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Created by: MitchMarner_16

Team: 2020-21 Toronto Maple Leafs

Initial Creation Date: Oct. 6, 2020

Published: Oct. 6, 2020

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Description

Rumors are that leafs are interested in signing Gudas, Simmonds, and Maroon. In this simulation, Leafs get 2 out of those three, (Gudas, Simmonds).

Leafs sign simmonds to 1.05x2 years. He replaces what was lost when Clifford leaves in UFA.
Leafs sign Gudas for a similar amount to Justin Braun (2x1.8). Gudas brings a solid, physical defender to the bottom 4.

Leafs pick up Nikita Zadorov in a trade with the avs. Zadorov brings a big physical presence on the back end, and makes a good partner for morgan rielly. Hopefully their strengths benefit each other.

LTIR players show our depth, and players that we can call up in case of injuries.

Barabanov and Lehtonen earn lineup spots right off the bat. After watching Mikko highlights, im excited for this guy to play in the 6ix.

I traded Dermott because we really have no room to give the guy the playing time he deserves, since we have Gudas, Liljegren, Sandin, and Lehtonen who all need lineup spots.

Here I also Acquirred Sam Bennett to be our third line centre. He's physical, plays hard, and has a bit of scoring touch. Flames get a bigger 3C, who i prefer, but we just dont have the cap space for him. They also get a versatile middle six LW who can slide up and down the lineup if needed.

Overall, I think I have improved the defence somewhat, and made the leafs a harder team to play against, as Dubas said he wanted. I also think the bottom six is pretty safe, sacrificing here a bit for the defence which is understandable.

Thank You for reading this essay. Cheers men!

Free Agent Signings

RFA		YEARS	CAP HIT
Zadorov, Nikita		3	$3,500,000
Mikheyev, Ilya		2	$1,750,000

UFA		YEARS	CAP HIT
Simmonds, Wayne		2	$1,050,000
Gudas, Radko		2	$1,950,000

Trades

TOR

Zadorov, Nikita [RFA Rights]

COL

2021 2nd round pick (TOR)
2021 4th round pick (TOR)

TOR

Bennett, Sam
2022 3rd round pick (CGY)
2022 4th round pick (CGY)

CGY

Buyouts

Mikhail Grabovski: $0

Retained Salary Transactions

Phil Kessel: $1,200,000 (15%)

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2021
2022
2023

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$81,500,000	$81,109,783	$0	$400,000	$390,217

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Hyman, Zach $2,250,000$2,250,000 RW, LW M-NTC UFA - 1	Tavares, John $11,000,000$11,000,000 C, LW NMC UFA - 5	Nylander, William $6,962,366$6,962,366 RW UFA - 4
Robertson, Nicholas $821,667$821,667 LW, RW RFA - 4	Matthews, Auston $11,640,250$11,640,250 C UFA - 4	Marner, Mitchell $10,903,000$10,903,000 RW UFA - 5
Mikheyev, Ilya $1,750,000$1,750,000 LW, RW UFA - 2	Bennett, Sam $2,550,000$2,550,000 C UFA - 1	Barabanov, Alexander $925,000$925,000 RW, LW UFA - 1
Engvall, Pierre $1,250,000$1,250,000 RW, LW UFA - 2	Spezza, Jason $700,000$700,000 C, RW UFA - 1	Simmonds, Wayne $1,050,000$1,050,000 RW, LW UFA - 1

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Rielly, Morgan $5,000,000$5,000,000 LD M-NTC UFA - 2	Zadorov, Nikita $3,500,000$3,500,000 LD/RD UFA - 1	Andersen, Frederik $5,000,000$5,000,000 G M-NTC UFA - 1
Muzzin, Jake $5,625,000$5,625,000 LD NMC UFA - 4	Holl, Justin $2,000,000$2,000,000 RD M-NTC UFA - 3	Campbell, Jack $1,650,000$1,650,000 G UFA - 2
Lehtonen, Mikko $925,000$925,000 LD UFA - 1	Gudas, Radko $1,950,000$1,950,000 RD UFA - 3

Scratches	Injured Reserve (IR)	Long Term IR (LTIR)
Liljegren, Timothy $863,333$863,333 ($400,000$400K) RD RFA - 2		Korshkov, Yegor $925,000$925,000 RW RFA - 1
Sandin, Rasmus $894,167$894,167 LD UFA - 2		Marincin, Martin $700,000$700,000 LD UFA - 1
Malgin, Denis $700,000$700,000 LW, RW UFA - 1		Petan, Nicolas $775,000$775,000 C, LW, RW UFA - 1
		Rosén, Calle $750,000$750,000 LD UFA - 1
		Brooks, Adam $725,000$725,000 C UFA - 2

Oct. 6, 2020 at 1:30 p.m.

noobmaster69

Joined: Jun. 2018

Posts: 1,340

Likes: 136

Zadorov didn't look great in the playoffs imo, and throwing him on his off side might hurt him more especially going up against top lines with Mo.

Oct. 6, 2020 at 1:30 p.m.

newballcoach

Joined: May 2019

Posts: 1,797

Likes: 564

I have to think that if the AHL is playing, Sandin and Liljegren start the season there (unless they blow them away during training camp). Make them earn a job, don't hand it to them (and there's no way they'll be on the bench).

I'm not sure Calgary would do that trade, as they need help on D not necessarily at forward. I don't think Zadorov is a good fit because he's a a) a lefty who doesn't play right and b) not a great puck mover. The issue the Leafs have had is that nobody on the right has been able to move the puck well enough, and teams (Boston in particular) focus zone entries and dump-ins on that side to stay away the guys on the leafs D who do move the puck effectively.

For that money I'd rather sign Dylan Demelo who can move it, or somebody with a similar skillset to help provide some L/R skill balance.

My only Q about the 3rd line is what are they supposed to be good at? That setup is not going to be good at defending. They're not going to be great at creating offence either (though they might be average). I think they want a 3rd line group with an identity, either a defensively focused line to take that pressure off of the top-6, or another offensive line that has guys that can play up and down the lineup. IMO, I don't think that line accomplishes either.