn't be a problem. He's a super elite talent. Marner is terrific but he's not a super elite. Just elite.

Wow, is this brutal for the Leafs......Spurgeon for Ceci, Kapanen, Lilijegren, a first, second and more. Not saying it's Spurgeon's fault, but geez two playoff round wins in eight NHL years doesn't inspire "we need this guy at all costs"

Perfectly said. Didn't mention that it's clearly overpaying Marner, stayed on point

Yep.
When Luongo got traded out of Vancouver, one of the Toronto sports radio stations had a beat reporter of the Canucks on and mentioned how Aquilini wanted just a re-tool.
Fast forward a year into the rebuild and there's a disagreement with Linden (the president) and Linden made the smart decision of leaving.

This owner doesn't know hockey very well and is impatient.

That Minnesota deal....ugh..yeah NO.

I don't agree with Matthews being "super elite" talent. There are only a couple generational players I'd consider super elite...they are far and few between. Not that points or goals is the only barometer but putting this into perspective.

GPG Matthews ranks in a tie at #7 this past season with Kane at .54 gpg...next down the list is .53 gpg with McDavid. Ovy, #1 in the league, is .63 gpg.

PPG Mtthews ranks #21 (1.07), while Marner is #15 (1.15), McDavid #2 (1.49), Kane #3 (1.39), Kucherov #1 (1.59)

While they are elite numbers, super elite is a stretch.

As for Marner, it's an interesting debate between how much better Matthews is then Marner. We should all agree Matthews is better, but the margin isn't as big as people think. Marner is not a pure goal scorer, but he's a playmaker and one of the best at a young age...very similar to the way Kane was his first couple years in the league.

My point being, Marner is not far off from what Matthews is being paid...equal? NO, but anything more then a million or so less is crazy talk.

That's when the term talk gets weird though, because I would not at all be upset with Marner at 10.5 but that better be 7 or 8 years not 5 like Matthews