GDT: Trades & Free Agency Thread - Off-Season Early Edition

[Menzinger]

The better question is why would we want him back?

He isn't young, plays a very physically demanding game and has some recent injury issues

We should be looking for younger players with speed and lean into what we are rather than scattering the team with elderly slow players

Besides Spezza these old guys haven't worked well

I'd be fine if he'd sign a 2ish mil deal; when healthy there's a role for that type of winger in the top six. Though I'd also prefer to see who else on free agency would be willing to sign first.

Folingo is somebody who I'd circle back to if my first or second option signs elsewhere

 

[nuck]

if he only has 1 or 2 years left and winning a cup is a priority why would he sign in Toronto?

They can and they will!

 

[Menzinger]

if he only has 1 or 2 years left and winning a cup is a priority why would he sign in Toronto?

They're a team that's shown obvious interest in him and he has ties to area. I also suspect most NHLers aren't viewing the current Leafs team with the same degree of pessimism that parts of the fan base is.

 

[rumman]

They can and they will!

 

[rumman]

They're a team that's shown obvious interest in him and he has ties to area. I also suspect most NHLers aren't viewing the current Leafs team with the same degree of pessimism that parts of the fan base is.

So, you think NHL players think the chances of winning a cup are good with this incarnation of the Leafs? I suspect not, and we’ll see who signs here considering the option of overpayment doesn’t exist with this team anymore……..thankfully.

 

[Kiwi]

I'd be fine if he'd sign a 2ish mil deal; when healthy there's a role for that type of winger in the top six. Though I'd also prefer to see who else on free agency would be willing to sign first.

Folingo is somebody who I'd circle back to if my first or second option signs elsewhere

I don't know if he has the speed or ability to stay healthy in a top 6 role anymore

 

[Menzinger]

So, you think NHL players think the chances of winning a cup are good with this incarnation of the Leafs? I suspect not, and we’ll see who signs here considering the option of overpayment doesn’t exist with this team anymore……..thankfully.

I think most NHLers will view the Leafs as a team that is likely going to make the post season and guys who want to play in the playoffs will see that as an attractive thing. Teams like Tampa will only be signing so many new players - guys interested in the playoffs will need to settle on other teams

I suspect the Leafs will have a similar off-season to last year's. They'll sign the guys who they want to sign without too much trouble and for expected prices.

Edit:expanded point

 

[Menzinger]

I don't know if he has the speed or ability to stay healthy in a top 6 role anymore

I think that's fair. It's also why personally he'd be on my 2nd or 3rd tier of guys to sign. I think he's got some hockey left to play though

 

[rumman]

I think most NHLers will view the Leafs as a team that is likely going to make the post season and guys who want to play in the playoffs will see that as an attractive thing.

I suspect the Leafs will have a similar off-season to last year's. They'll sign the guys who they want to sign without too much trouble and for expected prices.

Good to know……nothing changes without change.

 

[Kiwi]

I think that's fair. It's also why personally he'd be on my 2nd or 3rd tier of guys to sign. I think he's got some hockey left to play though

I think he's become a niche player, I doubt he can play the minutes I'd want out of a Tavares or Matthews wingman

Unless he's dirt cheap I wouldn't be interested since we already signed Spezza and Simmonds

 

[Gallagbi]

Because it's a long offseason, I'll throw out DeBrusk as an option

I think his QO is pretty high after this year, which could really deplete or outright kill his trade value. He's a buyout option for the Bs given its only 1/3rd and the Deal is backloaded.

Not sure how he'd fit in the room with his history, but he's a young, decently physical LWer who can (could?) Score.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Because it's long offseason, I'll throw out DeBrusk as an option

I think his QO is pretty high after this year, which could really deplete or outright kill his trade value. He's a buyout option for the Bs given its only 1/3rd and the Deal is backloaded.

Not sure how he'd fit in the room with his history, but he's a young, decently physical LWer who can (could?) Score.

I don't know if Boston's cast-offs are a great idea, every young player they move seems to prove them right about the player's competitive issues in the long run. Kessel might be the only exception and it took him a decade post-trade to shake off the reputation for a couple years.

 

[Mickey Marner]

Because it's long offseason, I'll throw out DeBrusk as an option

I think his QO is pretty high after this year, which could really deplete or outright kill his trade value. He's a buyout option for the Bs given its only 1/3rd and the Deal is backloaded.

Not sure how he'd fit in the room with his history, but he's a young, decently physical LWer who can (could?) Score.

He's a ~40 point pending free agent with that QO as far as I'm concerned. I wouldn't give up much for him.

