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Confirmed with Link: Sharks trade 20th pick to Sabres for 27th and D Michael Kesselring (RFA)
- Thread starter LadyStanley
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the Leafs FRPs next 2 years are owned by the Bruins and Flyers. They can't tank even if they want to. It makes sense they want to finish as high as possible to make the picks worse at least even if they can't realistically win cup from that logic.
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His play certainly has.
He was once good at breaking out the puck. He looked like crap the past few years and for team Canada, him and Nurse just panic hot potato blind rimming the puck like Ferraro lol
mogambomoroo
Macklin Celebrini Era
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Would it be dumb for Sharks to target Carlo?
Carlo used to be a good right handed defensive D for Boston, but hasn't worked out for Toronto. I listened to SDPN and they were talking about a possibility that Carlo doesn't fit Toronto, now that they have Raddysh and bunch of other D. Change of scenery type of a deal and he has one year, not much of a risk if the price is right?
I think it could work out after we see if MG gets anything at FA.
EDIT: Didn't remember he's 6'5", that fits the D Sharks are building.
Dickinson - Carlo
Orlov - Kesselring
Mukhamadullin - ? (Desharnais if he stays)
Carlo used to be a good right handed defensive D for Boston, but hasn't worked out for Toronto. I listened to SDPN and they were talking about a possibility that Carlo doesn't fit Toronto, now that they have Raddysh and bunch of other D. Change of scenery type of a deal and he has one year, not much of a risk if the price is right?
I think it could work out after we see if MG gets anything at FA.
EDIT: Didn't remember he's 6'5", that fits the D Sharks are building.
Dickinson - Carlo
Orlov - Kesselring
Mukhamadullin - ? (Desharnais if he stays)
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Carlo would be a perfectly fine addition as long as the price is in the bag o' pucks range (like a 4th). He has just one year left at 29, and provides little offensively, so he is fine as a desi-type replacement, as he plays a similar game with similar size and same cap hit most likely. Carlo is somewhat better, so I would have no problem with this...
I think this is the kind of most realistic move as Carlo is the 3rd RD in Toronto and they surely need to unload some salary if they cannot move Rielly easily and the risk is low for Grier. Much ore likely than any Byram type deal...
I think the "?" is Cagnoni as a PP specialist and there is no "top pair" or "mid pair". More like D y committee and purpose.
Dickring and MukhiCarlo kill penalties. Cagnoni runs the PP. Orlov or Dick does the 2nd PP. Solid D corps in terms of size and defensive acumen. Lacks some offense, but Cagnoni should help with that on PP, and Dick, Kesseling and Mukh could up their offensive game a bit this year with more experience.
Dickring and MukhiCarlo kill penalties. Cagnoni runs the PP. Orlov or Dick does the 2nd PP. Solid D corps in terms of size and defensive acumen. Lacks some offense, but Cagnoni should help with that on PP, and Dick, Kesseling and Mukh could up their offensive game a bit this year with more experience.
mogambomoroo
Macklin Celebrini Era
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As much as I fear Sharks might not want to use Cagnoni, I would want to see this scenario for couple of games to get some data, kinda sink or swim for him. I think ultimately we'll see Pohlkamp taking that spot by the end of the year.
Also I would like to add that we should expect Dickinson to start taking a bigger role and not be 1st year version of himself. Same with Misa at the forward front.
matt trick
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Guys like Carlo tend to fall off hard. In a third pairing role, or maybe a #4 for a year, he might be okay. He’s like Kess, but older, probably a good third pair option, not ideal #4. Whereas Kess could become a long-term #4. Having 2 4/5s isn’t a terrible idea, but it doesn’t move the needle either.
weastern bias
worst team in the league
I don't think it would be dumb at all
I do think it would be very dumb to play him, and ESPECIALLY dumb to play Dickinson, anywhere near top-pairing minutes
I think Grier sees Cagnoni as having earned his shot. I think it was also painfully obvious that the sharks needed a PP QB. That is Cagnoni's main strength if he is to have any value at all. He is crafty and creative offensively, so I would love to see him get that chance. Also, if Grier does not play Cagnoni is the teams long term plans, then giving him an NHL job to start the year can boost his trade value. As of right now, that value is pretty low since he has not proven himself and with his size, any GM would be skeptical.
I too see Pohlkamp as a "better" and right handed Cagnoni. Booming shot, PP QB type but also not as small at 5'11 over 200 lbs. Still, it makes a lot of sense to start Pohlkmap playing top 4 mins in the AHL, and giving Cagnoni his NHL chance.
I also agree on Dick and Mukh. Both will be entering their second full NHL seasons. I expect both can see their minute increase to around 20, with spot PP duty for Dick especially. If kesselring/Schneider/Carlo can play the PK, shut down roles, it frees up dick and mukh to be a bit more creative offensively.
I think no one would be "top pair". There would be no 1-2-3 pairings. Every D, with the exception of Cagnoni, would play approximately 20-21 mins, with Cags playing 14 (4 of which is PP, and the rest mainly when trailing or needing more offense).
And you see how it goes... If any individuals are just crushing it, their ice can rise, and vice versa for strugglers.
Such a D corps would be highly unproven, but it would also somewhat reflect the Carolina model. In 2024-25 (i.e.: going into this year), Sean Walker, Jalen Chatfield, Jacob Slavin, and K'Andre Miller all had under 30 pts. Nikishin was a pure rookie. Only Gistisbehere had put up points, but he also had among the lowest ice time as a pure offenseman. But, that pure offenseman role was very useful!
