Post Deadline Transactions and Signings

[WillNy29]

For a $2M difference I keep Mitch over Willy all day. Just the production alone he's worth more than that difference. The big thing tho, Marner makes everyone he plays with better, Willy can't play with JT. There's also the PK factor on top of that.

Move Mitch for a big package and you get the shake up this team needs.

 

[Americanadian]

yes but the canes also have 1C which we will not have once we trade ours away. You haven't addressed the main issue here. You're also forgetting Buffalo, Ottawa and Detroit making a big jump so likely to miss the playoffs if we downgrade the team and don't actually get quality out of the quantity we trade for. You win building up the middle and if we don't do that we'll have the Kessel years again.

To be fair Tavares/Byfield is a mediocre 1/2C for the next few years but Byfield still has potential to be a legitimate 1C. His underlying numbers were very strong this year. Matthews is good, I am not denying that, but he also isn't bringing this team anywhere.

 

[stats1]

After last night I’m in the “trade Marner” camp. He’d bring a ton back in a trade and although Willy is super in consistent at least he shows up in the playoffs. Marner on the other hand just crumbles under the pressure and he takes his best buddy Matthews down with him. If you’re going to make seismic changes it’s firing Keefe, and it’s trading Marner.

 

[Kiwi]

oh wow we went so far and lost; I don't give a f*** about how much consolation prizes those teams won. they like the current batch were all losers at the end of the day. Pushback and beating the odds mean nothing if you fall short anyways. but the one constant was we had a big 1C. So in order to make it to the playoffs you need that and if we trade it away without getting a fair deal (which we never will in a trade like that), is going to lead to another decade of missing the playoffs.


I would trade Mitch and round out the defence. Willy is not going to make more than 9m and at that price point he's gold.

Wow, we can make the playoffs
How ******* awesome is that

Always making the first round, never going anywhere, giving Matthews 15M plus on his next contract, him disappearing every time it gets physical, zero ******* leadership

Hell yeah let's do that for the next decade because as we all know if prime Matthews does jack **** aging Matthews will definitely do something meaningful

I'd rather tank than live in mediocrity for another ******* decade

 

[SprDaVE]

We don't need to blow it up but we could do a hard retool or reset over a 2 year window and try again once Tavares is no longer on the books because his contract is going to be a problem while we're trying to compete

Keep who's worth keeping but trade the other guys for quality prospects and high picks (if possible) who should be good competitive players in a couple of years

Maybe. I dunno what can be done anymore. It's frustrating.

I'd be fine with a hard retool around probably Matthews as the lone survivor of this. Maybe keep Marner? But they are both so useless in the playoffs... But you know if they are traded, they are winning a cup else where. Damned if you, damned if you don't.

 

[KTG]

I think the move here is a soft reset. All of this contingent of course on if Matthews re-signs this

We don't need to blow it up but we could do a hard retool or reset over a 2 year window and try again once Tavares is no longer on the books because his contract is going to be a problem while we're trying to compete

Keep who's worth keeping but trade the other guys for quality prospects and high picks (if possible) who should be good competitive players in a couple of years

I'm all for this idea as well. Tavares is the anchor holding this team down. If you can get Matthews to commit this off-season, I think you move forward by selling high on Nylander for whatever value you can get. Dubas or no Dubas, I would love to see the Leafs walk away from this draft with two first round players in the system. And say you could get a Garland level player in a trade or a UFA wing, good enough for now as a Nylander replacement.

Get rid of Keefe and get a culture change behind the bench. Re-sign O'Reilly, Accari, and Samsonov if you want, stay competitive and keep a winning culture. Re-sign Marner the next summer, and get ready for the season after when Tavares is gone, and you have more cap room and hopefully a few more young guys developed and in the line-up.

 

[Kiwi]

Maybe. I dunno what can be done anymore. It's frustrating.

I'd be fine with a hard retool around probably Matthews as the lone survivor of this. Maybe keep Marner? But they are both so useless in the playoffs... But you know if they are traded, they are winning a cup else where. Damned if you, damned if you don't.

