The Core Has To Go

[ToneDog]

I'd call Sakic and see if he is interested in bringing the best American hockey player to Denver for MacKinnon. If they want to add Ranta, I'd be happy to add Marner.

 

[Trapper]

I'd call Sakic and see if he is interested in bringing the best American hockey player to Denver for MacKinnon. If they want to add Ranta, I'd be happy to add Marner.

I’d even throw in JT for Landeskog. And I know he’s out for the season.

 

[Buds17]

Chicago Blackhawks the favourite to land Auston Matthews, if he is done with the Maple Leafs​

Can you envision Auston Matthews putting his offensive talents alongside the skill that Connor Bedard will bring to the National Hockey League?

The latest odds have the Chicago Blackhawks to be the favourite to land Matthews if he has indeed played his last game for the Maple Leafs. BetOnline.ag has Chicago at 2/1 odds on being Matthews’ next team, if it’s not the Leafs. Next are the Arizona Coyotes at 3/1, the New York Rangers at 5/1 and the Los Angeles Kings and Vegas Golden Knights, both at 6/1.

The greater chance is that Matthews remains in Toronto. Matthews wants to get an extension done this summer and there has been no indication from the Leafs that the club would rather move on than get a contract done.

Chicago Blackhawks the favourite to land Auston Matthews, if he is done with the Maple Leafs

Can you envision Auston Matthews putting his offensive talents alongside the skill that Connor Bedard will bring to the NHL?

torontosun.com

I could understand this happening a lot more through UFA than I could via trade.

*Not intending to suggest that I absolutely envision Matthews ending up with Chicago.

 

[ToneDog]

I’d even throw in JT for Landeskog. And I know he’s out for the season.

Sakic is no dummy, he'd counter add Nylander. Something tells me our core 4 forwards do better playing for the AVs (minus Mac, Ranta and Landy) than they do here.

 

[LeafGrief]

We desperately need a core piece on defense to replace Muzzin. Having a nasty SOB who can handle the biggest matchups, crush soft wingers, and generate offense is a cornerstone of a defense. This year we were hoping that Brodie and Gio could handle that job by committee, but they both wilted. Muzzin never wilted.

Provorov comes to mind as someone who needs a change of scenery, but can bring all of that to the table. Orlov too. I'd also be looking at Hellebucyk as a longer term goaltending solution.

 

[geo25]

I could see Matty traded for Bedard and Jones type deal going down .. but i think Chicago would have to add a little more than just Jones due to his cap hit being too high

You hearing any chatter with your Leafs connections/contacts about the fate of Dubas and especially Keefe? I find it odd that no one has bern 'officially' fired yet!

 

[Hockeysawks]

How much help does a core 4 earning 40+ million need?

If a lot, why did they take so much money?
If not a lot, why do they expect help?

Well my math says they are 2 players short of a top 6. It's a team sport and obviously they need a little help. Any top line or second line winger at the deadline would work.
It beats doing nothing then trading away the best players.

Unless you can explain how swapping out random third line players who are not the problem will help the first line produce.?
Even the Pens needed a little Kessle help.

 

[rumman]

Texting with a friend of mine last night.. diehard Bruins fan, has always hated the Leafs, moved to Alberta years ago to work the oil, is outside the media noise, he's asking what the tone is down here. Gets around to asking if I think the coach will go, answered yes, my guess is he goes, narrative is always starting late in PO games and being unprepared... that anyone could coach them to 100 point seasons. The unedited response:

Sweet Jesus you crazy c***s you are now complaining about 100 point seasons... you stupid c***s they suck for the last 40 years before about a few years ago.. With in the next 3 years they will win the cup. I'm calling it.


I laughed...

too funny........a die hard Bruin fan knows nothing about suffering thru bad mgmt, if the Bruins underachieve heads roll, no hall passes are handed out in Boston...........

 

[rumman]

I'd call Sakic and see if he is interested in bringing the best American hockey player to Denver for MacKinnon. If they want to add Ranta, I'd be happy to add Marner.

hey, what happened to the Siegfried avatar..............

 

[ToneDog]

We desperately need a core piece on defense to replace Muzzin. Having a nasty SOB who can handle the biggest matchups, crush soft wingers, and generate offense is a cornerstone of a defense. This year we were hoping that Brodie and Gio could handle that job by committee, but they both wilted. Muzzin never wilted.

Provorov comes to mind as someone who needs a change of scenery, but can bring all of that to the table. Orlov too. I'd also be looking at Hellebucyk as a longer term goaltending solution.

 

[authentic]

I could see Matty traded for Bedard and Jones type deal going down .. but i think Chicago would have to add a little more than just Jones due to his cap hit being too high

Lol keep dreaming

That would be one hell of a blockbuster but I can't see them adding Jones and then some. They may not even do Bedard even up.

Lol they wouldn't trade Bedard for our entire team, lets get real here

 

[notDatsyuk]

You keep Mattews, otherwise you go back to looking for a #1 center again. If Tavares does not waiver his no trade, then you move Nylander and/or Marner. You will get a higher return for Marner, and IF the right offer comes along you do it.

