Trades & Free Agency Thread: 2024-2025 Season Edition

[BertCorbeau]

No immediate rush but Jarnkrok, Dewar and Hakanpaa aren't going to be on LTIR for the season and the Leafs are 5.5M over the cap. It wouldn't be a bad thing to get ahead of the looming decisions, especially if there's interest.

Simple - trade Jarnkrok

 

[ULF_55]

Tough fit for us I think. They probably want value, and we don't have a lot to give for a bit of a question mark. Can't say I've seen a lot of him recently either.

No immediate rush but Jarnkrok, Dewar and Hakanpaa aren't going to be on LTIR for the season and the Leafs are 5.5M over the cap. It wouldn't be a bad thing to get ahead of the looming decisions, especially if there's interest.

So Jiricek grumbled about being demoted last year, and here he is sitting again.

So he isn't one of their best defenders, and people want to sell the prospect farm so Leafs can demote him to the minors?

Maybe he is better than Timmins? Maybe the BJ's have a loaded defense and the Leafs is chopped liver?

I'd be fine doing a reasonable trade for the prospect, but overpaying is overpaying.

How about Robertson straight across.

Move Liljegren/Kampf/Jarnkrok for Cap Relief and get a fair return.
Fair return on Kampf < Jarnkrok < Liljegren.

 

[seanlinden]

No immediate rush but Jarnkrok, Dewar and Hakanpaa aren't going to be on LTIR for the season and the Leafs are 5.5M over the cap. It wouldn't be a bad thing to get ahead of the looming decisions, especially if there's interest.

To be fair...all 3 are "stuck" on LTIR for at least another 6 games.

In those 6 games, it's entirely possible that somebody gets hurt; so there is some degree of logic in "always" being over the cap using LTIR.

They also can afford to bring Dewar off LTIR (as he was not on LTIR as part of the season-opeining roster), as long as Hildeby goes back down. They could, ALTERNATIVELY, bring Hakanpaa off LTIR, assuming Hildeby goes down and they waive Phillipe Myers.

 

[SprDaVE]

To be fair...all 3 are "stuck" on LTIR for at least another 6 games.

In those 6 games, it's entirely possible that somebody gets hurt; so there is some degree of logic in "always" being over the cap using LTIR.

They also can afford to bring Dewar off LTIR (as he was not on LTIR as part of the season-opeining roster), as long as Hildeby goes back down. They could, ALTERNATIVELY, bring Hakanpaa off LTIR, assuming Hildeby goes down and they waive Phillipe Myers.

6 games is by the end of the month.

It's possible Leafs hit another LTIR by then. It's possible they don't. Either way, the point is that it would probably be wise to make a trade to relieve some of the cap from players in a depth role. If Treliving and the Leafs can manage the cap without making a single trade and only waive a player or two, then I guess kudos?

 

[LeafChief]

Marino now confirmed out multiple months
Durzi out 4-5 months.

Sergacheev playing 28 minutes the other night. Ian Cole played 25ish minutes.

Liljegren to Utah makes a lot of sense.

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

Jarnkrok, Lilly and Kampf sound like the new version of Ryder, Halak and a 2nd that Habs fans kept pushing

 

[WTFMAN99]

Marino now confirmed out multiple months
Durzi out 4-5 months.

Sergacheev playing 28 minutes the other night. Ian Cole played 25ish minutes.

Liljegren to Utah makes a lot of sense.

I was coming here to post this but yeah, they're actually doing okay in the standings, they likely don't want to fall behind in the standings in year #1 because of injuries.

They have picks;

 

[OVO16]

Liljegren to either Utah and Kings shouold've been done already

Heck even Timmins to one of those timmins. Both are RD

 

[rumman]

Marino now confirmed out multiple months
Durzi out 4-5 months.

Sergacheev playing 28 minutes the other night. Ian Cole played 25ish minutes.

Liljegren to Utah makes a lot of sense.

if possible, McBain please............

Liljegren to either Utah and Kings shouold've been done already

Heck even Timmins to one of those timmins. Both are RD

losing both Lilly and Timmins would be great imo, Myers is ready for his debut imo............