I honestly don't care about what happens to them after they leave, they could win 10 cups but they aren't winning them here obviously

This team is broken, fixing it is my only priority and if that means Matthews and/or Marner has to go so be it

 

[Menzinger]

We went multiple rounds multiple times with Sundin
We even beat teams who were favored over us

One 2nd round appearance in 7 years isn't even close to what those teams achieved
Especially when you consider how many times we've lost to worse teams

I'd rather not have one than overpay the failure with zero pushback we've got now

Though, Sundin was still a PPG+ centre man. If the leafs trade away Matthews they're not going to be able to make a replacement appear out of thin air.

While I don't disagree at this point that no one is untouchable, moving Matthews comes with greater risks than say Marner in terms of mid to long term planning let alone the massive hole in the short term

 

[Americanadian]

Maybe. I dunno what can be done anymore. It's frustrating.

I'd be fine with a hard retool around probably Matthews as the lone survivor of this. Maybe keep Marner? But they are both so useless in the playoffs... But you know if they are traded, they are winning a cup else where. Damned if you, damned if you don't.

Why does it matter if they win a cup elsewhere? They aren’t doing it here. Kessel/Bozak/Kadri all got it done elsewhere and I truly believe they never would have won a cup here the way those teams were constructed.

 

[Kiwi]

Though, Sundin was still a PPG+ centre man. If the leafs trade away Matthews they're not going to be able to make a replacement appear out of thin air.

While I don't disagree at this point that no one is untouchable, moving Matthews comes with greater risks than say Marner in terms of mid to long term planning let alone the massive hole in the short term

Matthews hasn't proven anything, he's a no-show in the playoffs and we're about to get punted early again
That's well over half a decade of this abject failure

He's also going to demand massive amounts of money he hasn't earned come playoff time on his next contract
He doesn't deserve to be the highest paid player in the game and he's probably going to want 15M+

This team is broken, it needs a complete teardown and he's a large part of it

 

[SprDaVE]

Why does it matter if they win a cup elsewhere? They aren’t doing it here. Kessel/Bozak/Kadri all got it done elsewhere and I truly believe they never would have won a cup here the way those teams were constructed.

Maybe because I think they can win and I like the players. But hey it's a business and whatever has to happen needs to happen. I'm not in the room though.

 

[Menzinger]

Matthews hasn't proven anything, he's a no-show in the playoffs and we're about to get punted early again
That's well over half a decade of this abject failure

He's also going to demand massive amounts of money he hasn't earned come playoff time on his next contract
He doesn't deserve to be the highest paid player in the game and he's probably going to want 15M+

This team is broken, it needs a complete teardown and he's a large part of it

I don't disagree with your sentiment BUT

I doubt ownership is going to allow another teardown less than a decade after the first try at it. Which means trying to turn the pieces they have into a better winning combination

And if they want to trade Matthews, his soon to be ready replacement needs to be comingnback. Because even if the plan is to do the draft build, therese zero guarantee it solves that issue either.

 

[Americanadian]

Maybe because I think they can win and I like the players. But hey it's a business and whatever has to happen needs to happen. I'm not in the room though.

Genuine question out of curiosity: why do you like the core players on this team?

Less genuine question: why do you think they can win?

 

[SprDaVE]

Genuine question out of curiosity: why do you like the core players on this team?

I don't know. Matthews is a franchise center. Marner is a terrific Selke nominated player. The playoffs have been terrible, so maybe nobody should like them in a vacuum. But I'm able to take a step back and not be completely irrational about their abilities. Sometimes it's just not meant to be though and it sounds like Toronto will never be able to find players to have success past the regular season.

 

[lanceuppercut75]

Like I mentioned before, we’ll need to refocus on acquiring a top pairing defenceman this off-season.

Keefe is asking and relying on Brodie way too much while his game has slipped these past two seasons.

