If you could control the Leafs, what would you do?

[LegChairGM]

Rebuilding teams right now can't even get their hands on a Matthews. You want us to rebuild and also trade the piece to rebuild around?

Put the Xbox down.

The fact you'd even debate this is scary. People need a week or so away from this site losing a grip on reality

He's not re-signing. Are you really prepared to walk him to UFA on a wing and a prayer that he chooses us?

 

[17 Clark]

View attachment 474176

Lol I was thinking to the moon but the sun will do

 

[DraftSchmaft]

He's not re-signing. Are you really prepared to walk him to UFA on a wing and a prayer that he chooses us?

This would end up being a day long debate. We do not know what happens behind the scenes to know if there's any social factors that would make Matthews not want to re-sign So you can't trade him out of fear. This kind of rationalization would also get a GM fired / not hired.

Right now he's best buds with Bieber even getting to meet celebrities like Kendall Jenner through him. So if we are going to social science this thing, there's nothing to worry about at this specific moment. Bieber is a die hard Leafs fan he'll do the whispering for us.

I'm ignoring that you said "wing and a prayer". I'm not trying to get into a complex debate of why you feel it's that dramatic right now.

 

[mydnyte]

This conversation is going on in at least a half-dozen threads right now, so if you could control the leafs, what would you do? This means you can be Keefe, Shanahan, Dubas, Tanenbaum, or even just Auston Matthews or Jason Spezza, what would you do?

Personally, I'd be Shanahan and take control at this point. Try and right this ship, show I'm pissed off, give it to the end of the week and if they don't look drastically better:
- JT loses his C
- I make it known I'm making changes to the core
- Keefe and Dubas follow my plan to a tee, or they're out

And I'll add to this, I love Keefe and Dubas but Shanahan needs to do something here

Our defense is what costs us most of our games, with the bad passes/giveaways and shift to shift brain farts

I move Marner for a stud D and try to get a forward prospect back with him and move out pretty much all of the current defense too.
I HATE our defense, except for Brodie, but, he'd be a good #3, not a top pair d-man

 

[Maple Leaf]

fold the franchise. Start again. Probably make the cup final with the new team next year

Not a bad idea. Leafs are cursed. New team name?

 

[Leafshater67]

Our defense is what costs us most of our games, with the bad passes/giveaways and shift to shift brain farts

I move Marner for a stud D and try to get a forward prospect back with him and move out pretty much all of the current defense too.
I HATE our defense, except for Brodie, but, he'd be a good #3, not a top pair d-man

I highly doubt any team moves a stud D for an 11 million dollar contract, under a flat cap, where that player’s value is at an all time low with many character questions.

If they cannot move Marner, convince Tavares to waive his no trade and get value for them, what else can they do? Rebuild? You can’t retool a roster with no cap space, a flawed core and an impatient and rabid fan base

 

[34]

1. Trade Marner to Buffalo for Jack Eichel. Let Eichel get healthy this season and come back to start the next season.

2. Buy out Tavares and make Matthews the Captain. Use the $11M to get some good wingers to play with centers Matthews and Eichel.

3. The team looks like they are going to be a bottom 3 team in the NHL. Hope to win the Lottery and draft Wright! The Leafs would then have the best center depth in the league!

4. Trade Rielly to the highest bidder. Try to get a 1st for him.

5. Trade or buy out Kerfoot.

That is just a start. Restructure the D and goalies.

 

[TakeTheBody]

I'd sell. Take the money and drink umbrella drinks everyday.

 

[FiveHoleo]

I would fire Dubas and hire Stan Bowman. It would be refreshing to have a general manager who put winning above all else to be quite honest with you. That guy wants to win.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

Blow it up. The core and management. Sorry if beating the worst team in the league doesn’t placate me.

 

[17 Clark]

Blow it up. The core and management. Sorry if beating the worst team in the league doesn’t placate me.

you watch the fans Stanley cup here we come .Don’t get too excited look how Depleted Chicago was At best AHL team I can already see the fans flip-flop flip-flop flip-flop

 

[redgrant]

1. Trade Marner to Buffalo for Jack Eichel. Let Eichel get healthy this season and come back to start the next season.

2. Buy out Tavares and make Matthews the Captain. Use the $11M to get some good wingers to play with centers Matthews and Eichel.

