GDT: Trade and Free Agency Thread - 2021/22 PART V

[LeafChief]

Should that really come as a surprise to anyone?

We didn't give him a 3.8 x 3 contract because we felt like it... He had a lot of other teams interested in him, and the market is arguably even weaker for goalies this upcoming offseason. An injury and some inconsistent play in a very small sample size as a result is not going to change that.

You're not new around here.

Some of the geniuses around here were suggesting the Leafs would have to attach a 1st to him to move that contract followed by 'lol dubasites'.

There are a lot of uneducated folk around here, unfortunately.

 

[dubplatepressure]

Any big moves will happen if made in the off-season.

It’s sad to see our blueline struggle so much ever since Muzzin went down even though he’s had a down year.

I disagree. Toughen up time - the only chance to do that is when there's opportunity. Sandin's looked very good, so there's one check. Lilly's looked meh, but he really needs more games. This little stretch will be good for them both.

 

[Buzzman17]

Connor Garland might be available.. interesting name, not sure about the cost and fit and cap

Garland makes about 2 million too much for his skill set

 

[LeafChief]

They also said that the Leafs have interest in Josh Manson and that they looking to sign Barrie Colts goalie Mack Gudza.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Guzda was one of those guys with immense upside who never worked out... Until this year I guess.

Aren't there clearer paths to the NHL than us though? He would need to pass Woll and Kallgren, both of whom are playing quite well in the AHL... And that doesn't even include Scott and Petruzzelli. Even if we don't plan on keeping Scott, that is a lot of guys to compete with in the near future, and I am not sure he has an AHL job with us next year.

A lot of those other teams, he has an AHL job waiting for him next year.

 

[LeafChief]

Guzda was one of those guys with immense upside who never worked out... Until this year I guess.

Aren't there clearer paths to the NHL than us though? He would need to pass Woll and Kallgren, both of whom are playing quite well in the AHL... And that doesn't even include Scott and Petruzzelli. Even if we don't plan on keeping Scott, that is a lot of guys to compete with in the near future, and I am not sure he has an AHL job with us next year.

A lot of those other teams, he has an AHL job waiting for him next year.

I wouldn't really lose sleep over it either way. In terms of young players I'd love to see them go after, Jack McBain and Andrei Kuzmenko are at the top of my list.

 

[showtime8]

Guzda was one of those guys with immense upside who never worked out... Until this year I guess.

Aren't there clearer paths to the NHL than us though? He would need to pass Woll and Kallgren, both of whom are playing quite well in the AHL... And that doesn't even include Scott and Petruzzelli. Even if we don't plan on keeping Scott, that is a lot of guys to compete with in the near future, and I am not sure he has an AHL job with us next year.

A lot of those other teams, he has an AHL job waiting for him next year.

By the time he would even be relevant in the system, the Leafs would be choosing between keeping Woll and Kallgren. Woll has been good, but is he good enough where you could trust him to play 25 games in the NHL next year? I mean he's really only had 1 full pro season.

In any capacity, I would think that Guzda would be on an AHL deal for a year or 2.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I wouldn't really lose sleep over it either way. In terms of young players I'd love to see them go after, Jack McBain and Andrei Kuzmenko are at the top of my list.

Is there a precedence? The last really good OA goalie I remember from the CHL is Jeremy Helvig from like 4 or 5 years ago, and he is a career ECHLer right now.

Guzda has better numbers right now and is on more mediocre teams, so it is different. I also would hope our goalie scout has done his due-diligence on the major red flags that kept him undrafted in the first place... but at the same time he also thought that Peksa and Akhtyamov were good ideas.

Somewhat on a separate note, I feel bad for Taylor Gauthier right now. Where is his love? He has put up 3 straight years with a save percentage north of .915 despite playing on one of the worst teams in the CHL the entire time. He competes hard. He has great athleticism. He has solid size. If you can get him on a team which lets him play a little bit more of a calm game (see a .941 with Portland through 6 games), and work on that a little bit more with him on his positioning and rebound control (which will probably improve a ton by simply giving him a defense which doesn't downright suck), he has the makings of a guy who can make it someday. Maybe not a guy I give an ELC to right now, but if I am looking for a goalie on an AHL contract, it would be hard to find a goalie who is higher on the list than him right now.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

By the time he would even be relevant in the system, the Leafs would be choosing between keeping Woll and Kallgren. Woll has been good, but is he good enough where you could trust him to play 25 games in the NHL next year? I mean he's really only had 1 full pro season.

