TSN: Mikheyev

[hockeywiz542]

LeBrun: Updates on the draft, free agency and Jim Montgomery's fresh start in Boston

As the NHL Draft approaches, there's intrigue about what the Canadiens will do with the first pick, and how that affects everyone else.

theathletic.com

Leafs notify teams they would move Mikheyev’s rights

The Maple Leafs, as I and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman have reported, notified teams Thursday of their willingness to move the rights to winger Ilya Mikheyev, a pending unrestricted free agent, before July 13.

The Leafs have informed teams they're open to trading the rights to pending UFA Ilya Mikheyev.

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 30, 2022

Basically, what the Leafs are wondering is what it’s worth to any team to get to negotiate with the 21-goal man two weeks ahead of time? As a reference point, the Montreal Canadiens paid a fifth-round pick to Carolina two years ago to get the rights to pending UFA Joel Edmundson about three weeks before the market opened (and signed him four days after the trade).

I reached out to Mikheyev’s agent, Dan Milstein, on Thursday evening to see if there was anything new on the matter. His only comment was that Mikheyev was treated great during his time in Toronto.

It’s believed that the Leafs never did make a contract offer to Mikheyev, probably recognizing that there was no point given the raise the player will get from the $1.645 million he made each of the past two seasons and the Leafs’ obvious cap issues.

Although Milstein would not confirm this, I’ve been told Mikheyev wants at least a five-year term on his next contract and a salary in the range of $4 million to $5 million, depending on the market and the team.

That obviously was never going to happen in Toronto.

 

[notbias]

Best Bang for your Salary Cap Buck !!!! ** Cap management 101 **

2021-21 stats
=========
John Tavares ........ 79 games .. 27 goals .. $11 mil AAV = $407,400 cap $ consumption per goal.
Ilya Mikheyev ...... 53 games .. 21 goals .. $ 1.645 mil AAV = $78,333 cap $ consumption per goal.
Michael Bunting ..79 games .. 23 goals .. $950k AAV = $41,304 cap $ consumption per goal.

Last season a JT goal cost the Leafs $400k of Cap, a Mikheyev goal at $78K and Bunting goal $41K, with Leafs getting much better value per goal from the bottom end of the roster.

First Kadri, then Hyman, now Mikheyev and next year Bunting all forced off the Leafs roster for salary cap reasons, because Leafs can no longer afford these higher cap value productive players because they have so much invested in JT among others. Leafs can only afford depth players making $1.5 mil or less but once their contracts are up and you have to pay for their production, you have to move on from them.

You guys all yell about the cap, then want to overpay players to keep them (Hyman and Mikheyev), never makes sense to me, it is almost like there is no logic behind your arguments and you do them because you don't like the GM.

Kadri was shipped out due to not being able to control himself.

I expect Bunting to put up 60pts next year and get a Hyman contract, wouldn't want to give him that.

 

[trellaine201]

No money for him. The only reason. Like every summer. Dubas spent his wad on the first line Years ago.

 

[ToneDog]

You guys all yell about the cap, then want to overpay players to keep them (Hyman and Mikheyev), never makes sense to me, it is almost like there is no logic behind your arguments and you do them because you don't like the GM.

Kadri was shipped out due to not being able to control himself.

I expect Bunting to put up 60pts next year and get a Hyman contract, wouldn't want to give him that.

We want them to win but you can't if you bleed assets every year and don't have good prospects to replace them. Until the pipeline overflows it will be rinse and repeat.

Four forwards not capable of getting it done in the playoffs making 50% of your cap is why you have to watch players walk. Hyman was willing to take a discount and we still passed. Same might be true for Campbell. Mik gave a discount according to his agent so he will be looking for highest bid.

Next year it will be Bunting and probably Kampf walking.

 

[notbias]

We want them to win but you can't if you bleed assets every year and don't have good prospects to replace them. Until the pipeline overflows it will be rinse and repeat.

Four forwards not capable of getting it done in the playoffs making 50% of your cap is why you have to watch players walk. Hyman was willing to take a discount and we still passed. Same might be true for Campbell. Mik gave a discount according to his agent so he will be looking for highest bid.

Next year it will be Bunting and probably Kampf walking.

Luckily it looks like the drafting under Dubas has improved (time will tell, but it can't get worse than Hunter), it looks like we have some guys who are ready to play this year.

Bunting and Kampf are replaceable internally or in free agency, they aren't elite players, it is going to be the same thing every year, if guys outperform their contract, that is a good thing for us.