3. The team looks like they are going to be a bottom 3 team in the NHL. Hope to win the Lottery and draft Wright! The Leafs would then have the best center depth in the league!

4. Trade Rielly to the highest bidder. Try to get a 1st for him.

5. Trade or buy out Kerfoot.

That is just a start. Restructure the D and goalies.

Re point #2 if you buy out an 11m player you don't get 11m to use on other players.

 

[Cecithepylon]

Tank trade Marner,Matthews,Riley and nylander. Suck for 2 years draft high and develop good players. Make it to game 7 against Boston and go up 4-1 then lose and get fired

 

[lorwood]

The big elephant in the room is John Tavares’s supposedly unmovable $11 M behemoth contract.

Maybe try to convince him that the Islanders’s spanking new arena could be the place to retire as an Islander.

No thanks. There is no room for him in what Lou and Trotz are trying to accomplish.

 

[ruaware41]

First step would be to stop making the Leafs an extension of a certain political party and let the team unite as a you know team.

these woke dumbasses think they are oh so intelligent but the depth of their beliefs are really shallow and change every 10 years. Stop making everything political and just let them play hockey. Remember Muzzin before Toronto? He used to drill people all the time. Now it’s a rarity.

 

[justashadowof]

Fire the president. Install myself as the temporary president. Tell the GM that he's got his team and the performance of the 2021-22 is his job evaluation. Don't allow any major trades apart from impending UFAs and necessary injury replacements. He is free to run with the current coach or replace him. He is free to play any of his prospects. Then I'd watch the rest of the season as I did an exhaustive search for a replacement president. That president would be hired before the end of the season and would have years of experience and contacts in the NHL. He will be not be young and he will not have been a star player but he will have had experience in an actual team front office with player and staff evaluation.

 

[hullsy47]

Fire the president. Install myself as the temporary president. Tell the GM that he's got his team and the performance of the 2021-22 is his job evaluation. Don't allow any major trades apart from impending UFAs and necessary injury replacements. He is free to run with the current coach or replace him. He is free to play any of his prospects. Then I'd watch the rest of the season as I did an exhaustive search for a replacement president. That president would be hired before the end of the season and would have years of experience and contacts in the NHL. He will be not be young and he will not have been a star player but he will have had experience in an actual team front office with player and staff evaluation.

I think board has told Shanahan this very context

 

[egd27]

Who would take Matthews, and what would they give up?
Who would take Marner, and what would they give up?
Who would take Nylander, and what would they give up?

Who else is going to return anything of significant value, and what could you get for them?

 

[LegChairGM]

If I were GM, I would wait until Christmas time to evaluate the current group. If we are not firmly in a playoff position by then, and with the arrow pointing upward I think I would pull the cord on this core group. Ie. if this Group does not present themselves as a true top 5-7 team in the NHL, I think we can say they won't win the cup. Or at least not likely.

I'd begin my cleaning of house by moving Morgan Reilly with retention to maximize his return value.

I'd also move Kerfoot, and try to move supporting pieces like Ritchie, Kase, and Engvall.

I would keep KD and Shanny in charge for another year, with firm orders to liquidate Marner's 10.5 Million for a futures heavy package.
22-23 season

...

You realize Dubas would bring in the same types of players that got us in this mess? He doesn't understand the game. You can't have a team of perimeter players. 80% of your forwards need to be willing to crash the net and they need to be hard on the puck/good fore checkers or you won't compete with the teams built that way. We keep seeing it year after year in the playoffs.

And this year it's showing up much earlier. The team has almost no grit.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Matthews played with one wrist in the playoffs and changed his game to a bruiser in order to give Marner a lot of room to work with. How do you think Marners fancy possession stats look so good?

Your opinion is feelings based. Not hockey based.

Actually listen to Berge .. Habs decided to double Matty and let Mitch do whatever he wanted with puck .. they made a decision that Mitch would never beat Price before series started .. Berge said it they were hoping for Mitch and Price 1 on 1 .. this is why Mitch's possession numbers were off da charts because Habs wanted it that way and played defense as such

 

[Twine Tickler]

You realize Dubas would bring in the same types of players that got us in this mess? He doesn't understand the game. You can't have a team of perimeter players. 80% of your forwards need to be willing to crash the net and they need to be hard on the puck/good fore checkers or you won't compete with the teams built that way. We keep seeing it year after year in the playoffs.

