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

[hockeywiz542]

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

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

Colts’ Mack Guzda Named OHL Goaltender of the Week

January 24, 2022

OHL - Ontario Hockey League

Toronto, Ont. – The Ontario Hockey League today announced that Mack Guzda of the Barrie Colts is the OHL Goaltender of the Week, going 2-0-0-0 with a 1.49 goals-against average and .956 save percentage.

Guzda stopped 65 of the 68 shots he faced last week, helping the Colts score home wins over divisional opponents Sudbury and North Bay. He turned aside 31 shots in Tuesday’s 4-1 win over the Wolves, registering over 57 minutes of shutout hockey after Sudbury scored an early goal. Guzda returned to the crease on Saturday against North Bay, backstopping the Colts to a 3-2 overtime win despite being outshot, making 34 saves to earn second star honours in the process. This marks the second time this season Guzda has earned OHL Goaltender of the Week recognition.

A 21-year-old native of Knoxville, Tenn., Guzda is currently tied for the League-lead in save percentage at .922, going 14-6-0-1 with a 2.62 goals-against average in 21 games between Barrie and Owen Sound. Now 9-2-0-0 since joining the Colts in mid-November, Guzda was originally Owen Sound’s second round (31st overall) pick in the 2017 OHL Priority Selection, and has played to career mark of 72-51-10-7.

 

[dubplatepressure]

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/$$

Also a lot of those guys went through multiple teams before catching fire. We don't have a roster devoid of depth in which we can give young players long leashes for NHL development. Verhaeghe, Marchment, Duclair, and Bennet ...

Verhaeghe even TB let him walk at the end of the 2020 season. Florida signed him for depth and BOOM he puts up 2C numbers. Not sure if they "saw that" or just thought they were getting a good bottom 6 player who performed well in the TB system.

Marchment was a guy our system liked for a long time but at 24 he wasn't outproducing guys on the Marlies like Agostino or Bracco or Petan and his limited NHL stints he looked very awkward and wasn't going to find a place in the lineup regularly - something he needed to 'take the step' (kind of where Lilly is right now IMO). In hindsight would he have been worse than Joe Thornton or Riley Nash was? probably not.

Duclair always had a ton of talent but couldn't find a top-6 to play in. Then he went to Ottawa and posted 40 pts in 66 GP in his 2nd season there - he busted out. And they let him walk (or he decided to). Good FA signing by FA but he'd already shown that breakout by that time.

Bennett was a wildcard. IMO they got him for his spicey play - same mould as Goodrow, Garland, Wood, Coleman, etc. Bennett's shooting % tripled from 6 in Calgary to 15 in Florida and he's playing 5 minutes more per game now than his last season there. Better team, better fit, better result. It's the exact thing that I think Dubas was trying to pull with Foligno, but failed. It's worth noting that FLA paid a decent price to get a guy that was coming off a 12 pt season and despite being 4OA pick hadn't cracked 0.5 PPG in his career yet. LOTS of risk on this one. FLA traded a 2nd plus a former 2nd round pick. At the time, many many people laughed at Florida for this move.

Of all the above, I'd say they got quite lucky on Bennett, Marchment, and Verhaeghe, whereas Duclair was a known asset. But they had the open roster spots to accommodate taking the chance on these guys where you can easily argue we do / did not.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Also a lot of those guys went through multiple teams before catching fire. We don't have a roster devoid of depth in which we can give young players long leashes for NHL development. Verhaeghe, Marchment, Duclair, and Bennet ...

Verhaeghe even TB let him walk at the end of the 2020 season. Florida signed him for depth and BOOM he puts up 2C numbers. Not sure if they "saw that" or just thought they were getting a good bottom 6 player who performed well in the TB system.

Marchment was a guy our system liked for a long time but at 24 he wasn't outproducing guys on the Marlies like Agostino or Bracco or Petan and his limited NHL stints he looked very awkward and wasn't going to find a place in the lineup regularly - something he needed to 'take the step' (kind of where Lilly is right now IMO). In hindsight would he have been worse than Joe Thornton or Riley Nash was? probably not.

Duclair always had a ton of talent but couldn't find a top-6 to play in. Then he went to Ottawa and posted 40 pts in 66 GP in his 2nd season there - he busted out. And they let him walk (or he decided to). Good FA signing by FA but he'd already shown that breakout by that time.

