A superstar A sure thing A project and A prospect

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Created by: jonh514

Team: 2024-25 Montreal Canadiens

Initial Creation Date: May 11, 2024

Published: May 11, 2024

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Description

Habs target 4 things this offseason.

A Superstar

The simple truth most Habs fans are hiding behind is that the Leafs have 3 superstar forwards where the Habs maybe have 1 (I think they do in Slaf, though it remains to be seen). The Habs should target Mitch Marner. Everyone is saying all the things you will undoubtedly be able to read in the comments. "He's too soft." "He doesn't have what it takes to win in the playoffs". "All skill, no heart". "All about the money". I swear these are all the same comments we heard about Panarin over the past 2 seasons. This year however, it's a completely different story. Everyone who "knew" the Ranger will "never win with Panarin" is now talking about how they always knew he had this in him. Quite simply: I want that for Marner, but with the Habs. Panarin & Marner are perfect comparables and should also inform his extension numbers.

A sure thing

There are no sure things with young players. Only veterans can give that to a team. I believe the Habs need to go after defensively responsible veteran forward with NHL size. I would personally target Chandler Stephenson. At 6'0 & 209lbs he plays an excellent 2-way game and will become both a responsible top 6 option for a few years as well as our best penalty killer. Not sure how badly I need to defend this, but we miss Danault and here's a new Danault, let's not make the same mistake twice and begrudge him an extra 1M/season.

A project

This one is controversial, but I would take a run at Kaapo Kakko as redemption project. He needs a fresh start and while the trade may cost a premium, the player will not be expensive to sign.

A prospect

Depending on who's available at 5OA, we pick Lindstrom or Iginla. Probably Iginla which could be the surprise of the draft.

This should give the Habs an incredible boost in scoring and especially defense as Marner, Stephenson, and Kakko are all excellent defensively. Hopefully this translates to being "in the mix" for the playoffs.

Free Agent Signings

RFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Kakko, Kaapo	3	$2,900,000
Xhekaj, Arber	2	$1,500,000
Barron, Justin	2	$1,500,000

UFA		YEARS	CAP HIT
Stephenson, Chandler		5	$6,000,000

Trades

MTL

Kakko, Kaapo [RFA Rights]

Additional Details:

Habs get MSL's next project. I see him playing like Armia did by the end of the year.

NYR

Additional Details:

RW for RW, rangers give up on Kakko after a disastrous season

Mesar becomes the Rangers top RW prospect

Harris is a solid defender who cannot find a permanent spot in Montreal. Can he take some of Lindgren or Gus' ice time if the Rangers let one of them walk?

MTL

SJS

Anderson, Josh
2024 3rd round pick (MIN)
2025 3rd round pick (NJD)
2025 3rd round pick (VAN)

Additional Details:

Bigger body player who can throw his weight around and protect the kids

He is overpaid by about a 3rd round pick per year which I hope the Sharks will agree to take on

MTL

Marner, Mitchell

Additional Details:

Marner signs a 7 x 11 extension and haunts the Leafs for the next 32 regular season contests!

TOR

Beck, Owen
Struble, Jayden
2024 1st round pick (WPG)

Additional Details:

Top 3 protected 2025 pick. Should be 10-20 in fact, unless something goes wrong.

Beck is our top center prospect but between Dach, Stephenson, Newhook, Evans, and Suzuki, and players like Kapanen & Xhekaj coming up, we can afford to part with him.

Struble is a bottom pair stay at home defender with excellent skating and physicality, and middle pair upside.

Retained Salary Transactions

Jeff Petry: $2,343,750 (50%)
Jake Allen: $1,925,000 (50%)

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2024
2025
2026

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$87,500,000	$83,989,250	$1,022,500	$4,670,000	$3,510,750

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Slafkovsky, Juraj $950,000$950,000 ($3,500,000$4M) RW, LW RFA - 1	Suzuki, Nick $7,875,000$7,875,000 C UFA - 6	Marner, Mitchell $10,903,000$10,903,000 RW NMC UFA - 1
Stephenson, Chandler $6,000,000$6,000,000 C, LW UFA	Dach, Kirby $3,362,500$3,362,500 C, RW RFA - 2	Caufield, Cole $7,850,000$7,850,000 LW, RW UFA - 7
Armia, Joel $3,400,000$3,400,000 RW, LW UFA - 1	Newhook, Alex $2,900,000$2,900,000 C, LW RFA - 3	Kakko, Kaapo $2,900,000$2,900,000 RW RFA
Dvorak, Christian $4,450,000$4,450,000 C M-NTC UFA - 1	Evans, Jake $1,700,000$1,700,000 C UFA - 1	Gallagher, Brendan $6,500,000$6,500,000 RW, LW M-NTC, NMC UFA - 3