And this year it's showing up much earlier. The team has almost no grit.

I don't think that personally.

If you think you can win a cup by just crashing the net you are mistaken. You need your skill guys to be willing to buy into more than just the skill game. As of now, our most notable players have not. But remember it was not too long ago that we prioritized character, crash and bang, good forechecking players (Brad Ross, Tyler Biggs, Freddy Gauthier, Kenny Ryan, Luke Schenn...etc)

I'd much rather a GM that prioritizes skill in the draft and then acquires these roles via free agency. Which is kind of Dubas to a tee. Kase, Kampf, Ritchie, Bunting and Simmonds are all players that fit the mold you are referring too. If you are looking for that level of tenacity in the top 6, just remember that Tkchuk style players typically dont find themselves later in the first round, or later rounds. So if character/crash and bang type players are what you're seeking in those draft positions more often than not you will be left with a Tyler Biggs, and not a Jamie Benn. Everyone wants big strong forwards who crash and bang and go to the net hard. Including Dubas. We take best player available, with no predetermined requirements. Which may be hard for some to understand why we wouldn't have a height and weight minimum, but then you look at a Debrincat who was passed over for no logical reason and then you realize you can actually get value later in drafts with undersized skill.

Which is why you see guys like Ovchinikov, Miettenin, Voit, Robertson, Abrusezze, Koster, Neimela, Hirvonen... all fall into our laps late in drafts

I really don't think that Dubas has a preference for soft skill. He has a preference for skill in general.

 

[Twine Tickler]

Buy out Tavares and make Matthews the Captain. Use the $11M to get some good wingers to play with centers Matthews and Eichel.

This is so stupid. With all due respect. Below is a graphic of the buy out calculator on Capfriendly that shows an annual cost saving of 606k AAV for the remaing 3 years of JT's deal after this year should we buy him out. There is no where near 11M in savings. Which is exactly why we have GM's manage teams, and fans watch.

and remember...

 

[seanlinden]

Personally, I think the Leafs are in a "do or die" year much moreso than they were last year with Hyman and Andersen becoming UFA. Andersen wasn't playing at a $5m level, and I do believe that replacing Hyman was / is possible with $2.5m. Heck, Bunting may show that it was possible with $1m.

The problem this year isn't just Rielly and the ~$7m he's likely to get, or Campbell and the $5m he's likely to get; but in my opinion, the potential decline of several key players -- notably Tavares, Muzzin & Brodie.

I think if you're going to do something like "toss" this year (i.e. a Marner for Eichel deal, trade Rielly); you've gotta give a bigger consideration to completely rebuilding the D, not just replacing Rielly.

 

[MarMarSab3]

Fire Dubas, hire Gorton
Fire Keefe, hire Boudreau
Trades:
Reilly to Van for JT Miller
Holl to wherever for Futures
Kerfoot to wherever for Futures
Tavares to wherever he likes for anything you can get
Trade acquired futures for youngish defenceman in need of a change of scenery, someone like a Dennis Cholowski or Jacob Larsson

 

[hockeynorth]

Personally, I think the Leafs are in a "do or die" year much moreso than they were last year with Hyman and Andersen becoming UFA. Andersen wasn't playing at a $5m level, and I do believe that replacing Hyman was / is possible with $2.5m. Heck, Bunting may show that it was possible with $1m.

The problem this year isn't just Rielly and the ~$7m he's likely to get, or Campbell and the $5m he's likely to get; but in my opinion, the potential decline of several key players -- notably Tavares, Muzzin & Brodie.

I think if you're going to do something like "toss" this year (i.e. a Marner for Eichel deal, trade Rielly); you've gotta give a bigger consideration to completely rebuilding the D, not just replacing Rielly.

The bolded is why we need to integrate prospects ASAP. I believe next year we need to be lining up something like:

Bunting-Matthews-Nylander
Robertson-Tavares-Marner
Free Agent-Kampf-Kase
Holmberg-Spezza-Anderson

Sandin-Brodie
Rielly-Liljegren
Muzzin-Dermott