 

[Kurtz]

I was coming here to post this but yeah, they're actually doing okay in the standings, they likely don't want to fall behind in the standings in year #1 because of injuries.

They have picks;

View attachment 918576

Looks like they got a 2nd rounder in '26 to spare. That sounds about right.

 

[Knies iT]

There's an obvious fit with Utah. I think Liljegren's value is probably in the ballpark of a 3rd rounder and realistically, it's a futures based trade.

But McBain makes too much sense. 1.59m cap hit still achieves cap relief, currently playing LW but would give us a bottom six C/LW pivot, and is young enough to be a mainstay. Reminds me a bit of Nick Paul in Ottawa pre-trade to TB.

I'd add a fair amount to Liljegren to facilitate that. I don't think Utah has any particular reason to move him, but their LW/C depth is decently deep that it wouldn't hurt (Keller/Crouse/Maccelli at LW) and they desperately need a RD short/medium term.

I think he's the perfect add, in terms of what's realistically attainable + cost.

 

[Rare Jewel]

There's an obvious fit with Utah. I think Liljegren's value is probably in the ballpark of a 3rd rounder and realistically, it's a futures based trade.

But McBain makes too much sense. 1.59m cap hit still achieves cap relief, currently playing LW but would give us a bottom six C/LW pivot, and is young enough to be a mainstay. Reminds me a bit of Nick Paul in Ottawa pre-trade to TB.

I'd add a fair amount to Liljegren to facilitate that. I don't think Utah has any particular reason to move him, but their LW/C depth is decently deep that it wouldn't hurt (Keller/Crouse/Maccelli at LW) and they desperately need a RD short/medium term.

I think he's the perfect add, in terms of what's realistically attainable + cost.

Straight-up would be fine and fair.

It's hard to tell if McBain is actually an improvement on Holmberg at this time. And again, with Lilly, they're selling him at a low point; I think some forget that this guy played 61 and 67 games between '21 and '23

It's not another player who hasn't established themselves for an extended period of time. He just finds himself on the wrong side of the GM and coaches biases.

 

[notdoneyet]

Straight-up would be fine and fair.

It's hard to tell if McBain is actually an improvement on Holmberg at this time. And again, with Lilly, they're selling him at a low point; I think some forget that this guy played 61 and 67 games between '21 and '23

It's not another player who hasn't established themselves for an extended period of time. He just finds himself on the wrong side of the GM and coaches biases.

He is not on the outs because of the biases. He is on the outs because of his skill set.

Lilly is a good puck distributor with good skating ability.
His hockey IQ is suspect at times. He is not strong enough to stop a cycle and he isn’t strong enough to clear the net to prevent rebounds. Two important skills if you are going to be a dman on this team.

 

[Rare Jewel]

e is not on the outs because of the biases. He is on the outs because of his skill set.

I was reading that last week that Berube prefers if his Defencemen are big , so that they "get in the way."

So he kind of does.

Lilly is a good puck distributor with good skating ability.
His hockey IQ is suspect at times. He is not strong enough to stop a cycle and he isn’t strong enough to clear the net to prevent rebounds. Two important skills if you are going to be a dman on this team.

Well, then put him with someone who helps him down low, a la McCabe or Benoit.

You're not going to have perfect Dman. I mean Rielly has issues with some of the things you've listed

 

[Burnie97]

I was coming here to post this but yeah, they're actually doing okay in the standings, they likely don't want to fall behind in the standings in year #1 because of injuries.

They have picks;

View attachment 918576

I don't mind Lilly... but if they want to move off him, which seems likely... and considering the cap then a 26 2nd rounder, and a 2025 3rd would work.

Not sure they'd get even close to that but something like that.

 

[Dreakmur]

I don't mind Lilly... but if they want to move off him, which seems likely... and considering the cap then a 26 2nd rounder, and a 2025 3rd would work.

Not sure they'd get even close to that but something like that.

A 2nd and a 3rd for a 3 million dollar 7th defenseman? That seems steep.

