I would love to see some Puljujarvi and McDavid honestly. Maybe a few games on the third, but if he does good, then put him with McDavid! Draisaitl deserves to be on our PK. He’s actually good at it, play Jones. No way we get a third for Russell.

Some very valid points man, 3rd for Russel was just what I clicked. We could get a 7th and I'd be happy honestly.

I'd play Jones once Bouchard has a few games under his belt. Kinda wary of sending out 2 rookies essentially.

And yes, to appease the "he has to earn it" crowd, I put JP on the 3rd to start the year. Haula isnt bad both as a LW or C and can flank 97 if need be. All three have great speed so that should be fun to watch. Wennberg then slots in at 3C which his paycheque doesnt look out of place.

leafs pass, don't need Khaira

Kulikov at 3mil 2nd pair?

I mean, Wennberg will likely put up points solely by virtue of playing on a line with McDavid, but I really wouldn’t put him as a top line LW. Dude is a better fit as a 3rd line center.

No way jones doesn't play. He's likely to be in our top 4 tbh. So only sign one of Kulikov or Beaulieu. And Haula will cost more

I only said Puljujarvi on the third line for a few games, because I don’t want to rush him up to the first line. Your stance on the Jones thing is fair. Jones on the second pair maybe?

Grindy, forth liner, PK guy for cheep. They accept.

they don't though

Yes. They could use him. Who else do they have that fills those like Khaira. Grindy, 4th liner, very good at the PK for cheep.

Noted, on Kuly/Beaulieu. Haula possibly could seeing as though he's coming off 2.75AAV, but I'm hoping the cap landscape lowers his price considerably (same with Kuli)

That's a very good idea as well, just deploy Jones with Larsson then? I mean Jones would be the puck mover/passer in that scenario so it works.
Sign some other cheapo option as 7th D.

Agreed, his AAV in this scenario allows for both. I really want Haula to work with JP for a bit before we even think about putting him on 97 (which stats have supported them to have good chemistry albeit with a smaller sample size). Would Haula-McDavid-JP work? I mean all 3 have great speed.

In the CoVid cap era? possibly. I gave him term (3yr) as job security since that's how long I sorta anticipate this flat cap to be in effect for.

He’s not a third pairing guy

?????? "All is forgiven JP". JP was without a contract last year. He had the right to sign with the Oilers or other teams in leagues worldwide. (maybe not a women's league). Oilers had no right to his services, so no fan should think JP did anything wrong last season.

He isnt on the 3rd pair.

His last 5 years in the league were
20:01
15:40
17:04
21:54
21:02

to average 19:08.

That's solid 2nd pair TOI, yeah moonlighting on 1st line at times, maybe PK time in there too?

What would your Kulikov contract look like? and who would you slot him with?

Dude, take it easy. It's a title first and foremost, did its job when it roped you into reading didnt it?

Secondly, the fanbase isnt celebrating the second coming of the Messiah.
Some fans still have ill feelings toward a player who stiffed on their team.
Myself, I felt both sides had their mistakes and I understand why everything unfolded the way it did.
Still doesnt mean I don't feel crappy about the whole thing: while we failed him as a prospect, he also didnt do enough in my eyes to work for more minutes.

You're telling me there are absolutely no fans in LeafLand feeling any sort of animosity towards Nylander?
Like, absolutely all good buddy buddy throughout that whole ordeal?

Spezza, Barabanov, Korshkov and potentially Simmonds could all be on the fourth line. Engvall is he doesn't get traded too. We don't need Khaira at all.

Regarding Nylander, no reasonable fan, Leaf fans should hold any animosity towards Nylander. I question the competency of Dubois and the negotiating team by signing the contract....when it was at least 500,000 more than league comparables. Same with Marner....Aho 8.5m X 5 contact was a perfect comparable. Why the Leafs felt compelled to offer almost 2m a year more on a six year deal is absurd.
I don't blame the Nylander (who missed two missed of the regular season) or Marner (who missed training camp) at all.
JP...took a financial hit by playing in Europe. He thought it was best for his career. Should be no animosity by fans...though undoubtedly some will.

I don’t know enough to say. Coming from a CBJ fan, just sharing my Wennberg opinion 😂

Dude is defensively sound, great PK guy. Would have loved to keep him, but $4.9M to kill penalties was too much.

And that's all it is, right? We are human after all, we feel for the things we hold in high regard. Some more than most, some more blindly than others. Some are inexplicably unshakable in their belief, other see the logic behind an opposing viewpoint.

At the end of the day, really, we're merely spectators and what we feel or say rarely affects how the business is run, except of course when we all collectively let our wallets do the talking.

The animosity stemmed from the fact that fresh start or not (new GM, new HC), initially he would accept nothing short of leaving. Even the players couldn't really hide their disappointment. Of course, most of the fanbase took this as "quitting on the team".

Ahh that's fair. How's his skating?

Not a scout, but I’d say good. He’s positionally sound, not a dude to really make mistakes. Unless somebody can unlock that 2015/2016 offensive talent, he’s not going to single-handedly put up points.