Confirmed with Link: 2021 Signing NOT 2022 Yet - TOR signed F Ondrej Kase [1 year, 1.25M]

[The Iceman]

This is a good depth signing. If he stays healthy, he's a solid 30-40 point winger.

I'm guessing Ritchie is the last guy they'll go for?

If he stays healthy he is a 25 goal scorer. Scored 20 in 66 games @ 22 years old

 

[zeke]

Kid was terrific before the concussions hit. Hope he can stay healthy but I'm not counting on it.

 

[The Iceman]

My only concern with the Kase signing is could we have signed Galchenyuk for the same $$$

I did like our time with him.

 

[ottomaddox]

To my eyes, latyears signings were “come and get a ride on our young cores coattails” and this year is “ prove you belong.”


If there is one thing the Leafs need more of, it’s desperation.

For Kase, I hope he’s healthy either now or in the future. Maybe he is ready to go second half. If he can play, he’s better than his cap hit

Ok, but that really should be the message for our stars.

At least Babcock used to scratch/demote Nylander and Marner for poor efforts. Now?

 

[The Podium]

Ok, but that really should be the message for our stars.

At least Babcock used to scratch/demote Nylander and Marner for poor efforts. Now?

This is the first season in their careers where they are the city's villains. The shiny new toy effect has worn and are slowly losing their celebrity status. For Nylander it was lost prior to last season and he performed to silence his naysayers.

Not great that this may have been what it needed to come too, but hopefully it will light a fire under their asses.

 

[IrishInOntario]

If we get value as cheap as possible how is that a bad thing?

Kase is a 0.5 PPG player with good 5 on 5 metrics in over 200 GP.

Health is a limiting factor but if he sucks we have a bunch of depth that can take his spot.

Still need a top line LW but this doesn't prevent us from doing that either.

It's not a bad deal, as I prefaced in my previous post. I've got no problem with it.

I was poking fun at the large segment of this board that thinks everyone should sign in Toronto for dirt cheap, and that the Leafs should have virtually, unlimited cap flexibility. People are appalled by the Hyman deal in Edmonton, which in reality, is a slight overpay by a franchise that must do that in order to attract any quality free agents. There were many on this board that said they wouldn't pay him a cent more than 3.75m per. Other were willing to go no higher than 4.0m... As if that's, in any way, in touch with the reality of what he's worth on the market.

 

[kb]

It's not a bad deal, as I prefaced in my previous post. I've got no problem with it.

I was poking fun at the large segment of this board that thinks everyone should sign in Toronto for dirt cheap, and that the Leafs should have virtually, unlimited cap flexibility. People are appalled by the Hyman deal in Edmonton, which in reality, is a slight overpay by a franchise that must do that in order to attract any quality free agents. There were many on this board that said they wouldn't pay him a cent more than 3.75m per. Other were willing to go no higher than 4.0m... As if that's, in any way, in touch with the reality of what he's worth on the market.

Let's not pretend that the Hyman who came back after the injury didn't have a ton of question marks surrounding his play. He lost his jump and his hands went back to stone. He was the line killer in the playoffs.

 

[IrishInOntario]

Let's not pretend that the Hyman who came back after the injury didn't have a ton of question marks surrounding his play. He lost his jump and his hands went back to stone. He was the line killer in the playoffs.

Let's not pretend that any of the Leaf forwards not named Nylander or Kerfoot played anywhere close to their contracts vs the Habs. Hyman was guilty of that certainty, but a much longer conversation needs to be had about $23 million dollars worth of Auston and Mitch, before Hyman's name should even come up.

 

[Once]

Who was the last Czech to play for the Leafs?

Plekanec?

 

[kb]

Let's not pretend that any of the Leaf forwards not named Nylander or Kerfoot played anywhere close to their contracts vs the Habs. Hyman was guilty of that certainty, but a much longer conversation needs to be had about $23 million dollars worth of Auston and Mitch, before Hyman's name should even come up.

