The Case For Bringing Back The Core

[Gaberd2608]

I think they need to keep Matthews. If he wants to squeeze every drop it will come at the expense of marner and nylander. Trade them and bring back players with some heart and hustle. Should be able to get a top pairing defense and a top 6 winger and a middle 6 center for marner and nylander.

Bunting. Matthews. Xxxxx
Tavares. ROR. Knies
Robertson. Xxxx. Jarnkrok
Acciari. Xxxxx. Lafferty
Xxxx

Rielly. Xxxx
Mccabe. Brodie
Xxxxx. Lilly
Gio. Schenn

Samsonov
Woll

 

[RoadWarrior]

Any trade made for Matthews/Marner/Nylander will be a loss for us. As disillusioned as a I am with their performance, trading them for the sake of it will do no good. Need I remind everyone of the Taylor Hall for Adam Larson trade. How good would Taylor Hall look on Edmonton now? Bad trades won't make us better.

The correct answer is to trade Tavares but he won't go for that, so we have to sit tight until his contract drops off the books.

If Matthews walk for nothing it’s a guaranteed loss. Trading him at least gets a return.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Yeah very aware, was one of the happiest memories as a Leaf fan and I legit thought it would never happen.

The point being, we need someone as dumb as Jarmo and an uninsured contract like Horton’s. So yeah, pretty unmoveable…

A guy that used to post on this site once referred to the Clarkson trade as "this is better than christmas" heh.

 

[Aashir Mallik]

two things I find wrong with this:

1) Contract-length. If we had all of them on 8 year deals then marner and Matthews would have 4 years left and nylander would have 3. You could go for a rerun with the core with a new coach and gm. With the current contracts, this could potentially walk Matthews and nylander to FA and Marner into his last year. However they could be given extensions so this could turn into nothing, but this leads to my second issue

2) Reason. What have these guys shown to run it back? One round? Marner and Matthews had 6 games, then both went AWOL. Nylander was so inconsistent you wouldn’t know if you would get a 4th liner or the 4th best player in the league. Tavares is the worst signing in sports history. Why bring the guys back.

It took the worst goaltending performance of the playoffs for us to advance. We had to play an equivalent of an AHL goalie to even advance.

Watching florida even now, they aren’t outclassing anyone, they get by with Bob making 4-5 game saving saves and they score 2-3 goals. Carolina getting shutdown makes more sense than us, they have 2 guy on their current team who’s comparable to our big 4. One is performing in Aho, necas has been bad even before this series. This core can be stopped by a single goalie way too often.


I just don’t find any reason to run back another disappointment

 

[Wendel17]

If Matthews walk for nothing it’s a guaranteed loss. Trading him at least gets a return.

True. But realistically, where is he going to go? Most contending teams are close to the cap. And if they make room for him they'll need to clear space by trading good players off the roster. And there are no guarantees he'll like the team, coach, culture, etc. Matthews wants to get paid first and foremost, and the Leafs can accommodate. I doubt he leaves.

 

[Gabriel426]

The only way I would even think about bringing back the top 4 on purpose would be resigning ROR, Acciari and Schenn, then have someone like Torts as their coach.

It is a mentality issue for the big four. From their comments, they still think they did all they can but the truth is that the way they approached and played in the TB series is a lot different than the Panthers series.

 

[TheShape]

True. But realistically, where is he going to go? Most contending teams are close to the cap. And if they make room for him they'll need to clear space by trading good players off the roster. And there are no guarantees he'll like the team, coach, culture, etc. Matthews wants to get paid first and foremost, and the Leafs can accommodate. I doubt he leaves.

LA Kings have $14+ million coming off the books with Kopitar and Arvidsson's deals expiring same time as Matthews. They're a team trending upwards that would fit the timeline. Dallas and Vegas will also be in good shape cap wise come 2024. Teams won't be afraid to shuffle the deck to add a 60 goal scorer.

AM will have a plethora of options should he choose the UFA route.

 

[RoadWarrior]

True. But realistically, where is he going to go? Most contending teams are close to the cap. And if they make room for him they'll need to clear space by trading good players off the roster. And there are no guarantees he'll like the team, coach, culture, etc. Matthews wants to get paid first and foremost, and the Leafs can accommodate. I doubt he leaves.

The new GM makes some calls and finds out what contracts these teams are willing to sacrifice for Matthews. I don’t think the Rangers were happy about their performance in the playoffs. Chicago is desperate to rebuild.

what Matthews thinks doesn’t matter at this point because his no trade doesn’t kick in until July 1. You ignore what Matthews feels or thinks and do what is best for the TML. If that means trading him to a California team, Chicago or the NYR so be it.

its all about the Benjamin’s. If Matthews agent demands big $ and starts making threats you unload him ASAP.

 

[Trapper]

LA Kings have $14+ million coming off the books with Kopitar and Arvidsson's deals expiring same time as Matthews. They're a team trending upwards that would fit the timeline. Dallas and Vegas will also be in good shape cap wise come 2024. Teams won't be afraid to shuffle the deck to add a 60 goal scorer.

