Trades & Free Agency Thread: 2024-2025 - Trade Deadline Approaches

[ULF_55]

Why do you think I'm trying to get rid of him?

ETA: it's more of a, "can we exploit Van" question...

He is trying.

 

[TMLAM34]

I wonder if the Leafs shit the bed yet again in the playoffs, instead of re-signing Marner exploring a trade with a team of his choosing where he would sign an extension and he would get that 8th year.

I look at a team like LA and I can see the mutual interest being there from both sides to get a deal done. The return wouldn’t be anything crazy but maybe we can get someone who can play in that 6-9 range like Trevor Moore.

 

[The Podium]

I wonder if the Leafs shit the bed yet again in the playoffs, instead of re-signing Marner exploring a trade with a team of his choosing where he would sign an extension and he would get that 8th year.

I look at a team like LA and I can see the mutual interest being there from both sides to get a deal done. The return wouldn’t be anything crazy but maybe we can get someone who can play in that 6-9 range like Trevor Moore.

Doesn’t work like that, they need to be on the roster prior to the TDL to get the 8 year option

 

[ULF_55]

Doesn’t work like that, they need to be on the roster prior to the TDL to get the 8 year option

I think he was suggesting sign and trade.

 

[IrishInOntario]

It's obviously still a ways away, but with a projected $95.5 million salary cap next year, I'm curious about what people think about the following cap allocation for the 2025-2026 season.

Extensions
Mitch Marner: $12.75 million per
John Tavares: $7.5 million per
Matthews Knies: $4.0 million per

Note: The Knies contract would be a 2 year bridge deal, with the idea in mind that the cap is expected to go up aggressively and that with Marner and Tavares extended, he could put himself in line for a big extension at the end of the bridge deal.

Center
C1 Auston Matthews: $13,250,000
C2 John Tavares: $7,500,000
C3 Addition: $4,000,000
C4 Fraser Minten: $817,000

Right Wing
RW1 Mitch Marner: $12,750,000
RW2 William Nylander: $11,500,000
RW3 Max Domi: $3,7500,000
RW4 Steven Lorentz: $1,000,000

Left Wing
LW1 Matthew Knies: $4,000,000
LW2 Addition: $3,000,000
LW3 Bobby McMann: $1,350,000
LW4 Easton Cowan: $905,000

13th F Nikita Grebenkin: $875,000

Defense
LD1 Morgan Rielly: $7,500,000
LD2 Jake McCabe: $4,510,000
LD3 Simon Benoit: $1,350,000

RD1 Chris Tanev: $4,500,000
RD3 Oliver Ekman-Larsson: $3,500,000
RD3 Addition: $2,000,000

7th Defenseman: $1,000,000

Goalies
Joseph Woll: $3,670,000
Anthony Stolarz: $2,500,000

Total Cap: $95,227,000

 

[TMLAM34]

It's obviously still a ways away, but with a projected $95.5 million salary cap next year, I'm curious about what people think about the following cap allocation for the 2025-2026 season.

Extensions
Mitch Marner: $12.75 million per
John Tavares: $7.5 million per
Matthews Knies: $4.0 million per

Note: The Knies contract would be a 2 year bridge deal, with the idea in mind that the cap is expected to go up aggressively and that with Marner and Tavares extended, he could put himself in line for a big extension at the end of the bridge deal.

