Speculation: 2024-2025 General Lightning Discussion I

[Felonious Python]

 

[Master P]

I think he'd be a perfect addition, just don't see how we do it.

 

[Felonious Python]

I think he'd be a perfect addition, just don't see how we do it.

Speaking with TSN 690 Montreal last week, The Athletic's Aaron Portzline discussed the type of return the Blue Jackets could seek for Laine. He believes they'd prefer draft picks and prospects rather than a roster player because of their off-season additions. Portzline also thinks they must retain part of his $8.7-million annual cap hit to facilitate a deal.

Mailbag: Laine trade talks with Blue Jackets; Rangers’ Cup chances | NHL.com

NHL.com's Dan Rosen answers questions in offseason edition

www.nhl.com

It could be similar to the Kuznetsov trade on March 8 to the Carolina Hurricanes. In that trade, the Washington Capitals sent Kuznetsov to Carolina for a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Washington retained 50 percent of Kuznetsov's remaining salary cap charge ($7.8 million AAV). Columbus is likely hoping it can do better in a trade involving Laine.

 

[Byrddog]

Lane is a high risk high reward situation. The time he has spent on the IR during his career is concerning. There is also the question why did the Jets shop him and now why are the Jackets ready to cut bait and run. Is it just coincidence or could it be a player issue. The guy can sure impact a line when he’s on the ice. As to how could he fit in the cap well there is still paths to get it done. The question is do JBB and Coop think the need mores scoring or more D?

 

[DFC]

Really expensive and I'm not sure Cooper would ever trust him.

 

[Soul Assumption]

Laine 50%+Sillinger for Tony Cirelli

 

[Sky04]

Laine sucks

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Lane is a high risk high reward situation. The time he has spent on the IR during his career is concerning. There is also the question why did the Jets shop him and now why are the Jackets ready to cut bait and run. Is it just coincidence or could it be a player issue. The guy can sure impact a line when he’s on the ice. As to how could he fit in the cap well there is still paths to get it done. The question is do JBB and Coop think the need mores scoring or more D?

He asked to be traded from the Jets because there were issues in that dressing room: Scheifele and Wheeler were tough on Laine, personalities didn't mesh well.

Laine predictably sucked with Tortorella for a year, then was good when healthy the next two years, and then basically lost an entire season this past year. The talent is still there, but he'd have to be in the right situation and the right mental headspace to get it back.

 

[Crunchrulz]

It would appear Cirelli has clearly taken over the Jeannot role as the "blame him for everything that goes wrong" in the minds of some of the folks posting here.

Irony is, he is apparently one of the players who many other teams and their fans ask about when trade talks are started.

In your blind rage against the organization for not giving all available Cap Space to keep an aging Stamkos, perhaps you might want to step back for a moment and realize this team is actually better on paper right now than it was last season at this time, as pointed out by many who understand the game far more than most of us fans do.

 

[JoVel]

Why would we let Stamkos walk and then bring in a guy for the same role who's worse, more expensive, and very injury prone?

 

[Sky04]

Why would we let Stamkos walk and then bring in a guy for the same role who's worse, more expensive, and very injury prone?

And pay assets to get him

 

[Zwui21]

Laine could be a very interesting experiment, but we would have to be willing to give up a few more picks and probably a B prospect.

Laine obviously has had his difficulties, but coming to a proper organization and a proper locker room could do wonders for him.
He'd be the perfect replacement for Stammer on the PP, and we'd add a true goalscorer to the second line.

We would have to get CBJ to retain 50% and then another team another 50%, so we'd get Laine at 2.175M AAV for 2 seasons. Which would obviously cost his fair share. Thought the Kuznetzov trade from March at least puts a fair comparable price on the table.
Swap Laine for Sheary in term of Cap allocation, no brainer move. Having him at that AAV for 2 years would give our window a big extra boost.
And it would be an insane value because I'd expect him to thrive in Tampa. Imagine getting a 70 points player for 2 seasons at 2.1M AAV. that's JBB kinda value.


