Trades & Free Agency Thread: Off-season Edition

[Menzinger]

Toronto alone seems to be his market though. They are setting his price without competition.

I don't think that's the case. He obviously has a strong preference to stay in Toronto (which is why I suspect the extension gets done sooner than later) but I don't think it's to the point he'll accept just any offer from the Leafs and not anyone else.

And other teams will definitely inquire if he's a free agent next July

 

[Stephen]

So was Tampa for stamkos

You’re probably right but I see a couple of differences between Stamkos and Tavares.

Stamkos was mission accomplished in Tampa but was underpaid probably his entire career relative to what he could have made had he left as a UFA all those years ago. Obviously it wouldn’t have been smart business for Tampa to give him a bloated thank you contract, but you can see how happily ever after and good business didn’t align there.

Tavares did hit jackpot as a UFA but didn’t have the team championship success of a Stamkos so he needs more runway to get to his goals. So they got the opposite of each other. Plus at this point in his career a bigger pay cut for JT makes sense because he isn’t as statistically productive as Stamkos.

Plus I don’t see Toronto lowballing. If we got Tavares at something close to the old Nylander deal I think that’ll be fair based on the Leaf tradition of overpaying. But $5 million around the ROR deal would be preferable.

 

[Legion34]

You’re probably right but I see a couple of differences between Stamkos and Tavares.

Stamkos was mission accomplished in Tampa but was underpaid probably his entire career relative to what he could have made had he left as a UFA all those years ago. Obviously it wouldn’t have been smart business for Tampa to give him a bloated thank you contract, but you can see how happily ever after and good business didn’t align there.

Tavares did hit jackpot as a UFA but didn’t have the team championship success of a Stamkos so he needs more runway to get to his goals. So they got the opposite of each other. Plus at this point in his career a bigger pay cut for JT makes sense because he isn’t as statistically productive as Stamkos.

Plus I don’t see Toronto lowballing. If we got Tavares at something close to the old Nylander deal I think that’ll be fair based on the Leaf tradition of overpaying. But $5 million around the ROR deal would be preferable.

Yes I agree with the ROR comparisons. I would say 4-5 years at 4-5 million would be great. But we can’t just demand he take whatever because he won’t leave.

Everyone will walk away. It’s just the point they push away from the table

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

Resigning both Tavares and Marner is going to really bother me if we win 3-5 playoff games this year. At a certain point asset management becomes a fools game and you have got to have the wisdom to know when to attempt any semblance of a new strategy. Or not, and we just keep doing this for another 5 years

 

[ULF_55]

Resigning both Tavares and Marner is going to really bother me if we win 3-5 playoff games this year. At a certain point asset management becomes a fools game and you have got to have the wisdom to know when to attempt any semblance of a new strategy. Or not, and we just keep doing this for another 5 years

Should not the expectations be that Treliving brings in leadership, that leads?

Tavares and marner are both very good NHL players.

Unless they're mutineers they should get behind these new leaders and support them.

Leaders without followers are hermits.

 

[Voodoo Child]

The whole thing with Tavares is almost exclusively tied to his age. He’s going to be 34 in one months time and will be 35 when his next deal starts.

His next deal will effectively be a buyout-proof deal, in that he can be bought out but it still counts against the cap.

He’s slower than a tortoise.

He’s a power play specialist.

He is not a good defensive player, not because of his speed but he just doesn’t seem to be a smart defensive player, he’s definitely the weakest of the big 4 in our zone. Willy isn’t a Selke tier guy either but at least he can rush out of the zone.

He just got stripped of the C - call it what you will, that’s basically what happened.

And while I definitely don’t place the blame fully on him, nothing has happened since he’s been here.

Look at how bad the Marleau deal but us, cost us a Seth Jarvis, a Seth Jarvis would be pretty damn nice to have right now.

