Trades & Free Agency Thread: Off-season Edition

[Killswitch]

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Maybe Willy pushes for his brother to sign here. He's useless as a bottom 6er, but that applies to Sprong and Roslovic as well. I'd like to keep Lilly and see what Berube does with him. There's also some Marlies who could fill some roles as well

 

[Kiwi]

I have not been much of a fan of what Tre has done since he got here and his track record before he got here is pretty ugly.

That said he may not have the option for major surgery on the team’s core at this point. They all have NMCs. If they don’t want to move on they aren’t going. If they wanted to shake up the core it had to happen last year around the draft before all the trade protection kicked in.

I'm not even talking about the core, NMC are a real pain in the butt, however there's plenty of guys without NMC you could trade to change the look of the team

If you move some money you open up other options, maybe you can get that 3C we can't afford?

Tre is handcuffed by 22 million in caphits for 16 and 91 as they ahve full ntc/nmc. gotta plan for 2025-2026; can't do much next season unless the high AAV guys have an ephiphany and force their way in playoffs and get Leafs the cup

Thats incorrect, I can see millions of dollars still on this roster he hasn't touched that we could reinvest in other areas

 

[Fogelhund]

They’re in cap troubles

Depends on if Landeskog can play again, and if Nichuskin comes off player assistance. Wouldn't they rather give away Lehkonen though?

 

[Americanadian]

Depends on if Landeskog can play again, and if Nichuskin comes off player assistance. Wouldn't they rather give away Lehkonen though?

It would make more sense than Colton if Landeskog is back. Liljegren for Lehkonen would benefit both teams.

 

[VanW27]

They’re in cap troubles

But they aren't actually.

They have just under 4 million in cap space with a 21 man roster.

If Landeskog is out they'll have to fill his spot, but then they'd have another 7 million in cap space to work with.

 

[SprDaVE]

The D and goaltending look like they've improved

2 big holes in the top 9 remaining though. Need more offensive firepower and likely a proper 3C. Probably only one is filled though.

Tres going to have to do more than just inquire about guys and pull the trigger on a trade

Any sort of C upgrade will need to be via a trade. It will be hard to do since teams don't exactly give those up easily.

I think at the minimum the Leafs need to pursue Pacioretty on a 1 year deal if he's healthy, maybe with heavy bonuses, and give a lot of leeway to their younger players to secure spots. They have Holmberg, Minten and Quillan as center options that could come in and shine. You can send a few PTO offers for competition as well.

 

[VanW27]

Depends on if Landeskog can play again, and if Nichuskin comes off player assistance. Wouldn't they rather give away Lehkonen though?

If Nichuskin comes back mid season I would think they'd want to dump him after going AWOL from the team in two separate playoffs due to off ice issues

 

[Killswitch]

Depends on if Landeskog can play again, and if Nichuskin comes off player assistance. Wouldn't they rather give away Lehkonen though?

I think he'd cost a bit. Hard to tell what the teams are thinking via here, because they generally aren't what the front office is but he'd be a nice pickup for us. I'd even be fine with Colton if he came along. They'd want a 3c and RD I would imagine. Maybe they'd be willing to take what we want to offer if there's a nice sweetener

 

[TheMadHatTrick]

Bellows was great for the Marlies. I don't see a NHLer here but he gets some good money out of it.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1808606963170783599

We should have signed him. Why waste all that time, money, and other resources developing him just to let him go.

He could have been this year's McMann and Benoit, and at the very least compete with Robertson and Cowan for a left wing slot.

I thought that was the game plan with some of the minor league signings like Myers, who were formerly promising prospects.

Anyone know if Cole Lind signed?

 

[Fogelhund]

It would make more sense than Colton if Landeskog is back. Liljegren for Lehkonen would benefit both teams.

Nah. We need Lilly. Our D isn’t deep enough without him.

 

[SprDaVE]

We should have signed him. Why waste all that time, money, and other resources developing him just to let him go.