 

[TGB]

Although Milstein would not confirm this, I’ve been told Mikheyev wants at least a five-year term on his next contract and a salary in the range of $4 million to $5 million, depending on the market and the team.

Called it.

 

[deprw]

We want them to win but you can't if you bleed assets every year and don't have good prospects to replace them. Until the pipeline overflows it will be rinse and repeat.

Four forwards not capable of getting it done in the playoffs making 50% of your cap is why you have to watch players walk. Hyman was willing to take a discount and we still passed. Same might be true for Campbell. Mik gave a discount according to his agent so he will be looking for highest bid.

Next year it will be Bunting and probably Kampf walking.

You have great point and it's something that we have to fix with Dubas or without. I think we have tried to fix it since Shanahan started here and it has been one of the key focus areas. I think we have fully understood that we need pipeline of good players and we have acquired those by drafting, from Europe and from NCAA free agency. I think we have evaluated our whole scouting staff at least once and hopefully tuning it yearly. Hunter drafts have been disaster and now it seems that Dubas has fixed something, but it is yet to be seen.

It is just common theme that if you have good team, you'll bleed assets. In cap world you can't cumulate your roster, if it's good or too good value of the players will raise and you can't keep them. If you want to win you keep them until they're free agents. Sometimes you have to let go pretty good players, because timeline doesn't match.

I think you're the one that isn't happy with Tavares. You want to build that same situation with player like Hyman, where you pay him accordingly for few years and then you are married to a contract that is tied to an asset that doesn't match the value?

That bad drafting from Lou and Hunter era is really biting our ass at the moment, because we have clear valley in viable assets from those drafts and we have to play around it. I don't know if good solution would have been some sort of retool of assets? Who knows, but at the same time you and some other writers here wants us to win first round.

So which we want it to be? Try to maximise assets and value or value winning? I think if we look any good in the league during the cap era they bleed assets during competitive years. Then there are bad seasons or some lucky breaks that you get some really valuable asset like Makar or McAvoy and you get value out of it very fast.

I just don't think there is clear formula how to do that or someone would have found it already and we could copy it. World isn't black and white.

 

[Morbo]

No money for him. The only reason. Like every summer. Dubas spent his wad on the first line Years ago.

that's where the money belongs, not paying 4-5 million to a middling piece like Mikheyev.

 

[John Mandalorian]

that's where the money belongs, not paying 4-5 million to a middling piece like Mikheyev.

I can see him being a target of the Avs or Tampa.

 

[Smif]

You guys all yell about the cap, then want to overpay players to keep them (Hyman and Mikheyev), never makes sense to me, it is almost like there is no logic behind your arguments and you do them because you don't like the GM.

Kadri was shipped out due to not being able to control himself.

I expect Bunting to put up 60pts next year and get a Hyman contract, wouldn't want to give him that.

I'd five Bunting the Hyman contract all day. The only reason I didn't want to give it to Hyman is due to age and mileage on his knees.

 

[Sypher04]

This is the correct answer. The truth is they could easily afford to keep him by moving out some of the expected riff raff from the team (kerfoot Holl mrazek), it’s just we’ve seen what he’s capable of here and it’s not what the team needs so moving on is the right move regardless of cap space

Yup, and somebody talked about it here the other day, but I agree Mikheyevs body language is often definitely not what you’d like to see. Whether that’s reflective of his actual attitude or not, it’s something I too have noticed at times

 

[Nylanderthal]

I can see him being a target of the Avs or Tampa.

Neither will be able to afford him with the pieces they need to re-sign. Hell go to a less cap strapped team that’s hungry for goals. Nashville? Dallas? Seattle? None have state income tax and all have holes on the wing. Soup is in North America to maximize his earning potential and set his family back home up for generations.
He won’t be going to Colorado or Tampa to win.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Neither will be able to afford him with the pieces they need to re-sign. Hell go to a less cap strapped team that’s hungry for goals. Nashville? Dallas? Seattle? None have state income tax and all have holes on the wing. Soup is in North America to maximize his earning potential and set his family back home up for generations.
He won’t be going to Colorado or Tampa to win.

It depends on how things unfold.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Yeah I'd pass on a 5 year, $4-5 year deal for Mikheyev

 

[Nylanderthal]

We want them to win but you can't if you bleed assets every year and don't have good prospects to replace them. Until the pipeline overflows it will be rinse and repeat.

Four forwards not capable of getting it done in the playoffs making 50% of your cap is why you have to watch players walk. Hyman was willing to take a discount and we still passed. Same might be true for Campbell. Mik gave a discount according to his agent so he will be looking for highest bid.

