Trade and Free Agency Thread - 2021/22 - Post Deadline

[SprDaVE]

The bottom 6 forwards needs to have a combination of Skill, Robustness, Tenacity, Speed, Grit, and physicality. The top 6 need to contain at least 1 power forward type of player who's not afraid of doing the dirty work.

Kampf is just a Defensive specialist. But he's not tenacious or aggressive at all. I'd still keep Kampf because he's valuable. Engvall, Kerfoot, Kase, and Spezza are all either soft, not tenacious or slow. Clifford and Simmonds are past their prime and slow. All can go.

Obviously, with our cap situation, it's so tough to do moves. But here's what I would do.

1. Let Engvall, Kase, Spezza, Clifford, and Simmonds all go. Trade Kerfoot, Holl and Mrazek for Salary relief.
2. Re-sign Mikheyev to the cheapest deal you can.
3. With the Remaining Cap-space...Sign Nick Paul. He's the exact type of forward the Leafs are missing in the top 9.
4. Sign Boris Katchouk to a cheap deal. He's gritty, speedy and has offensive potential. (Soo hoo connection too)
5. Promote Curtis Douglas as a full-time 4th line Center. (Assuming he does really well in training camp)

And if Mathew Knies decides to play next year before the playoffs.....He's a perfect power forward type of player to add for the playoffs.

Bunting - Mathews - Marner
Knies - Tavares - Mikheyev
Nick Paul - Kampf - Nylandert
Katchouk - Douglas - Blackwell

Now thats a team with Playoff tenacity

That's pretty tame. I don't see how that's much better than what we have now or what we had. Knies isn't going to be signed until April/May.

Mikheyev is pretty much what you hate --- soft as butter. His skill level is pretty low and only scores when he goes up against soft match ups and he can exploit them with his speed. He disappears far too much. Kampf might not be overly gritty or physical, but brings a wealth of tenacity and robustness. The guy would go through a brick wall to make a play.

Paul would be a fine addition. I think the Leafs really need to find better than re-signing Mikheyev as a top 6 option.

You didn't go through the defense either.

 

[OVO16]

If we can trade for Bertuzzi and add Evander Kane/Boris Katchouk....that would significantly change the swagger and dynamic of our team.

No need for Tough guys like Simmonds and Clifford who are past their primes and slow. Eventual scratches.

E. Kane - Mathews - Marner
Bertuzzi - Tavares - Mikheyev
Bunting - Kampf - Nylander
Katchouk - Douglas - Blackwell

Now we're talking

That's pretty tame. I don't see how that's much better than what we have now or what we had. Knies isn't going to be signed until April/May. Mikheyev is pretty much what you hate --- soft as butter. His skill level is pretty low and only scores when he goes up against soft match ups and he can exploit them with his speed. He disappears far too much.

Paul would be a fine addition. I think the Leafs really need to find better than re-signing Mikheyev as a top 6 option.

I mean with our cap situation, its limited to what we can do. But you're right, at the end of the day..its a coaching philosophy that matters. You can get anyone to play tenacious and look good if you want.

Calgary just won a playoff series by Employing Lucic, Gubrandson, Zaodrov, and Ritchie.

4 guys who probably would have been a scratch here. But Sutter makes it work.

 

[ACC1224]

If we can trade for Bertuzzi and add Evander Kane/Boris Katchouk....that would significantly change the swagger and dynamic of our team.

No need for Tough guys like Simmonds and Clifford who are past their primes and slow. Eventual scratches.

E. Kane - Mathews - Marner
Bertuzzi - Tavares - Mikheyev
Bunting - Kampf - Nylander
Katchouk - Douglas - Blackwell

Now we're talking

I wanted no part of Kane when he was available. Man, was I wrong on that one.

 

[SprDaVE]

I mean with our cap situation, its limited to what we can do. But you're right, at the end of the day..its a coaching philosophy that matters. You can get anyone to play tenacious and look good if you want.

Calgary just won a playoff series by Employing Lucic, Gubrandson, Zaodrov, and Ritchie.

4 guys who probably would have been a scratch here. But Sutter makes it work.

Ritchie was scratched in Calgary in these playoffs and many times in the season. Gudbranson and Zadorov have been much better than anticipated, especially Gudbranson. He barely found a job last off-season when he was struggling to even be in the NHL.

The Leafs and Keefe have NO problems playing physical players. If Gudbranson and Zadorov were here, I'm sure they'd be playing just like Lyubushkin did over the skilled defenseman.

With our cap situation, if you're removing all the players you removed in your post, you can easily go out and sign one or two quality forwards. If you're talking like the big problem is that the Leafs are soft as butter, re-signing Mikheyev and Blackwell goes against everything you're preaching.

 

[ToneDog]

If we can trade for Bertuzzi and add Evander Kane/Boris Katchouk....that would significantly change the swagger and dynamic of our team.