In any capacity, I would think that Guzda would be on an AHL deal for a year or 2.

Guzda is getting ELC interest. He is not taking an AHL deal.

Personally, I am good with running with Kallgren/Woll - Petruzzelli/Scott as our depth behind Campbell/Mrazek.

IDK if I would give Woll that kind of responsibility right now. In two years time, when he is in his 25 year old season and he continues to progress, then I think I would. If you want to develop goalie prospects, you need to eventually trust them to be NHL goalies. Next year, we can trust him as a full time #3 (while still giving him quality competition in Kallgren). We will see how he (and Kallgren) does with that, and if he looks capable enough, then why not give him the full time backup job? At least we would save a ton of money going from Mrazek to him.

At the same time, Petruzzelli and Scott are competing to be future Marlies/#3's for us. Who knows if one of them maybe surprises... They have both looked really good at different points.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Goalies are voodoo so adding more into the system is never a bad thing per say.

Plus the Leafs only have 3 picks in the upcoming draft .. They need to rely on free agents like this as their late round-type selections. Likely won't be impact NHLers but there's still a chance

 

[LeafSteel]

After Ho Sang, McBain is the next player for Team Canada I am most interested to see in the olympics for Team Canada.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Still think Tyler Motte would be a good pickup .. Not sure where he'd slot in within a healthy line up (probably ahead of Engvall), but he bring some speed, grit, and tenacity that could be helpful come playoff time.

 

[TML1967]

Is there a precedence? The last really good OA goalie I remember from the CHL is Jeremy Helvig from like 4 or 5 years ago, and he is a career ECHLer right now.

Guzda has better numbers right now and is on more mediocre teams, so it is different. I also would hope our goalie scout has done his due-diligence on the major red flags that kept him undrafted in the first place... but at the same time he also thought that Peksa and Akhtyamov were good ideas.

Somewhat on a separate note, I feel bad for Taylor Gauthier right now. Where is his love? He has put up 3 straight years with a save percentage north of .915 despite playing on one of the worst teams in the CHL the entire time. He competes hard. He has great athleticism. He has solid size. If you can get him on a team which lets him play a little bit more of a calm game (see a .941 with Portland through 6 games), and work on that a little bit more with him on his positioning and rebound control (which will probably improve a ton by simply giving him a defense which doesn't downright suck), he has the makings of a guy who can make it someday. Maybe not a guy I give an ELC to right now, but if I am looking for a goalie on an AHL contract, it would be hard to find a goalie who is higher on the list than him right now.

Isnt Taylor Gauthier the guy we brought in on a PTO at the start of the year?

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Isnt Taylor Gauthier the guy we brought in on a PTO at the start of the year?

He was invited to rookie camp.

 

[WTFMAN99]

That 4th line was basically all Pierre Engvall last night.

Spezza and Simmonds aren't really doing much of anything for the roster these days. You see NYI guys crush our D with hits, Simmonds doesn't really finish those checks anymore. Spezza's offense has dried up but hard to replace 2/3 of a 4th line at this point in the season.

Also...god damn do I wish we went for Sam Bennett lol.

 

[dubplatepressure]

That 4th line was basically all Pierre Engvall last night.

Spezza and Simmonds aren't really doing much of anything for the roster these days. You see NYI guys crush our D with hits, Simmonds doesn't really finish those checks anymore. Spezza's offense has dried up but hard to replace 2/3 of a 4th line at this point in the season.

Also...god damn do I wish we went for Sam Bennett lol.

so true. Simmer isn’t fast enough to keep up anymore. Unless they can get possession down low and grind they don’t do much.

Bennett would have been nice for the half season we could have afforded him for.

 

[Puckstuff]

That 4th line was basically all Pierre Engvall last night.

Spezza and Simmonds aren't really doing much of anything for the roster these days. You see NYI guys crush our D with hits, Simmonds doesn't really finish those checks anymore. Spezza's offense has dried up but hard to replace 2/3 of a 4th line at this point in the season.

Also...god damn do I wish we went for Sam Bennett lol.