Rielly - ________
McCabe - Liljegren
Brodie - Timmins
Giordano

Some Avs fan on the Trade board said "Devon Toews and 1st round pick to Toronto for Austin Matthews, another 1st round pick to Arizona to retain 50% of Matthews salary so Avs can get him at half-cap"

I'd want to trade Matthews on July 1st with a long term extension to a team, so that we can get better stuff back in a Matthews trade, but if that isn't an option and Matthews won't sign any kind of extension with any team, it would be nice to get a top-pairing D in a Matthews trade IMO.

 

[Americanadian]

sounds like Toronto will never be able to find players to have success past the regular season.

Couldn't disagree with this more. I think the current core players are incapable of winning but I think the Toronto Maple Leafs can win with other players. I think the core players of the Leafs are capable of winning if they are in a different dressing room with different players who can actually push them.

 

[Kiwi]

I don't disagree with your sentiment BUT

I doubt ownership is going to allow another teardown less than a decade after the first try at it. Which means trying to turn the pieces they have into a better winning combination

And if they want to trade Matthews, his soon to be ready replacement needs to be comingnback. Because even if the plan is to do the draft build, therese zero guarantee it solves that issue either.

Then we accept this team isn't going to be good enough to win anything but won't be bad enough to collect high end talent in the draft

Perpetual mediocrity basically

At least if we go now we have enough players with enough value to get a kickstart on a rebuild which should shorten how long it takes to collect the talent required

 

[LaPlante94]

I don't know. Matthews is a franchise center. Marner is a terrific Selke nominated player. The playoffs have been terrible, so maybe nobody should like them in a vacuum. But I'm able to take a step back and not be completely irrational about their abilities. Sometimes it's just not meant to be though and it sounds like Toronto will never be able to find players to have success past the regular season.

What if Nashville called and you were the GM and they offered Saros and Tomasino/Fabbro for Marner would you hang up or make that trade? Or use that as a base to make something work?

 

[Americanadian]

I don't know. Matthews is a franchise center. Marner is a terrific Selke nominated player. The playoffs have been terrible, so maybe nobody should like them in a vacuum. But I'm able to take a step back and not be completely irrational about their abilities.

I agree that they are good players. I personally don't like players based off their abilities. I like players based off their personality. My only Leafs jersey is Matt Martin.

 

[Zero1]

If McDavid or Drai ask for $15+ mill AAV contracts, you pay them no questions asked. They’ve proved their worth in the regular season AND playoffs.

The numbers people are saying Matthews will demand is insane to me. What the hell has he done to command $15 mill AAV?!?

Pastrnak - 60 goal scorer just signed for $11.25 mill AAV.

McKinnon - 100 point centre and a monster in the playoffs just signed for $12.6 AAV.

 

[4thline]

Barring the miraculous comeback I think you move two of Matthews/Marner/Nylander, and re-sign O'Rielly and Acciari.


Top 9 would still have say, Tavares/Nylander/O'Rielly/Knies/Acciari/Jarncrok. Assuming a combined 7.5 to O'Reilly/Acciari, 3.5 to Samsonov, Murray bought out, you're sitting with 31 million dollars.

Barbashev/Domi/Bertuzzi/Compher/Rodrigues, maybe a Tarasenko.. Severson on D, not to mention the returns on the two traded

Knies- O'Rielly-Nylander
Barbashev/Domi/Bertuzzi- Tavares- Rodrigues/Tarasenko
Jarncrok-Compher-Acciari
xxx-xxx-Lafferty

Rielly-Schenn
McCabe-Severson
Brodie-Liljegren
xxx

Samsonov
Woll

Again, 31m for the 7 bolded spots. 3 of them are likely 3million combined, so 28million for 4 spots.

You're not going to make a team that's "better" on paper, but you can make one that's good enough to win and might just do a better job of it.

 

[Dragao6]

If McDavid or Drai ask for $15+ mill AAV contracts, you pay them no questions asked. They’ve proved their worth in the regular season AND playoffs.

The numbers people are saying Matthews will demand is insane to me. What the hell has he done to command $15 mill AAV?!?

