Please Grade Dubas on today's Free Agent Pickups.

[member 298589]

I gave a D. I appreciate not giving out any disaster contracts so not an F. But I will be disappointed if there's nothing else done to improve the roster.

I had also noted this management team would lose my support if nothing was done to address the powerplay/marner issue. We will see what the roster and PP look like in October.

 

[Racer88]

I gave him a D. He didn’t do anything to really hurt the team, probably because he didn’t have much cap space, but he didn’t do much to make it better……..probably because he didn’t have the cap space.
A common theme with this team now.
We will be picking from the bargain bin for years to come

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

C it's OK but there are A LOT of questions

 

[janesy12]

Went with C.

I don't think he spent unwisely (given the fact that we don't have any cap space).

Bunting could be a great signing, or he could be a PPG AHLer.
Mrazek was a good contract given what the goalie market was. An upgrade on Andersen of the past couple seasons.
Kampf is overpaid by 500K IMO. Who were the Leafs bidding against? $1m a year should have been fine, but it's not going to kill us.
Gabriel? Press box popcorn or Marlies I guess.
Ho-Sang could be very useful, or packing his bags before November depending on his attitude.
Amadio, Marlies bound.

Menell, Biega, Dahlstrom are all Marlies/Depth guys. Although I don't know what this means for Lily.

IMO, we're a worse team than last season. The bottom line? We lost a 20 goal top 6 LW, and didn't replace him.
All the moves barely move the needle, especially in a division that has gotten much better.

So, I don't think Dubas killed us with contracts (because he couldn't), but he also failed to improve on the team that blew 3-1 lead to the Habs last season.
In fact - it got worse IMO.

Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Kerfoot - Tavares - Nylander
Engvall - Kampf - Mikheyev
Brooks - Spezza - Simmonds

Extras - Robertson, Ho-Sang,

Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Holl
Sandin - Dermott

Extras - Liljegren

Campbell
Mrazek

 

[DarkKnight]

Ho Sang is most intriguing for obvious reasons.... in highlights he looks like a Marner/Nylander hybrid in terms of skill...BUT it's the person that matters most and that's what is questionable with him. What might work in our favor is Lou and Trotz have very short ropes and maybe the wrong approach. Then again... hard to argue with their success vs ours.

Worse than last year is all that matters.

 

[4thline]

Overall B, that said we're still waiting on at least one semi-major piece

A- High Impact for dollar forwards. Bunting is a great fit stylistically for what this team needs as a complementary LW, and because of uncertainty was available cheap. Don't think he's got a Garland breakout in him, but Coleman? Hoping for/expecting 20/20 riding shotgun. Kampf 4c by name and offense, shutdown 3c by minutes and effectiveness. He's our Beagle/Glendenning, and can actually handle the job.

C- too much on a goalie. Looking at what goalies were going for it's hard to argue against Mrazek's contract being market value, but that doesn't make it the right move. IMO more money than we should have spent for this year's budget, and the combo of budget and term is not the right message to send to Jack, nor does it make next off season easier. That being said, the only move I like better clear cut was Raanta @ 2m. Rittich at 1.25 would be tempting for the cap space, but risky.

B- Amadio/Gabriel/Dahlstom/Biega - tweener depth. Lots of size and versatility there. Amadio might have some upside. I think Biega could challenge for the 6 spot.

? -Menell all or nothing swing. I like the theory behind the move, but most roads lead to it being a literal nothing move, no return for no gain. He's shown a willingness to play in Russia, and is one year from UFA, might not sign
If he does sign and doesn't make the team, likely gone on waivers
If he does sign and makes the team as depth, might not hit pick thresholds, if he does, meh
If he does sign and booms, great.

 

[TMLAM34]

The Leafs still have options which people seem to forget. We have about 3.5 million dollars in cap space and need a top six winger which is a decent start. We can easily move Dermott and sign a defenceman like Gudbranson for say 1 million a year, now we have 4 million to work with and a third pairing of Sandin - Gudbranson. With Kampf we can move on from Engvall and replace him with Brooks in the lineup saving another 500k which brings us to 4.5 million in cap space and restock our draft picks.

With 4.5 million in cap space I’m then looking at Saad. Possibly a 4x4 type deal with a limited NTC.

 

[seanlinden]

I gave him a D, but considered an F. We need better depth and … it got significantly worse. Lost Hyman, lost Bogo, probably lost Galchenyuk, replaced Freddy with Mrazek (lateral move), gained very little of value.

Forwards 5-12 are:

• Kerfoot
• Spezza
• Mikheyev
• Simmonds
• Robertson
• Bunting
• Kampf
• Engvall

Unbelievably bad forward depth. That list should contain:

• 2 legit 2nd liners
• 3 legit 3rd liners
• 3 legit 4th liners

Instead it contains:

• 1 legit 3rd liner (Kerfoot)
• 2 legit 4th liners (Spezza and Mikheyev)
• 5 borderline 4th liners/AHLers

If this is the plan, it’s gonna be another early playoff exit. Yeah, our top 4 forwards are elite, but when the bottom 8 are trash, it doesn’t work. Is there a team with a worse bottom 8 forwards?

We need to trade one of Marner or Tavares, full stop. We cannot win when we’re this top heavy. But I’ve seen no indication that Dubas will do it - he’s the one that gave out these terrible contracts in the first place, and seems unwilling to fix his mistakes.