Bennett was a wildcard. IMO they got him for his spicey play - same mould as Goodrow, Garland, Wood, Coleman, etc. Bennett's shooting % tripled from 6 in Calgary to 15 in Florida and he's playing 5 minutes more per game now than his last season there. Better team, better fit, better result. It's the exact thing that I think Dubas was trying to pull with Foligno, but failed. It's worth noting that FLA paid a decent price to get a guy that was coming off a 12 pt season and despite being 4OA pick hadn't cracked 0.5 PPG in his career yet. LOTS of risk on this one. FLA traded a 2nd plus a former 2nd round pick. At the time, many many people laughed at Florida for this move.

Of all the above, I'd say they got quite lucky on Bennett, Marchment, and Verhaeghe, whereas Duclair was a known asset. But they had the open roster spots to accommodate taking the chance on these guys where you can easily argue we do / did not.

Physical guys don't work here for whatever reason.

Martin, Marchment and now Ritchie and Simmonds...is a system or culture problem?

Martin has gone back to crushing guys in NYI.

 

[ToneDog]

Also a lot of those guys went through multiple teams before catching fire. We don't have a roster devoid of depth in which we can give young players long leashes for NHL development. Verhaeghe, Marchment, Duclair, and Bennet ...

Verhaeghe even TB let him walk at the end of the 2020 season. Florida signed him for depth and BOOM he puts up 2C numbers. Not sure if they "saw that" or just thought they were getting a good bottom 6 player who performed well in the TB system.

Marchment was a guy our system liked for a long time but at 24 he wasn't outproducing guys on the Marlies like Agostino or Bracco or Petan and his limited NHL stints he looked very awkward and wasn't going to find a place in the lineup regularly - something he needed to 'take the step' (kind of where Lilly is right now IMO). In hindsight would he have been worse than Joe Thornton or Riley Nash was? probably not.

Duclair always had a ton of talent but couldn't find a top-6 to play in. Then he went to Ottawa and posted 40 pts in 66 GP in his 2nd season there - he busted out. And they let him walk (or he decided to). Good FA signing by FA but he'd already shown that breakout by that time.

Bennett was a wildcard. IMO they got him for his spicey play - same mould as Goodrow, Garland, Wood, Coleman, etc. Bennett's shooting % tripled from 6 in Calgary to 15 in Florida and he's playing 5 minutes more per game now than his last season there. Better team, better fit, better result. It's the exact thing that I think Dubas was trying to pull with Foligno, but failed. It's worth noting that FLA paid a decent price to get a guy that was coming off a 12 pt season and despite being 4OA pick hadn't cracked 0.5 PPG in his career yet. LOTS of risk on this one. FLA traded a 2nd plus a former 2nd round pick. At the time, many many people laughed at Florida for this move.

Of all the above, I'd say they got quite lucky on Bennett, Marchment, and Verhaeghe, whereas Duclair was a known asset. But they had the open roster spots to accommodate taking the chance on these guys where you can easily argue we do / did not.

Dubas missed the boat on Bennett. Had he traded for Bennett, no need to trade for broken down Foligno or sign lazy ass Ritchie and possibly Simmonds. Not to mention not allow him to go to team in your division.

 

[TheShape]

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.

They're both 12th forwards at best imo. If we want the best out of both players and fresh come playoff time one should be rotating in and out of the lineup, less is more. Thornton vibes last year who played every single available game no matter what.

 

[WTFMAN99]

They're both 12th forwards at best imo. If we want the best out of both players and fresh come playoff time one should be rotating in and out of the lineup, less is more. Thornton vibes last year who played every single available game no matter what.

Our cap situation is such that we don't have a spare to put in for them if I am not mistaken.

There is loyalty and then there is loyalty to a fault...I would have the conversation with both of them that they need to contribute to the group or I would go external for help.

 

[Legion34]

If we are looking at josh Manson. I wonder if he would want to come.

born in us but seems like he is a Canadian boy? His dad is Canadian and played most of his time in Canada. Josh played in the BCHL…..


Would be interesting

 

[JEI]

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.

Marchment is having himself a year.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Also a lot of those guys went through multiple teams before catching fire. We don't have a roster devoid of depth in which we can give young players long leashes for NHL development. Verhaeghe, Marchment, Duclair, and Bennet ...

Verhaeghe even TB let him walk at the end of the 2020 season. Florida signed him for depth and BOOM he puts up 2C numbers. Not sure if they "saw that" or just thought they were getting a good bottom 6 player who performed well in the TB system.

Marchment was a guy our system liked for a long time but at 24 he wasn't outproducing guys on the Marlies like Agostino or Bracco or Petan and his limited NHL stints he looked very awkward and wasn't going to find a place in the lineup regularly - something he needed to 'take the step' (kind of where Lilly is right now IMO). In hindsight would he have been worse than Joe Thornton or Riley Nash was? probably not.