 

[Gallagbi]

He's a ~40 point pending free agent with that QO as far as I'm concerned. I wouldn't give up much for him.

Yeah, my head is more in the pick him up as a UFA or trade for a spare part realm

 

[Leafs at Knight]

And yet Keefe played him as the #3.

Brodie was better this year

 

[Brobust]

So, you think NHL players think the chances of winning a cup are good with this incarnation of the Leafs? I suspect not, and we’ll see who signs here considering the option of overpayment doesn’t exist with this team anymore……..thankfully.

Good team, good players, good facilities. And who knows, teams that miss the playoffs regularly suddenly make the finals. So it's no surprise that players do want to come here.

TBH, the only thing that keeps players away from Toronto is the fanbase. A specific segment of the fanbase that is pathetically fickle and incredibly stupid and turn on it's players just like that.

 

[rumman]

Good team, good players, good facilities. And who knows, teams that miss the playoffs regularly suddenly make the finals. So it's no surprise that players do want to come here.

TBH, the only thing that keeps players away from Toronto is the fanbase. A specific segment of the fanbase that is pathetically fickle and incredibly stupid and turn on it's players just like that.

I thought you didn’t reply to Rumman posts? Couldn’t help yourself?

 

[Brobust]

I thought you didn’t reply to Rumman posts? Couldn’t help yourself?

Bad impulse control.

 

[meefer]

The PP issues certainly go beyond the absence of a PPQB, but it's still an issue that's been left unsolved for five years now.

Over the last 5 years, Morgan Rielly has averaged 2:09 of ice time on the PP, ranking him 62nd overall for defensemen.
Over the last 5 years, Morgan Rielly has scored 70 points on the PP, ranking him 17th overall for defensemen.
Over the last 5 years, 11 of the 16 defensemen who have more points than Rielly have averaged more than 1:00 more of PP ice time per game. Of the remaining 5 defensemen who have scored more points during this time frame, the closest in time on ice during the PP played, on average, 0:39 more per game. His name, Alex Pietrangelo, he's scored 73 points on the PP during that 5 year period, 3 more points than Rielly.

 

[Stephen]

I don't know if Boston's cast-offs are a great idea, every young player they move seems to prove them right about the player's competitive issues in the long run. Kessel might be the only exception and it took him a decade post-trade to shake off the reputation for a couple years.

I don't know if I agree with that. Tyler Seguin, Dougie Hamilton, Phil Kessel, Joe Thornton, Reilly Smith have all gone on to have terrific careers post Boston, and winning is a unique and rare experience in this game, so the fact that many of them haven't won except Kessel doesn't mean they're not valuable players.

DeBrusk is an okay pursuit, the only question is are we throwing more picks and prospects at Boston for him? He's a little younger, but I'd like to get him Galchenyuk cheap because of the trainwreck season he had.

 

[ToneDog]

Because it's long offseason, I'll throw out DeBrusk as an option

I think his QO is pretty high after this year, which could really deplete or outright kill his trade value. He's a buyout option for the Bs given its only 1/3rd and the Deal is backloaded.

Not sure how he'd fit in the room with his history, but he's a young, decently physical LWer who can (could?) Score.

Bertuzzi or Debrusk or both please.

 

[Dreakmur]

TBH, the only thing that keeps players away from Toronto is the fanbase. A specific segment of the fanbase that is pathetically fickle and incredibly stupid and turn on it's players just like that.

Or maybe it's that there's no cap space, so you can't have any money....

 

[Magic Man]

I'd like to run Bertuzzi - Domi - Foligno down the left side.

 

[Martin Skoula]

I don't know if I agree with that. Tyler Seguin, Dougie Hamilton, Phil Kessel, Joe Thornton, Reilly Smith have all gone on to have terrific careers post Boston, and winning is a unique and rare experience in this game, so the fact that many of them haven't won except Kessel doesn't mean they're not valuable players.

DeBrusk is an okay pursuit, the only question is are we throwing more picks and prospects at Boston for him? He's a little younger, but I'd like to get him Galchenyuk cheap because of the trainwreck season he had.

Kessel's the only one who's put up compelling playoff performances out of that list. I'm not judging them based on cup wins but the reputations they have developed as being playoff passengers and being very passive players lacking intensity.

Obviously that matters less for a middle-6er like Debrusk but I'd rather spend a little more on someone with a more intense pedigree. If Bergeron and Chara couldn't help him figure it out, I doubt our leadership will.

 

[Cor]

I’d take Debrusk with open arms