Center
C1 Auston Matthews: $13,250,000
C2 John Tavares: $7,500,000
C3 Addition: $4,000,000
C4 Fraser Minten: $817,000

Right Wing
RW1 Mitch Marner: $12,750,000
RW2 William Nylander: $11,500,000
RW3 Max Domi: $3,7500,000
RW4 Steven Lorentz: $1,000,000

Left Wing
LW1 Matthew Knies: $4,000,000
LW2 Addition: $3,000,000
LW3 Bobby McMann: $1,350,000
LW4 Easton Cowan: $905,000

13th F Nikita Grebenkin: $875,000

Defense
LD1 Morgan Reilly: $7,500,000
LD2 Jake McCabe: $4,510,000
LD3 Simon Benoit: $1,350,000

RD1 Chris Tanev: $4,500,000
RD3 Oliver Ekman-Larsson: $3,500,000
RD3 Addition: $2,000,000

7th Defenseman: $1,000,000

Goalies
Joseph Woll: $3,670,000
Anthony Stolarz: $2,500,000

Total Cap: $95,227,000

I don’t know if I can watch another season with Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Tavares and Rielly… lol

 

[Schennanigans]

Even with the cap going up I don’t want to see anymore of Marner.

 

[Rare Jewel]

Even with the cap going up I don’t want to see anymore of Marner.

That's pretty brutal.... lol

I know it should come purely down to results (which aren't really there), but I'd be much more supportive of him staying if it wasn't for Dad and Darren.

 

[SprDaVE]

It's obviously still a ways away, but with a projected $95.5 million salary cap next year, I'm curious about what people think about the following cap allocation for the 2025-2026 season.

Extensions
Mitch Marner: $12.75 million per
John Tavares: $7.5 million per
Matthews Knies: $4.0 million per

Note: The Knies contract would be a 2 year bridge deal, with the idea in mind that the cap is expected to go up aggressively and that with Marner and Tavares extended, he could put himself in line for a big extension at the end of the bridge deal.

Center
C1 Auston Matthews: $13,250,000
C2 John Tavares: $7,500,000
C3 Addition: $4,000,000
C4 Fraser Minten: $817,000

Right Wing
RW1 Mitch Marner: $12,750,000
RW2 William Nylander: $11,500,000
RW3 Max Domi: $3,7500,000
RW4 Steven Lorentz: $1,000,000

Left Wing
LW1 Matthew Knies: $4,000,000
LW2 Addition: $3,000,000
LW3 Bobby McMann: $1,350,000
LW4 Easton Cowan: $905,000

13th F Nikita Grebenkin: $875,000

Defense
LD1 Morgan Rielly: $7,500,000
LD2 Jake McCabe: $4,510,000
LD3 Simon Benoit: $1,350,000

RD1 Chris Tanev: $4,500,000
RD3 Oliver Ekman-Larsson: $3,500,000
RD3 Addition: $2,000,000

7th Defenseman: $1,000,000

Goalies
Joseph Woll: $3,670,000
Anthony Stolarz: $2,500,000

Total Cap: $95,227,000

My answer might be completely different between now and next season. I think it goes for most people around here -- it will depend entirely on their post-season success this season. Another early exit, I won't be happy and I'd expect Treliving to get off his ass.

Also, I love JT but there's no way I give him that much. He either takes around 2M less or he moves on to get his money. He's probably worth it but he will continue to regress as he gets older. Defer money if you have to but that cap hit needs to come much lower.

 

[Schennanigans]

That's pretty brutal.... lol

I know it should come purely down to results (which aren't really there), but I'd be much more supportive of him staying if it wasn't for Dad and Darren.

I’m completely turned off from him. Ever since in the playoffs when he wussied out of a play so he didn’t get hit. I’m just done with him. I don’t want him back. I’m fine with losing him for nothing if it comes to that.

 

[Evilhomer]

My answer might be completely different between now and next season. I think it goes for most people around here -- it will depend entirely on their post-season success this season. Another early exit, I won't be happy and I'd expect Treliving to get off his ass.

Also, I love JT but there's no way I give him that much. He either takes around 2M less or he moves on to get his money. He's probably worth it but he will continue to regress as he gets older. Defer money if you have to but that cap hit needs to come much lower.

I'll be surprised if Tavares comes in at more than $5 million per season, even with the cap increase. He'll siign something similar to Tanev, except probably with deferred money, so that the cap hit stays relatively low. I wish the Leafs wouldn't resign him, but I know that isn't realistic.

