Ceci is a tank machine

Saves cap and allows for 23 man roster. Problem is Ceci is better than Harpur, Liljegren and Holl, so the team is probably worse.

Ceci isn't going anywhere at the start of the season, if Liljegren and Sandin prove to be NHL ready; I could see Ceci maybe being dealt at the deadline but don't hold your breath.

Leafs would be above the cap after Hyman and Dermott comes back. It’s either playing without a bench or trading someone like Ceci

I'd love to hear a tanking GM praise him after trading for him, not for his perceived ability or value to the team, but for how much he's gonna help them get Lafreniere or some other lottery pick

You know that you can easily make the leafs fit under the cap with no trades right?

Hyman-JT-MM
AJ-AM-WN
Moore-Kerfoot-Kappy
Mik-Spezza-Shore

Muzzin-barrie
Rielly-Dermott
Guy-Ceci
Guy

Andersen
Hutch

You chose your favourite league min leaf to be the guy
https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/1429690

I made that scenario if Leafs didn’t go the trading route
https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/1434098

When Hyman gets back the most they can have is a 21 man team. Before that they are fine and can have the 23 player roster. They are not going to rush Hyman back. I am hinking 15-20 games will be missed. So the team will have plenty of time to evaluate all the players and the team dynamics to determine who to trade (if any). Also someone else with more than 2 mil cap hit could end up on the LTIR before Hyman returns given them more time for evaluation. I honestly think that any trades today would be just jumping the gun. We need to wait and see how the team plays. Maybe it will be determined that Kapanen (or anyone else by that matter) is expendable after seeing the new signings play some games with the team..

i believe even if ceci's value improves toronto would end up retaining some salary in a trade. he's a very hard sell at 4.5

These trades would just happen when Hyman and Dermott comes back. And that point about not rushing Hyman may be a good idea but he is very underrated. He plays lots of minutes and plays a well defensive game, and also plays on the penalty kill.

I really don't think Ceci is as bad as he was in Ottawa. If nothing else, simply playing on an elite team like Toronto will fix a lot of his blemishes or at the very least not make them seem as apparent as they were in Ottawa these past few years. Would Ceci be a black hole of a player on TB? Can anyone be that bad on a team like that? I don't think they can even if they tried. I think his only problem is that he was played as a top pairing/ high minute top 4 on an overall bad team which he is not capable of baring the load on. Doesn't mean he is bad, simply means he was deployed incorrectly. Similar to Risto in Buffalo, the team was forced to put a player not good enough to bare the big work load in that spot and he is getting the criticism for not being able to handle it. Maybe the coaching staff needs to deploy the player correctly more than the player needs to master the position he's not capable of doing.

Dermott coming back or not does not effect the number of players the team can roster. Hyman coming back creates the problem. I agree with your comments on Hyman. People say he is overpaid for what he gives. I strongly disagree and think he is worth a lot more.

Ceci's issue isn't minutes. The guy cant handle a puck and doesn't know what to do with it when its on his stick. He cant control it and struggles with it and ices it when a guy is running at him. Its like hes playing hot potato

So he’s basically Nikita Zaitsev

Wasn't Zaitsev good tho in his first year before they threw that contract at him?

Toronto is an elite team? Maybe on paper you could try to argue that but 3 1st round exits and 53 years without a cup and how many years without a playoff win doesn't exactly scream elite.

contract was bad to begin with

Than why would a coach, whose job is to make the team win, want to play a player like that? Why not just send him to the minors? he clearly isn't any better than Ben Harpur so why even put him there year after year after year. Not just one coach either. Different coaches with the same utilization of him?

Maybe the reason he mishandles the pucks as much as he does is because he's too tired to make a better play and that he's always facing the other teams best and fastest players? I mean, he was a consensus 1st round pick in the day for something. He can't be completely useless. He obviously has some skills.

I think simply because he was a 1st rounder, he is expected to be a top pairing guy and thus is being forced into a slot he isn't able to give the team. Like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Maybe the coach should look into finding some squares holes to fit him in rather than the latter.

Not saying he'll be elite or anything, just saying in a reduced role where he isn't being utilized against the other teams top end players or being overused he'll be able to provide good value IMO. 18-19 minutes a night where he sees primarily 3rd and 4th line players, coupled with playing with a far superior overall team should help him show everyone what he is able to do well.

Pairing him with Rielly isn't the way to go then. Theres a reason Ottawa's 1st pairing wasn't Chabot-Ceci last year. Max Lajoie had a great start to last year and was playing great, once he got paired with Ceci, everything turned to **** for that pairing. They became one of the worst defensive pairings in the league

Well its all semantics, really.

We probably have different ideas of the meaning.... making it past the first round isn't what makes an elite team IMO. Either you have elite talent on the roster or you don't. Tampa has had an all star team the past little while and haven't won a cup with it. They're still an elite team to me. If the only elite teams in the league are the ones who have won a cup, than there are only a handful of teams that can apply and funny enough none of them are the odds on favorite to be the next cup winner this year so who cares about playoff performance when it comes to the talent a team has?

Plus not sure what 53 years without a cup has to do with the current lineups ability. if you using that metric for a current team, then the Habs are the most elite team in the league.

Well considering Ottawa was already a sh*t show, not sure why Ceci has to take all the brunt of that blame. Either way, I don't think he is bad as he was. I think playing in Toronto will help his confidence and if Babcock is smart he'll use him wisely.

If you cant play in Ottawa, you definitely cant play under the bright lights in Toronto

I think you are confusing not being able to play in big markets with not being able to play big minutes.....These aren't the same problems.

My point is, if the team is elite it means the sum of all parts not just 3, 4 or 5 players, and the team is a contender for the cup annually. Toronto has elite players, but not as a sum are an elite team as 1st round exits don't count to me as being elite. They are on the fringe, but so far hasn't shown the elite quality of teams like Boston, Washington and even Tampa.

Its both for Ceci