Hyman killed that line. They were playing 2 vs 3.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Plekanec?

I think Polak lasted longer.

 

[IrishInOntario]

Hyman killed that line. They were playing 2 vs 3.

Marner stole 2-3 points from himself trying to be too friggen cute. It wasn't all on Hyman. Marner was trash.

 

[Communal Blood]

Hopefully Kase can stay healthy.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Marner stole 2-3 points from himself trying to be too friggen cute. It wasn't all on Hyman. Marner was trash.

Matthews should be the only one who is pissed. Both of his linemates sucked and he was left on an island, yet still managed to get a bunch of amazing looks.

 

[Leafsfan74]

My only concern with the Kase signing is could we have signed Galchenyuk for the same $$$

I did like our time with him.

That's assuming Galchenyuk is open to signing here. My concern is that some players are treating the team like their clique and it rubs off on some newcomers this way.

That's one difference between a Foligno and the incoming Ritchie. Both are slow and play a similar style, but you know for sure Foligno is a team-first guy, I don't know if Ritchie will be this way, I hope he is.

To win in this league you need team-first players who will sacrifice. You don't want a country club. We've seen that all too often in T.O. It will deter the best players from arriving.

 

[IrishInOntario]

Matthews should be the only one who is pissed. Both of his linemates sucked and he was left on an island, yet still managed to get a bunch of amazing looks.

Didn't finish, doesn't matter. Doesn't get paid to come close. He certainly outplayed his linemates, but with one goal in the entire series, there is plenty of blame for him to shoulder. When you have 50 shots on goal in a series, you need to finish.

No excuses. Imagine Kucherov that many looks and finishing one chance?

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Didn't finish, doesn't matter. Doesn't get paid to come close. He certainly outplayed his linemates, but with one goal in the entire series, there is plenty of blame for him to shoulder. When you have 50 shots on goal in a series, you need to finish.

No excuses. Imagine Kucherov that many looks and finishing one chance?

Kucherov doesn't need to create those looks on his own. He is not playing 1-on-3, which is what Matthews was effectively doing the entire series. Otherwise, Kucherov probably has fewer looks and finishes a lot less.

It's not an excuse if it is common sense.

 

[smitty10]

Who was the last Czech to play for the Leafs?

Rittich last year.

 

[Mess]

Kase is a long shot but worth a gamble. Worst comes to worst I guess you could revisit a Galchenyuk type guy.

With Kase who is only 25 years old, I wouldn't be surprised if the Leafs "red shirt him" a USA football term (sit out/delay return) and place him on LTIR at the beginning of the year with the intention he sits out the entire regular season recovering from his latest concussion.

The Leafs will replace him on the active roster and re-use his cap space $1.25 mil on a healthy player, essentially pushing his cap hit above the hard cap ceiling of $81.5 mil. Where Galchenyuk potential return might be a good guess, or someone like that in that similar price range. (still TBD)

Some of the potential benefits here playing the long game in his recovery process is that he is a very talented player when healthy, so at the end of this season Kase is still an RFA when this contract ends. so the Leafs can qualify him and keep his rights for the 2022-2023 season @ same level. This is all about getting him healthy and not rushing the process as head injuries are tricky and risky and return dates unpredictable.

Best case scenario, , if he magically starts feeling better, perhaps they attempt a Kucherov, and can activate him for the 2022 playoffs as if he was a TD addition but at no cost but coming off LTIR to build up the Leafs playoff roster when the cap is no longer an issue. Kase is a perfect player to attempt this replication tactic on what TB used this past year to great success and cap manipulation.

This is my best guess at present what the Leafs might be thinking here with his signing taking into account his current injury status, and potential injection into the Leafs line-up down the road when he is back to 100%.

