Trades and Free Agency 2021 | Trade Deadline 6 weeks away

[Menzinger]

With Kerfoot looking comfortable on the wing, it certainly looks like a center is more priority than a winger at this point.

Staal checks a lot of boxes for me, honestly. At 50% retention, he fits in cap wise. We can send Vesey the other way or waive him off the roster to bring the cap add to 100K.

He slides in at 3C, but Staal has also played W before as well, meaning we can even try him beside Tavares and Nylander and have Kerfoot back at 3C, depending on matchup. Versatility is always a good thing.

Plus, when we are running a stacked PP1, our PP2 uh, lacks a bit, so he can help there. He also tends to win more draws than he loses.

Hes one of the few guys likely availible who can help carry a line offensively.

Could help Soup out a lot

 

[IrishInOntario]

I'm starting to wonder what we need if our new checking line is for real and Simmonds and Matthews are fit

Thornton Matthews Marner
Nylander Tavares Kerfoot
Hyman Engvall Mikheyev

Simmonds isn't in the top 9, if he makes it Kerfoot may not make the top 9

I want to push hard this season because I like this team but what are we looking for?

Somebody that can play Center or Wing? A depth defenseman? Goaltender insurance?

Where are these people going to play if we're fit?

I don't think we "need" anything, but I always like putting yourself in the best possible place to win. For me that looks like Rackell or Forsberg on Matthews' and Marner's left wing.

In a year in which the scheduling has gifted us with just about the easiest path to the final 4 that we're likely to get, I say take a legitimate shot at it!

 

[Kiwi]

2 wild cards there, if this version of Engvall can show up every night, the Leafs are golden.

If Soup can finish just a touch more in the latter half of the season, it would be huge.

If Soup can finish anything it would be a bonus, law of averages days he's going to get something going shortly

He gets 2 breakaways every game it feels like

I think Engvall can, it's not like we're asking him to score or anything impossible like that

 

[Kiwi]

I don't think we "need" anything, but I always like putting yourself in the best possible place to win. For me that looks like Rackell or Forsberg on Matthews' and Marner's left wing.

In a year in which the scheduling has gifted us with just about the easiest path to the final 4 that we're likely to get, I say take a legitimate shot at it!

The team is bloody good, were already in with a legitimate shot

The questions are, do we need it, how much better are we and what's the cost

I'm not keen on gutting the prospect depth for something that may be redundant if our guys are playing like this already

 

[Nylanderthal]

Nylander and Tavares should no longer play together.

Go after a top 6 W to play with JT pair Willy with kerfoot and a puck hound (soup or Hyman) and move the other with jt have 3 super potent lines and just wave after wave at them
Jumbo-big tony-magic
Hyman/soup-JT-XX
Hyman/soup-kerfoot-Willy
Engvall-spezza-Simmonds

 

[TheShape]

Keefe rolls his top 3 lines pretty steady so once everyone is healthy I'm not opposed to Nylander playing as the 3C. In theory Willie should feast against other team's bottom 6 lines. Maybe Keefe doesn't trust Nylander down the middle but I feel he would be more engaged in his natural position.

We have enough wingers to cover for RW and it gets Nylander away from Tavares. Lots of options.

 

[VanW27]

I don't think we "need" anything, but I always like putting yourself in the best possible place to win. For me that looks like Rackell or Forsberg on Matthews' and Marner's left wing.

In a year in which the scheduling has gifted us with just about the easiest path to the final 4 that we're likely to get, I say take a legitimate shot at it!

How are we fitting Forsberg's cap hit?

Nashville could retain I guess but I doubt many teams are going to be willing to retain anything significant on deals that go beyond this season.

I think the most likely move is an upgrade at 4C, particularly a guy who can PK and is good defensively.

Haula, Namestnikov, Glendenning. Players who can play up in the lineup as well if needed.

 

[hockeynorth]

Seeing that video of Dermott getting fighting lessons from Bogo really has me thinking of how much tougher this team is now.

• Dermott had an edge in junior, seems to be bringing it back.
• Holl isn't taking anything around the crease lately.
• Muzzin and Bogo crush guys like usual.
• Brodie has 15 hits in 23 games, last year he had 20 in 63.
• Matthews is tousling with guys and throwing his weight, may have lost his shot at the Byng thanks to Rasmus Anderson. He also tends to be in the middle of scrums.
• Marner dishes nice hits here and there, his hip check the other night is engrained in my mind right now.
• Simmonds is Simmonds, we all love Simmonds.
• Nylander 2 off last year.
• Hyman and Mikheyev are playing pesky hockey.
• Thornton and Spezza bring a nice vet element and both don't shy away which surprises me. I always thought both were all finesse, heck Spezzas on pace for the most hits of his career even before adjusting for games played.

