Quoting: DJSums17
Pietrangelo you get no matter the cost. If he wants to sign here Dubas better do everything in his power to do so and everyone not named Matthews, Nylander, Hyman, Rielly, Campbell, Sandin and Muzzin are all trade bait.
Gudas and Tanev arent getting long term deals anyway and Gudas or Tanev aren't making huge money so they either play out the contract (if injured they go on LTIR) and if they arent a fit they'll be tradeable contracts come next year.
I dont see DeMelo as a game breaker so I don't see him making north of 3.5 unless it's a long term deal. I would take DeMelo cause he doesn't cost a pick to sign. Even if Murphy is better which I'm not sold on... he's not worth DeMelo and an B+ or better prospect.
Right, and a lot of teams are going to be going after Pietrangelo. The issue is the Leafs have to shed cap to make that happen, and aside from the names you mentioned above to do that, maybe one 2 or 3 teams in a flat cap world is willing to pay a decent price to take on the cap hit of JT or Marner so that's challenge number one. Challenge number two is guys like Johnsson, Holl, Engvall have very little trade value in a flat cap world. Sure you can move them, but these AGMs from Leafs fans thinking they can dump these guys for a 2nd round pick or more are out of their minds. Dermott is about the only guy that can fetch a 2nd. So in order to get Pietrangelo, and assuming nobody is willing to pay fair value and has the space for JT or Marner, Leafs have to move Johnsson, Holl, Envall and Dermott. Is it worth it, sure, but that's a lot of ground to cover.
Gudas and Tanev are again on the wrong side of 30, meaning they are not guys who'd I'd be counting on to plug the holes in the right side for a younger team like the Leafs. Tanev will cost around $4.5M also and will get a multi year deal. Are you really going to rely on him to be a first liner at this point? Tanev is probably 3rd line in PIT, MAYBE 2nd line if they re-sign him. Gudas even worse, the guy is a 3rd liner.
I think Gudas is a really poor argument to your point here, Tanev not great either. DeMelo is not bad but I'd argue all day and twice on Sunday Murphy is better but the gap isn't that wide. Pietrangelo is your best bet of course but the most complicated to make it work. If you guys miss out on him, you better rush to grab DeMelo and if you miss on out him, Murphy (despite costing assets) is a way better bet then Tanev or worse yet Gudas.