Eklund Rumor: Leafs in on Cam Fowler

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Ducks fans are upset by what Leafs fans are offering for their quality d-men.
They are right to be upset but they need to understand that the Leafs hold all the power.
Anaheim is not a cap team and won't be able to sign Lindholm and Rakell without trading away a lot of salary plus their window of opportunity is beginning to close.
Boudreau has already lost his job and now Bob Murray is feeling the heat.
Toronto's fan base doesn't require any more moves be made other than signing a cheap backup.
They will be happy to spend this season watching their highly skilled rookies find their way this year.
JVR is just what the Ducks need according to their own GM but he won't come cheap.
The Leafs can afford to demand Lindholm or Vatanen in any JVR trade because they don't really want to trade him.
Are the Leafs interested in Fowler for JVR?
Not at all.
They can afford to wait for a desperate Duck's GM to come calling because in this poker game the Leafs hold all the cards.

What power do they hold...one of the biggest market in the league being in the gutter for a while now , that needs another a solid dmen to realistically come out of three gutter.


Anaheim with Fowler has won pac title 4 years in a row, he's not at the end of his contract we can still sign lindholm and rakell without trading him, but more or less we trade him to help our offensive depth which is still solid with or without trading Fowler. Small market team who has been competitive basically sense 2003, there honestly is no power in Toronto, they also are not the only team looking for a dmen.

Plenty of options at winger position to make a move for, or just go for a pick + higher end prospect that is close to nhl ready.

At the end of the day Toronto has to start making moves to get out of the league basement, anahiem is a playoff team with or without Fowler, without Fowler Toronto likely looking at another lottery season but sure you have the power

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

What power do they hold...one of the biggest market in the league being in the gutter for a while now , that needs another a solid dmen to realistically come out of three gutter.


Anaheim with Fowler has won pac title 4 years in a row, he's not at the end of his contract we can still sign lindholm and rakell without trading him, but more or less we trade him to help our offensive depth which is still solid with or without trading Fowler. Small market team who has been competitive basically sense 2003, there honestly is no power in Toronto, they also are not the only team looking for a dmen.

Plenty of options at winger position to make a move for, or just go for a pick + higher end prospect that is close to nhl ready.

At the end of the day Toronto has to start making moves to get out of the league basement, anahiem is a playoff team with or without Fowler, without Fowler Toronto likely looking at another lottery season but sure you have the power

Toronto is starting to make those moves case in point Fredrik Andersen

 

[Liferleafer]

I disagree. They would be a better team with a trade like that. Wingers really just aren't that critical for overall team success especially compared to PMD's.

If Fowler can play 1st line left wing...then i agree. But if not, then i pass....we don't have a JVR replacement.

 

[Haatley]

If Fowler can play 1st line left wing...then i agree. But if not, then i pass....we don't have a JVR replacement.

You also have no top pairing defencemen. Fowler would be uour only legitimate option.

 

[Vipers31]

Ducks fans are upset by what Leafs fans are offering for their quality d-men.
They are right to be upset but they need to understand that the Leafs hold all the power.

Welcome to HF, you have a lot to learn. The Leafs don't hold all the power. They hold virtually no power, at all. The Ducks have a quality defenseman to potentially offer. The Leafs hold 1/30 of the power of the entire league. 3.33%. A tiny bit more if we worked under the assumption the Ducks had to get rid of Fowler. That's still 95%+ away from "all" the power.

Anaheim is not a cap team and won't be able to sign Lindholm and Rakell without trading away a lot of salary (...)

Source? We wouldn't keep all the salary for the entire season, but there's no reason to believe we couldn't sign them and make the needed trade a month later. The internal cap has been shown to not be that hard in the past.

Toronto's fan base doesn't require any more moves be made other than signing a cheap backup.

Nobody really cares about what a fan base "requires". Most of the fan base "required" to not give up a 1st, 2nd and Bernier for Andersen. It's meaningless.

They will be happy to spend this season watching their highly skilled rookies find their way this year.

Again, that's what the fans are okay with, but that isn't meaningful. Lou isn't as happy with such a standard, as the Andersen trade shows. Now we have a rumored interest in Fowler - with the Leafs being in on Fowler, not the Ducks inquiring for JVR.

JVR is just what the Ducks need according to their own GM but he won't come cheap.