Duclair always had a ton of talent but couldn't find a top-6 to play in. Then he went to Ottawa and posted 40 pts in 66 GP in his 2nd season there - he busted out. And they let him walk (or he decided to). Good FA signing by FA but he'd already shown that breakout by that time.

Bennett was a wildcard. IMO they got him for his spicey play - same mould as Goodrow, Garland, Wood, Coleman, etc. Bennett's shooting % tripled from 6 in Calgary to 15 in Florida and he's playing 5 minutes more per game now than his last season there. Better team, better fit, better result. It's the exact thing that I think Dubas was trying to pull with Foligno, but failed. It's worth noting that FLA paid a decent price to get a guy that was coming off a 12 pt season and despite being 4OA pick hadn't cracked 0.5 PPG in his career yet. LOTS of risk on this one. FLA traded a 2nd plus a former 2nd round pick. At the time, many many people laughed at Florida for this move.

Of all the above, I'd say they got quite lucky on Bennett, Marchment, and Verhaeghe, whereas Duclair was a known asset. But they had the open roster spots to accommodate taking the chance on these guys where you can easily argue we do / did not.

Its actually amazing how many guys who were castoffs on other teams, seemingly have just figured it out on Florida. What a story

 

[ULF_55]

Physical guys don't work here for whatever reason.

Martin, Marchment and now Ritchie and Simmonds...is a system or culture problem?

Martin has gone back to crushing guys in NYI.

He is 13th. forward in ice time for players with over 20 games played.

Simmonds on Toronto is 12th. but 2 minutes less per game.

In playoffs last year Martin was 13th. forward, 1.5 minutes less than Komorov per game.

Islanders aren't a good team this year though, tied for 21st. in the league.

 

[showtime8]

Physical guys don't work here for whatever reason.

Martin, Marchment and now Ritchie and Simmonds...is a system or culture problem?

Martin has gone back to crushing guys in NYI.

It's based on the surrounding line-up around the physical type of players.

The reason Martin has worked so well with the Islanders is because he's playing with 2 other grinder type players. Their "identity line" from last years playoffs was Clutterbuck and Cizikas. Neither play is particularly skilled, so if you have all 3 type on the same mindset, they will definitely work well together. When Martin was here, they wanted him to protect Marner and Matthews. Problem was, when he wasn't fighting, he's not matching the same output as the other 2 on his line.

Same with Ritchie, except Ritchie just isn't a good player anymore. He just isn't the same as anyone else on the team, where the Leafs have put a bigger identity on skating.

And that's why you see guys like Bunting and Hyman working so well with the top lines. They aren't going to be as physical as Ritchie, but they skate much better and provide that agitating style of play.

Marchment's skating was never his strong suit. I'm not sure on that decision. They were preferring to keep guys like Petan and Malgin in lieu of the physical winger.

The more I think about it, I think that's going to be their approach at the deadline. Find the scrappier winger that can skate, but isn't as physical as the Ritchie style. A healthy Miles Wood would be a great target.

 

[WTFMAN99]

He is 13th. forward in ice time for players with over 20 games played.

Simmonds on Toronto is 12th. but 2 minutes less per game.

In playoffs last year Martin was 13th. forward, 1.5 minutes less than Komorov per game.

Islanders aren't a good team this year though, tied for 21st. in the league.

I wonder how much of that is because of that brutal road trip to start the season.

I also think losing Leddy hurt more than most people thought.

Greene/Chara should be 6th-7th D, not in the top 4 at this point.

 

[ULF_55]

I wonder how much of that is because of that brutal road trip to start the season.

I also think losing Leddy hurt more than most people thought.

Greene/Chara should be 6th-7th D, not in the top 4 at this point.

Wonder if Chara on the Leafs 3rd. pairing would do anything?
Is Chara good for anything today?

 

[LeafChief]

Wonder if Chara on the Leafs 3rd. pairing would do anything?
Is Chara good for anything today?

Chara for Ritchie. Sign the papers.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Wonder if Chara on the Leafs 3rd. pairing would do anything?
Is Chara good for anything today?

Chara drops them if anyone hits a teammate in any remotely dirty fashion but that's about it.

Leafs left side is pretty deep with Rielly, Muzzin, Sandin and Dermott.

Kral on the way at some point in the next 1-2 years I would think too.

 

[LeafChief]

Speaking of Ritchie, I wonder if there is a player out there that is also struggling at less AAV that they may be able to swap him for.

If a team really appreciates the physicality he has people believing he brings, maybe someone would bite?

 

[showtime8]

Speaking of Ritchie, I wonder if there is a player out there that is also struggling at less AAV that they may be able to swap him for.