Guentzel - Point - Kuch
Hagel - Cirelli - Laine
Eyssimont - Paul - Atkinson
Girgenson - Glendening - Chaffee

Would be a very, very good F core overall.

And imagine next offseason.. being able to use the increasing cap for further bolstering our Dcore.

Definitely difficult to pull off, but by far the move that would put us in the best spot to be elite again.

 

[Zwui21]

Why would we let Stamkos walk and then bring in a guy for the same role who's worse, more expensive, and very injury prone?

- 9 years younger
- would be under contract for only 2 years in case things don't work out (so no anchor contract)
- better 5v5 metrics than Stammer while offering the same PP upside
- could be acquired at a lower cap hit than what Stamkos was asking
- higher ceiling than Stamkos going forward

You can choose

 

[These Are The Days]

If we wanna get younger, Python has the right idea sending Cirelli to the CBJ though. I think I would try for Brindley though. I like his upside and he is far too good to be laboring in the AHL for God only knows and the CBJ have a gluttony of prospects at center. I'm not saying I don't believe in Geekie either. I'm saying it's good to have a plan for who our 2C is and this will give all the more reassurance. Put one or the other on the wing with Hagel.

Again. My issue with Cirelli is he is best utilized in a checking role. Make him stop a goal against instead of score one and he is amazing at it. I freaking love him for it. But we have a bazillion prospects who fit that role and we just blew up our bottom 6 in order to do that. We need to be able to summon a goal that DOESN'T come from 1 line at even strength or the PP. I don't know how he's gonna do this. It's not his strength. My man has been laboring for like 3 years centering Stamkos barely getting to .500 PPG. I don't even want to imagine what's gonna happen now

 

[Felonious Python]

If we wanna get younger, Python has the right idea sending Cirelli to the CBJ though. I think I would try for Brindley though. I like his upside and he is far too good to be laboring in the AHL for God only knows and the CBJ have a gluttony of prospects at center. I'm not saying I don't believe in Geekie either. I'm saying it's good to have a plan for who our 2C is and this will give all the more reassurance. Put one or the other on the wing with Hagel.

Again. My issue with Cirelli is he is best utilized in a checking role. Make him stop a goal against instead of score one and he is amazing at it. I freaking love him for it. But we have a bazillion prospects who fit that role and we just blew up our bottom 6 in order to do that. We need to be able to summon a goal that DOESN'T come from 1 line at even strength or the PP. I don't know how he's gonna do this. It's not his strength. My man has been laboring for like 3 years centering Stamkos barely getting to .500 PPG. I don't even want to imagine what's gonna happen now

That wasn't my idea, but if you like it, I'll gladly take the credit.

 

[The Gongshow]

Yeah I'm down for Laine, there's still some upside there and he's still young.

While I don't think the team wants to move Cirelli, some have mentioned doing so / or including him in the trade for Laine.

Who would we get to play 2C?

 

[Point21]

Laine can be had for as little as 2.2m at max retention in a 3 team trade. i dont think it would be all that expensive to make that move. Sheary would have to be moved as well and possibly replace Perbix with Crozier just to make sure we can still make a call up if need be.

Yeah I'm down for Laine, there's still some upside there and he's still young.

While I don't think the team wants to move Cirelli, some have mentioned doing so / or including him in the trade for Laine.

Who would we get to play 2C?

i know CBJ tried putting Laine at C for a bit but i doubt that would work here, his numbers were not great at all

 

[These Are The Days]

I'd rather have Stamkos. Laine isn't broken in the true sense of the word. But he is all the criticism we lashed on Stamkos and probably more. Hard pass. You can't unbite that apple

 

[DistantThunderRep]

Do I think Laine would improve our Top 6 this year? Yes. Do I like it would be only 2 year deal? Yes. Do I think it would be idiotic to pay the amount of assets for 2 years of Laine at double retention? You bet your f***ing ass I do.

