Confirmed with Link: Connor Dewar - Signed one-year, $1.18mm

[DarkKnight]

Decent player for a decent price.

Next.

 

[Buds17]

A 1 x 1.18M seems fine enough.

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

I liked his hustle, he wrecked his shoulder one shift because he was playing with wreckless abandon. And he pks

 

[1specter]

I dunno, at this price I’d rather have given it to a Daniel Sprong and hope for some cheap 18-20 goal production.

Sprong is soft and a defensive liability. I'd rather just give Robertson some more rope if he stays or give a guy like Steeves a chance finally.

 

[al secord]

Nice piece of business.

I dunno, at this price I’d rather have given it to a Daniel Sprong and hope for some cheap 18-20 goal production.

Yikes. Which Sprong are we talking about here?

 

[Magic Man]

If the Hakanpaa contract becomes official and everyone is healthy for day #1 this leaves 875K to sign Nick Robertson with a 22 man roster.

He was given a qualifying offer of 813K and doesn't have arbitration rights. 850-875K for 1 year?

If Robertson doesn't sign by the start of the season, everyone is healthy and Hakanpaa has signed, they have 875K to use on a replacement under contract. The only name that doesn't fit under that 875K limit is Easton Cowan. Grebenkin, Murray and Webber come in right at 875K. So, at full health if there is no Robertson for game #1, there will be no Cowan, unless they decide to waive Reaves.

 

[Fogelhund]

There are options to make more cap room though.

As others have mentioned, Reaves. We could send down Murray... would he be claimed to be kept on a roster? Probably not.

Then there is Jarnkrok and Kampf...

Forwards who are completely safe... Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Tavares, Domi, Knies.

Guys fighting for one of the last six/seven spots...

Jarnkrok, Kampf, McMann, Robertson, Dewar, Holmberg, Reaves, Minten, Cowan, Grebyonkin, Steeves..

So 11 guys fighting for six or seven spots.... and really it's Cowan and Grebyonkin likely coming in and making Jarnkrok expendable.... and Minten coming in and making Kampf expendable.

I really wouldn't be shocked if Jarnkrok is out the door, when one of those two prove to be adequate replacements... Jarnkrok is a good utility player to have, but he it isn't terribly hard to replace what he brings.. Cowan can PK, which would give him an edge there... not sure if Grebs can PK, or has.

Minten replacing Kampf is a bit of a bigger hill to climb IMO.

 

[SprDaVE]

Really good on the PK but his ability with the puck seemed really low par. I don't mind the deal though. A full season we'll get a better handle where he's at in the lineup.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Still not fully convinced that he was worth spending assets on or that he brings more than we should have been able to get elsewhere for league minimum, but this is a manageable price, and he's still an RFA after. Was worried it would be worse, and at least it's a forward for the PK, so I'll take it.

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

He wanted 1.4M, we likely offered 1M and met at 1.2M, slightly less because we made a good case

 

[Menzinger]

The fact that it went over the $1 million mark feels kinda iffy to me even though it doesn’t matter.

There’s not that much daylight between a Dewar and an Aston-Reese or an Aube-Kubel or a Gregor.

Arbitration tends to basically splint the difference between team and player on these lower end deals, so this likely gives the team a bit more cap certainty while avoiding the nasty side of arbitration.

Don't disagree though about on ice impact in relation to caphit though

 

[seanlinden]

Call me crazy, but this is a stupid deal.

Dewar is far from a "special player" in the league. He has 19 goals in 190 games. He should probably be making $900k. Similar to Noah Gregor who signed with the Sens for $850k.

This deal feels like we're paying for potential "this guy could be a stud PKer that puts up a dozen goals"... but with no actual upside as it's only a 1-year deal.

At least get yourself a 2nd year on it much like the Leafs did with McMann.

 

[Menzinger]

Call me crazy, but this is a stupid deal.

Dewar is far from a "special player" in the league. He has 19 goals in 190 games. He should probably be making $900k. Similar to Noah Gregor who signed with the Sens for $850k.

This deal feels like we're paying for potential "this guy could be a stud PKer that puts up a dozen goals"... but with no actual upside as it's only a 1-year deal.

At least get yourself a 2nd year on it much like the Leafs did with McMann.

He had filed for arbitration. And a team can't just assume they're going to favorably win their case

If anything it calls into question trading for a player they knew was arbitration eligible. But I think he may be worth the gamble if he cements a role for himself

 

[WTFMAN99]

Call me crazy, but this is a stupid deal.

Dewar is far from a "special player" in the league. He has 19 goals in 190 games. He should probably be making $900k. Similar to Noah Gregor who signed with the Sens for $850k.

This deal feels like we're paying for potential "this guy could be a stud PKer that puts up a dozen goals"... but with no actual upside as it's only a 1-year deal.

At least get yourself a 2nd year on it much like the Leafs did with McMann.

Malentysyn just got 2 years 1.35M from Buffalo and he has less goals.