I think expectations for what constitutes a 1st/2nd/3rd/4th liner are high.

Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares are 1st line forwards on most teams in the league.

Alex Kerfoot is a 2nd line on most teams in the league. He's not a guy that's going to drive a 2nd line, but certainly a complimentary piece. It's by virtue of fit and position that he typically plays 3rd line.

Based on their performances last year, both Mikheyev & Engvall would fall into a "below average 3rd liner, above average 4th liner". Mikheyev has of course shown more.

Based on a limited sample size, Bunting seems like a 3rd liner, with top 6 upside.

 

[The Management]

I think it is hard to come down too hard on a GM for not doing more on the first day of free agency. It's a time when a lot of teams make mistakes and hand out silly contracts, so I think that gives him a passing grade if nothing else. Most of the complaints relate to him having not done enough to improve the squad. I agree the roster looks underwhelming, but let's see what he can swing over the summer. He could still pick up a quality LW if he moves some cap.

I liked the Bunting signing, but I think penciling him into the top line is expecting a lot from him.

I don't hate the Mrazek signing. We needed a goalie and I think he's more than capable (consistently over 0.900). I don't think that contract is unmovable, and I don't think our goaltending got worse.

Kamph is fine, I guess? Fourth liner, kills penalties, takes faceoffs, nothing to speak of offensively.

Sucks to lose Bogosian.

I'm saying a "C."

 

[Sypher04]

I rate it incomplete.
I'll withhold judgement

 

[ShaneFalco]

If Bunting pans out - great. If not we're back to lack of depth. But they are still looking to add.........
I dunno do we have anyone who will go into the corners other than Kampf?
Right now who can put up any points on 3rd and 4th line other than Spezza?
Meh

C-

 

[KinMan]

D+ as he failed to improve the team from last year.

 

[Stigma]

Two grades from me.

The fact that we're in this position to begin with (losing good players, little cap left) -> D-

His actually picks and contracts so far -> B

Bunting - I really like the Bunting pick. Not just for potential offense, but because he's a rat too. A trash-talking, net-crashing rat. We need this type of player.

Mrazek - don't love him, but good contract given the crap we saw handed out yesterday

Kampf - a little overpriced, but a good pickup

Mennell - good gamble

Gabriel - I don't mind having a meathead in the pressbox. Can come in handy.

Ho-Sang - I'm not a fan, but it doesn't hurt to give him a shot

The rest are kind of meh.

Let's see what happens in the rest of the off-season. Would love Galchenyuk and Bertuzzi/Debrusk, personally.

 

[TheBigThree]

I don't think we're making the playoffs and that would be a travesty. Our biggest achievement with this core is reaching the playoffs. Like how will this team be better with no cap? Every year we'll replace fringe nhl players

 

[Pookie]

Who cares. Wait for the playoffs.

he’s seen a core fail decided to stick with them and remove grit.

I have a bad feeling but everything they do... including win the presidents trophy needs to be met with “yeah but wait for the playoffs. “

 

[ItsFineImFine]

I'll give him a B for free agency day and an F for the off-season as a whole so far.

I can't judge him too harshly for free agency because the team has no space lol. They have to acquire another dman and I think at least one more fwd via signings and only have $3.5M in cap space left. They had to get some bargain players which they did and they needed a tandem goalie and they could've done a lot worse than Marazek. He wasn't cheap, I was hoping the guy would cost $3M but they couldn't go in with someone random/unreliable and it's still a savings on Andersen.

I'll rate the general off-season as an F because he refuses to change the core roster which has failed repeatedly and which also has a really bad cap structure causing us to be in this situation in the first place. He also not only thinks the core is fine but the coaching staff is fine too. I don't expect for both to change but change one. He also hasn't been able to show any creativity in fixing the situation via trades so far. I don't expect him to do all of that but I expect him to do something. Any GM that goes into next season with the same roster is just repeating insanity.

 

[jaric1862]

Changed my vote to an F. Really disappointed in what has transpired thus far.

 

[57 Years No Cup]

We are far from done, and there are still plenty of quality veteran UFAs available that can be signed for close to the league minimum.

It's too early to grade Dubas overall, but based on today's acquisitions, namely Mrazek and Bunting, I'd give him a B.

If we're signing players for the vet minimum because Dubas thinks that's our salvation, we're done alright...like dinner.

 

[DuklaNation]

F. Not close either.

 

[rumman]

I’m just glad Dubas really showed Edmonton by standing firm and not getting anything for Hyman. Chess baby.

 

[ToneDog]

If we're signing players for the vet minimum because Dubas thinks that's our salvation, we're done alright...like dinner.

I can see this train wreck from a mile away. Too bad Shinny can't or won't do anything to stop it.

 

[ToneDog]

Wasn't watching what other teams did yesterday but heard that Bruins signed Ullmark, foligno nosek and haula. We lost Hyman and signed scrubs. SMFH.

 

[ShaneFalco]

Wasn't watching what other teams did yesterday but heard that Bruins signed Ullmark, foligno nosek and haula. We lost Hyman and signed scrubs. SMFH.

As it stands now, they'd mop the floor with us

 

[rumman]

As it stands now, they'd mop the floor with us

You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear……

 

[ToneDog]

Dubey has not got a clue what he is doing, and never has.

Only the ones who do not want to see it or are being paid to do damage control won't admit it. So sad where we are after the caps series.