He could have been this year's McMann and Benoit, and at the very least compete with Robertson and Cowan for a left wing slot.

I thought that was the game plan with some of the minor league signings like Myers, who were formerly promising prospects.

Anyone know if Cole Lind signed?

I don't disagree but sometimes that's how it goes. Maybe Bellows wanted a fresh start where his path to the NHL was clearer?

Kole Lind signed with the Preds as well -- 1 year 2 way deal.

 

[TheMadHatTrick]

I don't disagree but sometimes that's how it goes. Maybe Bellows wanted a fresh start where his path to the NHL was clearer?

Kole Lind signed with the Preds as well -- 1 year 2 way deal.

Looks like the Preds share the same taste in players as me.

 

[Mess]

A behind-the-scenes look at the offseason so far in Pittsburgh shows Kyle Dubas falling flat on his face and failing to lock down any quality deals for the Penguins.​

Below, you'll see a video of Dubas talking about his free agency exploits without much notable excitement or vigor.

Penguins release embarrassing Kyle Dubas behind-the-scenes free agency video​

​

Kyle Dubas, who fumbled the ball in blooper reel fashion while in Toronto, he now looks to be doing the same in Pittsburgh.

Dubas, who was famously let go by the Maple Leafs after publicly showing signs of doubt and wavering commitment, has failed to add anyone of any real value in free agency this year, despite a clear Ownership directed mandate need to surround Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang with talent to allow them to make the best of their final years with the organization.

After missing the playoffs in 2023-24, the Penguins essentially substituted Kevin Hayes in for Reilly Smith, who was dealt to the New York Rangers this week, before signing forward Blake Lizzotte (LAK), defensemen Sebastian Aho (NYI) Matt Grzelcyk (BOS), Anthony Beavillier (CHI) , former Leaf Mac Holloway and a handful of other minor league players.

Obviously, free agency is a tough time for some teams. Desirable locations and larger paydays due to bidding wars often dictate how the chips fall, and for Dubas and the Pens, there weren't many interested parties in the end.

 

[Bloomberg]

Looks like the Preds share the same taste in players as me.

He signed with the Stars

The Pittsburgh job was always going to be tough. It makes more sense if they rebuilt instead trying to build around the aging stars.

 

[SprDaVE]

Looks like the Preds share the same taste in players as me.

He signed with the Stars

That's on me. I saw Stars but my brain equaled Preds for some reason.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Or that the D was a bigger problem, and needed fixing first?

10% powerplay and losing 2-1 doesn’t really scream “we need Tanev to fix this”. Don’t get me wrong Tanev and OEL are decent enough upgrades on the back end but we still have 2.5 guys up front that can shoot worth a damn, our best netfront guy that actually plays there sometimes is the corpse of Tavares, and Berube has precisely 0 high end forecheckers to execute his forecheck heavy system. I just don’t see a world where Woll and Stolarz are carrying us to 1-0 wins in the playoffs regardless of who’s clearing their crease.

 

[Fogelhund]

10% powerplay and losing 2-1 doesn’t really scream “we need Tanev to fix this”. Don’t get me wrong Tanev and OEL are decent enough upgrades on the back end but we still have 2.5 guys up front that can shoot worth a damn, our best netfront guy that actually plays there sometimes is the corpse of Tavares, and Berube has precisely 0 high end forecheckers to execute his forecheck heavy system. I just don’t see a world where Woll and Stolarz are carrying us to 1-0 wins in the playoffs regardless of who’s clearing their crease.

Top three PP in the league, hits a cold streak. That isn’t personnel, that’s coaching. When you have scorers like Robertson not getting reps on PP2, that’s coaching.

 

[VanW27]

Top three PP in the league, hits a cold streak. That isn’t personnel, that’s coaching. When you have scorers like Robertson not getting reps on PP2, that’s coaching.

It's been several different coaches..

 

[Rare Jewel]

Nah. We need Lilly. Our D isn’t deep enough without him.

