if any isles fans say there's no amount of 1sts to get barzal, they're lying.

This is my philosophy, there's only a handful of guys in the league that you mark as genuinely "untouchable." I wanna know what the threshold is for a young star player like Barzal.

the guys that r untouchable r the guys making 10+ for 5+ years and or extremely worth their contracts on good teams. so like makar mackinnon (exception to that rule) fox panarin mcdavid
drai kuch hedman. that's just to name a few

to get barzal to the leafs specifically? it would have to be an absolutely crazy package. just for the optics alone with JT they'd never do it.

We have a slightly different definition but yeah basically the same idea.

I'd say my list is based on skillset rather than numbers so a bit more subjective but most of the guys you named are also on mine.

I'd say (and I'm aware this might be a hot take) remove Hedman strictly because of age, nothing else. Additionally, even though he only has 2 years left you add Matthews because of his goal scoring prowess relative to the league.

LOL , you know what I didn't even consider this, I just really like Barzal.

But its a very good point.

Why would the islanders trade Barzal?

Fair value trade wouldn’t get it done for the leafs, it would have to be something excessive like sandin, Robertson , Knies and two 1sts

I completely agree with you, the Isles have no reason to trade Barzal.

My question is, how many first round picks would it take without adding any additional players/prospects? 5? 7?

I’m not sure, but those 1sts would be late 1sts. Maybe 5, that’s obviously an overpay , but that’s the only way isles would consider moving him.

yeah, if they did i'm thinking maybe like kerfoot + robertson + sandin + a first + second? that feels like too much but also like not enough, these big player trades are hard

Obviously, the deal has a chance to be absolutely catastrophic for the Leafs. Especially considering Matthews' contract ending the same year as Barzal's. However, adding Barzal to the current Leafs would be absolutely disgusting (in a good way) and would give them a genuinely great chance to make a cup run.

If they win the cup, those picks no longer matter. Thats the hope anyway .

If Barzal is as good as I think he is, this seems like an underpay still.

yeah it's hard to nail down, i felt like i didn't want to make it too much more than eichel but also the eichel thing was such a specific situation idk

Say, hypothetically, Isles went to full rebuild with this deal. Why would a rebuilding team want a bunch of picks spread over a long time window, over, say, a bunch of young guys to start a foundation?

Give them a few 18-22 year olds and a pick or two. Kicking off a rebuild is one of the few times it makes sense to get quantity return.

Yeah, if you ask me the Eichel trade should have looked more like the James Harden trade to the Sixers, but hockey seems like they severely undervalue star power.

I 100% agree with you.

However, the point of this exercise is that the Leafs value their young guys more than picks, and so theoretically how many picks would it take?

If I had to say a number: four 1sts.
It’s the highest for an offer-sheet…so without another comp readily available, I’ll go with that.

This is a fair assessment. Idk I think I would do that deal, what are the odds that anything going to the Isles would be more helpful to the Leafs than a prime aged Mat Barzal?

I dunno. Moritz Seider? Their offense appears to be in pretty good shape. Maybe a young dman or goalie if Campbell leaves.

I meant that Barzal would probably bring more value to the Leafs than anything they would give up in getting him.

However, yes, there are plenty of stars around the league that I'd be willing to throw first round picks at until they accept.

I know Leafs fans hate their player and love other teams players. The difference this season between Barzal and Kerfoot isn't all that. And certainly a team can mortgage the future, but they can't change the cap.
This post may not be cap compliant this season and it really horrible for the Leafs next season .

Kerfoot benefits from playing with Tavares and Nylander. Kerfoot isn’t even close to Barzal in terms of overall impact. One is a 3rd liner, the other is a top 15 center

I wanna say this was sarcasm from palhal but I can't be sure.

Heck Barzel isn't the best centre on the Isles this year. But as I suggested in my first comment, how is the at all practical for cap purposes.

Why do Leafs fans think they can obtain players without any consideration to the cap? This trades are getting sillier and sillier.