JT won't waive. I think you get a higher return for Nylander - he's almost as good as Marner (better in the playoffs) and makes $4M less. By the same logic, he's the one you keep.

 

[notDatsyuk]

I think another option might open up if Matthews signs for 7-8 years or the trade offers for Marner/Nylander are terrible.

You can keep the core for the next two seasons until Tavares and Marner's contracts are done. This is assuming they have a number from Marner before 2024-25. You then reevaluate everything including the possibility for McDavid (lol) since Matthews is still there for another 5+ seasons.

It's not what I would do but I could see it happening.

The problem is Tavares is the weak one but they can't remove him without his permission. To be fair, I think they could build a better team around Marner + Matthews + Nylander while using Tavares' cap space for better surrounding pieces. It's unfortunate they can't go down this route.

Right now, they might not want to give up on Marner in his prime from a business perspective, which will lead to this two-year waiting strategy where you take cracks at the playoffs using supplementary changes + a coaching change. I think the Keefe firing becomes mandatory with this strategy.

Been saying that ever since they signed him!

Leafs need to trade nylander

1- please dont tell me hes the most productive foward... half of his points came from play he did absolutly nothing except watching his teammate doing everything like 2 matthews goal+ kerfoot goal gm 4 vs tampa, tavares goal game 2 where he missed rhe puck for tip-in but jt took rebound... it was the same story last year...

2- he dont hit anybody
3- he stop skating everytime he risking to get hit and doing everything he can to avoid it
4- defensivly useless
5- he making life harder to everyone whos playing with because his teammate need to work harder to get the puck back, to defend or on forecheck
6-will never ever defend his teammate
7- the fact he left right after leafs elimination just show me lack of interest about team succes. When you saw Matthews, marner, jt all talking about his faith about the group and desire to stay in Toronto but you see at the same time nylander just thinking about joining his brother to play for sweden... not a good sign
8- i think the exemple hes giving up make him a negative leader and pretty bad influence especially for Matthews and Marner
9- last year of contract and pretty sure he will probably doing everything he can to get a 10M+/season deal
10- for me its kind of player than when he will hit 30+ and losing speed, his game will decrease pretty fast but will probably want 7-8 season contrat

#6 and #9 might be true - other than that, no.

 

[Tak7]

JT won't waive. I think you get a higher return for Nylander - he's almost as good as Marner (better in the playoffs) and makes $4M less. By the same logic, he's the one you keep.

Nylander is a pending UFA, and has wild ups and downs.

I have a suspicion that Willy's value isn't as high as we think it is.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Nylander is a pending UFA, and has wild ups and downs.

I have a suspicion that Willy's value isn't as high as we think it is.

That and it's reverse could probably be said of everyone on the team, depending on who you listen to.

 

[thusk]

JT won't waive. I think you get a higher return for Nylander - he's almost as good as Marner (better in the playoffs) and makes $4M less. By the same logic, he's the one you keep.

Nylander almost as good than marner... not even close... when nylander will start to commit himself in defensive system and sacrifice himself to make defensive play like marner did, maybe but it will never happen

Since 2016
Nylander production at 5v5
7 goal 5 primary assist 12 pts ( i dont care about free pts on secondary assist you got by watching your teammate making play)

Marner 8 goal 11 primary assist 19 pts

19>>>12

Marner playing pk, playing all big defensive situation, playing toughest matchup than nylander but despite tje fact nylander played against worst opposition, no body in the team been on the ice as much than Nylander... so plesee tell me where nylander had been better in playoff... hes been a better pp player but Marner had been easily the best 5v5 player

Ps nylander salary will raise after this season, you dont build a team for 1 season but for the next 5-6-7

 

[JT AM da real deal]

You hearing any chatter with your Leafs connections/contacts about the fate of Dubas and especially Keefe? I find it odd that no one has bern 'officially' fired yet!

I am not around the rinks like I was when both my sons were practicing so I have heard nothing recently .. you do hear things at hot stove from people around team .. but over time i have realized guys like Tuck and Killer really don't know anything .. next month is my annual pool bbq party for our hockey friends, mostly west end families, so I will hear much more .. but i don't think Dubie is going anywhere, unless of course he decides to take a break, we will see .. i had heard a rumour a month ago he might step up as a special advisor to Shanny (who knows maybe he needs a mental health break)

 

[geo25]

I am not around the rinks like I was when both my sons were practicing so I have heard nothing recently .. you do hear things at hot stove from people around team .. but over time i have realized guys like Tuck and Killer really don't know anything .. next month is my annual pool bbq party for our hockey friends, mostly west end families, so I will hear much more .. but i don't think Dubie is going anywhere, unless of course he decides to take a break, we will see .. i had heard a rumour a month ago he might step up as a special advisor to Shanny (who knows maybe he needs a mental health break)

Thanks!

 

[thusk]

Been saying that ever since they signed him!


#6 and #9 might be true - other than that, no.