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Matheson, Michael $4,875,000$4,875,000 LD M-NTC UFA - 2	Guhle, Kaiden $863,333$863,333 ($420,000$420K) LD/RD RFA - 1	Montembeault, Samuel $3,150,000$3,150,000 G UFA - 3
Hutson, Lane $950,000$950,000 ($750,000$750K) LD RFA - 2	Savard, David $3,500,000$3,500,000 RD UFA - 1	Primeau, Cayden $890,000$890,000 G RFA - 1
Xhekaj, Arber $1,500,000$1,500,000 LD/RD RFA	Barron, Justin $1,500,000$1,500,000 RD RFA

Scratches	Injured Reserve (IR)	Long Term IR (LTIR)
Kovacevic, Johnathan $766,667$766,667 RD UFA - 1		Price, Carey $10,500,000$10,500,000 G NMC UFA - 2
Pezzetta, Michael $812,500$812,500 LW, RW UFA - 1
Harvey-Pinard, Rafaël $1,100,000$1,100,000 LW, RW RFA - 1

May 11 at 10:48 a.m.

Onlyfairtrades1

Joined: Feb. 2023

Posts: 3,563

Likes: 1,483

Rangers say NOPE. The have a better RW prospect in Perreault and have no use for an undersized defender.

Fox_Czar_Cup liked this.

May 11 at 10:49 a.m.

WorstTradesPossible

but you’re close.

Joined: Jun. 2018

Posts: 275

Likes: 74

Leafs don’t want prospects or futures out of a Marner trade. If it isn’t a solid top 4 d-man or a top 10 goalie to start the trade proposal, don’t even bother.

May 11 at 10:50 a.m.

jonh514

Thread Starter

HuGo is a Boss GM

Joined: Dec. 2021

Posts: 7,206

Likes: 3,148

Quoting: Onlyfairtrades1

Rangers say NOPE. The have a better RW prospect in Perreault and have no use for an undersized defender.

Oh year. Fair enough in Perrault. I still think they take a deal like this one. Why have 1 prospect when you can have 2? Kakko is not a player they should hold onto

May 11 at 10:52 a.m.

jonh514

Thread Starter

HuGo is a Boss GM

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Quoting: WorstTradesPossible

Leafs don’t want prospects or futures out of a Marner trade. If it isn’t a solid top 4 d-man or a top 10 goalie to start the trade proposal, don’t even bother.

You forget that they are still "THE LEAFS" and as a result can attract free agents with their 11M in free cash. This allows you to BOTH stockpile for the future and go shopping in free agency for someone like Pesce.

May 11 at 10:53 a.m.

Onlyfairtrades1

Joined: Feb. 2023

Posts: 3,563

Likes: 1,483

Quoting: jonh514

Oh year. Fair enough in Perrault. I still think they take a deal like this one. Why have 1 prospect when you can have 2? Kakko is not a player they should hold onto

Why not? He is a good 200 foot forward that still has upside and his next contract will be affordable, so why not keep him?

jonh514 and Fox_Czar_Cup liked this.

May 11 at 10:56 a.m.

jonh514

Thread Starter

HuGo is a Boss GM

Joined: Dec. 2021

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Likes: 3,148

Quoting: Onlyfairtrades1

Why not? He is a good 200 foot forward that still has upside and his next contract will be affordable, so why not keep him?

I just don't think he'll ever be a top 6 player for NYR, which would be a real shame. I guess if you are happy with a 2OA bottom 6 RW, then sure, though you can easily pick one up in free agency, especially if you don't give that money to Kakko.

May 11 at 10:58 a.m.

sheldon_kweef

sheldon kweef

Joined: Jun. 2021

Posts: 243

Likes: 50

ill kill myself if the leafs trade marner to montreal for that bag of hot garbage return

May 11 at 10:58 a.m.

T0R

Joined: Aug. 2020

Posts: 3,678

Likes: 949

Hmm it’s interesting but I think the fact this is a move to a direct divisional rival it would need another sweetener to make it worth it for Treliving, maybe a guy like Barron & Calgary’s 1st (which is most likely Florida’s because of the conditions surrounding it)

May 11 at 10:59 a.m.

WorstTradesPossible

but you’re close.

Joined: Jun. 2018

Posts: 275

Likes: 74

Quoting: jonh514

You forget Domi, Bertuzzi, Klingberg, Samsonov and Brodie come off the books July 1st. They don’t need to shed Marner to get Pesce, and they can find more useful NOW assets in a return from someone else. If you want to get Marner for those pieces, ship them to a 3rd team and send Toronto what it needs from there.

May 11 at 11:00 a.m.

#10

Onlyfairtrades1

Joined: Feb. 2023

Posts: 3,563

Likes: 1,483

Quoting: jonh514

I could care less where a player was drafted. That doesn't win or lose you hockey games. All that matter is how they play in the team system and does that play justify the cost. Kakko fits very nicely on the 3rd line right now with either Wennberg or Chytil in the middle. He started the year slowly, got hurt, and had to play much of it with an AHL player in Brodzinski as his center. Since the trade deadline he has been much better with Wennburg and Cuylee and he is healthy. I see no reason to trade him unless it is for a true bona fide top 6 RW that makes sense for the Rangers.