Cagnoni can become our gostisbehere. With Mukh, Dick, kesslering and Carlo/Schneider as our walker, slavin, Miller, and Chatfield in time.
weastern bias
worst team in the league
This is bad idea that has never and will never work
Also, it's the same problem, 20 year old Sam Dickinson should not be sniffing 20 minutes a night, he needs to be sheltered and protected
I mean it is exactly what just won the cup. But keep saying it can't and won't ever happen.
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Cup contenders can and should play it’s top 4 over 20 minutes, and the only reason ghost doesn't play 20 minutes a game is because he gets zero penalty kill time.
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I am hoping he starts to show a little more and becomes more trusted this year, but we'll have to see him in some games first
weastern bias
worst team in the league
Carolina is not a sustainable model for championship team building league wide
They won the cup running 12 million under the salary cap with zero star forwards on the roster, and the big dirty secret is that they played ZERO elite teams in their entire playoff run
There's a reason they were a perennial also-ran until the year all the actual top-tier teams fell apart, it's not an actual model to follow to build a championship team, they were a good team with strong continuity that was in the right place at the right time
Does this really matter though? The Leafs are probably a bad team regardless. They’re managed by a GM that’s never ascended beyond mediocre and coached by a guy that doesn’t seem to get a lot of his players. Their top player is seriously injured and probably mentally exhausted from the whole environment. I give him props for wanting to stick it out there and not giving up but that place is taxing on you mentally no matter what you do.
They may not sell off and tank with some intent but they’re probably going to suck unless they get an insane amount of goaltending luck.
Would still take 2 cups in 20 years using this exact way of talent building.
Sharks did 20 years of top heavy talent building and it worked oh so well.
mogambomoroo
Macklin Celebrini Era
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I build that in a way that there's at least one vet on every pair. Mukh pair will interesting, but hopefully they get Desharnais or someone from FA.
I don't trust Dick - Ring pair enough to start them right away, I want them to get vet to keep them "safe" until they get their feet wet. That defence doesn't have 1st pair, so as someone mentioned it's distributed evenly.
If they get Trouba, I would trust his pair more minutes whoever he pairs with.
The 2 good things about going at it with the carolina model are:
1. Low risk, low cap hit D across the board means that if anyone struggles, it doenst hurt much, and if anyone excels, they will be incredibly cheap. (Like if Cagnoni anchors the PP and puts up 45 pts, or if Kesslering returns to form and pus up 10g, 30a mostly at EV taking up 23 mins).
2. If it becomes clear that the D corps mains inadequate, that crew lavs ample space trade/add top D as needed. If you already add the top D for big futures and things don't well, you are kinda screwed as you lose key trade fodder pieces and may be saddled with bad contracts. This D is far more flexible to see how it goes.
Obviously, I wanted the sharks to get Raddyish and Fox. Two clear top pair RHD = yum yum. But, I think Grier is/was not ready to take the risk to get those caliber of players, so he takes the less risky path of cheaper, high ceiling options, and hopes hit a home run for the price of a single.
weastern bias
worst team in the league
I'm not shit talking them or anything, it's just not a reliable blueprint to build a winner
No other team in the decade won a cup with the "depth everywhere but no stars at all" roster construction, it isn't a model to follow to win titles
There is no one size fits all model. Winning the cup is hard, and a bit random.
I think you build a roster with the best players you can based on who you got and what you need. You recognize that PP and PK are very important and you build in specialists. Carolina PP was #4. PK % was 11th, but penalties taken was 7th lowest (BTW, Col and VGK were the least penalized teams in the league) and Car also led the league with 12 SHG. So their PP and PK were both spectacular.
In PO's, their PK was 91.5%. PP was 17.3% (sum well over 100).
In other words, the Carolina special teams were spectacular. How? Good Coaching and excellent specialists (like Gostisbeherefor the PP).
So, I think if you have a guy like Cagnoni who is capable of being a potentially outstanding PP QB, that player has big value even playing just 10 mins/gm. Say your PP goes from 21.2% (sharks were 16th) to 24.9% (car at #4). That's 3.7% higher score rate. Multiply that by 255 PP opportunities that the sharks had last year and that's about 10 more free goals on the year. Do something similar with PK specialists and you can get a net +20 goals, which is likely good for at least 5+ more wins.
We usually think of guys like Dahlin to run a PP, but guys like Dahlin are not specialists. They are amazing at everything and thus rare and expensive. But, if you assemble a roster based more on specialists (like having a 55+% FO guy for key draws, a pickles-like shutdown guy to match up against opposition stars, a few good PKers, a pure offenseman for the PP, etc) then you have no all around #1D stars, but instead just a bunch of solid role players doing their jobs that lead to wins at realtively lesser cost.
mogambomoroo
Macklin Celebrini Era
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No one can copy it to the inch, but following some ways that have worked out isn't a bad thing. It will be hybrid. I think Sharks have started to build a very dangerous 1-2C punch (a la Pittsburgh) and need to find a defence to keep it stable. I think forward depth will be revisited once they start making frequently to the playoffs and what's the missing piece or pieces.
The Nemesis
Semper Tyrannus
Hearing now that Byram is available makes me selfishly think we acquired the wrong Buffalo d-man. 
Hearing now that Byram is available makes me selfishly think we acquired the wrong Buffalo d-man.
Why not both, heck we should look at Logan Stanley perhaps instead of Desh as well.
Sharksfan83
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Kesselring was just GMMG's way of opening the conversation to getting Byram. We're just waiting for July 1, so Buffalo can sign him to 8x10 and then we announce the tradeHearing now that Byram is available makes me selfishly think we acquired the wrong Buffalo d-man.