Every thing leafs fan was blaming kessel couple of year ago, Nylander hit exactly every case.

Kessel was part of problem and leafs should traded him... but nylander ah no hes part of solution, hes the guy leafs absolutly need to keep!!!!

Yes thats working for 2 season with kessel but pittsburgh had a pretty great group of leader who had already won stanley cup and despite it, they needed tontrade kessel 4 years later because trouble was starting between kessel and pittsburgh core...

Leafs struggling since 7 years with leader whos loocking having a mental block but lets keep kessel 2.0 and cross your finger than everything working...

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Lol keep dreaming



Lol they wouldn't trade Bedard for our entire team, lets get real here

No one in pro hockey trades a #1 OA pick who is a 1C who has won a Hart and a Rocket for anything less than another 1 OA pick + something else proven .. Matty only has a small world of trading partners like 2023 1OA, MAC, McJesus and Makar .. thats likely it .. or it becomes 5 pieces including 3 1st rounders, a top player and a great prospect

 

[authentic]

No one in pro hockey trades a #1 OA pick who is a 1C who has won a Hart and a Rocket for anything less than another 1 OA pick + something else proven .. Matty only has a small world of trading partners like 2023 1OA, MAC, McJesus and Makar .. thats likely it .. or it becomes 5 pieces including 3 1st rounders, a top player and a great prospect

Yeah good luck getting any of that. Like I said, keep on dreaming.

 

[ZEBROA]

Leafs need to trade nylander

1- please dont tell me hes the most productive foward... half of his points came from play he did absolutly nothing except watching his teammate doing everything like 2 matthews goal+ kerfoot goal gm 4 vs tampa, tavares goal game 2 where he missed rhe puck for tip-in but jt took rebound... it was the same story last year...

2- he dont hit anybody
3- he stop skating everytime he risking to get hit and doing everything he can to avoid it
4- defensivly useless
5- he making life harder to everyone whos playing with because his teammate need to work harder to get the puck back, to defend or on forecheck
6-will never ever defend his teammate
7- the fact he left right after leafs elimination just show me lack of interest about team succes. When you saw Matthews, marner, jt all talking about his faith about the group and desire to stay in Toronto but you see at the same time nylander just thinking about joining his brother to play for sweden... not a good sign
8- i think the exemple hes giving up make him a negative leader and pretty bad influence especially for Matthews and Marner
9- last year of contract and pretty sure he will probably doing everything he can to get a 10M+/season deal
10- for me its kind of player than when he will hit 30+ and losing speed, his game will decrease pretty fast but will probably want 7-8 season contrat

Nylander had a bad playoff. But he was closer to his best then the other core forwards . As i said before. The most bias Nylander fan(like u but opposite) should not be able to think Nylander had a better round 2 then Matthews and Marner. Thas is not the case.

And the nr7 and 8 is beyond childish made up reasons. Ffs it is Matthews and Marner that should be the leaders that influence Nylander and the rest of the team. Not the opposite.

And nr 5 He cant play with slow players, yet are put with Tavares always. ROR would have been better. Nope Tavares it is...

Leafs might trade him. But it will not make the team a lot better.

 

[ZEBROA]

Every thing leafs fan was blaming kessel couple of year ago, Nylander hit exactly every case.

Kessel was part of problem and leafs should traded him... but nylander ah no hes part of solution, hes the guy leafs absolutly need to keep!!!!

Yes thats working for 2 season with kessel but pittsburgh had a pretty great group of leader who had already won stanley cup and despite it, they needed tontrade kessel 4 years later because trouble was starting between kessel and pittsburgh core...

Leafs struggling since 7 years with leader whos loocking having a mental block but lets keep kessel 2.0 and cross your finger than everything working...

Were do you find this made up drama between Nylander and the rest of the core?

 

[authentic]

Sakic is no dummy, he'd counter add Nylander. Something tells me our core 4 forwards do better playing for the AVs (minus Mac, Ranta and Landy) than they do here.

Less pressure + Makar feeding them sounds like a recipe for success

Been saying that ever since they signed him!


#6 and #9 might be true - other than that, no.

I mean there is a lot of truth to every thing he says about Nylander there, and that's the Nylander we saw these playoffs until we went down 3-0 to Florida.

 

[authentic]

Nylander had a bad playoff. But he was closer to his best then the other core forwards . As i said before. The most bias Nylander fan(like u but opposite) should not be able to think Nylander had a better round 2 then Matthews and Marner. Thas is not the case.

And the nr7 and 8 is beyond childish made up reasons. Ffs it is Matthews and Marner that should be the leaders that influence Nylander and the rest of the team. Not the opposite.

And nr 5 He cant play with slow players, yet are put with Tavares always. ROR would have been better. Nope Tavares it is...

Leafs might trade him. But it will not make the team a lot better.

Well that's not exactly true, Matthews was better by a whopping amount in the Tampa series, also played better in the first 2 games against Florida. Nylander was better the last 3 games of the playoffs (after Matthews took a shot to the hand and was in noticeable pain), before that it wasn't remotely close.