Leafs shaved off 200k by only doing a 1 year deal, Dewar is still an RFA next summer and the cap situation is more favorable.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

I suppose my interest in the Leafs is fading because I cannot recall a single moment from Dewer from last season.

Did he score in the playoffs? Was he awesome at penalty killing? What sort of personality is he?

F@rt in the wind signing I suppose...

 

[notbias]

I suppose my interest in the Leafs is fading because I cannot recall a single moment from Dewer from last season.

Did he score in the playoffs? Was he awesome at penalty killing? What sort of personality is he?

F@rt in the wind signing I suppose...

His playoff stats are underwhelming.

The below is not directed at you, but:

"This is a fair signing!" - Person who complains about underperformers in the playoffs.

We are spending a lot on replacement-level players... that is an issue right now (there can be multiple issues).

 

[IrishInOntario]

Nothing wrong with that price. I've been penciling him into my roster projections around $1.2 million, so I'm happy with the price.

Hoping for 22-25 points, a PK'er and some energy. If we get that, he will have outplayed his contract!

 

[BrannigansLaw]

Nice piece of business.


Yikes. Which Sprong are we talking about here?

The same Sprong that’s scored 18-20 goals and 45 points the past two seasons.

But yikes indeed! Someone didn’t praise a Leafs signing.

 

[seanlinden]

He had filed for arbitration. And a team can't just assume they're going to favorably win their case

If anything it calls into question trading for a player they knew was arbitration eligible. But I think he may be worth the gamble if he cements a role for himself

Yeah I guess that makes sense... but like you said... the wisdom of letting it get to arbitration, knowing his award isn't one you can walk away from, maybe a bit lacking.

I feel like the Leafs could have done better negotiating with him pre-July 1, and then maybe not qualifying or seeing if there's a trade market.

As another poster mentioned, the Leafs do spend quite a bit on replacement-level players, wehther it be Reaves at $1.35m, Dewar now a shade under $1.2m, Timmins at $1.1m, etc.

 

[Kurtz]

The same Sprong that’s scored 18-20 goals and 45 points the past two seasons.

But yikes indeed! Someone didn’t praise a Leafs signing.

He's horrible defensively. Ask yourself why a player who puts up borderline 2nd line production ends up playing 4th line minutes every year under different coaches.

 

[Stephen]

Arbitration tends to basically splint the difference between team and player on these lower end deals, so this likely gives the team a bit more cap certainty while avoiding the nasty side of arbitration.

Don't disagree though about on ice impact in relation to caphit though

Yeah I agree they probably just locked in a price for cost certainty but man if you can’t squeeze Dewar who can you?

 

[Antropovsky]

Call me crazy, but this is a stupid deal.

Dewar is far from a "special player" in the league. He has 19 goals in 190 games. He should probably be making $900k. Similar to Noah Gregor who signed with the Sens for $850k.

This deal feels like we're paying for potential "this guy could be a stud PKer that puts up a dozen goals"... but with no actual upside as it's only a 1-year deal.

At least get yourself a 2nd year on it much like the Leafs did with McMann.

Pretty sure the PK improved substantially after we acquired him. It was a big weakness, which was why we acquired him. We paid a price for him, we might as well keep him, eapecially at the expense of maybe $200,000.

Yeah I agree they probably just locked in a price for cost certainty but man if you can’t squeeze Dewar who can you?

Id argue that its harder to squeeze a guy at 1.2 than higher. Especially with the apparent higher taxes in Canada.

 

[Stephen]

He's horrible defensively. Ask yourself why a player who puts up borderline 2nd line production ends up playing 4th line minutes every year under different coaches.

Sprong is absolutely horrible defensively and who knows what else is wrong with him but we also need some cheap reclamation offense to supplement the forward group. Sort of like an Anthony Duclair. I think that kind of player has a bigger positive impact than Dewar.

 

[Stephen]

Pretty sure the PK improved substantially after we acquired him. It was a big weakness, which was why we acquired him. We paid a price for him, we might as well keep him, eapecially at the expense of maybe $200,000.


Id argue that its harder to squeeze a guy at 1.2 than higher. Especially with the apparent higher taxes in Canada.

I’d argue a developmental system needs to be churning out Dewar level role players on a regular basis and we shouldn’t be trading 4th rounders plus to get him and escalate his salary on one year deals so if we like him he’s at $1.8 million next year on his next one year deal etc.

It’s not a big deal in isolation but I don’t like what it represents.

 

[Stephen]

Yeah I guess that makes sense... but like you said... the wisdom of letting it get to arbitration, knowing his award isn't one you can walk away from, maybe a bit lacking.

I feel like the Leafs could have done better negotiating with him pre-July 1, and then maybe not qualifying or seeing if there's a trade market.

As another poster mentioned, the Leafs do spend quite a bit on replacement-level players, wehther it be Reaves at $1.35m, Dewar now a shade under $1.2m, Timmins at $1.1m, etc.

Agreed. Even the marginal parts of the roster are starting to look kinda pricey when you have nearly $4 million on a trio like that.