Agreed. Simmonds and Spezza are the weak links in the forward group.

 

[SprDaVE]

Friedman and Marek confirmed at the intermission that teams have reached out to the Leafs about Mrazek. The Leafs aren't looking to potentially move him until the summer. Other teams have asked to be kept in the loop. Marek came out and said that there is a market for Mrazek.

Good to know.

Not really surprising. They signed him for a reason. He's been injured most of the year and then COVID slowed things down. He hasn't been overly good so far but he's been consistently good through his career minus his 1 year in Philly. Im sure a few teams would buy very low on him now.

I hope the market is still there this off-season.

 

[ToneDog]

That 4th line was basically all Pierre Engvall last night.

Spezza and Simmonds aren't really doing much of anything for the roster these days. You see NYI guys crush our D with hits, Simmonds doesn't really finish those checks anymore. Spezza's offense has dried up but hard to replace 2/3 of a 4th line at this point in the season.

Also...god damn do I wish we went for Sam Bennett lol.

Nobody could have imagined Bennett having the year he is having. I liked him for what he brought and that he had better playoff numbers and would have looked nice next to JT. He would have moved 15, 65 and 47 down and 24 out of our top 12. Not to mention, no need to sign 20.

 

[Puckstuff]

Nobody could have imagined Bennett having the year he is having. I liked him for what he brought and that he had better playoff numbers and would have looked nice next to JT. He would have moved 15, 65 and 47 down and 24 out of our top 12. Not to mention, no need to sign 20.

Florida did. They have hit home runs on Verhaeghe, Marchment, Duclair, and Bennet. 2 ex leafs too. A lot of ex leafs are having ridiculous seasons this year not just Kadri.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Not really surprising. They signed him for a reason. He's been injured most of the year and then COVID slowed things down. He hasn't been overly good so far but he's been consistently good through his career minus his 1 year in Philly. Im sure a few teams would buy very low on him now.

I hope the market is still there this off-season.

That is my primary concern too...you have a chance to get out of that deal now...I wouldn't get cute with it.

If Edmonton was one of the teams, retain enough on Koskinen to equal salary out and I am good.

Nobody could have imagined Bennett having the year he is having. I liked him for what he brought and that he had better playoff numbers and would have looked nice next to JT. He would have moved 15, 65 and 47 down and 24 out of our top 12. Not to mention, no need to sign 20.

I thought he could be a 50 pt guy in our top 6 at LW...ah well. Plenty of other ideas I have would have sucked

 

[MoreMogilny]

Florida did. They have hit home runs on Verhaeghe, Marchment, Duclair, and Bennet. 2 ex leafs too. A lot of ex leafs are having ridiculous seasons this year not just Kadri.

Florida has done a fantastic job assessing talent and adding insane depth to their lineup.

Add Reinhart to the list of smart pickups as well.

Leafs could certainly use a home run addition. I think we definitely need to see the pursuit of a solid top 9 forward that can compliment the top two lines.

 

[The Podium]

Florida did. They have hit home runs on Verhaeghe, Marchment, Duclair, and Bennet. 2 ex leafs too. A lot of ex leafs are having ridiculous seasons this year not just Kadri.

Well Toronto did the same in Bunting, Kampf and Kase.

Id be more concerned if we were like Edmonton and every depth add has failed.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Florida has done a fantastic job assessing talent and adding insane depth to their lineup.

Add Reinhart to the list of smart pickups as well.

Leafs could certainly use a home run addition. I think we definitely need to see the pursuit of a solid top 9 forward that can compliment the top two lines.

Well Toronto did the same in Bunting, Kampf and Kase.

Id be more concerned if we were like Edmonton and every depth add has failed.

No one goes 5/5 unfortunately.

Dubas did well on Bunting, Kampf and Kase

Struck out on Ritchie and Mrazek so far...unfortunately those ones have the most term/$$

 

[Kiwi]

No one goes 5/5 unfortunately.

Dubas did well on Bunting, Kampf and Kase

Struck out on Ritchie and Mrazek so far...unfortunately those ones have the most term/$$

Doesn't matter, as long as you can get out of those deals

Mrazek looks promising, Ritchie might be a pain in the ass though

He needs to go if we make a deal at the deadline, the sooner the better