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

[Gaberd2608]

I would be all over Bertuzzi - can't imagine why they would buy him out though. Had pretty much his most productive season.

I wonder if Domi + Kampf/Jarnkrok for Betuzzi would work? Maybe balance with picks/prospects. Would allow us to consolidate 2 meh players into 1.

Some hard truths people are going to have to come to terms with as moves unfold over the coming weeks.

1. The UFA pool is shallow particularly in our areas of need. The few good guys seem to have good fits elsewhere and everyone will get overpaid.
2. We have very few assets to offer for trades, especially compared to most of the rest of the league so when it comes to guys who are available we will be hard pressed to match what others can.
3. The guys we have who we don’t want, nobody else wants them, at least not for free.
4. We have maybe one at most prospects who can step in next year to help.

Management is going to have to be very creative with moves to fill the holes we have and likely target guys who not that wanted based on what we can afford.

It sounds like the Leafs can probably extend Tavares if they wanted so really we need to replace Marner. The team had an exceptional season this year. We probably can replace Marner with 2 players for the same cost and that should address depth. I am not loving Tavares but if it came to it we are losing 1 player and have more cap space than we have had in a while to address it. If we had no cap space we would be worse off.

I don't think things are as doom and gloom as people are making them out to be.

 

[Americanadian]

I like Ross Colton but to pay him 4 million to play left wing on the third line doesn’t really make much sense does it? Especially when you’re probably already paying Tavares 4.5-5 million to play on the third line as well.

It depends what you're paying in your top 6.

Laughton 2 goals, 4 assists in 33 games for us. This is a guy, who should be closer to 15 points in that many games. He's sure had his struggles here, and I was not interested in picking him up at all. I think he "should" rebound, and at least be a decent 4th liner here, and at $1.5 mil he provides value... but if it returns Coyle, that's something we should consider. Adding Coyle, might be attractive to a guy like Marchand, if we are targeting him, as they've played together, and well in the past... Marchand/Coyle/Nylander could make for an interesting second line.

Marchand-Coyle-Pastrnak was Boston's top line when they beat Toronto last year. Can Nylander act as the lesser version of Pastrnak to recreate that line?

 

[Americanadian]

OEL provides very good value for his contract... hard to move off of that. He also moves the puck reasonably well, and we'd have to replace that at a higher cost in Free Agency, while I think someone like Moore is cheaper to pick up elsewhere.... not that I"m against Moore in anyway.

I proposed this earlier in a series of moves (OEL for Moore, McMann for Walman) where Walman replaces OEL and Moore replaces McMann. Is OEL perfectly fine in his role at his cap hit? Yes. Would Walman be better? I think yes. Would Moore be better than McMann? I'd say yes.

 

[Fogelhund]

It depends what you're paying in your top 6.

Marchand-Coyle-Pastrnak was Boston's top line when they beat Toronto last year. Can Nylander act as the lesser version of Pastrnak to recreate that line?

I think the'd compliment Nylander's game quite well, as they did Pastranak... both can open space up, dig for pucks, do the dirty work, and are smart enough to be in the right place for a Nylander pass. The more that I think about it, the more I think that would be a very intelligent way to go...

 

[Torontonian]

The more I watch these Florida guys talk about their playoffs and the team they have I can’t lie. It’s damn intimidating

I don’t think the leafs have a remote chance of beating them as they just seem to be getting better

Look at their top guys and how they performed and look at ours

We can’t come close to how hard those guys work in the playoffs and how they perform

Toronto came 1 game away from toppling them. That's really it.

Toronto D-Core probably good enough to win, fixing it to have more puck movers is a luxury at this point.

Fixing Toronto 2nd and 3rd lines is going to be the difference maker.

 

[Tony Romo]

Knies - Matthews - Domi
Marchand - Coyle - Nylander
Laughton/XXX - Tavares - XXX

Could be an interesting combination.

You could also put Marchand on line 3, depending on how trades break this offseason or FA signings.

 

[Fogelhund]

Toronto came 1 game away from toppling them. That's really it.

Toronto D-Core probably good enough to win, fixing it to have more puck movers is a luxury at this point.

Fixing Toronto 2nd and 3rd lines is going to be the difference maker.