Pastrnak - 60 goal scorer just signed for $11.25 mill AAV.

McKinnon - 100 point centre and a monster in the playoffs just signed for $12.6 AAV.

That’s why I would send this American home and either get McKinnon or bedard

But matthews Will stay
Resigns at a decent cap hit I’m ok with it aswell as marner

I’ve always said this team would not get fixed until the tavares is off the books

And I’m 10000% confident the right moves are def firing keefe and trading nylander for a power forward, top rhd to play with rielly or too young goalie

He’s just not consistant enough and shys away too much in playoffs even though last two games he’s been good but don’t let that fool you

I was on board of getting Meier at deadline and keeping the best one at end of season Meier / nylander

 

[Zero1]

That’s why I would send this American home and either get McKinnon or bedard

But matthews Will stay
Resigns at a decent cap hit I’m ok with it aswell as marner

I’ve always said this team would not get fixed until the tavares is off the books

And I’m 10000% confident the right moves are def firing keefe and trading nylander for a power forward, top rhd to play with rielly or too young goalie

He’s just not consistant enough and shys away too much in playoffs even though last two games he’s been good but don’t let that fool you

I was on board of getting Meier at deadline and keeping the best one at end of season Meier / nylander

I don’t know man. I don’t believe in Marner anymore. He was the Leafs MVP in the regular season but he’s nowhere close to being worth a $11 mill in the playoffs.

Nylander may not get the point totals but he’s always dangerous in the playoffs.

I think you sell high on Marner, keep Nylander, and play Nylander with a centre that can actually keep up with him.

I’ll admit that Tavares contract is terrible.

 

[WillNy29]

To be fair Tavares/Byfield is a mediocre 1/2C for the next few years but Byfield still has potential to be a legitimate 1C. His underlying numbers were very strong this year. Matthews is good, I am not denying that, but he also isn't bringing this team anywhere.

mediocre is putting cherry on a shit sundae that is one of the worst 1/2C combos in hockey. Byfield is not going to breakout and he is not good that's why LAK fans are ready to move on from him.

If you're trading your 1C you need to get a 1C until you fill that hole your suggestions are meaningless and going to lead another decade of no playoffs

That’s why I would send this American home and either get McKinnon or bedard

But matthews Will stay
Resigns at a decent cap hit I’m ok with it aswell as marner

I’ve always said this team would not get fixed until the tavares is off the books

And I’m 10000% confident the right moves are def firing keefe and trading nylander for a power forward, top rhd to play with rielly or too young goalie

He’s just not consistant enough and shys away too much in playoffs even though last two games he’s been good but don’t let that fool you

I was on board of getting Meier at deadline and keeping the best one at end of season Meier / nylander

if you think Nylander is not consistent and says away etc how do you expect to get that return for him; you can't have it both ways either you think he's good and he gets that return or you think what you posted and he gets sold for pennies on the dollar

Barring the miraculous comeback I think you move two of Matthews/Marner/Nylander, and re-sign O'Rielly and Acciari.


Top 9 would still have say, Tavares/Nylander/O'Rielly/Knies/Acciari/Jarncrok. Assuming a combined 7.5 to O'Reilly/Acciari, 3.5 to Samsonov, Murray bought out, you're sitting with 31 million dollars.

Barbashev/Domi/Bertuzzi/Compher/Rodrigues, maybe a Tarasenko.. Severson on D, not to mention the returns on the two traded

Knies- O'Rielly-Nylander
Barbashev/Domi/Bertuzzi- Tavares- Rodrigues/Tarasenko
Jarncrok-Compher-Acciari
xxx-xxx-Lafferty

Rielly-Schenn
McCabe-Severson
Brodie-Liljegren
xxx

Samsonov
Woll

Again, 31m for the 7 bolded spots. 3 of them are likely 3million combined, so 28million for 4 spots.

You're not going to make a team that's "better" on paper, but you can make one that's good enough to win and might just do a better job of it.

this team will finish last in the league enjoy lol

 

[Smif]

Why would Matthews expect a contract of 14M+ ??