The coach sucks. He refuses to trust young guys. McCabe has been playing much better but his in zone coverage is often compromised by him looking for big hits. It's not surprising you ignore that, which has directly lead to many goals against, but the odd time Liljegren throws the puck away it's the end of the world. McCabe hits and to many, that's all they see.

Hanafin would be a great add. Would allow us to have 2 different defensive pairs that the puck up ice quick. Which is where we need the big guns.

Either of Hanifin, Weegar, or Andersson would be of interest to me

Tanev to as a secondary add

But even if Keefe was willing to keep him in the top 4 the issue is at times Liligren has not shown enough to consistently be a top 4 guy. Hes shown flashes but lets be honest if he really had solidified his status he would not be on the third pair no matter whose HC.

Liligren just has not taken that step. Now hes 24 and usually Dman dont go into their prime till 26 but on a team trying for a cup will they want to wait. As while he can be a nice third pair hes also due for a contract and that could be a factor rn. Unless he takes that leap and never lets it go then yea he may be gone either at the TDL or summer as a piece to go get an upgrade.

As basically since after the TDL last year he seems to have taken a little step back. As before man that guy was making noise. This year still good but yea will be interesting to see

Tanev does nothing for the team beyond this season. Anderson I would wager would cost too much and Weegar's contract is dangerous. He's great now but as Brodie and before him Muzzin have shown us, 33-34 is a dangerous time for defenceman

Not necessarily Tanev would be a stopgap partner for Rielly until either we see something better come along. Basically he would be the better Brodie replacement for the year.

Cause there arent many great options besides 2 guys but we got 0 guarantee at either one

As for Muzzin didnt show us anything as who could have predicted all those injuries from being crosschecked into someone's knee, sudden neck snap, and leg problems

Like if none of that happened would still probs be playing rn. Look at Gio still playing into his 40's not great but also not a bad third pair guy at this point


For Weegar would not really care as u would get 5 good years and by the time its bad who cares u probs hopefully got a cup in there and cap will be in the 100+ mill range.

Cause if Weegar is this good on his offside imagine him on his strong side next to Rielly

But yea if what Weeks says is true and Andersson's available theres a guy u move Liligren for


1st + Liligren and a prospect should get it done. Could look at something bigger but hey if its just that im good

Weegar will be declining very soon. Tanev already is. Getting another old guy is just the worst idea

Anderson over Liljegren but no one else

As said u would get 4-5 good years out of that deal would take that all day considering just how good hes been

mmm would throw Hanifin and Weegar there as I dont see Liligren being comparable to either unless he goes through a massive jump. Still has time but so far its not been there but in rare splashes

You might only get 3 good years out of it. Brodie was midway through his 33 year old season and fell off a cliff. Does Weegar see a similar fall off? It's hard to say but it comes around age 33 for most. You can look it up, defenceman don't last longer than forwards, playing past 33 is becoming less and less common. 35+ defenceman are becoming less and less. Weegar's contract is bad. It won't age well. You can do better than wreck your cap 3-4 years from now. Especially since the acquisition cost will be huge

Brodie and Weegar's playstyles be different so not the best comparable. Brodie's offense went downhill the moment he came here but his defense got better till this year where his one strong suit has gone away.

Weegar's having himself a season and has been getting better and better it seems as hes gotten older. He is good in transition, offense, and defense. Basically the perfect blend

Per his playstyle and other factors probs get 4-5 good years out of him. As we see it in other guys it all depends on healthy they can stay and while age is a factor with fewer injuries they can have long good careers just ask Gio.

Hanafin yes as well. Weegar is the wrong age. He's 30. He's definitely very good right now but in all likelihood, this is the best he'll ever be, and every year moving forward is going to be less. Even at best for a year or two. But all defenceman in their mid 30's decline. All of them.

Hopelessly optimistic. Hopelessly

Not really its basically based on comparables. Were in win now not care about a guys deal towards the end. Its like Willy or Rielly nobody cares about the final years they care about the now lul

Adding Weegar to this blue line would be a massive improvement and he would give us 4-5 good years


Cap will be higher by the time he starts to fall in the timespan mentioned and by then he can be a nice third pair guy.

Compile a list of defenceman who are elite at 35. Then a list of 34 year olds. Hopelessly optimistic

Lets see guys who are still good and over 33

Brent Burns
Alex Pietrangelo
John Carlsson
Drew Doughty
Jared Spurgeon (injured this year and is out but still a solid Dman)

Lower tier but still good in one category or another

Chris Tanev


Just miss the cut till next year

Victor Hedman
Roman Josi
Erik Karlsson

Lower tier but still good in one category or another

Brendon Dillon
Brayden McNabb
Radko Gudas (when was with FLA)

Like any of these guys I would want on this team ignoring the fact we dont got the cap for most lul


For much older guys but Burns they usually be lowered to the third pair so its perspective if u want elite third pair its then guys like Gio, Bogo, and other nice older third pair guys

In general its not about caring about the 34 its about caring from the 30-35. Toronto will get 4-5 good years of Weegar so that would be the focus by the 5th or 6th year when he would slow down lower to third pair. If no slowdown just keep cruising.

The one thing is hes done that before then fallen. Its something we have seen with him and Sandin it just was never consistent enough

He's been good but on a SC team do you see him on the second pair in a shutdown role. I just cant. To me u either pair him at the top with an elite 2-way guy (thats not Rielly whose still good but not a 2-way stud) or third pair (what Keefe's currently doing)

Hes just not quite yet taken that step and while hes only 24 times a ticking.

Like im trading Liligren for 3 runs with Rasmus Andersson all day every day

I'm not saying he's some elite defensemen, I'm saying that he's developing into a nice defensemen

Most of not all of those guys have declined and all the top end guys are much better than Tanev. Tanev is also declining he isn't what he used to be and it will only get worse.

The development at this point should be done he aint a rookie anymore hes 24. Sure hes got 2 more years before hes in the prime era but by now he should have solidified himself as a 2nd pair guy but sadly its just not happened consistently enough. As its not like he was drafted super recently (2017) and while hes come along way for a 15OA pick u kind of expected more.

And whether we want to blame Keefe or this and that its also up to Liligren to consistently show he can handle the responsibility. Like at this point this may just be what he is which is fine but hes due for a contract next year and I cant see us paying him like a 2nd pair guy as he has not shown enough to get it. If he continues to play like he did against PHI then we talking but through a pretty good sample of 3 years with him its been on and off especially since Sandin left.

If Rasmus Andersson is available I would seriously look into PKGing off Liligren

Cause then u can do

Rielly-Brodie
McCabe-Andersson
Giordano-Benoit

https://twitter.com/DennisTFP/status/1758907843195949244

Hello Matt Roy

Gonna post this here as well:

Does anyone know - if a team acquires somebody who has performance bonuses on their deal, and that player has already met the conditions of the bonuses, is the team who signed him on the hook for that money next year or the acquiring team?

i.e. If the Leafs traded for Connor Brown, who after 10 GP with the Oilers secured his performance bonus of $3.225m which is to be tacked onto next years cap, does that count against the Leafs cap or the Oilers?

Someone answered this before (CF itself maybe) and it basically depends on a case by case basis the wording in their contract