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

[TheDoldrums]

Risto has been pretty good in Philly.

I'd rather go for him than Jones

 

[SprDaVE]

I think Torts saved Risto's career and this is coming from a guy that wouldn't even discuss Risto a couple years ago.

In terms of Laughton, 3C minutes...maybe Jarnkrok on RW, he can help defensively but won't provide much offense in the playoffs as we've seen. I tried this with Puckpedia below...is 3 transactions too many? I believe we did this many last year.

I'm open to the idea. If he fits and plays up to his capabilities then he'd be a pretty good upgrade at a decent cap hit. I'm skeptical about Risto based on our needs and his cap hit. It'll all depend on the price if the smoke turns real.

I've learned over the years not to rely on charts to make judgement on players -- it's not always fair or the best way of going about it. I think Laughton fits a lot. He knows his role and he contributes pretty well in a secondary role. Consistently putting up 40ish points, a good forechecker and always a top PKer that can be versatile in the lineup..

Definitely not the sexiest targets but Im not surprised that's the kind of players they are targetting.

 

[ACC1224]

Based on the rumours it seems like Marner and the Leafs aren’t close on an extension. Why not just ask him to waive the NMC? Send him where he wants to go.

Leafs could probably get Dobson + out of the Islanders if Marner waived the NMC.

Rumours are meaningless and why would he want to go to the Islanders if he was interested in leaving?

 

[Fogelhund]

Risto has been pretty good in Philly.

I'd rather go for him than Jones

Yes, he's been good so far this year.

He's been bad for eleven years, and good for just over four months. Torts does have him playing at an acceptable level, the question being... does he continue that four months play here, or revert to the prior eleven years of unacceptable?

The D really needs someone who can pitch in offensively, and goal scoring, which is our weakness, Risto doesn't address that. I mean.. he's a RHD, who might be available... so there is that.

 

[TMLAM34]

I wouldn’t mind Risto, I just don’t see the fit. We need someone who can play alongside Rielly, don’t think that is Risto. That pair has the potential to be a complete disaster in our own end.

Unless Berube plans on splitting McCabe and Tanev and running a top four of -

McCabe - Ristolainen
Rielly - Tanev

 

[WTFMAN99]

I'm open to the idea. If he fits and plays up to his capabilities then he'd be a pretty good upgrade at a decent cap hit. I'm skeptical about Risto based on our needs and his cap hit. It'll all depend on the price if the smoke turns real.

I've learned over the years to rely on charts to make judgement on players isn't always fair or the best way of going about it. I think Laughton fits a lot. He knows his role and he contributes pretty well in a secondary role.

Definitely not the sexiest targets but I not surprised that's the kind of players they are targetting.

I think Risto is a solid enough #4 guy.

If Rielly-Risto is a tire fire then it might be McCabe-Risto and Rielly-Tanev

OEL getting onto the 3rd pair on his strong side is important.

IF he's retained 50% as well, then I think we're going to be getting great value.

There is a part of me that would love to find a way to get Brandan Tanev on 3rd line LW with Laughton but 4 transactions seems greedy. I like the excess cap space in the above scenario because I believe we would avoid an overage for Patch's bonuses. Patches has faded *hard* since that injury.

 

[ULF_55]

The Leafs are going to resign Marner and Tavares. There is no point in debating it. This team is allergic to risk, so they won't let either guy walk.

If they want to stay with the team the Leafs will sign them.

But that's next year.

For this year there should be no untouchables, except Stolarz and Woll, unless Winnipeg wants to swap?

I'm not buying the reasonableness of a Seth Jones 5 year retention. Unless it's like 2.5mm per, bringing his contract down to Rielly's level.

Is $15mm for Rielly and Jones a good 1st. pairing?

 

[WTFMAN99]

If they want to stay with the team the Leafs will sign them.

But that's next year.

For this year there should be no untouchables, except Stolarz and Woll, unless Winnipeg wants to swap?

I'm not buying the reasonableness of a Seth Jones 5 year retention. Unless it's like 2.5mm per, bringing his contract down to Rielly's level.

Is $15mm for Rielly and Jones a good 1st. pairing?

Kypreos suggested Dallas for Jones as a landing spot.

Dumba has been a tire fire there so Jones at 6.5M + moving off Dumba and likely attaching pick/prospect might be worthwhile for Dallas but I believe Johnston contract extension coming this off-season.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Risto has been pretty good in Philly.

I'd rather go for him than Jones

I’d rather neither

 

[thusk]

A defensively weak winger who used to play C, who doesn't put up enough offense to justify the defensive weakness, and an "offensive D man", who doesn't really put up much offense, and up until this year, was a disaster defensively.

