Trades and Free Agency 2021 | Any day now?

[SprDaVE]

Mirtle: Why it's time for the Maple Leafs to go all-in with a big trade (or two)

Waiting until April 12 to make a deal doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for the Leafs, not when a player acquired from a U.S. team might not even be able to play until two weeks after the trade is made. By that point, Toronto will have just seven games remaining, and the newcomer will not exactly have playoff legs after being away from game action so long. Good luck developing chemistry on a new line at that point.

So the necessary course of action here feels pretty certain. Beat the market and buy as big as you can accommodate, well in advance of the deadline.

With the Leafs’ upcoming schedule very light — only four games in two weeks beginning on Monday — that feels like the perfect time to make something happen.

No one should be swinging bigger than the Leafs. The stars might not align like this ever again.

I'd expect the Leafs to get active very soon. Mirtle mentioned E. Staal, Hall, Granlund (again), Palmieri, Forsberg, Pearson and B. Ryan as names floated around. He also said dangling Kerfoot to make an even bigger move wouldn't be impossible and something they should look at.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Depending on the lead time required, the Leafs will make a trade so the guy in in quarantine by Friday.

 

[Kiwi]

I completely agree but it's too late to make that kind of change. I do think Campbell should be made the starter but he can't stay healthy... so we're pretty much stuck with Andersen. His value is close to zero and there isn't much better available for a reasonable price. The time to trade him was in the off-season.

The other thing about Andersen is that he's extremely well liked in the dressing room. I don't think it would go over well for team chemistry and what not going into the playoffs.

Campbell got injured then came back to quickly, he has a couple of months to get right so I'd imagine he should be right come playoff time

Losing isn't good for the room either so I think you could justify a move, as unlikely as it is to find somebody to upgrade him with

One thing about it, if you wanted to resign him I can't imagine his price has gone up over the last couple of seasons

I'm going to admit I've had enough of his inconsistency and declining play at this point, I wouldn't bring him back

 

[TheShape]

Robin Lehner was, so it is possible. If teams need a goalie, then Andersen is a great bet to take. No need to worry about protecting him, he can maybe find his game with a new team and goalie coach, etc.

If the Leafs make him available, there are likely going to be teams calling for him. I don't think the Leafs really made him available in the past.

Big difference is Lehner was a lone bright spot for Chicago and his stock was high, while Andersen is sinking. I don’t know what GM would move assets for this version of Andersen, lots of incompetent GMs out there so who knows.

 

[SprDaVE]

Campbell got injured then came back to quickly, he has a couple of months to get right so I'd imagine he should be right come playoff time

Losing isn't good for the room either so I think you could justify a move, as unlikely as it is to find somebody to upgrade him with

One thing about it, if you wanted to resign him I can't imagine his price has gone up over the last couple of seasons

I'm going to admit I've had enough of his inconsistency and declining play at this point, I wouldn't bring him back

I'd be very worried about Campbell being our #1 goaltender this season for those reasons. Who knows what the next bump will do.

I would be shocked if Andersen is back next season unless he takes a decent paycut to stick around.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Big difference is Lehner was a lone bright spot for Chicago and his stock was high, while Andersen is sinking. I don’t know what GM would move assets for this version of Andersen, lots of incompetent GMs out there so who knows.

There are teams out there with iffy goalie situations who would take Andersen just based on his past performances and hope he can turn things around for them.

I don't think Edmonton wants to go into the playoffs with Koskinen/Smith if they had the choice. Same with Washington and Samsonov/Vanecek. Even Carolina has had some issues with Reimer as their starter. If all is costs them is a 2nd round pick and one of their goalies, they are probably willing to do the deal.

 

[Cor]

Depending on the lead time required, the Leafs will make a trade so the guy in in quarantine by Friday.

If the price is right, that is what I am expecting. Monday at the latest. However, I am sure other teams are looking at our schedule, realizing making this trade early benefits us, and asking Dubas what is in it for them.

 

[SprDaVE]

If the price is right, that is what I am expecting. Monday at the latest. However, I am sure other teams are looking at our schedule, realizing making this trade early benefits us, and asking Dubas what is in it for them.

Mirtle made a good point that a lot of those teams are struggling financially, so saving money early wouldn't be a bad thing for the owners... especially if that team is sucking bad.

On the flip side, getting those teams to retain will also be hard for those reasons... so yeah.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

If the price is right, that is what I am expecting. Monday at the latest. However, I am sure other teams are looking at our schedule, realizing making this trade early benefits us, and asking Dubas what is in it for them.

Getting assets in a situation where we don't even get access to a guy for 2 weeks? Unless their plan is to completely cut off the North Division, which is probably not going to help their prices either.

 

[Kiwi]

I'd be very worried about Campbell being our #1 goaltender this season for those reasons. Who knows what the next bump will do.

I would be shocked if Andersen is back next season unless he takes a decent paycut to stick around.

I think Campbell has to be the #1, I'd rather have good and accept the injury risk than somebody who's just bad

Andersen is inconsistent and could go on a heater but if he isn't we won't win with him

 

[Kelly]

That’s a lot of turnover in the dressing room, removing some popular guys.

This is why I doubt we see Freddy move.

Freddy by all accounts is well liked, and our starting goaltender.

You typically don't see these guys traded mid season when you're 1st in your division/top of the league.

Still thinking he just walks in free agency.

 

[WatchOut]

What if the leafs trade Kerfoot + for viktor arvidsson and hes signed to a sweet deal. I would add a first and seconds with kerfoot since arvidsson still has 3 years left and is only 0.75m more in cap space. would make that second line very dangerous. The only thing left would be the thrid line, might work how it is now but we haven't seen a large sample yet.