 

[All Mod Cons]

Why, as a fanbase, are we wanting to go through more years of all 4 of Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares? It's like Stockholm syndrome with the fanbase.

It feels like we need to have these 4 players or nothing really counts.

 

[Skullz]

My answer might be completely different between now and next season. I think it goes for most people around here -- it will depend entirely on their post-season success this season. Another early exit, I won't be happy and I'd expect Treliving to get off his ass.

Also, I love JT but there's no way I give him that much. He either takes around 2M less or he moves on to get his money. He's probably worth it but he will continue to regress as he gets older. Defer money if you have to but that cap hit needs to come much lower.

I agree. Really need to use our leverage on this one.

 

[Eternal Leaf]

A cap increase means nothing if they spend almost a huge chunk of it on Marner + Tavares + Knies. Especially if they lose in the first round again.

 

[thusk]

My answer might be completely different between now and next season. I think it goes for most people around here -- it will depend entirely on their post-season success this season. Another early exit, I won't be happy and I'd expect Treliving to get off his ass.

Also, I love JT but there's no way I give him that much. He either takes around 2M less or he moves on to get his money. He's probably worth it but he will continue to regress as he gets older. Defer money if you have to but that cap hit needs to come much lower.

I think you're maybe underrating kind of contract we will see in the next 3-4 season... Contract will be ridiculous and will be hard to find a good top 6 at good salary if every team got a new 7-10 M every year.

Honestly i don't really what to expect but honestly k anticipated the worst with free agency

 

[SprDaVE]

I think you're maybe underrating kind of contract we will see in the next 3-4 season... Contract will be ridiculous and will be hard to find a good top 6 at good salary if every team got a new 7-10 M every year.

Honestly i don't really what to expect but honestly k anticipated the worst with free agency

I'm not underrating it. Im fully aware a rising cap will create a lot of bigger contracts. I don't really care. I'd do what the Lightning did with Stamkos for JT in particular -- take this deal or you can move on. Marner I have a lot more patience to work something out long-term because he's in his prime and obviously high end. It will depend on the variables of the next few months but he's in the same boat.

Using free agency is very much playing Russian Roulette when adding at the top of your roster. One or two anchors and you're done. Burke annihilated this team via free agency. Boston really killed their team going after Zadorov and Lindholm.

 

[Stephen]

It's obviously still a ways away, but with a projected $95.5 million salary cap next year, I'm curious about what people think about the following cap allocation for the 2025-2026 season.

Extensions
Mitch Marner: $12.75 million per
John Tavares: $7.5 million per
Matthews Knies: $4.0 million per

Note: The Knies contract would be a 2 year bridge deal, with the idea in mind that the cap is expected to go up aggressively and that with Marner and Tavares extended, he could put himself in line for a big extension at the end of the bridge deal.

Center
C1 Auston Matthews: $13,250,000
C2 John Tavares: $7,500,000
C3 Addition: $4,000,000
C4 Fraser Minten: $817,000

Right Wing
RW1 Mitch Marner: $12,750,000
RW2 William Nylander: $11,500,000
RW3 Max Domi: $3,7500,000
RW4 Steven Lorentz: $1,000,000

Left Wing
LW1 Matthew Knies: $4,000,000
LW2 Addition: $3,000,000
LW3 Bobby McMann: $1,350,000
LW4 Easton Cowan: $905,000

13th F Nikita Grebenkin: $875,000

Defense
LD1 Morgan Rielly: $7,500,000
LD2 Jake McCabe: $4,510,000
LD3 Simon Benoit: $1,350,000

RD1 Chris Tanev: $4,500,000
RD3 Oliver Ekman-Larsson: $3,500,000
RD3 Addition: $2,000,000

7th Defenseman: $1,000,000

Goalies
Joseph Woll: $3,670,000
Anthony Stolarz: $2,500,000

Total Cap: $95,227,000

I don’t know how you get Matthew Knies at $4 million, he knows the cap is going up too.