 

[seanlinden]

6 games is by the end of the month.

It's possible Leafs hit another LTIR by then. It's possible they don't. Either way, the point is that it would probably be wise to make a trade to relieve some of the cap from players in a depth role. If Treliving and the Leafs can manage the cap without making a single trade and only waive a player or two, then I guess kudos?

Would it?

We saw Tanev block a shot and miss some time tonight. What if OEL goes down to injury?

The Leafs do not have a lot of depth, especially on the blueline, especially amongst guys who can move the puck, if Liljegren goes.

 

[SprDaVE]

Would it?

We saw Tanev block a shot and miss some time tonight. What if OEL goes down to injury?

The Leafs do not have a lot of depth, especially on the blueline, especially amongst guys who can move the puck, if Liljegren goes.

What if Matthews crosses the street and tears his ACL? A lot of what if's. But they still have time to see where the LTIR people are and maybe things change. There's depth and you can't expect long-term injuries to everyone.

Liljegren isn't playing and they obviously don't like his game very much. When healthy, that probably won't change and they could use the cap space/roster space regardless. If there's a trade to be made, they should make it. Or you know... play him.

 

[Knies iT]

Straight-up would be fine and fair.

It's hard to tell if McBain is actually an improvement on Holmberg at this time. And again, with Lilly, they're selling him at a low point; I think some forget that this guy played 61 and 67 games between '21 and '23

It's not another player who hasn't established themselves for an extended period of time. He just finds himself on the wrong side of the GM and coaches biases.

I think if you surveyed contenders looking for a playoff add, they'd comfortably take McBain over Liljegren/Holmberg as it stands today.

Given cap hits and the premium attached to physical attributes, i'd bet there's a decent add on Liljegren if it were to happen.

 

[seanlinden]

What if Matthews crosses the street and tears his ACL? A lot of what if's. But they still have time to see where the LTIR people are and maybe things change. There's depth and you can't expect long-term injuries to everyone.

Liljegren isn't playing and they obviously don't like his game very much. When healthy, that probably won't change and they could use the cap space/roster space regardless. If there's a trade to be made, they should make it. Or you know... play him.

Obviously if Matthews goes down that's a fairly irreplacable player. However, injuries in hockey will happen -- it's just a matter of when and to whom.

It would be a fairly safe assumption to assume that a defensive core of Rielly, Tanev, OEL, McCabe, Benoit, Timmins and Hakanpaa will always have at least 1 guy on the LTIR. They're fairly old.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that they should keep Liljegren. I'm simply saying that they don't need to be rushing out the door to trade him either. If all they do is go out and get a 2nd or 3rd round pick for him, and the next night OEL suffers a fairly significant injury, they're going to be caught with their pants down for absolutely no reason.

Now, if you can get something of real value, that's obviously a different story, but even though Liljegren has clearly not endeared himself to Craig Berube, I think he probably holds more value to the Leafs than a guy like Calle Jarnkrok... so if all you're doing is getting a mid-round pick, might as well shed Jarnkrok when he's healthy enough to return.

 

[seanlinden]

I think if you surveyed contenders looking for a playoff add, they'd comfortably take McBain over Liljegren/Holmberg as it stands today.

Given cap hits and the premium attached to physical attributes, i'd bet there's a decent add on Liljegren if it were to happen.

To me, the "right" deal is probably something along the lines of McBain + a 2nd or 3rd for Liljegren + Jarnkrok.

Gives the Yotes a replacement player in McBain's spot, with a veteran presence. "Transitions" the upside they have in McBain (as position of relative strength) to upside in the form of a right-shot defenceman (a weakness).

From the Leafs standpoint, no real room for Jarnkrok if you're adding another forward, and allows the Leafs to accrue some cap space leading up to the deadline. Gets a guy that can play the "Knies/McMann" LW role on a 3rd group... or maybe have some upside as a high quality #3C if the Domi at C approach faulters.

At least with this approach.. yes you're running the risk of being too thin on D, but you're taking care of a position that would likely be a shopping list item at the deadline (and offseason/longer term).