The boys are gonna be just fine in the playoffs.

 

[OVO16]

Seeing that video of Dermott getting fighting lessons from Bogo really has me thinking of how much tougher this team is now.

• Dermott had an edge in junior, seems to be bringing it back.
• Holl isn't taking anything around the crease lately.
• Muzzin and Bogo crush guys like usual.
• Brodie has 15 hits in 23 games, last year he had 20 in 63.
• Matthews is tousling with guys and throwing his weight, may have lost his shot at the Byng thanks to Rasmus Anderson. He also tends to be in the middle of scrums.
• Marner dishes nice hits here and there, his hip check the other night is engrained in my mind right now.
• Simmonds is Simmonds, we all love Simmonds.
• Nylander 2 off last year.
• Hyman and Mikheyev are playing pesky hockey.
• Thornton and Spezza bring a nice vet element and both don't shy away which surprises me. I always thought both were all finesse, heck Spezzas on pace for the most hits of his career even before adjusting for games played.

The boys are gonna be just fine in the playoffs.

Vesey has been ass but he's been finishing his checks and isn't scared to get involved it looks like.

Honestly, the low-key guy in our team when it comes to toughness....has to be Pierre Engvall. Even Keefe said a couple days ago that Engvall has no idea how good of a player he can be given his Size and Skillset.

It's a shame he doesn;'t use it because he could be a beast to play against. Maybe he brings it out in the playoffs. Idk. He also looks like someone who would be able to hold his own in a fight too

 

[IrishInOntario]

How are we fitting Forsberg's cap hit?

Nashville could retain I guess but I doubt many teams are going to be willing to retain anything significant on deals that go beyond this season.

I think the most likely move is an upgrade at 4C, particularly a guy who can PK and is good defensively.

Haula, Namestnikov, Glendenning. Players who can play up in the lineup as well if needed.

Nashville will retain 50% through the rest of this year and next. They're selling and they have plenty of cap room as is. Kerfoot would go the other way which would give Toronto net 500k in cap space to grab another guy like Bobby Ryan as well... It would require a premium price be paid for the retention on Forsberg, but it's my belief that the Leafs can extend Forsberg post 2022, so IMO it's worth it.

I think moving on from Anderson and going to a 1A / 1B option in net saves you about 1.5 million. Kessel comes off the cap and saves you 1.2 million more. Ultimately, I'm in favoyr of moving on from Jake Muzzin after 2022 to free up more space. A couple years from now I envision something like...

Forsberg / Matthews / Marner
Robertson / Tavares / Nylander
Mikheyev / FA / Hyman
FA / Hallander / Anderson

Reilly / Brodie
Sandin / Holl
Liljegren / Bogosian

FA
Campbell

Love the core of that team.

 

[SoftDumpNtheCorner88]

Needed to post this here aswell. Please read.


Engvall Isnt bad... But realistically it's only been a few games where he's impressed and it's not out of the woods to think he has a few bad games again and he's back on the chopping block.

Engvall Isnt going to impress anyone moving up and down the line up.. he isn't a better hockey player then Eric Staal.. I like the hyman-envgall-soup line too but we all know it's Hyman that's the glue of that line.. followed by Soup right after him.... Putting Staal in between those 2 would be an upgrade.. also you can try Staal-JT-Willy on the 2nd line Engvall Isnt going to shine there otherwise he would of already been given that shot.

Staal can move up and down the line up with his skill and experience. We only need him for a cup run, and he's affordable.

If anything you can still keep Engvall and soup together on the 4th line with Spezza.. and have Hyman-Staal-kerfoot/Simmonds on the 3rd (whoever Keefe decides they want to play with JT and willy)

And let's say Staal comes in and we sparks with JT and Nylander... You can bump kerfoot down to the 3rd and still have
Hyman-kerfoot-simmonds
On the 3rd..

You just have better star power options with depth.