 

[thusk]

I'm not underrating it. Im fully aware a rising cap will create a lot of bigger contracts. I don't really care. I'd do what the Lightning did with Stamkos for JT in particular -- take this team or you can move on. Marner I have a lot more patience to work something out long-term because he's in his prime and obviously high end but again, it will depend on the variables of the next few months.

Using free agency is very much playing Russian Roulette when adding at the top of your roster. One or two anchors and you're done. Burke annihilated this team via free agency. Boston really killed their team going after Zadorov and Lindholm.

Tampa got guentzel who was younger and bettrr...and like i said its pretty hard to predict how high contract will be... If exemple Bennett reach 7-8M. Sorry but at similar salary i taking all day long JT even at 35 over bennett and its not even close.

Personally if JT at 7,5M is the best option, i prefer it than startng next season with Domi as 2C. Its would be even closer of Russian roulette...

 

[LeafEgo]

Going way off topic but I think the cap jump will expose a big fault line between the haves and have nots in the NHL.

The tension I’m seeing is this parity driven Bettman system designed to pump up franchise valuations and fuel unsustainable rounds of expansion, versus where most sports leagues end up: big spending big market glamour teams fueled by star power and a big sea of window dressing teams.

The latter is more conducive to those marquee streaming games on Amazon. I think the NHL needs to let the Leafs grow into hockey’s version of the LA Dodgers and not stunt it.

I don't have an issue with a measured injection of captialism into the NHL. But I also don't like the idea of the Leafs finally winning after they change the rules to make things easier. We should just win first.

 

[SprDaVE]

Tampa got guentzel who was younger and bettrr...and like i said its pretty hard to predict how high contract will be... If exemple Bennett reach 7-8M. Sorry but at similar salary i taking all day long JT even at 35 over bennett and its not even close.

Personally if JT at 7,5M is the best option, i prefer it than startng next season with Domi as 2C

Well yeah you find other options and move forward. Thats what TB did. What if they missed out on Guentzel? They'd look elsewhere. I don't have a crystal ball so I have no idea who will hit free agency and what trades can be had. All I know is that this team needs to probably make tough decisions and not give out top dollar to every player in the short-term just because they didn't do their due diligence. Tough decisions have to be made and serious creativity from management needs to happen, especially if this team doesn't see post-season success. Retool the core, take a down season, do what you have to do.

I'd rather let JT walk than to give him a 7.5M cap hit for the next 3-4 years.

 

[thusk]

Well yeah you find other options and move forward. Thats what TB did. What if they missed out on Guentzel? They'd look elsewhere. I don't have a crystal ball. All All I know is that this team needs to probably make tough decisions and not give out top dollar to every player. Tough decisions have to be made and serious creativity from management needs to happen, especially if this team doesn't see post-season success. Retool the core, take a down season, do what you have to do.

You can't compare florida taxes exempt and playing in the heat all year long vs Toronto market to convince player to sign with you... You will lost the battle 99% of the time and that's a reality, so we can't compare leafs strategy in free agent to a florida team, its not the same reality. Every player want to play in Florida vs a lot of player didn't have any kind of interest to play in canada, so you will not having the same choice in free agency at the end of the day

 

[SprDaVE]

You can't compare florida taxes exempt and playing in the heat all year long vs Toronto market to convince player to sign with you... You will lost the battle 99% of the time and that's a reality, so we can't compare leafs strategy in free agent to a florida team, its not the same reality. Every player want to play in Florida vs a lot of player didn't have any kind of interest to play in canada, so you will not having the same choice in free agency at the end of the day

Ok that's cool but I have no idea why we're shifted to talking about taxes and their climate.

If Treliving can only sign JT for 7.5M and no one else wants to sign here and no one wants to trade with him, then I guess Domi is our 2nd line center.