 

[Twine Tickler]

Freddy is not getting traded. we have used Hutch 4 times already this year, and some think KD is going to move Freddy out? What about the shockwaves that would send through the Leafs room? Our superstar franchise centremen who happens to be really good friends with Freddy, how do you think he would take his midseason departure? I agree about moving on from Freddy after this year. My guess is Freddy will not be resigned, and if he does it will be short term equal or less AAV. This is not NHL 21, you cannot move influential players in the room without consequence. Regardless of whether moving on from Freddy may make sense to acquire a talented forward. You would be risking a huge shift in moral to accomplish that.

 

[Faltorvo]

What if the leafs trade Kerfoot + for viktor arvidsson and hes signed to a sweet deal. I would add a first and seconds with kerfoot since arvidsson still has 3 years left and is only 0.75m more in cap space. would make that second line very dangerous. The only thing left would be the thrid line, might work how it is now but we haven't seen a large sample yet.

VA has not been the same player since he got hurt back in 2019

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Some more context to the goalie market: Ullmark and Kuemper are out until late March/early April with injuries.

With quarantine, we won't get them back before then anyways, but something to keep in mind.

 

[Cor]

The unemotional decision is to just give Jack Campbell a run at starter, and keep Freddy for the backup role. Hutch is the insurance.

However, I do think Ullmark would be a great target in free agency. Dude gets left out to DRY in Buffalo and he has great numbers despite it. Maybe the price on Kuemper is lower in the off-season, since he'd only have a year left, and he's battled injuries this year.

 

[ToneDog]

The unemotional decision is to just give Jack Campbell a run at starter, and keep Freddy for the backup role. Hutch is the insurance.

However, I do think Ullmark would be a great target in free agency. Dude gets left out to DRY in Buffalo and he has great numbers despite it. Maybe the price on Kuemper is lower in the off-season, since he'd only have a year left, and he's battled injuries this year.

This is the most logical and least risky option if Jack can stay healthy. I would also target Grubaur and Binnington this summer.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

The unemotional decision is to just give Jack Campbell a run at starter, and keep Freddy for the backup role. Hutch is the insurance.

However, I do think Ullmark would be a great target in free agency. Dude gets left out to DRY in Buffalo and he has great numbers despite it. Maybe the price on Kuemper is lower in the off-season, since he'd only have a year left, and he's battled injuries this year.

I think it likely comes down to keeping Andersen or going for Ullmark TBH. Kuemper is a long shot if Arizona wants to protect Hill instead of him, but even that would require some more maneuvering than I think Dubas wants.

We can get Ullmark without trading roster players and maybe toss Buffalo a conditional pick if we do well or we re-sign Ullmark.

As much as Merzlikins/Korpisalo or Gibson would be nice, I don't see Dubas making that size of a deal this year when he would have to wait 2 weeks to get the guy. It would require roster players to acquire and that is 4 or 5 games where we go without those roster guys.

 

[ToneDog]

I think it likely comes down to keeping Andersen or going for Ullmark TBH. Kuemper is a long shot if Arizona wants to protect Hill instead of him, but even that would require some more maneuvering than I think Dubas wants.

We can get Ullmark without trading roster players and maybe toss Buffalo a conditional pick if we do well or we re-sign Ullmark.

As much as Merzlikins/Korpisalo or Gibson would be nice, I don't see Dubas making that size of a deal this year when he would have to wait 2 weeks to get the guy. It would require roster players to acquire and that is 4 or 5 games where we go without those roster guys.

So trade for Ullmark and keep Andy as our #2/3 and risk losing him on waivers or trade him ??

 

[sxvnert]

Expect a trade shortly after the Winnipeg series. Probably Sunday (Sens trap game on Sunday is irrelevant) or Monday. Both Sens and Flames games are irrelevant from a standings POV.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I didn't even realize that Friedman put this in his 31 Thoughts:

10. Looking at goaltending: Carolina, Colorado (but at more of a depth level — I think they were looking at Buffalo’s Jonas Johansson) and possibly Washington. Must have been great for the Capitals to see Ilya Samsonov with a 36-save win over Philadelphia on Sunday; he’s had a lengthy recovery from COVID and it created some uncertainty. Vitek Vanecek’s played well and really battled for them, earning respect from his teammates and the organization, but Samsonov’s performance will determine how the Capitals proceed at this position.

Carolina and Washington were the two teams that I thought made the most sense for an Andersen trade.

 

[LeafParade]

If the idea is to go with Campbell come the playoffs than keeping Anderson as the backup is going to create media drama.

I am fairly certain that Anderson is not coming back next year, and if he loses the starting job before the playoffs... the Toronto media is going to drum it up every day.

This is why I am ok with dealing with Anderson mid-season, I just doubt Dubas sees it that way.

Anderson has value because he is only owed 1 million this year, so at the TDL. ... thats probably like 250k for the remainder of the season. Yes, its 5 million on the cap but its pennies in reality. This creates some opportunities for some creative cap maneuvering at the deadline.

If you can move Anderson and get back a cheaper goalie. That cap can be used towards the other deadline acquisitions (Top 6 winger)

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[123offtheglass]

Rosen means nothing to any team

"nothing" well no he'd be depth which is something. If he was with a worse organization he'd be playing in the NHL. He wasn't nothing in the Toronto-Colorado trades.

 

[LeafParade]

I didn't even realize that Friedman put this in his 31 Thoughts:



Carolina and Washington were the two teams that I thought made the most sense for an Andersen trade.

Carolina will have almost 8 million cap accumulated by the TDL.

The Leafs could deal them Anderson in exchange for one of their goalies (at 50% retention) because in real dollars Anderson is still cheaper than either of their goalies at 50% retention.

That opens up over 3 million in cap for the Leafs to use on other players at the TDL.