Next year it will be Bunting and probably Kampf walking.

Hyman’s deal is going to be ugly during a time where they have to concern themselves with new deals for Willy Auston and Mitch. Bunting has been a great replacement at an absolute minimal cost.
I don’t really see the hand wringing over mik walking, dude hasn’t scored a goal on a goalie in 19 playoff games and doesn’t bring much else aside from speed and some tunnel vision finishing ability. I mean sure, he put up okay regular season numbers but you and your buddies keep yammering on about how the regular seasons is irrelevant and playoff success is the only thing that will satiate your desires. Mik doesn’t move that needle at all.

It depends on how things unfold.

How what things unfold? Also, I think you’re lost. Maybe you should head back to your own team page.

 

[Stephen]

I think we happily let him walk and try to reload with some combination of guys who aren't qualified as RFA's, whether that's Dylan Strome, Pavel Zacha, Miles Wood or check in on Puljujarvi. I think the idea would be to try and find a high pedigree reclamation project like Colorado did with Valeri Nichushkin, or like we tried with Alex Galchenyuk.

Mikheyev is such a nothing burger and re-signing him close to what Hyman got last summer would be so wrong.

 

[ToneDog]

Hyman’s deal is going to be ugly during a time where they have to concern themselves with new deals for Willy Auston and Mitch. Bunting has been a great replacement at an absolute minimal cost.
I don’t really see the hand wringing over mik walking, dude hasn’t scored a goal on a goalie in 19 playoff games and doesn’t bring much else aside from speed and some tunnel vision finishing ability. I mean sure, he put up okay regular season numbers but you and your buddies keep yammering on about how the regular seasons is irrelevant and playoff success is the only thing that will satiate your desires. Mik doesn’t move that needle at all.


How what things unfold? Also, I think you’re lost. Maybe you should head back to your own team page.

Agreed Mik does not move the needle but I am not talking Mik specifically. Other than the big 4, no forwards move the needle and are interchangeable. Problem is that as a collective, what has gone out is greater than what has come back (including draft picks to dump contracts and stiffs and players moved to free up cap space).

 

[Nylanderthal]

Agreed Mik does not move the needle but I am not talking Mik specifically. Other than the big 4, no forwards move the needle and are interchangeable. Problem is that as a collective, what has gone out is greater than what has come back (including draft picks to dump contracts and stiffs and players moved to free up cap space).

Oh so just another off topic meaningless rant about how you don’t like the GM

 

[ULF_55]

I can see him being a target of the Avs or Tampa.

He wants long term $5mm, and Tampa is already looking to shed players because they're in cap trouble.

 

[ToneDog]

Oh so just another off topic meaningless rant about how you don’t like the GM

LOL. Not this time but you can believe what you want.

 

[Nylanderthal]

LOL. Not this time but you can believe what you want.

So then what’s the point you’re making in this Mikheyev thread? You’re agreeing with @Stephen on one hand that it’s a nothing burger and then on the other complaining how the team continually bleeds assets. Teams competing let guys walk around the edges, this is nothing new.

 

[ToneDog]

So then what’s the point you’re making in this Mikheyev thread? You’re agreeing with @Stephen on one hand that it’s a nothing burger and then on the other complaining how the team continually bleeds assets. Teams competing let guys walk around the edges, this is nothing new.

You need to back up to post 154. You can call it what you like but IMO we can't win with 4 guys taking half the cap and bleeding assets unless we can replace the UFAs that walk internally. Not ripping anybody, just stating my opinion. If you believe it is a rant, it would be more a rant on Hunter as much than on Dubas.

 

[John Mandalorian]

He wants long term $5mm, and Tampa is already looking to shed players because they're in cap trouble.

I'm not saying it will be easy or a priority to them but I can see how how he would have appeal to them given the way the finals happened.

 

[Smif]

Imagine Mikheyev getting paid as much as Giroux this offseason...

I would love to see Giroux feeding Tavares ala Marner feeding Matthews-lite. Feels like a better fit than JT-Nylander and use assets to upgrade the goaltending / bottom six.

 

[ULF_55]

I think we happily let him walk and try to reload with some combination of guys who aren't qualified as RFA's, whether that's Dylan Strome, Pavel Zacha, Miles Wood or check in on Puljujarvi. I think the idea would be to try and find a high pedigree reclamation project like Colorado did with Valeri Nichushkin, or like we tried with Alex Galchenyuk.

Mikheyev is such a nothing burger and re-signing him close to what Hyman got last summer would be so wrong.

Is there a list of unqualified players?