No need for Tough guys like Simmonds and Clifford who are past their primes and slow. Eventual scratches.

E. Kane - Mathews - Marner
Bertuzzi - Tavares - Mikheyev
Bunting - Kampf - Nylander
Katchouk - Douglas - Blackwell

Now we're talking


I mean with our cap situation, its limited to what we can do. But you're right, at the end of the day..its a coaching philosophy that matters. You can get anyone to play tenacious and look good if you want.

Calgary just won a playoff series by Employing Lucic, Gubrandson, Zaodrov, and Ritchie.

4 guys who probably would have been a scratch here. But Sutter makes it work.

Mik is all but gone. Not sure if the Douglas kid can play.

E.Kane Matty Marner
Bert Tavares Nylander
Bunting Kampf Blackwell
??

 

[OVO16]

I wanted no part of Kane when he was available. Man, was I wrong on that one.

We need to hope that Edmonton flails in the 2nd rd and Kane doesn't have a good showing.

With each Passing game, Kane's value is only going up and he's gonna be too expensive to get with our limited Cap.

Evander Kane is exactly what this team needs in the top 6.

Mik is all but gone. Not sure if the Douglas kid can play.

E.Kane Matty Marner
Bert Tavares Nylander
Bunting Kampf Blackwell
??

Fair enough.

Add Katchouk on the 4th line because I think he's gonna be this year's version of Micahel Bunting.

Speedy, gritty, tenacious and Soo Hoo COnnection.

 

[ACC1224]

We need to hope that Edmonton flails in the 2nd rd and Kane doesn't have a good showing.

With each Passing game, Kane's value is only going up and he's gonna be too expensive to get with our limited Cap.

Evander Kane is exactly what this team needs in the top 6.


Fair enough.

Add Katchouk on the 4th line because I think he's gonna be this year's version of Micahel Bunting.

Speedy, gritty, tenacious and Soo Hoo COnnection.

I'd be surprised if Kane leaves Edmonton. Seems like a really good fit there.

 

[Americanadian]

It’s a negative hit this upcoming season and a positive hit the next year, I’d be more interested in myers as a reclamation project vs the 16k in positive cap influence over 2 seasons.

I'd argue the Leafs need the cap savings this year vs next. The only new contract next year is Kampf which will hopefully be covered by a cap increase.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Why does no one clog the zone against us 4 games in a row and sweep us? I keep hearing about how obvious and easy it is to beat us but it keeps coming down to the wire every time, do teams just forget to do the secret plan?

Maybe, hard to argue the success rate though of our opposition.

I have.

Raptors won. Doesn’t help. Jays won twice. Empty buildings and fire everyone.

Doesn’t help

You won't remember the Raptors win 5 years from now? I'm thinking of it now and it brings a smile to my face. I watched most of the game in the airport and then the pilot on the plane told me as we were lifting off for Dubai the Raptors won the title.

Moving Nylander before JT would be the coward’s way out. Nylander is flawed but he’s an elite talent in the upswing. Tavares is just going to slowly or quickly get worse over the next 3 years. Being able to stick handle around Tavares would preserve the window of contention for a long while. Whereas moving Nylander in the next 2 will likely result in the downgrade of the team unless we get young bluechippers back.

My first choice would be moving JT but I just think they won't do it. I think 88 keeps the window open longer. Other issue is it's not like we have a young centre in the system we can think will take the keys from JT in the next couple of years either.

 

[stickty111]

Paul is going to get paid which is why I said type, he wasn't expensive at the TDL but he plays a game that translates well to the playoffs, those sort of "functional grit" players are always useful

I like physical defenseman but I'm not sure how much those guys will play under Keefe, Lyb was hardly used

You know thats untrue. If anything he uses them too much. Did we forget about his fascination with Simmonds and Clifford? Lyb shouldn't have been used at all. He was played on the top pair while a much more deserving Liljegren sat out. Lyb was terrible and hopefully stays far away from this team as possible.

 

[Kiwi]

You know thats untrue. If anything he uses them too much. Did we forget about his fascination with Simmonds and Clifford? Lyb shouldn't have been used at all. He was played on the top pair while a much more deserving Liljegren sat out. Lyb was terrible and hopefully stays far away from this team as possible.

I should have used the term "functional physicality" we need more Muzzin and Bunting types and less Lyb, Simmonds and Clifford types

I think a couple of physical cycling wingers for Tavares to play with and some physicality on the backend to insulate the offense first guys like Rielly and Sandin wouldn't be a bad idea

 

[mapleleafs34]

If we're going to get zero production from our bottom 6, at least make sure they bring speed, grit and hits to the table to wear down our opponent in the playoffs.

 

[ErnieLeafs]

I wanted no part of Kane when he was available. Man, was I wrong on that one.

