Thats very wrong opinion. Also most teams who have solid D cores developed those D cores by themselves.

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slavin as a target

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I think Fabbro is closer in value to Dermott than he is to Nylander. I like the idea of acquiring Fabbro but not at that price. A flip of Dermott with pick/prospects would be more intriguing to me, but i dont think Nashville thinks about that trade because of there strength at LHD.

I don't really see how Fabbro improves the defense moreso than Manson, and you're losing a really good player in Nylander to do it. Like... he's getting over 30 goals this year, is a gym rat, is showing good effort, and only costs 7M. He's not the player to move.

Bonino as a pickup makes a ton of sense, and a Sam Bennett reclamation project is also something I think is a good idea, but you could probably get more for Kerfoot than just Bennett.

Trevor Lewis would be a sick pick-up too: ditto for Trevor VR

“Leafs can’t continue to pay this much to forwards” solution... trade away best forward contract of player most committed to this team.

Maybe something will have to be moved... but I don’t think so. I think leafs will continue to roll support guys to fit our needs in defence.

I'm still fairly against moving one of the big four guys unless it's absolutely necessary. They'd be golden if they were able to land a right sided defender like Muzzin, so the D corps would shape up like this:

Rielly - RHD
Muzzin - Holl
Sandin - Lije

But one defender won't change the teams problems, they need to play like they played against Tampa last night 82 games a year.

As a non leafs fan yes Nylander definitely should go- to my team. Other than Matthews he has no doubt been your best player this year.

I didn't say he was a target. I said he fit the bill as a young top pairing RHD on a team that isn't in the leafs division and isn't one of the top cup contenders

I just think Fabbro's age dramatically increases his value. Teams don't move defensemen of his caliber who are on ELCs or team-friendly RFA deals unless they get blown away with an offer. I don't know what goes on in Dubas' office but I have to imagine that he's exhausted all options involving lesser pieces for a young top-4 RHD. To me, Fabbro would be the minimum return I'd want for a trade involving Nylander, but I think Jones and the other player I named are more of a pipe dream

Leafs fans need to come to grips that investing 1/2 your cap in 4 forwards isn't a winning forumla...it's really that simple. That said, not sure which 4 makes the most sense to move, I'd say Marner but certainly I am far from the best judge.

I hear what people say about developing prospects and that is important but let's be honest, what top 3 guy do the Leafs have on D as a prospect? It's a pretty all order to assume Liljegren is the answer. He may end up being a very solid #4 guy, and realistically, I could see that happening which is great, but who else is in the system that can be a top 3? Why not go after one of the Oilers top prospects like Bouchard or Broberg?

Nylander is at 28 goals right now?
He is proving he is worth at 6.9 million.

Not trading him.

your exact words are targets that properly fit the bill. but ok. plus why in the hell would the canes trade their best defenseman and a top 10 defenseman in the NHL for leafs waste, he can't even score on a 42 year old zamboni driver who works for the team

I'd rather the leafs try to pick up a 1st round pick in this draft than target an nhl-ready d prospect like Bouchard or Broberg (or one of chicago's top d prospects) because they'd likely have to pay quite a bit more. I don't follow juniors very closely but I do like the sounds of Jason Barron and Braden Schneider.

Leafs can't wait on a prospect to develop, they need help in the next year or two and the only guy in the draft that will be ready in that timeframe is Drysdale; he will go in the first 6 picks likely. Therefore, the Leafs would be wise to move Marner for a Bouchard or the likes plus additional assets such as a 1st rounder. Think of this way, how much better would the Leafs look right now with a Cale Makar type guy on the team?

If Nylander is really getting moved this offseason, then I think there is really 1 deal with 1 team that solves basically, or at least potentially, most of the Leafs issues. That team would be the Flyers. I am not sure that the cap numbers work, even with a raised $84 million cap for 2020-21, but the deal would like this:

To Flyers: William Nylander, Kasperi Kapanen, Travis Dermott, Jeremy Bracco
To Toronto: Travis Sanheim, Phillipe Myers, Scott Laughton, Morgan Frost

Marner gets moved. Matthews can score 40, Tavares is the captain and Nylander's contract is looking solid. It sucks because the guy loves the team.

