Confirmed with Link: Leafs acquire Brennan Menell for a cond. 7th rd pick in 2022 [Upd 8/1: signed 1 yr/2 way contract]

[123offtheglass]

If Leafs somehow manage to hold on to Menell their top 8d look very good.

 

[29Potvin]

i dont understand why people are trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. you will not survive a season with 0 cap and a 21 man roster. if 1 player is day to day with an injury your salary cap is blown. you had better hope for LTIR and not IR.


I'm not going to let this go until people realize the only way to make the cap work is:
trade kerfoot for 1mil-1.5mil roster player, You get to keep a 23 man roster, acrru 1.5+mil in cap and dont have to lose menel, brooks, engvall on waivers.
or
trade dermott and engvall. you get a 22 man roster, acru 500k in cap and dont have to lose menel, or brooks on waivers

So who plays C if AM34 or JT are out? Kerfoot should be kept as we have no temp replacement level player for him. Mik/Engvall, Dermott should all go before Kerfoot!
Kerfoot has shown that we can move up and play tougher minutes and have chemistry with Willy. The three others we have replacement level players at cheaper cost.
I personally would move on from all three

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

On the cap front, if we were really cutthroat out the gate, make sure Engvall is claimed or traded, paper waive/demote Simmonds, and make use of Liljegren and Sandin's waiver exemption we could ice this on day 1

Ritchie-Matthews-Marner
Bunting-Tavares-Nylander
Kerfoot-Kampf-Kase
Mikheyev-Brooks-Spezza

Rielly-Brodie
Muzzin-Holl
Dermott Menell

and have 1.65m in cap space. That wouldn't take very long to accrue to the point we can fit Simmonds + one Sandin/Liljegren. By that point lots of things could happen. We could need them for injuries. Markets could open up for Dermott/Menell.

It's not even worth suggesting Simmonds should be waived because baring some completely unforseen circumstances It's not going to happen

 

[TMLAM34]

I don’t see Menell making opening night roster. I feel like both Sandin and Liljegren have looked better in pre-season.

Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Liljegren
Dermott - Holl

That’s what I would start with. Liljegren gets the nod over Sandin given the years he’s put in within the organization. Plus Sandin can use some more time to shore up his defensive side of the game.

 

[Macallan18]

Holl's numbers are certainly down when not playing with Muzzin but I'd be very skeptical about breaking up one of the best shutdown pairings in the league.

Since start of 2019 season (when they were made a regular pairing):

Muzzin/Holl:
QoC: Top end shutdown
Ozone Faceoff %: 45.28
CF%: 51.08 (+1.00 REL)
SF%: 55.53 (+4.04 REL)
SCF%: 55.26 (+1.55 REL)
HDCF%: 57.01 (+4.05 REL)
xGF%: 57.22 (+4.60 REL)
GF%: 56.74 (+3.08 REL)

We can look around but I'm confident in saying they are a top 5 shutdown pairing in the league the last 3 years and only cost 7.625 million combined.

and yet, I know its exhibition, but Muzzin and Lilly's numbers when playing together blew threw these numbers easily.
Clearly Muzzin is carrying Holl, and with Lilly looks even better.
If Holl is gone, and Lilly is with Muzzin, can you fit Menell in as 7 dman, or play him with Sandin and Dermott is number 7?

 

[Super Mega]

I like him better than Dermott - for me though Sandin/Lilly should make it over Mennel so I think he's gotta go down unless they could move Dermott

 

[zeke]

Still hoping that Menell's unique contract let's him squeeze through waivers as intended.

 

[Ashdown2]

So who plays C if AM34 or JT are out? Kerfoot should be kept as we have no temp replacement level player for him. Mik/Engvall, Dermott should all go before Kerfoot!
Kerfoot has shown that we can move up and play tougher minutes and have chemistry with Willy. The three others we have replacement level players at cheaper cost.
I personally would move on from all three

this is a myth ... he shown this in 2 playoff games and is unplayable at center for this team. his basic stats and advanced stats last year were horrendous
i dont care which option they go for but the reality is kerfoot isnt worth 3.5mil , you are paying that money for a sub 40 point player, sub 15 goal scorer and insurance policy. like i mentioned you can go get a sub 2million dollar player. Also this team is so stacked on the wing now that nylander can play center and we lose no offensive depth.