While, I agree, I do feel that the Myers signing is cover if Tre does move him on.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Top three PP in the league, hits a cold streak. That isn’t personnel, that’s coaching. When you have scorers like Robertson not getting reps on PP2, that’s coaching.

How many playoffs have we hit a cold streak now? Last 5 years are 15%, 13%, 14%, 25%, 5% while running an 80% PK. Matthews and Nylander being the only consistent shooters on the team is a problem especially when one or both of them is injured. OEL might help but we still have half the forwards on the ice either unable to hit the net consistently or having the shot of a tween girl.

 

[Sypher04]

10% powerplay and losing 2-1 doesn’t really scream “we need Tanev to fix this”. Don’t get me wrong Tanev and OEL are decent enough upgrades on the back end but we still have 2.5 guys up front that can shoot worth a damn, our best netfront guy that actually plays there sometimes is the corpse of Tavares, and Berube has precisely 0 high end forecheckers to execute his forecheck heavy system. I just don’t see a world where Woll and Stolarz are carrying us to 1-0 wins in the playoffs regardless of who’s clearing their crease.

I agree on the forward group and I don’t think we are done. But I think people are underestimating the impact fixing the defense through changes to personnel and systems could have on the offense. Spending less time defending, breaking the puck out of the zone with consistency and purpose, using points shots to generate scoring chances down low. As I see it, the way we have managed to stay afloat defensively in the playoffs is directly contributing to our team wide scoring issues.

 

[Fogelhund]

We should have signed him. Why waste all that time, money, and other resources developing him just to let him go.

Because they didn't feel he was good enough to make any impact at the NHL level.

 

[conFABulator]

10% powerplay and losing 2-1 doesn’t really scream “we need Tanev to fix this”. Don’t get me wrong Tanev and OEL are decent enough upgrades on the back end but we still have 2.5 guys up front that can shoot worth a damn, our best netfront guy that actually plays there sometimes is the corpse of Tavares, and Berube has precisely 0 high end forecheckers to execute his forecheck heavy system. I just don’t see a world where Woll and Stolarz are carrying us to 1-0 wins in the playoffs regardless of who’s clearing their crease.

There's a bit more to this though

(1) Our playoff D did lose Edmundson and Lyubushkin (Brodie and Giordano too). I think Tanev, OEL and Haakanpaa are upgrades on the departures and I believe they came in at roughly the same dollars. You camts aya we didn't need to rebuild the defense when half our personnel departed.

(2) Changing the makeup of our D could help the offense. Does Tanev allow Rielly to skate and gamble a bit more? Is OEL able to contribute? Does he provide good mentorship for Liljegren to develop?

(3) Could OEL, Lily or even Timmins give us different PP looks?

We need to work on the PP and offense for sure but it's a team game and stronger D and G can only help. I always suspected we would shift F cap space to D and G. I think we had to. We also have to open up ice time and opportunities for Knies, McMann, Robertson, Cowan or Grebenkin, IMO.

 

[MarMarSab3]

While, I agree, I do feel that the Myers signing is cover if Tre does move him on.

Myers is a 7-8 at best

 

[Killswitch]

How many playoffs have we hit a cold streak now? Last 5 years are 15%, 13%, 14%, 25%, 5% while running an 80% PK. Matthews and Nylander being the only consistent shooters on the team is a problem especially when one or both of them is injured. OEL might help but we still have half the forwards on the ice either unable to hit the net consistently or having the shot of a tween girl.

It was a terrible playoff PP to begin with. Easy to cover for good teams especially when one of the PP guys plays too far away for the passes to make it to Mathews or Nylander and there's nothing coming from the point. Other side of that is having one of the worst GA/g and forcing the forwards to play defense. Hopefully with the new guys we have and Woll/Stolarz being better than Samsonov that changes. Not sure what anyone really expected considering we're essentially one and done in the playoffs with the current soft as butter 40m group