If you trade Matthews, Tavares, or Marner, you will lose the trade. If you trade Nylander, you are unlikely to get the defenseman that will solve all your problems, and you will probably lose the trade 9 times out of 10. The only way I can see Dubas winning a Nylander trade is if he convinces Poile to revert to his old classic "the trade is 1 for 1" but I doubt that happens. Therefore, the big 4 probably aren't getting moved. If you do try to trade Marner or Nylander though at least move them for a top 4 RHD + top 6 winger, because that's the only deal that makes sense for the Leafs, none of this 6 picks and 3 prospects bs.
DeMelo imo is the guy they should pursue hard in free agency, he's a solid top 4 dman who can play 20 minutes a night and would give Rielly a competent defensive partner. TJ Brodie or Travis Hamonic would work too, probably for a similar cap hit (I know Brodie is a leftie but he's used to playing on the right side with a Norris quality defenseman lol, he'd be just fine). This is a little more than I've seen DeMelo going for in some other ACGMs but I feel like he'll start a bidding war so better to aim high. Then hopefully Holl can at least be a solid 4D. If you don't like Holl, trading him for a mid-round pick and signing TVR should be reasonable but I feel like they should just hang onto him and hope for the best. Lehtonen, Sandin, Liljegren, and Juulsen (if they acquire him, which they probably can. Maybe this isn't the deal, but Montreal has Weber/Petry/Fleury so they can afford to dangle Juulsen) can compete for bottom pair minutes. Cody Ceci and Martin Marincin are not NHL quality players, end of discussion. Ceci walks and Marincin stays in the AHL.
At least two of their mid-tier guys (Kapanen, Kerfoot, Mikheyev, Hyman, Johnsson) are gone, and Engvall also probably turns into a luxury they can't afford, as they have to pinch every penny. Archibald and Gambrell are solid bottom 6 guys who can play the PK. Rinaldo is signed because G R I T and they'd have to give up a second to retain Clifford. Do I think Rinaldo should still be in the NHL? No. Do I think he will be on some team next year? Yup, and Toronto seems like exactly the team that would sign him. At least he'll come cheap so it's not a huge deal.
The key with this team will be getting the big guns going in the playoffs. Perhaps a more typical bottom 6 setup like this, with energy guys who aren't afraid to get physical, will spark something. Rolling four offensively talented lines clearly isn't the answer.
For the love of all that is holy stop trading for Parayko, Pesce, and Ellis you aren't getting them. And Pietrangelo isn't signing with the Leafs either. I think this is about the best the Leafs can realistically do this off-season.
Y'all did my boy Spezza dirty this year and I am not happy about it. At least TRY to get him a ring smh
You signed DeMelo with the cost of losing Kapanen.
Nothing changes. This team is still losing when it counts.
Kapanen is fast and can score 20 goals (he wasn't even on pace for that this year though) but he can't play in the top 6 and they have to offload some contracts. It's easier to find wingers than centres (they have some in Robertson and Korshkov, and the Leafs are always good at attracting free agents). I never said this team was gonna win the cup, but it'll be better defensively and built slightly better for playoff hockey. Gambrell-Kerfoot-Archibald might even be able to form a shutdown energy line of sorts and match opposing teams's second lines. DeMelo gives them 3 good defensemen which is 50% more than they had this year. Like I said, this is probably realistically the best they can do with the restrictions they're working under. If they make the playoffs it's better than this season. If they win a round it's the best Leafs team in nearly two decades lol. At least I'm not trading Marner and Nylander for 6 1sts and signing Pietrangelo and Hall somehow, this is something the Leafs could actually accomplish and while it isn't as flashy, flashy hasn't worked the last four years so
Kapanen is fast and can score 20 goals (he wasn't even on pace for that this year though) but he can't play in the top 6 and they have to offload some contracts. It's easier to find wingers than centres (they have some in Robertson and Korshkov, and the Leafs are always good at attracting free agents). I never said this team was gonna win the cup, but it'll be better defensively and built slightly better for playoff hockey. Gambrell-Kerfoot-Archibald might even be able to form a shutdown energy line of sorts and match opposing teams's second lines. DeMelo gives them 3 good defensemen which is 50% more than they had this year. Like I said, this is probably realistically the best they can do with the restrictions they're working under. If they make the playoffs it's better than this season. If they win a round it's the best Leafs team in nearly two decades lol. At least I'm not trading Marner and Nylander for 6 1sts and signing Pietrangelo and Hall somehow, this is something the Leafs could actually accomplish and while it isn't as flashy, flashy hasn't worked the last four years so
Guess you have a point.