AM will have a plethora of options should he choose the UFA route.

I’m sure Chicago with Bedard on an ELC would be interested as well.

 

[Dreakmur]

The only case for keeping them is an undisclosed lobotomy. We’re well beyond any doubt that the core doesn’t work.

 

[Trapper]

The only case for keeping them is an undisclosed lobotomy. We’re well beyond any doubt that the core doesn’t work.

There seems to be an awful amount of people who need to see it again.

 

[Superstar]

There seems to be an awful amount of people who need to see it again.

Alot of people love looking at a trainwreck.

 

[Dreakmur]

There seems to be an awful amount of people who need to see it again.

There’s quite a few people who think the earth is flat too.

 

[socko]

What do Leafs fans and Gomez Addams have in common? They both never get tired of watching train wrecks.

 

[Leaffan1991]

If you keep these guys and lose them
Next season then that would be the dumbest decision ever..

 

[Mr Knies Guy]

There seems to be an awful amount of people who need to see it again.

It’s unreal. Post series thread, had to be over 90% united in blowing shit up. Now, it’s crazy how quickly all’s forgotten and forgiven as if the Leafs weren’t limp ghosts who trailed 75% of the playoffs

 

[keonsbitterness]

Funny thread premise: bring back all the stars (with two of them presumably getting raises starting in 24-25), yet we'll have more flexibility to make major changes to the rest of the roster.

 

[HolyCrap]

The only way I would even think about bringing back the top 4 on purpose would be resigning ROR, Acciari and Schenn, then have someone like Torts as their coach.

It is a mentality issue for the big four. From their comments, they still think they did all they can but the truth is that the way they approached and played in the TB series is a lot different than the Panthers series.

ROR rumours all over media is he isnt likely to sign with Leafs. Although maybe that changes with a different GM.

 

[mikeyz]

My opinion has been the same since the day Dubas was handed control of the premier NHL franchise and almost immediately appointed his buddy Bozo the Keefe as coach.

Neither is capable of being a coach or GM at the professional level. This has been proven year after year for the past half decade.

Allowing Bozo the Keefe to coach this core is the equivalent letting Joey Moss coach the 1980’s Oilers.

You did not just compare this core to the 1980s Oilers core did you?

 

[Gabriel426]

ROR rumours all over media is he isnt likely to sign with Leafs. Although maybe that changes with a different GM.

He is not coming back unless a miracle happens.
He is literally the first UFA who didn’t even hide it that he is not coming back.

 

[Wendel17]

LA Kings have $14+ million coming off the books with Kopitar and Arvidsson's deals expiring same time as Matthews. They're a team trending upwards that would fit the timeline. Dallas and Vegas will also be in good shape cap wise come 2024. Teams won't be afraid to shuffle the deck to add a 60 goal scorer.

AM will have a plethora of options should he choose the UFA route.

Kopitar will stay in LA, granted not at his current cap hit.

Vegas is setup well with Marchesault, Stephenson, and Martinez amongst others coming off the books. I could actually see that one happening considering Vegas' proximity to Arizona and California.

 

[Hockeysawks]

Even ROR said they were out hit. Mariner and Mathews were ineffective. Nylander was one of the few forwards who kept driving, he had no puck luck. Reilly was awesome.

ROR managed 2 hit and 2 shots in his final 3 games, I highly doubt him throwing more hits would have done much to effect his production.
Reilly was fantastic.

 

[Stephen]

He is not coming back unless a miracle happens.
He is literally the first UFA who didn’t even hide it that he is not coming back.

Seems like he really didn't mix well with the Leafs program.

 

[Stephen]

LA Kings have $14+ million coming off the books with Kopitar and Arvidsson's deals expiring same time as Matthews. They're a team trending upwards that would fit the timeline. Dallas and Vegas will also be in good shape cap wise come 2024. Teams won't be afraid to shuffle the deck to add a 60 goal scorer.

AM will have a plethora of options should he choose the UFA route.

They'll make a minor upgrade this summer, spend a little money on Korpisalo re-signing or another goalie and Byfield, Durzi, Roy, Kaliyev, Grundstrom will all require a small RFA raise each by 2024, eating up what seemed like a lot of money. If Kopitar comes back that will put another small dent into that pool.

 

[rielledup]

People keep making the " you won't get equal value" argument and to that I say how do you define equal value? For example, let's say you traded Marner for a 70 pt winger who makes a lot less money than Marner, at first glance everyone would think you lost that trade by a lot. But what if the 70 pt winger is big and physical and plays in a way that translates well to the playoffs? Maybe that player ends up being just as effective in the playoffs as Marner and you end up getting a good top 4dman with the extra cap space. You could end up being better off in the playoffs as a result of that trade even though "on paper" it looks like you lost the trade.

It's about restructuring the team and trying a different mix, not just about regular season point totals.