It's not an excuse, or an endorsement of our ongoing lack of success in the playoffs... but the reality is, we were the toughest test Florida had this post season. A healthy Matthews, and as said, some improvement in forward depth.. maybe some tougher players and we aren't far off... I mean, we still need our best guys to show up when it counts, but we are probably closer than many give credit to.

With some of the ideas above... playing with..

Knies Matthews P. Kane/Domi
Marchand Coyle Nylander
Marchment Tavares McMann
XXXX XXXX Jeannott

 

[Tony Romo]

It's not an excuse, or an endorsement of our ongoing lack of success in the playoffs... but the reality is, we were the toughest test Florida had this post season. A healthy Matthews, and as said, some improvement in forward depth.. maybe some tougher players and we aren't far off... I mean, we still need our best guys to show up when it counts, but we are probably closer than many give credit to.

With some of the ideas above... playing with..

Knies Matthews P. Kane/Domi
Marchand Coyle Nylander
Marchment Tavares McMann
XXXX XXXX Jeannott

I posted something similar above but let's say we have Robertson, McMann, Laughton or a Benoit as trade trips for guys like Coyle, Marchment.

Knies - Matthews - Domi
Marchand - Coyle - Nylander
XXXX - Tavares - XXXX
Lorentz? - XXX - Jeannot

could be interesting!

You'd be looking at 5.6m in cap with this team before a Benoit/McMann deal.

 

[JKG33]

What do you think about OEL for Moore?

I dont hate it, although I think Toronto would need to add slightly given the age of the players involved. OEL would probably be a good partner for Doughty. Why do we want Toronto to trade OEL though?

I also wonder about say Moore+Spence for OEL+Laughton+Robertson

 

[JKG33]

OEL provides very good value for his contract... hard to move off of that. He also moves the puck reasonably well, and we'd have to replace that at a higher cost in Free Agency, while I think someone like Moore is cheaper to pick up elsewhere.... not that I"m against Moore in anyway.

This was my thoughts as well from a Toronto POV

 

[Fogelhund]

I posted something similar above but let's say we have Robertson, McMann, Laughton or a Benoit as trade trips for guys like Coyle, Marchment.

Knies - Matthews - Domi
Marchand - Coyle - Nylander
XXXX - Tavares - XXXX
Lorentz? - XXX - Jeannot

could be interesting!

You'd be looking at 5.6m in cap with this team before a Benoit/McMann deal.

View attachment 1052070

I think Patrick Kane would be a better fit for Matthews, at about the same $ as Domi... which is why I have him there..

Laughton for Coyle.

For 4C, I think we should go with Michael McLeod. Local guy, who was trending well, and would make a tremendous 4C, with room to grow. I appreciate the downside PR, but we need to take some risks here.


I moved Jarnkrok to Dallas for Marchment, to save them cap.

There is the question about Cowan too... do we save him a spot? What do we think the odds he makes it are? I think he's a Marlie, but his addition helps a lot.

Knies Matthews Kane
Marchand Coyle Nylander
Marchment Tavares McMann/Cowan
Comtois/Lorentz M. McLeod Jeannott
Holmberg

 

[TheScandal89]

What is everyones obsession with Jeannot? I get he's big and tough but he's not very good other wise. 0 goals, 3 assists in 16 playoff games with a -9 rating with Tampa and LA, who are playoff teams, not wanting to bring him back.

 

[Americanadian]

I dont hate it, although I think Toronto would need to add slightly given the age of the players involved. OEL would probably be a good partner for Doughty. Why do we want Toronto to trade OEL though?

I also wonder about say Moore+Spence for OEL+Laughton+Robertson

In a world where they trade McMann for Walman and Walman plays the OEL role, Moore plays 3LW with JT.

 

[JKG33]

Knies - Matthews - Domi
Marchand - Coyle - Nylander
Laughton/XXX - Tavares - XXX

Could be an interesting combination.

You could also put Marchand on line 3, depending on how trades break this offseason or FA signings.

I'd try to get Coyle and Colton, and I think as has been mentioned before, Laughton would make sense to go to Colorado.