Thornton - Matthews - Marner
Kerfoot - JT - Nylander
Hyman - Staal - Soup
Simmonds - Engvall - Spezza

Thornton - Matthews - Marner
Simmonds - JT - Nylander
Hyman - Staal - kerfoot
Spezza -Engvall - soup

Thornton - Matthews - Marner
Staal - JT - Nylander
Hyman - kerfoot/Engvall - soup
Spezza - kerfoot/Engvall - Simmonds

Injuries can have players bumped up and mixed around while holes get filled in with:
Galchenyuk, Robertson, Boyd, Petan, Barabanov, Anderson, Vesey

It's depth and versatile... Also doesn't cost much and the leafs can still get another top winger to mix in that bunch... Staal added to the PP2 is an upgrade aswell.. think about it. And it's cheap.

 

[VanW27]

Nashville will retain 50% through the rest of this year and next. They're selling and they have plenty of cap room as is. It would require a premium price be paid for the retention, but it's my belief that the Leafs can extend Forserg post 2022, so IMO it's worth it.

Cap room isn't the question for Nashville, teams wont want to spend the cash in the current financial situation. If they would the cost will be high, like really high.

Probably something like

Forsberg (50% retained)

for

Kerfoot (cap reasons)
1st
Robertson
Sandin

Is that a trade you really want to make?

 

[IrishInOntario]

Cap room isn't the question for Nashville, teams wont want to spend the cash in the current financial situation. If they would the cost will be high, like really high.

Probably something like

Forsberg (50% retained)

for

Kerfoot (cap reasons)
1st
Robertson
Sandin

Is that a trade you really want to make?

I've suggested...

To Nashville
Alex Kerfoot (who they'll flip for a 2nd)
Rodion Amirov
Topi Niemela
2021 1st round pick

To Toronto
Filip Forsberg (retained @50%)

By Flipping Kerfoot, they'll wind up paying 4.5 million less in real cash over the next 1.5 seasons (1.5 years of Forsberg retained).

 

[Smif]

I've suggested...

To Nashville
Alex Kerfoot (who they'll flip for a 2nd)
Rodion Amirov
Topi Niemela
2021 1st round pick

To Toronto
Filip Forsberg (retained @50%)

By Flipping Kerfoot, they'll wind up paying 4.5 million less in real cash over the next 1.5 seasons (1.5 years of Forsberg retained).

Picking up a guy with term means losing a significant player to Seattle, doesn't it?

 

[IrishInOntario]

Picking up a guy with term means losing a significant player to Seattle, doesn't it?

Yep. Protect 3 defensemen and let them take Dermott. IMO, it's part of the price you pay to protect another elite forward. That's why you draft guys like Sandin and Liljegren with 1st round picks... You have the intent to play them.

 

[TMLAM34]

If Dubas really wants to go all in, Tomas Hertl might be an option. 1 year remaining after this season, he does have a modified no trade clause so he’d have to waive in order to come to Toronto which I don’t think would be an issue. If San Jose is willing to retain 50% I’d be very interested.

Kerfoot, Niemela, 1st for Hertl


Thornton - Matthews - Marner
Hertl - Tavares - Nylander
Hyman - Engvall - Mikheyev
Boyd - Spezza - Simmonds

If Engvalls game falls off, maybe you flip him for Eric Staal. His play will dictate that move.

 

[Smif]

Yep. Protect 3 defensemen and let them take Dermott. IMO, it's part of the price you pay to protect another elite forward. That's why you draft guys like Sandin and Liljegren with 1st round picks... You have the intent to play them.

If you go 7-3 you likely lose Holl over Dermott which makes the cost of acquiring a winger with term way too expensive for me.

 

[hamzarocks]

If Dubas really wants to go all in, Tomas Hertl might be an option. 1 year remaining after this season, he does have a modified no trade clause so he’d have to waive in order to come to Toronto which I don’t think would be an issue. If San Jose is willing to retain 50% I’d be very interested.

Kerfoot, Niemela, 1st for Hertl


Thornton - Matthews - Marner
Hertl - Tavares - Nylander
Hyman - Engvall - Mikheyev
Boyd - Spezza - Simmonds

If Engvalls game falls off, maybe you flip him for Eric Staal. His play will dictate that move.

Sharks fans are delusional when it comes to Hertls value

I offered Lilijgren + Amirov for Hertl@50. They said they wouldnt do that for him with no retention.