He’s probably going to be good for 55-65 points over 82, but these old guys tail off fast, best I’d do is 2x6 with a full NTC or 3x4.5 with a 6 team list.

==

It’s August 18th and Mitch is still here. Unless something improbable happens like a Conn Smythe-worthy 30 point playoff run he’s going to be a very rich man somewhere else next year.

 

[cyris]

The whole thing with Tavares is almost exclusively tied to his age. He’s going to be 34 in one months time and will be 35 when his next deal starts.

His next deal will effectively be a buyout-proof deal, in that he can be bought out but it still counts against the cap.

He’s slower than a tortoise.

He’s a power play specialist.

He is not a good defensive player, not because of his speed but he just doesn’t seem to be a smart defensive player, he’s definitely the weakest of the big 4 in our zone. Willy isn’t a Selke tier guy either but at least he can rush out of the zone.

He just got stripped of the C - call it what you will, that’s basically what happened.

And while I definitely don’t place the blame fully on him, nothing has happened since he’s been here.

Look at how bad the Marleau deal but us, cost us a Seth Jarvis, a Seth Jarvis would be pretty damn nice to have right now.

He’s probably going to be good for 55-65 points over 82, but these old guys tail off fast, best I’d do is 2x6 with a full NTC or 3x4.5 with a 6 team list.

==

It’s August 18th and Mitch is still here. Unless something improbable happens like a Conn Smythe-worthy 30 point playoff run he’s going to be a very rich man somewhere else next year.

Couple things about this post and the 35+ contract.
First 35+ contracts are for when the player signs it after his 35th birthday.
So even though he will be 35 when he starts next season he will have been 34 when he signed it and thus not a 35+ deal.

Also not all contracts signed after a player turns 35 are the dreaded 35+ deals either. As long as the contract has no signing bonuses after the first year and the real dollars paid out year to year don’t change then the deal isn’t subject to all the punitive elements of the 35+ deal like still counting against the cap after a buyout. See Ryan Reeves for an example of this.

 

[SprDaVE]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825522460185198916

 

[Warden of the North]

Get on it, Tre.

 

[LeafSteel]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825522460185198916

Get on it, Tre.

Indeed, this is one to jump on.

Start the offer with Marner, and make it go from there……

 

[Evilhomer]

Get on it, Tre.

I think the odds of the Leafs acquiring a goalie prospect are probably not very high.

 

[SprDaVE]

I would have said pre-July 1st Askarov made some sense but now it makes zero sense. Only way it would work if there's some sort of 3way trade that fits needs for all teams. Not sure the Leafs are good trading partners now anyway. Hard to see a fit.

 

[Menzinger]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825522460185198916

Everyone should have seen this coming a mile away once they locked in Saros for 8 years.

Don't see a fit with the Leafs though at this point

 

[mydnyte]

Everyone should have seen this coming a mile away once they locked in Saros for 8 years.

Don't see a fit with the Leafs though at this point

I'd offer Woll plus for sure. Askarov has franchise goalie potential, Woll doesnt

 

[Menzinger]

I'd offer Woll plus for sure. Askarov has franchise goalie potential, Woll doesnt

Figuring out the +.from the Leafs is difficult.

While goalie prospects often don't cost as much as other blue chip guys, but Nashville won't give him away.

The Leafs don't have a 1st this draft, and I doubt the front office would want to give up Cowan.

The other issue is Woll is likely more ready to help the Leafs 'win now'. Asharov may need more time to develop so theres an issue of competitiveness timelines

 

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

I'd offer Woll plus for sure. Askarov has franchise goalie potential, Woll doesnt

I'm not sure why Nashville wouldn't just run Saros/Askarov and then put Wedgewood on waivers to start the year. An .899 career goalie is really going to take NHL time away from him?

Woll+ Robertson would be fine by me. You take the risk of getting a Tuuka Rask type of deal in your favour. If it blows up you still have Murray/Hildeby around.

I really don't see Nashville getting much for him with goalie value around the league not being very high.

