Speculation: Chris Johnston "An atom bomb could drop"

[al secord]

Get them clicks

 

[al secord]

Matthews has looked defeated all year. Would anyone be shocked if he asked behind the scenes for a trade?

I doubt they sell low

 

[therealkoho]

I think Johnston is 100% correct and I'd start with the passengers. Matthews goes 1st.

 

[ashs]

If we can trade Mathews for a solid haul do it. Otherwise tavares and marner contracts alone save 22m. Get rid of rielly that's another 7.5m. I'd add Cowan for marner. Sign some gritty forwards and D. Then load up on top fas next year, hopefully Mcdavid.

 

[hamzarocks]

You may want to see what ROR did to other teams top Centers and the heater the Bennington went on.

now lets do all of the other teams in the last 10 years

Assume both other teams say yes to this (posters of these teams on their boards did agree to this type of deal)

Would you make the below deals and are we a better team off if we make this team in your estimate?

1. Dylan Strome + Ryan Leonard + 2026 1st for Matthews

2. Matt Barzal for Ryan Leonard + 2026 1st + Easton Cowan

Leafs sign below:

1. Nik Ehlers at 8M x 7
2. Matthew Knies at 8M x 8
3. Mikael Granlund at 3M x 6
4. Max Pacioretty at 2M x 1
5. John Tavares at 4.5M x 3
6. Robertson at 1M x 2

Knies - Barzal - Nylander
Ehlers - Strome - Granlund
McMann - Tavares - Domi
Patches - Laughton - Robertson

McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Carlo
OEL - Benoit

Stolarz
Woll

Comes at 900K under the 95.5M cap with Philippe Myers as #7D

We acquire 2 top 6Cs and build a potential lethal speedy 1st line and a very good 2nd line.

This would be a retool that gets us a high end 1C we can still win the cup with while being a deeper team overall. It would give us the chance to fit your Matthews trades franchise C replacement requirement

 

[al secord]

Are you guys seriously ready for life without Matthews, Marner and Tavares?

 

[Eternal Leaf]

I think Marner and Shanahan will be gone.

Does that count as an atom bomb?

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Are you guys seriously ready for life without Matthews, Marner and Tavares?

I have been ready to burn this thing to the ground for years but I acknowledge that is an extreme opinion.

To be quite honest, without the picks we can't burn it down yet even if we wanted to. If they do trade Matthews they have to get at least 1 NHL-ready piece, if not more, in return. IMO it's not going to happen.

I think (not necessarily saying this is what I would do, but I do think it is what they will do) Marner and Shanahan go, Tavares re-signs for cheap and we scrounge around UFA and/or the trade market for some pieces. Once we have our 1sts back, by that time Matthews' contract expires and there's no way he'll be re-signed at that stage at the rate things are progressing with him. At that point...you simply have to set it on fire and dance on the ashes for another era wasted.

If people want to keep some of these guys around to have something to watch during the regular season, I get it. I disagree, but I get it. However, anyone thinking about this objectively knows deep in their heart that barring an extraordinarily unlikely McDavid miracle, this group isn't winning a Cup here. So anyone that is asking questions like "what do we do to take the next step with this core" is asking the wrong questions because we cannot take the next step with this group as it stands today. They ARE the primary reason we haven't already taken those steps.

We have to change in a smart way because of our lack of picks but there is no longer a valid argument to run it back if you want this team to win in the playoffs.

Sorry if I went off topic a bit there.

 

[MajorLeaf]

No, it has to be more than Marner and Shanahan at this point. More turnover is required to make changes.

 

[WillNy29]

Assume both other teams say yes to this (posters of these teams on their boards did agree to this type of deal)

Would you make the below deals and are we a better team off if we make this team in your estimate?

1. Dylan Strome + Ryan Leonard + 2026 1st for Matthews

2. Matt Barzal for Ryan Leonard + 2026 1st + Easton Cowan

Leafs sign below:

1. Nik Ehlers at 8M x 7
2. Matthew Knies at 8M x 8
3. Mikael Granlund at 3M x 6
4. Max Pacioretty at 2M x 1
5. John Tavares at 4.5M x 3
6. Robertson at 1M x 2

Knies - Barzal - Nylander
Ehlers - Strome - Granlund
McMann - Tavares - Domi
Patches - Laughton - Robertson

McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Carlo
OEL - Benoit

Stolarz
Woll

Comes at 900K under the 95.5M cap with Philippe Myers as #7D

We acquire 2 top 6Cs and build a potential lethal speedy 1st line and a very good 2nd line.

This would be a retool that gets us a high end 1C we can still win the cup with while being a deeper team overall. It would give us the chance to fit your Matthews trades franchise C replacement requirement

you're upset with Matthews choking in the playoffs and you want Ehlers, Barzal and strome lol

how does this roster dump and chase without any size for retrieval? our D also remains slow..

 

[TheGreenTBer]

I think Marner and Shanahan will be gone.

Does that count as an atom bomb?

No. A Matthews or Nylander trade, especially the former, would be an atom bomb.

I don't see it happening.

 

[ThrowDemTongs]

I think Marner and Shanahan will be gone.

Does that count as an atom bomb?

We got little boy, but is Shanny a fat man

 

[TheGreenTBer]

We got little boy, but is Shanny a fat man

So Shanahan destroyed both Japan and Toronto?

Actually that probably checks out.

 

[Wrong Wilson]

I think Marner and Shanahan will be gone.