I think the next year is the final chance for Dubas to prove that this current core can be successful to some extent.
Habs would accept this trade, but I'm not sure for the leafs
I have no idea whyTravis Dermott would be wanted by Mtl. Their LD depth goes: Chariot, Romanov, Mete, Kulak. We already need to get rid of Kulak or Mete, so I see no room for Dermot. If we OS a LD (cough-Sergachev) we have to get rid of two LD.
Juulsen and Fleury are needed to compete againts one another for the last RD spot. Neither have been good enough yet.
Jeremy Bracco is 5,9. Gallagher, Domi, Caufield, Byron....we are small enough I think.
Holland has already made reference to the stagnant salary cap and its impact on how he thinks the off season is going to play out. He stated that needs to improve his club, and in my mind that means improving goaltending, finding a real 3C, and improving scoring depth if possible. He said the cap situation may provide him an opportunity to find inexpensive free agents to provide organizational depth. He also, alluded to the need to find trades involving players with similar cap hits in order to address gaps in his roster. That last consideration makes acquiring Johnsson for Archibald unlikely. Holland does not have 2nd round pick in either of the next two drafts, and the NHL decided to pro-rate Neal's stats so that Edmonton has to give Calgary a 3rd round pick this year or next. Holland can't afford to trade away any more draft picks.
A deal like the one you have proposed will only make sense if Holland can free up a couple million dollars through some other transaction. He may choose not to qualify Athanasiou or Benning, or he might trade their rights to a team with plenty of cap space. I suspect though that he is considering whether of not to shop players like Adam Larsson, Kris Russell, Alex Chiasson, Athanasiou, and Benning in order to address gaps in his roster. Within this scenario, moving Athanasiou without bringing back a contract makes the most sense.
Holland has already made reference to the stagnant salary cap and its impact on how he thinks the off season is going to play out. He stated that needs to improve his club, and in my mind that means improving goaltending, finding a real 3C, and improving scoring depth if possible. He said the cap situation may provide him an opportunity to find inexpensive free agents to provide organizational depth. He also, alluded to the need to find trades involving players with similar cap hits in order to address gaps in his roster. That last consideration makes acquiring Johnsson for Archibald unlikely. Holland does not have 2nd round pick in either of the next two drafts, and the NHL decided to pro-rate Neal's stats so that Edmonton has to give Calgary a 3rd round pick this year or next. Holland can't afford to trade away any more draft picks.
A deal like the one you have proposed will only make sense if Holland can free up a couple million dollars through some other transaction. He may choose not to qualify Athanasiou or Benning, or he might trade their rights to a team with plenty of cap space. I suspect though that he is considering whether of not to shop players like Adam Larsson, Kris Russell, Alex Chiasson, Athanasiou, and Benning in order to address gaps in his roster. Within this scenario, moving Athanasiou without bringing back a contract makes the most sense.
To be honest I was operating under the assumption AA isn’t gonna stay in Edmonton. He didn’t mesh very well there at all, and he still has value. My guess is he gets dealt at the draft for a pick or two. One of Larsson or Russell is also likely expendable if they think Jones and Bouchard are ready (I’m not totally up to date on how they’re progressing so I’m operating on old knowledge saying they should be ready by now). Because of this I think they’d be interested in adding AJ, but I guess they’d want to see how free agency goes first. Good points though.
Addressing the other concerns, maybe you can get higher value, the point of the SJ trade is to replace Kapanen with a cheap bottom 6 PK guy and acquire a decent pick back. Maybe you ask for a 2nd, or add another 3rd/4th to equal out the value, but you can’t afford to keep Kapanen. Whether or not these deals need to be tweaked, I think the overall concept of each trade remains the same (Dermott+Bracco are expendable RFAs of decent value, try to get a decent young RHD on the cusp. Johnsson/Kapanen for picks+cheap bottom 6 PK guys to provide depth and defensive awareness from the forwards. Engvall to recoup a pick).
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