I mean... they'd be trades, that's for sure.

They're no coach in the world who will use a defensively weak as #1 foward in all defensive situation of his team

 

[ULF_55]

Rumours are meaningless and why would he want to go to the Islanders if he was interested in leaving?

Yeah, he'd wait and see how it goes with McDavid and MacKinnon first.

 

[Fogelhund]

They're no coach in the world who will use a defensively weak as #1 foward in all defensive situation of his team

Aren't you the guy who also thinks Gourde is the second coming? I mean, he's 7th on the team in 5v5 Dzone starts, so that claim isn't close to being correct. Yes, he's used a lot on the PK, which isn't uncommon when you don't really have anyone good at it. Philly's PK really isn't very good. This judgement of players, it might not be your thing.

 

[ACC1224]

Yeah, he'd wait and see how it goes with McDavid and MacKinnon first.

McDavid will finally get his wish and play on a line with Marner with a Maple Leaf on his jersey. Too bad it’s a red one and not a blue one.

 

[ULF_55]

Kypreos suggested Dallas for Jones as a landing spot.

Dumba has been a tire fire there so Jones at 6.5M + moving off Dumba and likely attaching pick/prospect might be worthwhile for Dallas but I believe Johnston contract extension coming this off-season.

Dumba is $3.75mm. Not exactly paid a tonne of money.
Same as Max Domi ...

Are you suggesting ... $3.75mm for $3.75mm move?

 

[WTFMAN99]

Dumba is $3.75mm. Not exactly paid a tonne of money.
Same as Max Domi ...

Are you suggesting ... $3.75mm for $3.75mm move?

It's more Dallas getting rid of the 3.75M cap hit and then trying to get Chicago to retain as much as they can possibly get them to.

If you get Jones at 5.75-6.25M - it's not terrible and likely to be an upgrade on Dumba.

 

[Fogelhund]

Capwages has an interesting utility... wage projections.

Toronto Maple Leafs | Salary cap and contracts

They have Marner at 12,567,800, Tavares at 7,794,250 and Knies at 3,743,600

It's more Dallas getting rid of the 3.75M cap hit and then trying to get Chicago to retain as much as they can possibly get them to.

If you get Jones at 5.75-6.25M - it's not terrible and likely to be an upgrade on Dumba.

Almost anything would be an upgrade on Dumba. I just can't understand why he keeps getting signed. He's been cooked for what.. three, four seasons now?

 

[ULF_55]

It's more Dallas getting rid of the 3.75M cap hit and then trying to get Chicago to retain as much as they can possibly get them to.

If you get Jones at 5.75-6.25M - it's not terrible and likely to be an upgrade on Dumba.

That would be interesting.

I think another 5 years of retention on Jones is a huge ask for a team that thinks they've landed the next franchise center and will want to build around him.

My guess the Hawks are looking at players like Rantanen, marner, ... this summer and having $4mm of dead space isn't ideal.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Capwages has an interesting utility... wage projections.

Toronto Maple Leafs | Salary cap and contracts

They have Marner at 12,567,800, Tavares at 7,794,250 and Knies at 3,743,600


Almost anything would be an upgrade on Dumba. I just can't understand why he keeps getting signed. He's been cooked for what.. three, four seasons now?

I projected Knies at 5.5-5.65M for 6-7 years based on the Alex Tuch comparable which is actually a very good one.

I'd give Marner 13-14M if he'd defer to get it to 11.93-12M cap hit, ditto Rantanen.

I wouldn't go near that much on JT. I have really enjoyed him this year but just...no.

 

[Fogelhund]

I projected Knies at 5.5-5.65M for 6-7 years based on the Alex Tuch comparable which is actually a very good one.

I'd give Marner 13-14M if he'd defer to get it to 11.93-12M cap hit, ditto Rantanen.

I wouldn't go near that much on JT. I have really enjoyed him this year but just...no.

I mean... Knies at $5.5, Tavares at $5.5 and Marner at $12.5 (with deferral), is the same dollars, and seems more realistic to me, than their numbers.

 

[darrylsittler27]

I personally think they need to get lower cap hits on Knies & JT and go for it all the next 3/4 years. I don't think they have enough balls to let a top 10 winger walk for nothing in FA, he's going to get his 13.25m / 8 years.

I personally think they bridge Knies, 3 years @ 5m, sign Tavares for 3 years @ 6m, or sign him for 6 years @ 4.5m to get the caphit lower.

Get rid of the deadweight for next season that's eating up cap, such as Kampf (replaced by Holmberg) / Reaves (replaced by Grebenkin) / Timmins (replaced by any depth ufa signing) / Jankrok (replaced by Steeves/Minten on wing) etc.

