CBJ certainly declines.

Just don't re-sign Barrie. Replace him with Liljegren and you have your cap space there.

Barrie is starting to be like the player we traded for though. I would hate to lose Barrie when he is finally rounding out to be the offensive dynamo that we traded for. I guess could not resign Muzz and keep Rielly while bringing Lilly up.

How to make the Columbus trade work- take out Kapanen and Rielly and add Matthews... otherwise Columbus isn’t interested in your offer. Jones is untouchable and Foudy is only getting traded for a top 6 center.

I just got rid of it. I do like Matthews for Jones+ though. Leafs really don't have the center depth to make it work though.

I'll see if I can make something work with that

Imo you should keep Muzzin. Your team is offensive enough. Muzzin is defensively solid which makes him much more important.

do you figure Columbus accepts that? Allows our defenseman to be ridiculously solid if so

Think you quoted the wrong post lol

I don’t think either team is going to moves the said players. Matthews and Jones are too important for their team. Also if any leaf fans see the trade they are going to rip you and I a new one.

no. I also wanted your opinion because you declined the original trade offer for Jones that I made

I mean... it won't be the first rough Leafs ACGM that I/others have made. Matthews could back check every now and again. The games I've watched him were just brutal defensively (but he did get like 4 points, so I can't be mad)

Oh.

Prolly yes. Matthews is a franchise center. Even from the PR side of things getting a player like Matthews would be massive for a small market team like Columbus. And Jones has only a couple of years left. Not even including this year as he's probably out for the rest of the season with his ankle injury.

And he isn't a black hole offensively (in fact he is pretty good there too)

I'm not even joking when I say muzzin is our best dman. Good news is that TSN is reporting that a muzzin extension is basically done and waiting for tagging rules. "It should be announced by the deadline"

Anyone who thinks Matthews would be traded period is nuts and no Jones doesn't get you Matthews. Think Marner or Nylander. Never Matthews this is silly

Do you honestly think trading the best goal scorer in hockey makes any sense?

Honestly, no. Also id rather have Pasta if going by goals and contract. And Ovi is the current best goal scorer in the NHL. But yeah this is an Armchair to see what people think. Obviously it's crazy, but would you agree that the defense is good?

I assume the trade has changed since you posted this, because now the trade is ridiculous.

Yeah it was Jones+Foudy for Rielly+Kappy+3rd originally.

Jones is awesome, of course he improves the team, but it doesn't have near the impact Matthews has on the ice. He's a monster and can almost be counted on to score every game. That is just insanity

I mean. It is a little insane. I would love to have 1 of Tavares or Matthews and then use the other to upgrade elsewhere while also getting a 2C in return. I just feel like the cap has been spent poorly on guys that are excellent offensively but lack drive.

That is just anti Leaf Rhetoric. Matthews has as much drive as anyone else, same with Marner and Tavares. Even Nylander has a tonne of drive. He's not a physical guy at all but to go from the season he had to what he's doing this year proves he wants to be the best he can be. Its all just non sense. There is a huge anti leaf sentiment among hockey fans and they want the leafs to fail, so they make up reasons why it happens and the media panders to them as much as they do Leaf fans. So all we see is controversy in the news and many fans start buying it without really thinking about anything.

The reality is, in today's NHL, everything is about the team. Defensive play isn't as much about what 6 defenceman you throw on the ice but what kind of 5 man system you employ and how much does each player adhere to the structure. For TO, on paper, its hard to argue there is a more talented team. From top to bottom TO has incredible talent and depth. They are also still extremely young. When one of your grizzled vets is Morgan Rielly, all of 25 years old. You are a young team, and as such there is a lot of learning that is still needed. Fans don't really think about this, and the media tends to act like TO has been a contender for years and has failed to live up to expectations. Which is silly when you consider that Matthews, Nylander and Marner are all under 24 years old. This team is going to get better and better. Thinking a major change needs to happen is just silly, it ignores that the team has been top 5 in the entire league under Keefe. They have improved their defensively play greatly over the past handful of games and will make the playoffs where they could do damage.

Patience is all that is needed. Lets see what this core can do, they are way too young to think they don't have drive or the ability to play defensively or succeed in the playoffs, all of that talk is 2-3 years premature.

Fair points. There are some games that Tavares/Matthews don't back check as well as Marner (could be late in a shift, maybe they are catching a trailing player), but I am really liking Keefe's system.
But yeah I do believe that a lot of Leafs fans (myself included) feel like the team can succeed but don't realize that they are young