PS. There is no risk here to the Leafs by his signing other than money $$, as I would be surprised if insurance will cover this contract considering he just missed 65 games to injury and counting and his long injury history of 5 documented concussions. So Leafs might be on the hook for the full uninsured contract salary, but who cares its not our money but MLSE.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

That's assuming Galchenyuk is open to signing here. My concern is that some players are treating the team like their clique and it rubs off on some newcomers this way.

That's one difference between a Foligno and the incoming Ritchie. Both are slow and play a similar style, but you know for sure Foligno is a team-first guy, I don't know if Ritchie will be this way, I hope he is.

To win in this league you need team-first players who will sacrifice. You don't want a country club. We've seen that all too often in T.O. It will deter the best players from arriving.

Galchenyuk said he would love to come back because he was treated well. Looks like we wanted other guys. I would still bring him back, but it may be tough for him to get into the lineup even if we trade a bunch of guys.

Foligno did not really sacrifice anything while he was here. He got into one fight, and generally sucked otherwise. He was riding on prestige and leadership but that did not really help much, and his on-ice contributions were subpar. Should not be hard for Ritchie to do better, especially offensively.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Ritchie said in his interview that he thinks zkase might be over the hump and finally ready to get playing again. Great guy also he said and a wicked player fans will instantly like.
I hope the best for him

 

[Havoc]

Galchenyuk said he would love to come back because he was treated well. Looks like we wanted other guys. I would still bring him back, but it may be tough for him to get into the lineup even if we trade a bunch of guys.

Foligno did not really sacrifice anything while he was here. He got into one fight, and generally sucked otherwise. He was riding on prestige and leadership but that did not really help much, and his on-ice contributions were subpar. Should not be hard for Ritchie to do better, especially offensively.

A cringe fight at that when it was obvious the whole thing was a freak accident. Fights a guy who refused to throw a punch out of respect for his friend but turns a blind eye to all of Chiarots dirty hacks.

 

[KMNRB]

My only concern with the Kase signing is could we have signed Galchenyuk for the same $$$

I did like our time with him.

I like the way he played for us too but his OT give-aways reflects the possibility of a bone-head play a the worst possible time (yes he was the guy who got us into OT but still, psychologically, losing this way probably hurts the team more). So I don't find missing him that much.

 

[Stephen]

My only concern with the Kase signing is could we have signed Galchenyuk for the same $$$

I did like our time with him.

Galchenyuk is a good talent but his IQ is so bad that he's a liability even when he's productive. Game 4 and 5 were a great microcosm of his floor and ceiling: be a big contributor and burn you one night to the next. I don't know if he's completely written out of the Leafs plans, but he's definitely fringe enough that he shouldn't have any semblance of job security this early in the offseason.

 

[Jmo89]

It's not a bad deal, as I prefaced in my previous post. I've got no problem with it.

I was poking fun at the large segment of this board that thinks everyone should sign in Toronto for dirt cheap, and that the Leafs should have virtually, unlimited cap flexibility. People are appalled by the Hyman deal in Edmonton, which in reality, is a slight overpay by a franchise that must do that in order to attract any quality free agents. There were many on this board that said they wouldn't pay him a cent more than 3.75m per. Other were willing to go no higher than 4.0m... As if that's, in any way, in touch with the reality of what he's worth on the market.

There are definitely some who undervalue depth. I find it really odd when I see posters who blast a guy getting 2-3M who has proven to be effective, but praise an unknown because they are 500k cheaper.

That said, it's important to stipulate the difference between a player being worth a certain amount to your team and a player being worth a certain amount on the market.

Sometimes to fill the holes on your team you have to pay market value. I agree, Hyman on the market was always getting over 4M. However, I don't think he's worth that to the Leafs. He's aging and has had two serious knee injuries. He's also been largely ineffective in the playoffs (as have the guys making 11M.)

For the Leafs I think it made sense to move on from him unless he came in under market value, so I don't disagree with people saying they wouldn't want him unless he was under (his market value at) 4M.

It makes more sense to pay his market value if you're Edmonton than it does if you're Toronto.