Not so fast. Minten and Grebs could gone for a top 9 C and Schenn type. There is no way this management can risk an early exit.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Countdown to TradeCentre: Edmonton Oilers not planning to move Jeff Skinner | TSN

The NHL's March 7 Trade Deadline is approaching, and teams are making decisions on whether to buy or sell, and on which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Check out today's trade rumours and speculation from around the NHL beat.

www.tsn.ca

Jeff Skinner staying put?

Edmonton Oilers general manager Stan Bowman is keeping his options open ahead of the trade deadline, stating that his path could still be changed by a key injury before March 7.

Bowman, however, told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic that parting with free-agent addition Jeff Skinner is not likely to be part of his plans. Signed at $3 million for this season, Skinner has 10 goals and 20 points in 49 games this season and was a healthy scratch for a stretch of games last month.

"I don’t envision that being the case," Bowman said of potentially approaching Skinner about waiving his no-move clause. "He’s shown the real willingness to work through things with our group, and I commend him on that. He’s had a really great attitude the entire time. Haven’t had any complaints from him at all. He’s a professional and he’s got a lot of pride. He wants to take a step forward and play a bigger role. We’ve seen signs of that very recently, not only scoring the last game, but also made some noticeable plays with determination and finding a way to be able to contribute. That’s a great sign."

"There are not a lot of games left even though there’s a month till the deadline. I suppose things can always change, but that’s not the focus right now for Jeff."

Skinner has topped the 30-goal mark five times in his career and scored a career-high 40 goals with the Buffalo Sabres in 2018-19. He was bought out by the Sabres last summer with three years remaining on his contract at a cap hit of $9 million. He's struggled to find a place in the Oilers top six this season, averaging 12:29 of ice time.

 

[WTFMAN99]

I mean... Knies at $5.5, Tavares at $5.5 and Marner at $12.5 (with deferral), is the same dollars, and seems more realistic to me, than their numbers.

I feel like with JT and Marner, they're in a good position to overpay and adjust with deferrals.

Marner, 12.75M x 8 real cash no deferrals or 14M x 8 but you gotta defer some? They can front load the F out of the Marner deal

For JT, 5.5M for 2 years for 4.5M for 2 years but like 6-7M real cash, it just had to be deferred?

It's on Pridham to make the math work but I would be trying to really sell these guys on surrounding them with better players around them to help them win. For Marner, you're 27 years old and won a playoff round...he's already set for life, holding off a few million bucks a year (but still receiving it) and maybe getting a piece or 2 to get you over the hump? It wouldn't be lost on me that the team has had to bargain bin shop for guys for years to make the roster work..

 

[thusk]

Aren't you the guy who also thinks Gourde is the second coming? I mean, he's 7th on the team in 5v5 Dzone starts, so that claim isn't close to being correct. Yes, he's used a lot on the PK, which isn't uncommon when you don't really have anyone good at it. Philly's PK really isn't very good. This judgement of players, it might not be your thing.

View attachment 975910

People using player card to judge a player just make me laught. Like those card who saying Sandin and Liljegren was fantastic defensively when they was probably 2 of worst leafs D in their own zone.

If you taking player ability and put in a system where he will be able to exploit those ability, the player will never look the same at all and the best exemple i have is Arturri Lehkonen. In mtl his number was not great at all and was a 3/4 th line player in MTL... But he bring somethong new to Colorado he had been used in situation where he's been able to use his strenght. For me its 2 similar type of player and he could have the same kind of impact.

 

[darrylsittler27]

I'm open to the idea. If he fits and plays up to his capabilities then he'd be a pretty good upgrade at a decent cap hit. I'm skeptical about Risto based on our needs and his cap hit. It'll all depend on the price if the smoke turns real.

I've learned over the years not to rely on charts to make judgement on players -- it's not always fair or the best way of going about it. I think Laughton fits a lot. He knows his role and he contributes pretty well in a secondary role. Consistently putting up 40ish points, a good forechecker and always a top PKer that can be versatile in the lineup..

Definitely not the sexiest targets but Im not surprised that's the kind of players they are targetting.

Laughton has next year left under a good contract, shades of McCabe type deal. It also covers us if Tavares wants too much. The cost would be Minten.

 

[nuck]

Never liked Risto. He got a ton of minutes early in Buffalo and put up a few good offensive years but he always struck me as tools without the tool box. He got traded to Philly because they thought he would be a stud away from the Sabres and they were wrong. He played under 17:00 a night last season. Maybe he thrives with a stronger team but two more years of bad Risto after this one would be a problem. If they want add a question mark there has to be one out they can rent so he doesn't screw their future as well as their present.