Does that count as an atom bomb?

Dreger and Johnston are suggesting/implying that it will be more than just Marner and Shanahan - maybe much more. We'll see.

 

[colchar]

View attachment 1039172

And you actually think the two of them would agree to go there?

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Dreger and Johnston are suggesting/implying that it will be more than just Marner and Shanahan - maybe much more. We'll see.

As @al secord posted above, it's entirely possible they are just click farming. I don't see a Matthews trade happening, too many things need to occur in order for that to be completed.

 

[Eternal Leaf]

No. A Matthews or Nylander trade, especially the former, would be an atom bomb.

I don't see it happening.

Yeah Matthews would be a true "atom bomb" no doubt about it.

I don't see it either.

The craziest I see them going is Marner, Tavares, Shanahan and then asking Rielly to waive. That would be three core pieces out which is a major change.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Yeah Matthews would be a true "atom bomb" no doubt about it.

I don't see it either.

The craziest I see them going is Marner, Tavares, Shanahan and then asking Rielly to waive. That would be three core pieces out which is a major change.

Marner, Tavares, Rielly and Shanahan would be massive change in one offseason but it's entirely deserved.

The only problem with Tavares leaving is that the center marker is paper thin and we need to pretend to compete while we don't have our picks, and he'd get a short and cheap contract. He's not that good of a player, definitely worse than Marner by a significant margin, but it ain't about trying to win a Cup next season anymore because categorically each and every one of us with a brain knows that isn't happening. It's now about turning the page over time and then burning the book once we have our picks.

Rielly is falling off at a Brodie rate but who is taking that contract? Maybe we can get Vancouver's front office, and Rielly himself, completely baked on BC weed and then bribe them with a pizza or seven?

 

[Stephen]

im just saying you cant have it both ways; the trash bag 1C cant somehow also get a massive haul. Goal scoring while shutting down other teams top players should rightly be coveted, that is an insane skill set

Buffalo traded 3 top line centers away and all three proceeded to quickly win cups lol

then you have backstrom and mackinnon who only made it out of round 2 once and both won cups in those years.

it takes just one run to change everything but it could also take just one bad trade to end up like buffalo with no hope in sight

Matthews didn’t shut anyone down in the Panthers series. And scored one goal himself.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Matthews didn’t shut anyone down in the Panthers series. And scored one goal himself.

That's OK, he's paid to be Phil Danault.

 

[Eternal Leaf]

Marner, Tavares, Rielly and Shanahan would be massive change in one offseason but it's entirely deserved.

The only problem with Tavares leaving is that the center marker is paper thin and we need to pretend to compete while we don't have our picks, and he'd get a short and cheap contract. He's not that good of a player, definitely worse than Marner by a significant margin, but it ain't about trying to win a Cup next season anymore because categorically each and every one of us with a brain knows that isn't happening. It's now about turning the page over time and then burning the book once we have our picks.

Rielly is falling off at a Brodie rate but who is taking that contract? Maybe we can get Vancouver's front office, and Rielly himself, completely baked on BC weed and then bribe them with a pizza or seven?

I agree.

Lots of major questions for Treliving to figure out here beyond Marner including which player(s) will waive and what's available if they do.

They're pretty much going to have to gradually work their way through the core. Teams that usually swap out major pieces do so over the course of 2-3 seasons. The Leafs will need to do the same if that's the path they choose.

If they stick to Matthews then his contract is also a ticking clock on contending.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Assume both other teams say yes to this (posters of these teams on their boards did agree to this type of deal)

Would you make the below deals and are we a better team off if we make this team in your estimate?

1. Dylan Strome + Ryan Leonard + 2026 1st for Matthews

2. Matt Barzal for Ryan Leonard + 2026 1st + Easton Cowan

Leafs sign below:

1. Nik Ehlers at 8M x 7
2. Matthew Knies at 8M x 8
3. Mikael Granlund at 3M x 6
4. Max Pacioretty at 2M x 1
5. John Tavares at 4.5M x 3
6. Robertson at 1M x 2

Knies - Barzal - Nylander
Ehlers - Strome - Granlund
McMann - Tavares - Domi
Patches - Laughton - Robertson

McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Carlo
OEL - Benoit

Stolarz
Woll

Comes at 900K under the 95.5M cap with Philippe Myers as #7D

We acquire 2 top 6Cs and build a potential lethal speedy 1st line and a very good 2nd line.

This would be a retool that gets us a high end 1C we can still win the cup with while being a deeper team overall. It would give us the chance to fit your Matthews trades franchise C replacement requirement

Barzal is a soft sub-PPG perimeter winger that’s won less faceoffs in the last two years than Nylander won this season, he is not remotely close to a 1C in any stretch of the imagination, let alone a “high end” one.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

He says earlier in the episode that they will have Matthews and Nylander at minimum so the idea that Matthews is going anywhere should die right there.

It also sounded like the "Atom Bomb comments were more about upper management which if true is odd because other then Shanny I don't know who else can go.

I don't see Berube going anywhere and I don't see Treliving going anywhere because I know it's a lie bar but they did just have their best season in 23 years, management doesn't usually get fired after that.

 

[I am Canadian]

I think Marner and Shanahan will be gone.

Does that count as an atom bomb?

Yes

 

[DuklaNation]

How many 1sts do they trade away, yet don't ever seem to retain anything useful from these trades? These guys are f***ing incompetent.