Roster Building/Team Building/Future Trade/Drafting thread.

[The Shadow]

In a world where the Leafs dont have their own first for 2026, I'm in favor of throwing everything for one last attempt.

Then when they fail again, blow it up for 2026-27. Including trading Matthews

I think their window is 3 years which is the length of Matthews contract

He’s only 27. Still lots of great hockey in him left if he’s healthy. Regular season anyway lol

 

[Fogelhund]

I'd prefer Suter or possibly Donato via free agency, but a trade option where I'd make Carlo and McCabe, or pretty much whatever is needed, bar Knies to get another C.

Suter... career high last year of 46 points, Premier PK player, above average D zone usage, but good possession stats, and was a positive player on an otherwise not so good Canucks team.

And yet, he's small, slow as hell, and can't take a faceoff to save his life.

I haven't watched him enough to see him play... how is he so effective, being small, slow and unable to win faceoffs?

 

[Stephen]

If those guys sign plus JT resigning.
It will be like this
Knies-AM-Benn
Marchand-JT-Kane
McMann-Domi-Willie
Laughton-Toews -Perry
Max and Lorentz

speed might be a problem, lol

It would be a video game for sure!

 

[Stephen]

Don’t know who James Dolan is, but at least they identify that gheir team isn’t working and have the stones to make hard decisions…….

He’s their Edward Rogers.

 

[Torontonian]

Teams that locked in their core pieces for longterm before these increases will have an advantage. Buffalo has a lot of guys locked in

Now if they get their sh*t together they can build a winning team with Dahlin, Power etc all signed for longterm

However one of their top forwards is a UFA next summer. 6’4” and has good offensive numbers. He may be the prized trade deadline add this year

Alex Tuch | 7yrs x 4.750M (BUF)

Alex Tuch signed a 7 year, $33,250,000 contract with the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 19, 2018. The contract has a cap hit of $4,750,000.

capwages.com

For whatever reason with Buffalo, and some rebuilding teams, they just can't put it together. Major problem I think is stability in net. Sens are also in that category of locking up core pieces for a long time with a rising cap, but didn't start to put it together till this year when they got Ullmark.

Toronto was kind of lucky their "rebuild" only took a year long? (I guess you could say 3 years with Nylander @8th & Marner, @4th but the Leaf's were activity trying to win during those years.)

Blowing it up and just getting high draft picks/good players doesn't always result in succuss... See: Buffalo/Ottawa/Edmonton (before McDavid) /Arizona or Utah/MTL (took a long time to become a wildcard team)/Blackhawks still trying to figure it out/ Ducks & Sharks as well..

 

[Rare Jewel]

Suter... career high last year of 46 points, Premier PK player, above average D zone usage, but good possession stats, and was a positive player on an otherwise not so good Canucks team.

And yet, he's small, slow as hell, and can't take a faceoff to save his life.

I haven't watched him enough to see him play... how is he so effective, being small, slow and unable to win faceoffs?

I'm not sure. but I've moved past him. The skating numbers were the main factor that swayed me, but he clearly has good hockey sense and knows where to position himself.

But, I'd still rather not go down the Tavares route again, and they should (they won't) find someone else.

 

[ULF_55]

Suter... career high last year of 46 points, Premier PK player, above average D zone usage, but good possession stats, and was a positive player on an otherwise not so good Canucks team.

And yet, he's small, slow as hell, and can't take a faceoff to save his life.

I haven't watched him enough to see him play... how is he so effective, being small, slow and unable to win faceoffs?

Watched a few Canuck games and he caught my attention.

Two players who caught my attention, that made me think I wouldn't mind were Peterka and Suter.

Peterka isn't available.

 

[Fogelhund]

A name that hasn't been brought up here that I can see, is Claude Giroux. Faster than average, won't be too expensive, excellent on faceoffs, very good on the PK, good defensively, still pretty productive. Sure, he's old... but on a 2 x $5 mil contract, he'd probably provide some good value. He's a pretty good playoff guy as well.

 

[rumman]

In a world where the Leafs dont have their own first for 2026, I'm in favor of throwing everything for one last attempt.

Then when they fail again, blow it up for 2026-27. Including trading Matthews

I pretty much agree there’s no alternative to not going all in at this point, they’ve collectively destroyed any future this team might have had with idiotic moves for fringe players who didn’t deliver ala Laughton. They might as well doend it all for the moment like a kid ten minutes after getting his allowance…….

 

[Fogelhund]

Watched a few Canuck games and he caught my attention.

Two players who caught my attention, that made me think I wouldn't mind were Peterka and Suter.

Peterka isn't available.

So, he's a guy who just understands the game, and knows where to be to find an open seam. He's not afraid to play in front of the net... and man, a lot of EN goals too. He needs someone to do the board work though, and get him the puck, but he's got a good shot, and can get it off.

 

[rumman]

Suter... career high last year of 46 points, Premier PK player, above average D zone usage, but good possession stats, and was a positive player on an otherwise not so good Canucks team.

And yet, he's small, slow as hell, and can't take a faceoff to save his life.

I haven't watched him enough to see him play... how is he so effective, being small, slow and unable to win faceoffs?

You had me at small, dlow and can’t win a face off to save his life should be reason to pass gard on this guy, or an I missing something?

 

[Fogelhund]

You had me at small, dlow and can’t win a face off to save his life should be reason to pass gard on this guy, or an I missing something?

