@LYLE_BUBAS @palhal @PleaseBanMeForMyOwnGood @barilko14 @leafs101
Thoughts on these moves?

personally wouldnt do it. unless maybe one of our best wingers were out for the playoffs but I like niemela and hall didn't rlly help arizona last year so I'm skeptical

Sabres decline, Literally the last prospect the Sabres need and a weak pick

I wouldn't worry about Shibbal, hes not the most reasonable person around here. This is about the return the Sabres should expect for Hall. Odd that you chose to trade Simmonds for cap reasons but LTIRed Kerfoot.

same. I'd like Hall but I wonder how much we really need it realistically. Lets just say this - for rental NJD MVP Hall, done deal. I'd add even. For AZ Hall, I'll pass. I guess it depends how he plays with Buffalo. But if BUF is in a position to trade him at the deadline I would suspect that he couldn't click with Eichel.

Hard pass. The leafs should not be spending assets like that to upgrade at wing.

My sentiments exactly. Buffalo also seems to have an abundance of rhd. Don’t see this as fit. Especially if they make the post season. Which I think is realistic.

Thank you for the vote of confidence for the leafs this season.

It almost feels childish to say no to this, but I really like Niemela and I'm not that big a fan of spending assets on rentals.

i think Capitals jump on this all day....not bc Simmonds is good but bc Simmonds is old AF and thats our cup of tea

I really don't see Engvall filling the checking line C gap. First, he's barely proven he's an NHLer. Second he certainly has not proven he's an NHL C. Third he won 39% of his draws last year.

So rolling him out, mostly in the DZ against McDavid, Pettersen, etc. and he can't win a faceoff, and he's barely an NHLer seems like a pretty bad idea to me.

I mean, Hall scored at a 66 point pace in Arizona playing with Soderberg as his center. In terms of play driving his quality scoring chances for/60 and shot attempts for per/60 ranked in the 99th percentile. That’s pretty good considering the system he had to play in.

The guy hasn’t played alongside an elite C for his whole career (except 1 season with Hischier) yet his career average is still 75 points every 82 games.

I’m not a Taylor Hall fan at all for various reasons. However if he was available at the deadline, salary retained, and leafs didn’t give up quite as much as you have listed, definitely worth considering.

However, historically I haven’t seen a lot of top 6 acquisitions pan out for cup contenders. Correct me if I am wrong. To me they just seem to destroy chemistry.

I put Kerfoot on LTIR cuz he’s injured right now. But if he’s healthy by the deadline, it’s likely that both him & simmonds would need to be dealt for cap space. That’s why I think Hall is unrealistic.

For most cases, I’d agree but this one is different. From a play driving perspective, Hall might be the best LW from the past 5 seasons (was looking at HBF Analytic’s historical cards and he ranked in the 99th percentile in xGF almost every season).

Yeah it’s definitely not ideal to have an unproven player like Engvall play such a big role. However, with Kerfoot out, the coach will probably put him in there for the next couple of games.

Kerfoot was back at practice today. Engvall didn't make the taxi squad. He'll be in a battle to get NHL games any time soon.

Thanks for letting me know. I thought Kerfoot was still out.

Haha that’s true!

Yeah it’s definitely a risk to trade for these expensive rentals but I think Hall would fit the team pretty well. He’s big, fast, physical, strong on the forecheck and a beast generating possession.

Simmonds has NTC protection, so that'd be a hard ask. Then there is the Buffalo situation. I don't think this team is going to suck that much that they are a sure-fire seller at the deadline, which is why I think Taylor Hall is not getting moved this year mid-season. Although, Sabres don't have to retain salary. It would be a pro-rated cap hit based on games remaining to be played so I believe the Leafs would be fine anyways. The price? I am not willing to give up prime futures assets when this team is essentially 6 players on term-contracts and then puzzling together the rest on ELCs on 1-year deals.

Sure and a team who could use the upgrade should spend there. But it's bad asset management to spend to upgrade a strength

I don't think Hall is difference maker at all. The Coyotes were worse with him. So you bury Kerfoot....It's a a pretty weak 3C and 4C without him, never mind if Matthews or Tavares ever get injured.

Honestly Hall’s situation in Arizona was greatly exaggerated. They weren’t a very good team even when they acquired him, just relied on great goaltending from Kuemper. After Hall arrived Kuemper got injured and they started losing games. Hall was still very good individually, but he was their only offensive threat.