Our GM would like to add a left shooting left winger. JVR fits the profile, but there's an entire league to deal with.

The Leafs can afford to demand Lindholm or Vatanen in any JVR trade because they don't really want to trade him.

They could theoretically demand all they want, that doesn't make it remotely realistic.

Are the Leafs interested in Fowler for JVR?
Not at all.

Source?

They can afford to wait for a desperate Duck's GM to come calling because in this poker game the Leafs hold all the cards.

Laughable. They are playing on a 30-person table. The Ducks have a quality piece to offer that many teams would like to add. Even if this wasn't about the Leafs being interested in Fowler, rather than the other way around, they couldn't wait for desperation, because simply one of the other 28 teams would get a call. You are building up a dream scenario that only works for players with NTCs who use it to minimize the market. The market isn't limited here, whatsoever.

 

[Liferleafer]

You also have no top pairing defencemen. Fowler would be uour only legitimate option.

Lol....wrong. As much as i know you just post this garbage to fuel arguments. ..i will still respond. Rielly is top pair....Gardiner and Fowler are close....so, you could say we have 2, although i see both Gardiner and Fowler as great 2nd pair guys. What we don't have is a replacement for JVR on the 1st line. So, while Fowler would definitely improve our D....it isn't enough to create a massive hole up front.

 

[Kiwi]

Lol....wrong. As much as i know you just post this garbage to fuel arguments. ..i will still respond. Rielly is top pair....Gardiner and Fowler are close....so, you could say we have 2, although i see both Gardiner and Fowler as great 2nd pair guys. What we don't have is a replacement for JVR on the 1st line. So, while Fowler would definitely improve our D....it isn't enough to create a massive hole up front.

I think you and I may disagree on this one
We got Andersen to improve our goaltending (I would have waited till next year)
If shoring up the back end to help our young team develop is a goal we should be willing to move JVR for Fowler
Sure we won't have a top line LW but we would have a massively better D core
Fowler Rielly
Gardiner Zietsev
What helps our young guys more?
A scoring winger or a D core that can stop the young guys mistakes from becoming goals every time?
If we were willing to do the Andersen deal now we should be willing to do this deal to (not that I believe this is even on the table)

 

[Haatley]

Lol....wrong. As much as i know you just post this garbage to fuel arguments. ..i will still respond. Rielly is top pair....Gardiner and Fowler are close....so, you could say we have 2, although i see both Gardiner and Fowler as great 2nd pair guys. What we don't have is a replacement for JVR on the 1st line. So, while Fowler would definitely improve our D....it isn't enough to create a massive hole up front.

Rielly is not a legit option. He may get top pairing minutes in Toronto, but he doesn't do very well with them,and would not be on the top pair of 90% of the teams in the league. Some teams have 3 defencemen he would be behind on the depth chart. What does that tell you?

 

[Holymakinaw]

Rielly is not a legit option. He may get top pairing minutes in Toronto, but he doesn't do very well with them,and would not be on the top pair of 90% of the teams in the league. Some teams have 3 defencemen he would be behind on the depth chart. What does that tell you?

LOL. I see that you "said" all this. Doesn't make it true in any way, shape or form......but I see that you said it.

 

[Once]

Rielly is not a legit option. He may get top pairing minutes in Toronto, but he doesn't do very well with them,and would not be on the top pair of 90% of the teams in the league. Some teams have 3 defencemen he would be behind on the depth chart. What does that tell you?

This time next year this opinion will me flipped 180 degrees.

Rielly took time to develop under Babcock's system - but he did fantastic this year and blossomed into a top 4 (3rd on most teams depth charts) dman. Post IIHF tournament he has all the tools to become a top 2 dman this year and eventually a number 1. I expect him to perform as such this year.

Don't want Fowler, don't want to let go of JVR until contract extension time. I'd rather play this season out and watch Rielly become a number 1 dman

 

[Haatley]

LOL. I see that you "said" all this. Doesn't make it true in any way, shape or form......but I see that you said it.

Okay?
Great response. A+.

 

[Haatley]

This time next year this opinion will me flipped 180 degrees.

Rielly took time to develop under Babcock's system - but he did fantastic this year and blossomed into a top 4 (3rd on most teams depth charts) dman. Post IIHF tournament he has all the tools to become a top 2 dman this year and eventually a number 1. I expect him to perform as such this year.