Fox_Czar_Cup liked this.

May 11 at 11:07 a.m.

#11

Rags21

Joined: Aug. 2021

Posts: 5,529

Likes: 2,431

Quoting: jonh514

Oh year. Fair enough in Perrault. I still think they take a deal like this one. Why have 1 prospect when you can have 2? Kakko is not a player they should hold onto

You have Kakko slotted on the 3rd line lol why would he do any better on Montreal?

Besides they don’t need Kakko to be a point per game or close to like Mika, trocheck, Kreider, or Panarin. They need really solid 2 way players

Fox_Czar_Cup liked this.

May 11 at 11:09 a.m.

#12

Fox_Czar_Cup

Joined: Apr. 2016

Posts: 8,174

Likes: 1,488

Obvious pass. Like last year with Laf, we are not handing them over for a bowl of cheerios. Instead we'll continue to do what we do, properly develop our kids despite tmzers. Kakko will blossom eventually and have a good career, he's already very solid and just needs a confident stretch for his balls to drop

Onlyfairtrades1 liked this.

May 11 at 11:10 a.m.

#13

GuyGuyGuy

Berkly goat Catton

Joined: Apr. 2023

Posts: 5,655

Likes: 2,238

Biggest difference between Marner and Panarin was that Panarin was invisible, Marner is very visible, but he is awful. He makes constant mistakes and cost way more goals than he produce. So no thanks on him.

May 11 at 11:11 a.m.

#14

MitchJr

Joined: Jan. 2023

Posts: 3,970

Likes: 1,303

No chance Leafs trade Marner in division

May 11 at 11:11 a.m.

#15

themostleaf33

Joined: Sep. 2020

Posts: 2,408

Likes: 545

It's gonna take more then a few meegar 3rd rounders to get rid of Anderson's contract.

Toronto paid a 1st to get rid of 1 year of Marleau.

The habs are at least gonna have to give up a couple 2nd rounders.

May 11 at 11:14 a.m.

#16

jonh514

Thread Starter

HuGo is a Boss GM

Joined: Dec. 2021

Posts: 7,206

Likes: 3,148

Quoting: T0R

If you want 11M in free cap, you won't get it from a team other than MTL IMO.

May 11 at 11:16 a.m.

#17

jonh514

Thread Starter

HuGo is a Boss GM

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Quoting: Rags21

I do, but I would also see him on PP #2 as a bumper ideally.

May 11 at 11:17 a.m.

#18

jonh514

Thread Starter

HuGo is a Boss GM

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Quoting: themostleaf33

Times have changed, the cap is rising. But I am not opposed to upping the amount we pay.

May 11 at 11:17 a.m.

#19

Rags21

Joined: Aug. 2021

Posts: 5,529

Likes: 2,431

Quoting: jonh514

I do, but I would also see him on PP #2 as a bumper ideally.

I mean he still wouldn’t be any better on Montreal than the rangers. His TOI probably stay the same playing with Armia and Newhook instead of Chytil and Cuylle

May 11 at 11:22 a.m.

#20

T0R

Joined: Aug. 2020

Posts: 3,678

Likes: 949

Quoting: jonh514

If you want 11M in free cap, you won't get it from a team other than MTL IMO.

I don’t think Brad wants 11 mil in cap space in all honesty I think he wants 6-8 & a player that can help the team right away, the one I think makes the most sense is Nashville for Saros & Tomasino, Montreal is one of team I doubt he goes to with his NMC

WorstTradesPossible liked this.

May 11 at 11:55 a.m.

#21

jonh514

Thread Starter

HuGo is a Boss GM

Joined: Dec. 2021

Posts: 7,206

Likes: 3,148

Quoting: T0R

Tre and Hughes are buddies. You might be surprised!

May 11 at 12:02 p.m.

#22

SNipeSHowInc

Joined: Jul. 2018

Posts: 2,669

Likes: 803

leafs decline. 11 million would be nice if the free agency pool had players worth the squeeze, but that’s not the case. Marner I’d traded will lane 2 roster players minimum

May 11 at 12:17 p.m.

#23

RecycleShark

Joined: Jul. 2023

Posts: 1,152

Likes: 342

Quoting: jonh514

Times have changed, the cap is rising. But I am not opposed to upping the amount we pay.

Add Barron and the Sharks might take it.

May 11 at 12:20 p.m.

#24

NYR1983

Joined: Sep. 2020

Posts: 6,386

Likes: 2,569

Quoting: jonh514

Oh year. Fair enough in Perrault. I still think they take a deal like this one. Why have 1 prospect when you can have 2? Kakko is not a player they should hold onto

Let me know what NYR record is with Kakko in the lineup vs with him out of the lineup.. then give more casual fan statements 👍🏼

Fox_Czar_Cup liked this.

May 11 at 9:59 p.m.

#25

T0R

Joined: Aug. 2020

Posts: 3,678

Likes: 949

Quoting: jonh514

Tre and Hughes are buddies. You might be surprised!

& Marners NMC is buddies with who?

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