If a team really appreciates the physicality he has people believing he brings, maybe someone would bite?

If you're a pro scout, you essentially know what you're getting at this point. I'm not sure there are any teams that are looking for him to impact a season.

 

[ULF_55]

Speaking of Ritchie, I wonder if there is a player out there that is also struggling at less AAV that they may be able to swap him for.

If a team really appreciates the physicality he has people believing he brings, maybe someone would bite?

So how did Boston get anything out of him?

Look for a team that isn't about puck movement maybe?

He just looks too slow on every line in Toronto.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Speaking of Ritchie, I wonder if there is a player out there that is also struggling at less AAV that they may be able to swap him for.

If a team really appreciates the physicality he has people believing he brings, maybe someone would bite?

If you're a pro scout, you essentially know what you're getting at this point. I'm not sure there are any teams that are looking for him to impact a season.

I thought Buffalo for Bjork gets the AAV slightly down.

Or depending what Chicago does, maybe they'd give Khaira and Borgstrom for Ritchie.

 

[rimshot]

If we are looking at josh Manson. I wonder if he would want to come.

born in us but seems like he is a Canadian boy? His dad is Canadian and played most of his time in Canada. Josh played in the BCHL…..


Would be interesting

Josh is the son of Dave Manson. Do you remember Leaf defenseman Dave Manson? Most opposing players that tried to stand in front of the Leaf's net in the early 2000s certainly do. I think the chances that Josh might be willing to play for Dad's old team are excellent.

 

[OVO16]

Josh Manson is ideal.

But I agree with some posters here....Physicality just isnt in the leafs system. We can get Tom Wilson and somehow even he's gonna get neutered. Its absolutely a system and organizational issue. This organization just refuses to believe physical play is necessary.

This is going to go on as long as Dubas is GM. I guess we'll find out if this is the year Dubas finally gets out of the 1st rd.

I for one think we're going to get bullied our way to a 1st rd exit again

 

[dubplatepressure]

Dubas missed the boat on Bennett. Had he traded for Bennett, no need to trade for broken down Foligno or sign lazy ass Ritchie and possibly Simmonds. Not to mention not allow him to go to team in your division.

I would probably push back a bit on this if I had to. Theoretically, the price FLA paid was high-ish relative to his output. The prospect Emil Heineman was also a 2nd round pick, so we're probably talking Roni Hirvonen as comparable. Hard to say what would have happened with that 2nd rounder - perhaps that 2022 2nd was our 2021 2nd... but then Dubas may not have spent all his allowance on those rentals last year. But in theory maybe that means no pick for Knies.

Going back to the time, I really think most people here thought Bennett was a complete bust.

 

[Scion]

Josh Manson is ideal.

But I agree with some posters here....Physicality just isnt in the leafs system. We can get Tom Wilson and somehow even he's gonna get neutered. Its absolutely a system and organizational issue. This organization just refuses to believe physical play is necessary.

This is going to go on as long as Dubas is GM. I guess we'll find out if this is the year Dubas finally gets out of the 1st rd.

I for one think we're going to get bullied our way to a 1st rd exit again

This is BS, of course physical players can play here (Muzzin and Simmonds). However, you need to be able to process the game and make quick plays to play here. The reason Ritchie doesn't work is because he is a f***ing idiot, both on and off the ice. Not a bad guy, just really f***ing dumb.

 

[LeafChief]

Josh Manson is ideal.

But I agree with some posters here....Physicality just isnt in the leafs system. We can get Tom Wilson and somehow even he's gonna get neutered. Its absolutely a system and organizational issue. This organization just refuses to believe physical play is necessary.

This is going to go on as long as Dubas is GM. I guess we'll find out if this is the year Dubas finally gets out of the 1st rd.

I for one think we're going to get bullied our way to a 1st rd exit again

Simmonds
Foligno
Ritchie
Bogosian
Muzzin
Clifford

I'm sure I'm forgetting more. If your point is that the GM and staff haven't attempted to add physicality to the lineup, I don't know what to tell you. You aren't paying attention.

You need to be physical but also know how to play hockey to play in this system. Simply adding physicality that can't play isn't the answer.

 

[meefer]

Speaking of Ritchie, I wonder if there is a player out there that is also struggling at less AAV that they may be able to swap him for.

If a team really appreciates the physicality he has people believing he brings, maybe someone would bite?

Ottawa has two: Austin Watson (this year and next at 1.5M) and Michael Del Zotto (at .875M this year and next). Neither would offer us much other than cap savings, and I'd argue Ottawa would be receiving the best of the three players. I'd guess we'd have to toss in something else to make it work due to the 2.5M beside Ritchie's name.