 

[justashadowof]

Nobody really earns an NHL job from preseason games. As far as I'm concerned a predestined player can only eliminate himself for consideration for the regular season by a poor performance in preseason games. Otherwise the NHL roster is usually preset by the end of the summer.

 

[Zybalto]

and yet, I know its exhibition, but Muzzin and Lilly's numbers when playing together blew threw these numbers easily.
Clearly Muzzin is carrying Holl, and with Lilly looks even better.
If Holl is gone, and Lilly is with Muzzin, can you fit Menell in as 7 dman, or play him with Sandin and Dermott is number 7?

The Leafs numbers in general were pretty crazy in the preseason (might be due to the comp too though) and its tough to make any big conclusion off of the numbers.

Looks to be the same issue in that a player looks good with Muzzin and worse away?

Lily with Muzzin: 63.72 xGF%
Lily away from Muzzin: 47.91 xGF%

 

[Guided by Veseys]

Kind of deserves to be in the league at this point. He’s already torn up the AHL and KHL and he looks entirely legit in this camp. It would be nice to keep him but if you can’t fit him then let that bird fly man. I hate seeing guys held back, even if it is business. Hopefully they trade him before they waive him.

 

[Ashdown2]

@Ashdown2 can't tell if you're trolling, if you can't comprehend what we've said and/or some aspects of cap space, accumulation, & waivers/recalls. CapFriendly - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps is a good website if you'd like to learn more.

With a 21-man roster, they would not initially start with 0 cap space, but would not realistically have enough space to carry a 22-man roster (initially).

Keeping Engvall up as one of the 21 would really handcuff them, and they couldn't accumulate much from there.

Having a non waiver-exempt player at closer to league minimum would allow them to accumulate some cap space; it'd likely take at least a couple months to carry a 22-man roster, likely longer considering injuries are probable.

They could also (with Engvall either mostly buried, waived, claimed, or traded) carry a 21-man roster where they can carry a 20-man roster on certain days to accrue greater cap savings (as @Stonehands1990 said, a 'paper demotion'). This would not even require a player being up for grabs on waivers, if they were waiver exempt (see: Waivers Calculator - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps) or temporarily/conditionally waiver exempt (under a circumstance such as a player clearing waivers, that player may be conditionally waiver exempt for a limited period of time; see: Waivers FAQ - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps).

Hope this helps.

fine if you trade engvall ... you get about 600k cap with a 21 man roster. yes with a couple of months you will be able to get a 22nd spot.
again with engvall ou have 80k cap ... = NO CAP

post your lineup in the thread or reply to me there. (yes post the screenshot of the armchair gm)
GDT: - Trade and Free Agency Thread - Let the games begin

 

[ULF_55]

So who plays C if AM34 or JT are out? Kerfoot should be kept as we have no temp replacement level player for him. Mik/Engvall, Dermott should all go before Kerfoot!
Kerfoot has shown that we can move up and play tougher minutes and have chemistry with Willy. The three others we have replacement level players at cheaper cost.
I personally would move on from all three

If Tavares or Matthews go down, you aren't replacing them with a spare part forward regardless.

Using an injury to either is a red herring when it comes to trading Kerfoot to bring in a bottom 6 forward.

Trading Kerfoot to have another depth forward to replace a 1st. line center?

 

[IPS]

If Holl is this amazing shutdown D - why don't we ever play him with Rielly? If he is as described on here, he'd be the perfect guy to let Rielly do his thing. So why saddle him with our best defensive D? Why not let our best defensive D babysit one of our younger D?

 

[Oscar Peterson]

Still hoping that Menell's unique contract let's him squeeze through waivers as intended.

What's the deal with his contract?

He hasn't been good enough to out right steal a spot but he clearly can hang with NHLers and will be "the guy" on the Marlies back end and first call up (I'm assuming both Lilly and Sandin are on the team), really hope we don't lose him on waivers

 

[Zybalto]

If Holl is this amazing shutdown D - why don't we ever play him with Rielly? If he is as described on here, he'd be the perfect guy to let Rielly do his thing. So why saddle him with our best defensive D? Why not let our best defensive D babysit one of our younger D?

