Around the League - 2024-2025

[ER89]

And when Tampa wins absolutely nothing with Guentzel, should we still praise Tampa? Tampa did the right thing by letting Stamkos go, but all they are doing is shuffling high-priced deck chairs.

uh yes because winning is hard.

But if youre intent isnt to win then wtf are we doing?

 

[Darcy Tucker]

 

[Peasy]

More like if he was Canadian instead of playing on the east coast.

 

[Nineteen67]

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Artificial intelligence predicts the Maple Leafs' next Stanley Cup victory​

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Artificial intelligence has predicted the next 10 Stanley Cup winners and the Maple Leafs are listed among those 10 teams.​

While Leafs GM Brad Treliving has been tinkering with his team during the offseason, looking for the recipe for success, we really cannot determine how successful the moves he made will be until games are being played. With the additions of Chris Tanev, along with Stanley Cup Champions Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Anthony Stolarz, the Leafs are better than they were last season, at least on paper. But how close are they to actually winning a Cup? That seems like a loaded question.

For a franchise that has not won a Cup since 1967, it seems like a stretch that they'd go from exiting in the first round this past year to a Stanley Cup win in such a short time, but this projection from A.I. actually makes a lot of sense as well, for a few different reasons.

First, captain John Tavares' mega deal, paying him an AAV of $11M will be long gone by the 2026-27 season. Another reason is that young players in Toronto, such as Matthew Knies, Fraser Minten, Easton Cowan, and even Ben Danford will have experienced a lot of development over the next few seasons and could be key contributors by then. Also, if Joseph Woll continues on his development curve, his $3.66M AAV may also look like a steal by that point in time.

With the extra cap space the Maple Leafs will get by the 2026-27 season, the sky is the limit. The added cap will play a major role in the team to be able to target high-end free agents and ink key internal pieces to valuable contracts. Another reason that this could come to fruition is the internal growth from guys like Auston Matthews, William Nylander in Toronto.

The contention window is wide open for the Leafs. There's a real opportunity for them to do some damage over the next few seasons. It's just a matter of what they do with it at this point.​

Al knows at least 9 teams that Matthews, Nylander and Marner didn’t go to. Wonder who it thinks the Leafs got to replace them?

 

[Nineteen67]

And when Tampa wins absolutely nothing with Guentzel, should we still praise Tampa? Tampa did the right thing by letting Stamkos go, but all they are doing is shuffling high-priced deck chairs.

If you listened to Stamkos at his Nashville intro, you heard a leader. He was impressive and he will be missed by TB


On side note, it was neat to be able to hear the questions and the answers at a PC. Maybe something these “elite” teams could look at doing.

 

[Evilhomer]

uh yes because winning is hard.

But if youre intent isnt to win then wtf are we doing?

Other than a handful of teams, every team's intent is to win. It just isn't easy to do.

 

[Dreakmur]

This was an awesome series

https://x.com/i/web/status/1812986605616955507

Steve Webb running around like a maniac.... but he never touched the puck, so you could never hit him back!

 

[Fogelhund]

""

 

[PROUD PAPA]

Steve Webb running around like a maniac.... but he never touched the puck, so you could never hit him back!

Never has a player worked so hard to accomplish nothing.

 

[ER89]

Other than a handful of teams, every team's intent is to win. It just isn't easy to do.

Not if we continue to run it back. Then it's about getting to the playoffs. Whoopdedoo

 

[VanW27]

Not if we continue to run it back. Then it's about getting to the playoffs. Whoopdedoo

He said "other than a handful of teams" I'd say we're among that handful.

Better to be good with no chance of winning a cup, than risk being bad to have a chance at being great. At least according to MLSE.

 

[Leaf Rocket]

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this is sad but very true.

 

[conFABulator]

I know that Carolina doesn't often make moves like signing Mitch to the sort of contract he is looking for, but a new GM and years of not meeting expectations could change that. It looks like they are getting out of the Kuznetsov contact too.

Would they consider the following? Would we?

Marner

For

Jarvis
Nikishin
Kotkaniemi

This is about getting great value for Marner with Nikishin and Jarvis being exactly what we need; a 2C and a top pairing dman. Nikishin immediately becomes our top prospect and he is close to NHL ready.