Hertl isnt the player to target imo. Price is too high and he is to inconsistent in production to justify that. Aim lower but cheaper at a rakell/granlund

 

[TMLAM34]

If you go 7-3 you likely lose Holl over Dermott which makes the cost of acquiring a winger with term way too expensive for me.

Even though it would suck to loose Holl, which is the most likely scenario if he’s left exposed, we then keep Dermott and have a right handed defenceman who’s developing nicely two-way in Liljegren.

Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Liljegren
Dermott - Bogosian
Lehtonen

Not a top six I’m really worried about still.

 

[Cecithepylon]

Hey I saw some people talking about Eric Staal just wanna see how every one feels about him. Should we go for him?

 

[Not My Tempo]

Yep. Protect 3 defensemen and let them take Dermott. IMO, it's part of the price you pay to protect another elite forward. That's why you draft guys like Sandin and Liljegren with 1st round picks... You have the intent to play them.

If they take Holl, Dermott can play the right on the second pair. If they take Dermott, we keep Holl. Either way, we need to make room for Sandin/Liljegren so I’m okay with losing 1 of them

 

[Leafs1993]

Not a bad idea, but I really like how our 3rd line has played recently and we already have Spezza and Jumbo. Depends what the price is

 

[Maple Leaf]

Yep

 

[hockeywiz542]

31 Thoughts: Why NHL is exploring the NBA Top Shot trend - Sportsnet.ca

4. It’s a buyer’s market out there. With five weeks until the trade deadline, how many teams are really willing to take on money? Never mind “can” take on money under the cap, but would be willing to do so? The list is not long, and there are many more sellers than buyers.

Boston and Philadelphia are eyeing defencemen, although both teams must monitor expansion-draft issues. You don’t want to make that situation worse, unless of course you are trading something that nullifies the problem. Toronto is checking out forwards. Colorado is looking at some options, but I don’t know how high-salaried they would be. One interesting possibility: Minnesota. Unafraid GM and challenging for top spot in the West.

5. A perfect example would be what’s been happening with Anaheim and Vancouver. They’ve been grinding away off-and-on about a Danton Heinen-Jake Virtanen move for approximately a week. But it was never a one-for-one because the money doesn’t match. Heinen makes approximately $1 million more than Virtanen this season; the current Canuck will make $3.4 million cash next season. (Heinen is restricted with arbitration rights.) So they’ve been trying to figure how to equal things. For example, I could see the Ducks asking Vancouver if they’d be interested in Abbotsford’s Derek Grant. It’s a high-wire act.

7. I do think teams searching for goalie depth have asked Buffalo about Jonas Johansson, who will be an unrestricted free agent without 21 appearances of at least 30 minutes. Sunday was his second game of the season.

13. Forgot to include this last week, but Los Angeles GM Rob Blake did say the Kings hope to re-sign UFA-to-be Alex Iafallo.

18. Another KHL player to keep an eye on: Magnitogorsk defenceman Grigori Dronov. Just turned 23 and may need some AHL time, but there are NHL clubs watching him.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

31 Thoughts: Why NHL is exploring the NBA Top Shot trend - Sportsnet.ca

4. It’s a buyer’s market out there. With five weeks until the trade deadline, how many teams are really willing to take on money? Never mind “can” take on money under the cap, but would be willing to do so? The list is not long, and there are many more sellers than buyers.

Boston and Philadelphia are eyeing defencemen, although both teams must monitor expansion-draft issues. You don’t want to make that situation worse, unless of course you are trading something that nullifies the problem. Toronto is checking out forwards. Colorado is looking at some options, but I don’t know how high-salaried they would be. One interesting possibility: Minnesota. Unafraid GM and challenging for top spot in the West.

7. I do think teams searching for goalie depth have asked Buffalo about Jonas Johansson, who will be an unrestricted free agent without 21 appearances of at least 30 minutes. Sunday was his second game of the season.

13. Forgot to include this last week, but Los Angeles GM Rob Blake did say the Kings hope to re-sign UFA-to-be Alex Iafallo.

18. Another KHL player to keep an eye on: Magnitogorsk defenceman Grigori Dronov. Just turned 23 and may need some AHL time, but there are NHL clubs watching him.

#18 Prospect Info: - Marlies/Prospects- Early Off Season time

Called it in October 2020. It was painfully obvious that teams would like him.

EDIT: FTR, would definitely take him on as a #7 next year. If we are going with Sandin as our bottom pairing guy, then Dronov can replace Lehtonen as our extra and rotate in for injuries.