I just watched the video of all of his goals from last year... that was posted above. He understands and reads the game very well. He knows the right spot to be on the ice, at the right time, and has a very nice shot. I would guess his understanding of the game is what helps him be so good on the PK as well. But, he does need someone to feed him the puck, and I didn't see him do much board work in those videos.

 

[rumman]

A name that hasn't been brought up here that I can see, is Claude Giroux. Faster than average, won't be too expensive, excellent on faceoffs, very good on the PK, good defensively, still pretty productive. Sure, he's old... but on a 2 x $5 mil contract, he'd probably provide some good value. He's a pretty good playoff guy as well.

He’ll probably get either more money and or term in free agency, but I’d sign him if a 5milX2 was a option……..

 

[ACC1224]

A name that hasn't been brought up here that I can see, is Claude Giroux. Faster than average, won't be too expensive, excellent on faceoffs, very good on the PK, good defensively, still pretty productive. Sure, he's old... but on a 2 x $5 mil contract, he'd probably provide some good value. He's a pretty good playoff guy as well.

I think he's in the Tavares situation, just happy to play at home for what he can get to finish his career.

 

[rumman]

I just watched the video of all of his goals from last year... that was posted above. He understands and reads the game very well. He knows the right spot to be on the ice, at the right time, and has a very nice shot. I would guess his understanding of the game is what helps him be so good on the PK as well. But, he does need someone to feed him the puck, and I didn't see him do much board work in those videos.

Most of the goals I saw seemed to be opportunistic from being late to the party, admittedly I didn’t watch the entire video, too small on my phone……

 

[SprDaVE]

Watched a few Canuck games and he caught my attention.

Two players who caught my attention, that made me think I wouldn't mind were Peterka and Suter.

Peterka isn't available.

He's a strong option to upgrade some of our mid lines and overall 2way play. Maybe he can keep improving on a stronger team. I could see a Rodrigues type player there. Only problem becomes the cap hit because I definitely wouldn't go above 4M and he'll probably get that. If he reverts back to a below 20 goal and 30 point player, I don't think he has enough other attributes to be worth it at all.

 

[Brown Dog]

His wife was weeks away from giving birth, who in their right mind would want to uproot and move at that time? It was foolish on the organization not to trade Marner before his NTC kicked in.

That's true too.

 

[Fogelhund]

He's a strong option to upgrade some of our mid lines and overall 2way play. Maybe he can keep improving on a stronger team. I could see a Rodrigues type player there. Only problem becomes the cap hit because I definitely wouldn't go above 4M and he'll probably get that.

I think he's a decent 3C, at $3.5 to $4 mil. He's likely to put up mid 30's in points at best. Last year was probably his career year, not to be matched again. His two way play is very good, but if you are paying him $5 mil, and expecting nearly 50 points, you are going to be disappointed.

At $5 mil, I think there are other options I'd prefer.

 

[SprDaVE]

 

[ULF_55]

So, he's a guy who just understands the game, and knows where to be to find an open seam. He's not afraid to play in front of the net... and man, a lot of EN goals too. He needs someone to do the board work though, and get him the puck, but he's got a good shot, and can get it off.

Isn't very big.

Goals are probably an outlier, or was it opportunity?

Canucks #1 PK.

EN goals mean coach used him protecting the lead.

I don't know, not a top 6, but could be useful 3rd. liner, PK, maybe even on the PP if his hands warrant it.

 

[Americanadian]

A name that hasn't been brought up here that I can see, is Claude Giroux. Faster than average, won't be too expensive, excellent on faceoffs, very good on the PK, good defensively, still pretty productive. Sure, he's old... but on a 2 x $5 mil contract, he'd probably provide some good value. He's a pretty good playoff guy as well.

If for whatever reason he doesn’t re-sign in Ottawa I could see him going back to Florida if they lose Ekblad and Marchand.

 

[Fogelhund]

I think he's in the Tavares situation, just happy to play at home for what he can get to finish his career.

Not quite the same... he's from Northern Ontario originally... Hearst. I'm not sure where his parents live now.

But, I can see why he might want to extend with Ottawa... if he doesn't, he might be worth looking at.

 

[Americanadian]

Suter... career high last year of 46 points, Premier PK player, above average D zone usage, but good possession stats, and was a positive player on an otherwise not so good Canucks team.

And yet, he's small, slow as hell, and can't take a faceoff to save his life.

I haven't watched him enough to see him play... how is he so effective, being small, slow and unable to win faceoffs?

He’s the left handed Jarnkrok. Very similar career, he’s just 4 years behind Jarnkrok today.

 

[The Shadow]

A name that hasn't been brought up here that I can see, is Claude Giroux. Faster than average, won't be too expensive, excellent on faceoffs, very good on the PK, good defensively, still pretty productive. Sure, he's old... but on a 2 x $5 mil contract, he'd probably provide some good value. He's a pretty good playoff guy as well.

I like him and thought he was a difference maker for Ottawa in round 1. But I didn’t really consider him an option since he seems to really like being in Ottawa

A master on face offs as well. I would absolutely love to him

 

[The Shadow]

Look at the numbers of our bottom 6 forwards in the playoffs. We basically got zero offence from those guys

No offensive depth whatsoever yet we still took Florida to 7 games. Something Tampa, Carolina and potentially Edmonton couldn’t do

An area Tre will fix this summer hopefully or partially fix

Stolarz had a great year. If he can stay healthy we have a very good goalie. Woll needs to get better