Oh yeah, we also get a 3C in the deal...a pretty expensive and underperforming one. The idea here is that we get a lot of value for MM because we help Carolina out of six years at $4.85m for JK.

Maybe Kotkaniemi finds his game and develops chemistry with Willy and he is a solid 3C for six years, if not we try to move him or we buy him out. He is under 26 (for two more years) nd the buyout is pretty light...under a million per year for 10 years if we do it next year and 8 years if we do it the year after.

Robertson Matthews Domi
Tavares Jarvis McMann
Knies Kotkaniemi Nylander
Holmberg Kampf Jarnkrok
Dewar

...and we get a future too pairing dman.

Who says no?

 

[Stephen]

And when Tampa wins absolutely nothing with Guentzel, should we still praise Tampa? Tampa did the right thing by letting Stamkos go, but all they are doing is shuffling high-priced deck chairs.

Tampa deserves credit for resorting to drastic measures and demonstrating a kind of ruthlessness to stay in contention, but I would say going from Sergachev back to McDonagh and dumping Stamkos for Guentzel probably ain't it.

 

[Stephen]

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I just made the very point on the history board. Intuitively feels wrong that Kopitar ranks ahead of Bergeron, but even with LA going in the toilet by the time he was 27, he still won 2 cups and did all he needed to.

To put things into perspective, by the time he was Auston Matthews age, he had won 2 cups already. If Matthews did that for us he'd have a statue on Legends Row while still an active player...

 

[Gabriel426]

I just made the very point on the history board. Intuitively feels wrong that Kopitar ranks ahead of Bergeron, but even with LA going in the toilet by the time he was 27, he still won 2 cups and did all he needed to.

To put things into perspective, by the time he was Auston Matthews age, he had won 2 cups already. If Matthews did that for us he'd have a statue on Legends Row while still an active player...

If Engvall did what Kopitar did for the Kings in the playoffs and got us two Cups. He will be on Legends Row

 

[BayStBullies]

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What is the logic behind the claim that he'd have more Selkes if he played in the higher scoring conference?

 

[supermann_98]

I know that Carolina doesn't often make moves like signing Mitch to the sort of contract he is looking for, but a new GM and years of not meeting expectations could change that. It looks like they are getting out of the Kuznetsov contact too.

Would they consider the following? Would we?

Marner

For

Jarvis
Nikishin
Kotkaniemi

This is about getting great value for Marner with Nikishin and Jarvis being exactly what we need; a 2C and a top pairing dman. Nikishin immediately becomes our top prospect and he is close to NHL ready.

Oh yeah, we also get a 3C in the deal...a pretty expensive and underperforming one. The idea here is that we get a lot of value for MM because we help Carolina out of six years at $4.85m for JK.

Maybe Kotkaniemi finds his game and develops chemistry with Willy and he is a solid 3C for six years, if not we try to move him or we buy him out. He is under 26 (for two more years) nd the buyout is pretty light...under a million per year for 10 years if we do it next year and 8 years if we do it the year after.

Robertson Matthews Domi
Tavares Jarvis McMann
Knies Kotkaniemi Nylander
Holmberg Kampf Jarnkrok
Dewar

...and we get a future too pairing dman.

Who says no?

Nikishin and Jarvis? They laugh in our faces.

 

[Peasy]

I know that Carolina doesn't often make moves like signing Mitch to the sort of contract he is looking for, but a new GM and years of not meeting expectations could change that. It looks like they are getting out of the Kuznetsov contact too.

Would they consider the following? Would we?

Marner

For

Jarvis
Nikishin
Kotkaniemi

This is about getting great value for Marner with Nikishin and Jarvis being exactly what we need; a 2C and a top pairing dman. Nikishin immediately becomes our top prospect and he is close to NHL ready.

Oh yeah, we also get a 3C in the deal...a pretty expensive and underperforming one. The idea here is that we get a lot of value for MM because we help Carolina out of six years at $4.85m for JK.

Maybe Kotkaniemi finds his game and develops chemistry with Willy and he is a solid 3C for six years, if not we try to move him or we buy him out. He is under 26 (for two more years) nd the buyout is pretty light...under a million per year for 10 years if we do it next year and 8 years if we do it the year after.