Hindsight sucks like that. I was in the same boat. I still don’t like all the character concerns, but there’s no doubting he’d help this team

 

[1specter]

Why does no one clog the zone against us 4 games in a row and sweep us? I keep hearing about how obvious and easy it is to beat us but it keeps coming down to the wire every time, do teams just forget to do the secret plan?

It's an exhausting way to play that also puts pressure on the goalie. It works well in closeout situations because you only need to do it once, but playing that way repeatedly puts a lot of strain on guys bodies from having to chase and block shots, and the goalie needing to be sharp for additional volume.

 

[Stephen]

I don’t like the player but what about Scheifele?

 

[Blowfish]

Thought the leafs had a chance...IMO the leafs should be moving one of 2 players. Matthews or Marner? Why? Get a stud D man in the return, move fat contract impacting cap, can't trade Tavares, Nylander to good a contract, and a need to change team dynamic.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

I don’t like the player but what about Scheifele?

I think he's brutal defensively and there is a lot of talk about him creating a hostile environment in Winnipeg's locker room. But he can create offense, and the Leafs keep getting eliminated because they can't generate enough offense in elimination games. I think a player like Scheifele is a good idea, but probably not Scheifele himself. The price is probably too high and he's not as good as his reputation

 

[Leaffan1991]

E Kane Matthews Marner
Bunting JT Miller Tavares
Paul Kampf Engvall
Katchouk Blackwell Anderson
Simmonds

Rielly Subban
Giordano Lilly
Sandin Brodie
Boosh


MAF
Campbell

Does this lineup work salary wise?? Also JT Miller I figured would be at 50 percent for Nylander

 

[jaric1862]

I really like the idea of shifting Tavares to the wing. His line was badly dominated in these seres and I think that would really benefit him in this point in his career (See Giroux).

The only thing is that they would need to get a center to play with him. I don't mind the idea of moving Marner to center or trading Nylander for a legit #2 center.

 

[Kiwi]

I don’t like the player but what about Scheifele?

He makes Nylander look like Bergeron defensively

 

[jaric1862]

After watching them this series, I don't think "grit" or "toughness" really encapsulates what they need.

What they need is actually quite simple. They need guys who will forecheck hard, lay big hits on the opposing defenders and battle in tight spaces (around the net). But they also need to be good enough to play regular shifts against top 9 lines.

 

[Stephen]

I really like the idea of shifting Tavares to the wing. His line was badly dominated in these seres and I think that would really benefit him in this point in his career (See Giroux).

The only thing is that they would need to get a center to play with him. I don't mind the idea of moving Marner to center or trading Nylander for a legit #2 center.

I really like the idea of shifting Tavares to the Wings...

I kid. But if there was some flexibility on the Tavares NMC front I could envision a creative scenario of him going to a team like Pittsburgh as a replacement for Malkin (would actually make the Pens a little younger) or if you're truly getting crazy, Boston as a Bergeron replacement. The $11 million freed up would just give Toronto so many different ways to patch things up and reload with an altered roster.

 

[mapleleafs34]

After watching them this series, I don't think "grit" or "toughness" really encapsulates what they need.

What they need is actually quite simple. They need guys who will forecheck hard, lay big hits on the opposing defenders and battle in tight spaces (around the net). But they also need to be good enough to play regular shifts against top 9 lines.

This exactly. If they're not going to score goals, at least make the other team work.

 

[jaric1862]

I really like the idea of shifting Tavares to the Wings...

I kid. But if there was some flexibility on the Tavares NMC front I could envision a creative scenario of him going to a team like Pittsburgh as a replacement for Malkin (would actually make the Pens a little younger) or if you're truly getting crazy, Boston as a Bergeron replacement. The $11 million freed up would just give Toronto so many different ways to patch things up and reload with an altered roster.

Obviously this is ideal but it rests in the hands on Tavares himself as he has a no-move clause. I think plenty of teams would love to have him but is management ready to fracture that relationship completly and ask him to move? What if he says no?

 

[Stephen]

After watching them this series, I don't think "grit" or "toughness" really encapsulates what they need.

What they need is actually quite simple. They need guys who will forecheck hard, lay big hits on the opposing defenders and battle in tight spaces (around the net). But they also need to be good enough to play regular shifts against top 9 lines.

My big issue with Dubas' vision is he's supported his elite finesse skill with average finesse skill and then sprinkled in size and toughness like a garnish. You need functional toughness, and you need real winning experience. I don't really need Engvall and Mikheyev trying to lay the body, I need guys who actually hit and play an aggressive game. I don't need a broken down Wayne Simmonds being the sheriff in town, I need Corey Perry who has actually won a cup and been to two straight finals guiding the team on the ice, paying the price. I don't even think I need Rasmus Sandin learning on the job. I need a 6'5" wingspan gazelle who can play in all situations.