McMann/Cowan/X-Matthews-Domi
Knies-Colton-Nylander
Marchand-Tavares-Coyle

 

[4thline]

IF we can roll Domi into the 1C spot, and assuming JT is back things get interesting.

Knies-Matthews-Domi
xxx-xxx-Nylander
Laughton-JT*-xxx
xxx-xxx-xxx

McMann under contract, Holmberg RFA, Lorentz a good candidate to return

1st line- we lose a lot defensively, so we'll need one either line 3 or 4 to pick up some dzone starts / matchup shifts but- with Knies's growing confidence and Domi's attitude there's a hope that without Marner's physical apathy that we get the most aggressive version of Matthews yet. In a perfect world you don't have to, but those two on the wings have the potential to "drag him into the fight" so to speak.

Middle lines- trying to build a 2A / 2B. 2B is built to be a grind it out, cycle, pucks to the net playoff line. 2A ideally the same but with the speed to play at Nylander's pace. 2B more trustworthy defensively. McMann cut fit at either 2LW or 3RW depending on who else we can bring in. That 2C spot by far the hardest to fill- maybe gamble on a higher end 2LW and more of a responsible 3C type, challenge Willy to drive the line offensively.

4thline- needs depend on whether the 3 missing pieces in the top 9 can pk, and whether Chief trusts 2B as his shutdown line. There's cheap, physical, defensive - we can probably make a line that satisfies 2 / 3

 

[Americanadian]

Knies-Matthews-Foerster
Marchand-Coyle-Nylander
Moore-Tavares-Raddysh
Pospisil-Sissons-Hathaway
Lorentz

McCabe-Tanev
Rielly-Carlo
Walman-Perbix
Myers

Stolarz
Talbot

22k cap space

 

[Tony Romo]

I'd try to get Coyle and Colton, and I think as has been mentioned before, Laughton would make sense to go to Colorado.

McMann/Cowan/X-Matthews-Domi
Knies-Colton-Nylander
Marchand-Tavares-Coyle

This make sense I would potentially change it up a bit however.

Knies - Matthews - Domi
Marchand - Coyle - Nylander
McMann - Tavares - Colton

or

Knies - Matthews - Domi/Marchand
Colton - Coyle - Nylander
Marchand - Tavares - Cowan if you're confident in him

 

[WTFMAN99]

What would a trade even look like? Knies is too valuable. Colorado cant afford Matthews. And they just traded away Rantanen, so I doubt they'd want to pay a worse version (Nylander) nearly the same money.

Jeannot did ok in a 4th line role for LA. Certainly better than he did in TB.

This is one of those where youve gotta step back and think, why would a cupless 40 yr old look at this team and think yup, thats where I want to spend my last season or two?

I'd be surprised if he left Carolina, but if they do split I'd guess its one of FLA, TB, VGK or DAL for him

I think Nylander is better.

Nylander produces in spite of basically zero chemistry with JT and a rotating cast of spare parts at LW.

 

[Torontonian]

It's not an excuse, or an endorsement of our ongoing lack of success in the playoffs... but the reality is, we were the toughest test Florida had this post season. A healthy Matthews, and as said, some improvement in forward depth.. maybe some tougher players and we aren't far off... I mean, we still need our best guys to show up when it counts, but we are probably closer than many give credit to.

With some of the ideas above... playing with..

Knies Matthews P. Kane/Domi
Marchand Coyle Nylander
Marchment Tavares McMann
XXXX XXXX Jeannott

I don't even think it's about tougher players, I wouldn't call Verhaege, Reinhart, Barkov, Lundell, Luostarien, Rodrigeus "tough". It's about having depth and 3 lines come wave after wave at you. Look at their top 9 scorers & how many points they all put up. Barkov didn't even score in the 6 games in the finals, but it doesn't matter when the other players are producing. Florida Panthers Club Stats | 2024 - 2025 | Florida Panthers


The problem with Toronto is their pro scouting & overpaying vanilla players in the lower end of the lineup too much money and they don't have any money to find solid middle 6 players. Toronto paid close to 9m to provide them with literately zero goals.

Panthers 4th line = 2.4m total, (Greer, Nosek, Gadjovic)
Toronto healthy scratches / 4th line = 5.85m (Jarnkrok/Kampf/Reaves).