Robertson Matthews Domi
Tavares Jarvis McMann
Knies Kotkaniemi Nylander
Holmberg Kampf Jarnkrok
Dewar

...and we get a future too pairing dman.

Who says no?

Lol not a chance. Might not even get Jarvis for him straight up. Are you familiar with the Canes owner? If you arent you should look into him. Theres a reason why they always have so many FAs walking. Hes cheap af and will not over pay anyone and sometimes even if you want fair value he will let you walk. There is no way they would sign marner for what he wants.

 

[ToneDog]

Lol not a chance. Might not even get Jarvis for him straight up. Are you familiar with the Canes owner? If you arent you should look into him. Theres a reason why they always have so many FAs walking. Hes cheap af and will not over pay anyone and sometimes even if you want fair value he will let you walk. There is no way they would sign marner for what he wants.

They signed Slavin for $1m less that Rielly. On what planet is Mitch worth 2x Slavin ?

 

[conFABulator]

Lol not a chance. Might not even get Jarvis for him straight up. Are you familiar with the Canes owner? If you arent you should look into him. Theres a reason why they always have so many FAs walking. Hes cheap af and will not over pay anyone and sometimes even if you want fair value he will let you walk. There is no way they would sign marner for what he wants.

I am familiar the the owner. I also know they spend to the cap and that they have disappointed and fell short many years in a row now. With the cap increasing every year now again, it might the the smart and prudent move to lock people in now for eight years. Who knows what he thinks, new GM though.

As for Jarvis, I agree. I had this as Necas and not Jarvis originally and a few people suggested Jarvis was better value for us. It didn't seem right.

I don think I would eat on Kotkaniemi if not Jarvis though. I would Marner (retained for one year) for Necas and Nikishin thought.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

I know that Carolina doesn't often make moves like signing Mitch to the sort of contract he is looking for, but a new GM and years of not meeting expectations could change that. It looks like they are getting out of the Kuznetsov contact too.

Would they consider the following? Would we?

Marner

For

Jarvis
Nikishin
Kotkaniemi

This is about getting great value for Marner with Nikishin and Jarvis being exactly what we need; a 2C and a top pairing dman. Nikishin immediately becomes our top prospect and he is close to NHL ready.

Oh yeah, we also get a 3C in the deal...a pretty expensive and underperforming one. The idea here is that we get a lot of value for MM because we help Carolina out of six years at $4.85m for JK.

Maybe Kotkaniemi finds his game and develops chemistry with Willy and he is a solid 3C for six years, if not we try to move him or we buy him out. He is under 26 (for two more years) nd the buyout is pretty light...under a million per year for 10 years if we do it next year and 8 years if we do it the year after.

Robertson Matthews Domi
Tavares Jarvis McMann
Knies Kotkaniemi Nylander
Holmberg Kampf Jarnkrok
Dewar

...and we get a future too pairing dman.

Who says no?

Any trade proposal that has Marner in it is a good one.

Even better if you can rip the other team off. If Nikishin is as good as you say he is this would be a great deal for the Leafs. They would never buy out Kotkaniemi with that many years left, but stick it out for a couple years, and then trade him in a package with sweeteners is my guess.

I hope they trade Marner for a 1RHD too.

 

[ULF_55]

View attachment 895430

Would Toronto be east enough?

Hard to say, but quite possibly.

.88 PPG - Kopitar
.80 PPG - Bergeron

.31 GPG - Kopitar
.33 GPG - Bergeron

Playoffs I don't think matter for Selke.
2 Cups - Kopitar
1 Cup - Bergeron

 

[Darcy Tucker]

What is the logic behind the claim that he'd have more Selkes if he played in the higher scoring conference?

More exposure. (Timezone)

 

[ULF_55]

Tampa deserves credit for resorting to drastic measures and demonstrating a kind of ruthlessness to stay in contention, but I would say going from Sergachev back to McDonagh and dumping Stamkos for Guentzel probably ain't it.

Could there be more reasons they moved on from Stamkos than on ice performance?

Or perhaps their projection of Stamkos going forward isn't flattering?

You would hope they know their players better than anyone.