Sandin has a higher ceiling than Liljegren as of now. I would be happy with Liljegren playing a top 4 role in a year or so. He will be a solid bottom pairing D next year. I think Sandin has top pairing potential.

I like the idea of going after Bouchard. I dont think trading one of Nylander or Marner should be the cost though. If Bouchard was guaranteed to be a top 4 from next year on and grow into a top pair I would think about it, but i wouldn't want to risk Bouchard not reaching his potential.

I want to leverage Nick Robertson and picks/middle six forwards into a highly touted defense prospect. I want Soderstrom or Lundkvist or Bouchard, etc. Lundkvist might be the most available since the Rangers seem to have a jam at RHD, if they choose to keep DeAngelo.

The only guy in that trade who the leafs would really want is myers and they wouldn't move nylander just for him. Interesting idea though

You're going to need to move marner to generate enough interest to move a locked in guy like Bouchard. You don't get a top 10 defensive prospect for anything less. That said, Bouchard and 1st and maybe a role player for Marner should be worth the return.

I think we just disagree about Bouchards value. If he comes out next year and lights the world on fire like Makar did then that trade would look a lot more even. I just dont see him being at that level, at least not yet. Im not an expert on him or anything but i perceive his value to be more than Liljegren and maybe less than Sandin at this point. Hardly worth a player who is on pace for 95+ points over 82 games, who had 93 the year prior, even if a mid-late first round pick is thrown in.

If Bouchard was guaranteed to be close too a Makar2.0 i would seriously consider and Marner for Bouchard plus a 1st. What might push me over the top would be the immediate cap relief that would come with it for a couple seasons at least. Not sure what we would spend that cap space on though. Maybe wait it out for Hamilton to maybe go UFA the year after next. complicated, but i love thinking about all these hypothetical situations.

How are you discussing points and comparing a defensive player to a top line winger? doesn't make sense

Bouchard is also better then Sandin hands down....don't know anyone who would rather have Sandin over Bouchard. There is a reason one was drafted in the top 10 and the other almost didn't make the 1st round. Now, there development paths are different and they are different types of players but Bouchard should by all accounts at this point be the clear better player.

Im using points to demonstrate value. That is perfectly applicable for a forward. A 90+ point forward has incredible value, therefore Marner has incredible value.

Bouchard is also not universally accepted as a much better prospect than Sandin.

The three prospect rankings i could find all have Bouchard lower than Sandin.

Corey Pronman of The Atheltic who specializes in prospects has Sandin listed as the 10th best prospect in the NHL as of about 5 weeks ago. He ranks the players as well as classing them in tiers. Sandin is in the High-end NHL prospect Tier which is define as - Projects as a first-line forward, a top-pair defenseman or a top 10 starting goaltender. Bouchard is in the tier below and is number 22 on the list. falling in the very good NHL prospect tier, defined as - Projects as a top-six forward, top-four defenseman or starting goaltender in the NHL.


Craig Button (not the best at ranking in my opinion) as of Jan 8th has Sandin ranked as the 6th best prospect in the NHL and Bouchard doesn't even make his list of top 50.

TheHockeyWriters.com Prospect Specialist has Sandin at number 17 and Bouchard at 25. Sandin rose significantly compared to the last edition and Bouchard fell slightly from his previous position.

Those are the three ranking i could find and they all have Sandin above Bouchard. If you don't like those list, i would argue that Bouchard and Sandin both have at least equal value.

@truculence67 You wouldn't consider re-signing Spezza, or did you forget? I think he'd come back for the same deal to try to win the cup.

Also, I just noticed the Buddy Robinson signing. Good idea as well, also he has a cool name