Don't want Fowler, don't want to let go of JVR until contract extension time. I'd rather play this season out and watch Rielly become a number 1 dman

Earlier in the thread I said Rielly could very well develop into a top pairing guy. He isn't there yet, and it isn't guaranteed he will.

 

[Liferleafer]

I think you and I may disagree on this one
We got Andersen to improve our goaltending (I would have waited till next year)
If shoring up the back end to help our young team develop is a goal we should be willing to move JVR for Fowler
Sure we won't have a top line LW but we would have a massively better D core
Fowler Rielly
Gardiner Zietsev
What helps our young guys more?
A scoring winger or a D core that can stop the young guys mistakes from becoming goals every time?
If we were willing to do the Andersen deal now we should be willing to do this deal to (not that I believe this is even on the table)

What we gave up for Andersen has nothing to do with trading our only option at 1LW. Andersen only cost picks....that's an easy upgrade. And again, while i agree Fowler helps the D, JVR is also a good player to help the young guys as well.

 

[Liferleafer]

Earlier in the thread I said Rielly could very well develop into a top pairing guy. He isn't there yet, and it isn't guaranteed he will.

Fowler isn't a 1D either....you get that...right?

 

[Haatley]

Fowler isn't a 1D either....you get that...right?

He is a top pairing guy. A 2D. Never claimed he was a number one. But he would instantly be the Leafs top defender.

 

[Liferleafer]

He is a top pairing guy. A 2D. Never claimed he was a number one. But he would instantly be the Leafs top defender.

In advanced stats...he has worse stats in alot of categories playing on a good team than Gardiner does playing on a bad one.

I like Fowler...said it many times, i just wouldn't move JVR for him.

Quick question for Ducks fans, would you value Fowler higher than Rielly?

 

[Holymakinaw]

Okay?
Great response. A+.

It's about a zillion times more valuable that whatever you've contributed in this thread.

 

[Haatley]

In advanced stats...he has worse stats in alot of categories playing on a good team than Gardiner does playing on a bad one.

I like Fowler...said it many times, i just wouldn't move JVR for him.

Quick question for Ducks fans, would you value Fowler higher than Rielly?

I'm very happy that Gardiner's advanced stats are so great. It really contributed to winning a lot of games last season.

 

[Vipers31]

Quick question for Ducks fans, would you value Fowler higher than Rielly?

In terms of pure value, I'd say it's fair to put higher value on Rielly. He's relatively close to Lindholm in terms of value, and that should see him ahead of Fowler right now, all things that go into value considered.

 

[Liferleafer]

I'm very happy that Gardiner's advanced stats are so great. It really contributed to winning a lot of games last season.

Great rebuttal, you got me there. ...seeing Fowler hoist the cup last season really drives that amazing point home.

I guess players like Subban/Krejci/Marchand etc are garbage? I mean they didn't even take their teams to the playoffs.

 

[SnapVirus]

Fowler>Jvr

 

[Kiwi]

What we gave up for Andersen has nothing to do with trading our only option at 1LW. Andersen only cost picks....that's an easy upgrade. And again, while i agree Fowler helps the D, JVR is also a good player to help the young guys as well.

Scoring wingers are pretty and such but having a solid D core that can stop the young guys mistakes from becoming automatic goals has a ton of value

A team can be successful buy being good defensively with some offence here and there but will struggle if they can only come up with 2 good Dmen (maybe 3 depending on Zietsev)with average to below average scoring

We shored up the goaltending now shore up the Dcore and worry about the forwards later on

Fowler Rielly
Gardiner Zietsev

That's a young D core that will be better in a few years when we are starting to go for it and our young forwards have got over there inexperience

 

[garyturner3]

He is a top pairing guy. A 2D. Never claimed he was a number one. But he would instantly be the Leafs top defender.

Based on what exactly? Not saying Fowler's not a great d-man, but your anti-Leaf bias is usually extremely strong on here so just curious as to what you're basing this claim on. According to this poll going on right now, fans don't think he would "instantly" be our best d-man:

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=2114367

 

[Liferleafer]

Fowler>Jvr

JVR> Fowler. ...fun game.

(Actually JVR=Fowler)

 

[4thline]

. It really contributed to winning a lot of games last season.

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.