What in the hell is this duality? People bitching about moving futures non stop so the solution is moving futures for 2 years of Laine who is coming off basically 2 seasons off? The ask is Columbus retains basically $8.7M over 2 years, and another team to retain another $4.35M over 2 years. If retaining Kuznetsov cost a 3rd for $7.8M of retention, a younger, more productive player would cost more than just a third. Probably 2nd just for the Retention alone. The second retention would probably cost another 3rd at least. This is before you bring in to account what Laine is actually worth and the cost of moving Sheary.

A Trade would have to be around:

Howard/Duke + Utah 2nd + LA 2nd + Sheary for Laine 50% Retained

2026 3rd + 2025 5th for Double Retention.

You can't move Cirelli for Laine, that just opens another hole at 2C. You could move Paul up there, but then you open a hole at 3C. And long-term Paul at 2C just feels like a bad idea. He's a real good 3C and an option to step into 2C when needed.

People here can't have it both ways, crying non stop about getting rid of futures for people who are moving in the wrong direction. Jeannot was playing the whole time and moving downwards, Laine hasn't played and is just as likely to get hurt for 2/3 of the season than he is to score 25 goals for us.

 

[Crunchrulz]

Easy answer...this is the type of player the Leafs have always lacked, and one of the main reasons we are not able to find playoff success. Having played Tampa in 2 of the last 3 playoffs easily shows what value he brings to a team, when a coach strategizes around a player, that has to mean something

BOOM!
Simple and easy enough to read for even the newest hockey fan to understand.
Thank you.

 

[Felonious Python]

Do I think Laine would improve our Top 6 this year? Yes. Do I like it would be only 2 year deal? Yes. Do I think it would be idiotic to pay the amount of assets for 2 years of Laine at double retention? You bet your f***ing ass I do.

What in the hell is this duality? People bitching about moving futures non stop so the solution is moving futures for 2 years of Laine who is coming off basically 2 seasons off? The ask is Columbus retains basically $8.7M over 2 years, and another team to retain another $4.35M over 2 years. If retaining Kuznetsov cost a 3rd for $7.8M of retention, a younger, more productive player would cost more than just a third. Probably 2nd just for the Retention alone. The second retention would probably cost another 3rd at least. This is before you bring in to account what Laine is actually worth and the cost of moving Sheary.

A Trade would have to be around:

Howard/Duke + Utah 2nd + LA 2nd + Sheary for Laine 50% Retained

2026 3rd + 2025 5th for Double Retention.

You can't move Cirelli for Laine, that just opens another hole at 2C. You could move Paul up there, but then you open a hole at 3C. And long-term Paul at 2C just feels like a bad idea. He's a real good 3C and an option to step into 2C when needed.

People here can't have it both ways, crying non stop about getting rid of futures for people who are moving in the wrong direction. Jeannot was playing the whole time and moving downwards, Laine hasn't played and is just as likely to get hurt for 2/3 of the season than he is to score 25 goals for us.

The solution is to draft a top 10 player in the sixth round regularly.

 

[Stammertime91]

Hard pass on Laine. I know he gets a lot of shit his way, he's injury prone, and maybe his mindset hasn't been the best - but no thank you. Great shot but he's not the guy you leverage assets for when he's that much of a wild card. Laine isn't really a defensive stud either, so those bashing the Sprong idea would find themselves saying "that's your man Laine" quite a bit.

He's not worth the questions marks around the cost/contract tied to him. Let someone else deal with that.

 

[nhljohnson]

Kuzmenko. Trade deadline.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Laine is probably a 30 goal scorer these days but can’t stay healthy, his past two teams were/are actively trying to get rid of him and he comes with a $8.7M cap hit. I’ll join team “nothx”.

 

[Peacefool]

Damn Kuzy Barabanov, take some of those instead of Sheary. I really liked Barabanov from what I remember he had good potential, just needed to play with good players, Barabanov and Hagel at same line would be disaster for opposites, two neverstop engines with skills and Cirelly cementing D zone, or Barabanov and Ice at 3rd line with Paul, those two could just devastate opposites stamina