D pairings are also about chemistry. Sometimes pairings you think would work just dont and vice versa.

 

[zeke]

If Holl is this amazing shutdown D - why don't we ever play him with Rielly? If he is as described on here, he'd be the perfect guy to let Rielly do his thing. So why saddle him with our best defensive D? Why not let our best defensive D babysit one of our younger D?

Our top-4 was tremendous last year. Best top-4 we've had in decades. Why would we split them?

 

[ACC1224]

If Holl is this amazing shutdown D - why don't we ever play him with Rielly? If he is as described on here, he'd be the perfect guy to let Rielly do his thing. So why saddle him with our best defensive D? Why not let our best defensive D babysit one of our younger D?

I think most realize Holl is better suited on the bottom pair but until now there hasn't been another player to push him down to where he belongs. I think this will be be the year that happens and the team will be better off for it.

 

[IPS]

Our top-4 was tremendous last year. Best top-4 we've had in decades. Why would we split them?

I doubt our top-4 is championship level but you can think what you like.

 

[Buds17]

What's the deal with his contract?

He hasn't been good enough to out right steal a spot but he clearly can hang with NHLers and will be "the guy" on the Marlies back end and first call up (I'm assuming both Lilly and Sandin are on the team), really hope we don't lose him on waivers

He's on a two-way deal in which he would earn 400K if in the AHL. I'd guess Dubas is hoping that cost dissuades teams from claiming him in the event he hits the waiver wire.

 

[NMacrules]

They would have kept Kerfoot and McCann if they exposed Holl.

Holl forced them to go 4/4

They could have gone:

Matthews/Tavares/Nylander/McCann/Kerfoot/whoever/whoever
Reilly/Muzzin/Brodie

Dubas said and I quote "in order to keep Kerfoot, we had to expose McCann".
Kracken weren't taking Holl, they were going to take Kerfoot.

All this "had to protect Holl" is complete bullshit started by some poster earlier on in the thread.

 

[nobody]

Dubas said and I quote "in order to keep Kerfoot, we had to expose McCann".
Kracken weren't taking Holl, they were going to take Kerfoot.

All this "had to protect Holl" is complete bullshit started by some poster earlier on in the thread.

I mean, they literally protected Holl. So, I'm not sure what you're on. And Dubas's quote is grossly inaccurate. Dubas/ Shanny said that McCann was basically used as a fallback option in case Seattle took Kerfoot. McCann in reality is the better player and Seattle was smart enough to see that and they took the better guy. I would've been much happier if they had taken Kerfoot and left us McCann.

Smart management would've been to go 7/3/1 and protect the big 4, Kerfoot, McCann, Rielly, Brodie, Muzz and Campbell. I would have much rather lost Holl or Dermott over McCann.

McCann - Matthews - Marner
Bunting - Tavares - Nylander
Kerfoot - Kampf - Kase
Engvall - Spezza - Mikky

Rielly - Brodie
Muzz - Dermott/Holl
Sandin - Lilly

Campbell
Mrazek

We might not have dabbled on Ritchie for cap reasons but I think the team as a whole is significantly better than what we have right now.

 

[barriers]

Dubas said and I quote "in order to keep Kerfoot, we had to expose McCann".
Kracken weren't taking Holl, they were going to take Kerfoot.

All this "had to protect Holl" is complete bullshit started by some poster earlier on in the thread.

That quote is in the context of Holl already having been protected

 

[NMacrules]

I mean, they literally protected Holl. So, I'm not sure what you're on.

No, they protected Kerfoot. Geez man, go look at Dubas literally saying in order to protect Kerfoot, they had to expose McCann. So it cost us Hallinder and a pick to keep Kerfoot so I don't know what you are getting on about.

 

[Ashdown2]

That quote is in the context of Holl already having been protected

its the chicken or the egg ..
if you go 7F and 3D ... they target holl
if you go 4 and 4 ... they target kerfoot ..

they basically traded hallinder to protect both players.