That's 3.45m difference, and that's someone like Rodrigeus who makes 3m, or Luostarien who makes 3m, or Marchand who was brought in @ 3m, putting up 15,19,20 points.

 

[Tony Romo]

I don't even think it's about tougher players, I wouldn't call Verhaege, Reinhart, Barkov, Lundell, Luostarien, Rodrigeus "tough". It's about having depth and 3 lines come wave after wave at you. Look at their top 9 scorers & how many points they all put up. Barkov didn't even score in the 6 games in the finals, but it doesn't matter when the other players are producing. Florida Panthers Club Stats | 2024 - 2025 | Florida Panthers


The problem with Toronto is their pro scouting & overpaying vanilla players in the lower end of the lineup too much money and they don't have any money to find solid middle 6 players. Toronto paid close to 9m to provide them with literately zero goals.

Panthers 4th line = 2.4m total, (Greer, Nosek, Gadjovic)
Toronto healthy scratches / 4th line = 5.85m (Jarnkrok/Kampf/Reaves).

That's 3.45m difference, and that's someone like Rodrigeus who makes 3m, or Luostarien who makes 3m, or Marchand who was brought in @ 3m, putting up 15,19,20 points.

IT's also how I can see people wanting to trade OEL because Floridas 3rd pair is super cheap.

However, we don't have a Forsling, Jones, Ekblad who can take up majority of the minutes

 

[Americanadian]

I don't even think it's about tougher players, I wouldn't call Verhaege, Reinhart, Barkov, Lundell, Luostarien, Rodrigeus "tough". It's about having depth and 3 lines come wave after wave at you. Look at their top 9 scorers & how many points they all put up. Barkov didn't even score in the 6 games in the finals, but it doesn't matter when the other players are producing. Florida Panthers Club Stats | 2024 - 2025 | Florida Panthers


The problem with Toronto is their pro scouting & overpaying vanilla players in the lower end of the lineup too much money and they don't have any money to find solid middle 6 players. Toronto paid close to 9m to provide them with literately zero goals.

Panthers 4th line = 2.4m total, (Greer, Nosek, Gadjovic)
Toronto healthy scratches / 4th line = 5.85m (Jarnkrok/Kampf/Reaves).

That's 3.45m difference, and that's someone like Rodrigeus who makes 3m, or Luostarien who makes 3m, or Marchand who was brought in @ 3m, putting up 15,19,20 points.

Florida had Sturm at 2M in the press box and Vanecek at 3.4M on the bench. They also paid Yandle 1.25M this year.

They paid Knight 4.5M last year to not play a single game for the team and they paid Yandle 1.25M last year. They also have inefficient spend.

 

[Dragao6]

Troy Terry in Anaheim available? They going for marner
Swap?

 

[Tony Romo]

Hot damn

 

[thusk]

I wonder if Domi + Kampf/Jarnkrok for Betuzzi would work? Maybe balance with picks/prospects. Would allow us to consolidate 2 meh players into 1.



It sounds like the Leafs can probably extend Tavares if they wanted so really we need to replace Marner. The team had an exceptional season this year. We probably can replace Marner with 2 players for the same cost and that should address depth. I am not loving Tavares but if it came to it we are losing 1 player and have more cap space than we have had in a while to address it. If we had no cap space we would be worse off.

I don't think things are as doom and gloom as people are making them out to be.

View attachment 1052057

View attachment 1052056

1- giroux want to stay in Ottawa, so chance he will stay in Ottawa are extremely high

2-would be extend a lt 7x7 would be extremely surprising and clearly a huge friendly deal

It depends what you're paying in your top 6.

Marchand-Coyle-Pastrnak was Boston's top line when they beat Toronto last year. Can Nylander act as the lesser version of Pastrnak to recreate that line?

It was actually
Marchand-Coyle- Debrusk
pastrnak-Zacha-Geekie

 

[Americanadian]

It was actually
Marchand-Coyle- Debrusk
pastrnak-Zacha-Geekie

Good call - I was looking at Marchand's most common linemates and they were Coyle and Pastrnak but I see that they only spent 150 5v5 minutes together as a line.