I like the option of getting Mayfield. Add him to our group. Either add him and not lose any of our current D. Or give dermott as part of the package and get Chara back as well for depth.

Too expensive, not good enough
bottom pairing guy, meh
bottom pairing guy, meh
too expensive, doesnt fill a need
i guess if he's decently priced
if he's dirt cheap, why not
lol, hell no
lol lol lol hell no

You should really watch anything chara has done the past 2 years. he is very very very bad now

Ristolainen?!?!?

Of what you selected there, the only defenders that I think the Leafs could possibly acquire (ie the Leafs and Habs are not dealing) that would provide them with a legitimate upgrade to their top-4 would be either John Klingberg, Josh Manson or maybe Scott Mayfield. I am much more hesitant at the prospect of the Leafs adding Manson or Mayfield because both are not very quick, and the Leafs play a hella quick transition and puck-moving game. It's one of the reasons Holl and, at times, Muzzin, has looked so out of place this season. The ideal fit would be Klingberg I think, or better yet, Chycrun, though both will cost large. Two defenders you don't have on your list are Travis Sanheim (PHI) and Connor Murphy (CHI). I think both of these players would be upgrades over something like Manson or Mayfield, I just am not sure what the cost would be to obtain such players with term.

Habs and the Leafs have and would trade. Remember a few years ago they trade Plekanecs to the Leafs at the TDL. Chiarot to the Leafs is a legit possibility.

If he is our 8th D, i think we are doing just fine. Depth, size, experience. Would be amazing for the locker room. He doesn't go in unless we get an injury or 2. Having Chara in the locker room would be worth the minimal cost in my mind.

-Manson has the Leafs on his NTC
-Schenn is meh, but cheap!
-De Haan would be a decent, affordable buffer.
-Klingberg is going to cost a boatload...is a bigger Tyson Barrie who's underporming really what you want to overpay for?
-Mayfield won't be cheap, and there's talk that Lou wants to roll with the majority of his roster in tact next year because he thinks they're better than their start was.
-Braun wouldn't be a bad depth add.
-Risto...RISTO?!?!
-Chiarot is apparently a guy that you'll have to overpay for even though he wouldn't play top 4 on this team.

As a non-Leafs fan, I don't see the point in going for some of the higher priced guys here...many would cost a 1st(plus) to acquire, and don't raise the ceiling high enough to guarantee a trip out of the first round, especially considering it's lining up to be against either Florida or Tampa. Is there a shot? Sure. Should you sell the farm for it? Meh.

I mean it happens. I am pretty sure there was a moment when Mats Sundin ever so briefly became a Hab. I just don't think the Habs and Leafs line up here, and honestly would give you much the same answer if you were proposing a Florida-Montreal for Ben Chariot. A divisional team would have to blow the Habs away with an offer.

he has done zero to help any team he's been on in a few years, if he was so good in the locker room then why did the capitals not get better with him? why did the islanders suddenly become not even a wild card team with him?

Haha Leafs, as well as all other Canadian teams, are on every player's NTC. Didn't you know that?

Murphy signed an extension before the season started. Can't see Chicago moving him without a major overpay. Re: Sanheim-Is adding another LD really something that's a great idea? Seems like a RD would be the correct add (if at all).

The reason Sanheim and Connor Murphy weren't including is because of their cap hit. I tried to include only players with expiring deals where a team can eat at least 50% of salary or guys signed to multi-year deals with low cap hits

I don't think that's 100% true, but it's an important detail that we sometimes just skip over.

"My preference is to acquire players with term and with as much time as possible." —Kyle Dubas

— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) February 6, 2022

So based on that Manson, De Haan, Ristolinen, Chairot, Klingberg, and Braun are most off the table (for now)

Mayfield and Schenn got term so they would be in the conversation along with guys like Roy, Walker, Whitecloud, Severson, Jokiharju, etc.

Gotcha, though I think if the package was worth it, both teams would eat salary beyond just this season, especially in Philly, where apparently the mandate is a quick-turnaround, as opposed to the Blackhawks, who seem to be all over the place. I would include those players in your list as well because Dubas is a guy known to target players that either have term left on their deal or are set to become RFAs and thus the Leafs can retain their rights beyond just this season. I'd have to imagine something like Holl, Amirov and a 1st would be more than sufficient with the Flyers retaining money.

I'd love me some Zach Whitecloud, but he's not yet a consistent 20 minute per night guy, though I think he will definitely get there. Severson is a no-go for me. Has way too many defensive lapses in his own zone. Leafs already do plenty of that thank you very much.

To be fair, I can't think of any GM who *wouldn't* typically prefer a trade return with some term vs. a rental. Doesn't mean Dubas wouldn't take a swing at a rental if the price is right.

Dubas is not a fan of rentals, the only reason he said they were targeting then traded for rentals back in 2021 was because of Seattle.

If you look at previous deadline trades before the expansion year, Dubas always went with players who had term

2019 = Muzzin (1.5 years)
2020 = Campbell (2.5 years)

So based on what we have seen hes gonna go for a guy with term. As with no more expansion teams coming for a while why spend assets on a rental

A lot of people are so quick to say we NEED a shutdown guy.

They aren’t necessarily wrong, but not 100% right either.

The Leafs play style is supposed to be a fast pace, puck possession, puck moving team. Guys like Mayfield and Manson won’t hold up. Klingberg wouldn’t be a bad fit, but can’t defend well enough.

We need someone is who isn’t turtle slow, who can defend, but also move the puck.
It’s not typically easy to find lol, but we have to understand that a big tough guy isn’t going to help this team in the way he would a team with a defence-first system.

Severson is a fairly good example, and a lot of people are very judgy based on his 2-game stint against the Leafs. when even our own guys have been on the wrong side of a highlight goal multiple times (Rielly, Brodie, Muzzin) hell, even Hedman, Fox and Makar have been on the wrong side of a highlight reel goal.

I don’t have the ability to look into advanced analytics and analytics cards as well as some others do, so I could be wrong, but I do still think Severson is a good fit. He’s not on the top of my list anymore (I’m not sure who even is) but he is still on my list.

Trend seems to be LA, too.
lol

LA did make good partners thats for sure

Muzzin has been a win win for both sides and Campbell trade was a steal for us lul. Maybe we see a Roy trade or something

He also got Folingo, Rittich and Hutton as rentals last year. I think if we didn't live in a flat cap world then Dubas would only be looking for guys with term but with the cap only going up by $1 mill the only way the Leafs can bring on someone with term is if they make under $2 mill OR they trade a 3-4 pieces away this summer with no salary back

You didnt read what I said. Dubas chose rentals because of Seattle. Not because he wanted to. Many teams in general traded for rentals at the 2021 deadline due to pesky Seattle lurking around.

As why trade for someone/s you were at risk of losing at the expansion draft that would have been a bad move.

That's fair, I guess I fell into that pool of people that don't want him because of that two game stint. That GWG with Kerfoot and Mikeyhev might have been the worst played 2 on 1 I've ever seen lol