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

Did anyone see that strange rumour how we want to offer Matt Martin and Clutterbuck a PTO?

 

[Dekes For Days]

Did anyone see that strange rumour how we want to offer Matt Martin and Clutterbuck a PTO?

Just what we need. More 35+ year old 4th liners.

 

[pspot]

Did anyone see that strange rumour how we want to offer Matt Martin and Clutterbuck a PTO?

Martin is tight with Marner and clutterbuck with jt . They also play the way the leafs want to

 

[tmlfan98]

Did anyone see that strange rumour how we want to offer Matt Martin and Clutterbuck a PTO?

I'm going to post it below for context, but more context everyone in this thread should know is that the guy who posted this rumour has only proven himself to be legit so far when it comes to Jays stuff. We have no idea how reliable or not his sources are when it comes to the Leafs, and a lot of people are assuming his Leafs stuff is legit just because his Jays stuff is.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825315073520513505

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825319711166353423

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825322136027762917

He also said this before the draft and offseason about Marner, which to this point he hasn't been proven right or wrong yet, but considering it looks like Marner won't be traded before camp he's looking closer to right than wrong at the moment. At the time he said this he was zagging against a lot of trade smoke.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803921788365345193

 

[weems]

That rumour (if you're talking about the source who's called BlueJays signings) also said expect two of Kampf, Robertson or Jarnkrok to still be traded.

 

[Magic Man]

I think the rumour is likely true as far as the PTO's go. Martin and Clutterbuck are both from Ontario and at the tail end of their careers. It's possible that this is the final year for each of them. They both have been coached by Lane Lambert for several years in a row. Lambert will run the PK and Clutterbuck is solid in that area.

I only went back a couple of years but Clutterbuck was 5th in the league in hits last season. Martin was 5th in the league for hits the year before.

I think Martin would be a good AHL contract like Clifford is. The Marlies would be pretty tough with those two. I see a spot for Clutterbuck on an NHL deal. He can step in on a cheap one year contract at or under 875K if Robertson holds out. Even if Robertson does come back in or early in the season, they could waive Reaves to make space. If he is claimed, they would have Martin and Clifford sitting there on AHL deals, in theory they could both be signed to NHL deals if Reaves was claimed and they could be rotated up and down as needed from the AHL.

I think Robertson could be traded or poached via offersheet or Reaves waived to help Clutterbuck fit in the event of full health for day #1.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825537349411033426

 

[SprDaVE]

Yeah I'd take all that stuff with a huge grain of salt. It's a lot of maybe's and doesn't really make much sense.

 

[SprDaVE]

I think the rumour is likely true as far as the PTO's go. Martin and Clutterbuck are both from Ontario and at the tail end of their careers. It's possible that this is the final year for each of them. They both have been coached by Lane Lambert for several years in a row. Lambert will run the PK and Clutterbuck is solid in that area.

I only went back a couple of years but Clutterbuck was 5th in the league in hits last season. Martin was 5th in the league for hits the year before.

I think Martin would be a good AHL contract like Clifford is. The Marlies would be pretty tough with those two. I see a spot for Clutterbuck on an NHL deal. He can step in on a cheap one year contract at or under 875K if Robertson holds out. Even if Robertson does come back in or early in the season, they could waive Reaves to make space. If he is claimed, they would have Martin and Clifford sitting there on AHL deals, in theory they could both be signed to NHL deals if Reaves was claimed and they could be rotated up and down as needed from the AHL.

I think Robertson could be traded or poached via offersheet or Reaves waived to help Clutterbuck fit in the event of full health for day #1.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825537349411033426

Martin is just bad. He doesn't provide anything. The guy was deadweight when he was here, he's been deadweight ever since. Do we really need him AND Reaves? In the AHL would be whatever but... seems like a complete waste of time when a lot of young players need ice time. Leafs already signed Pare for the Marlies and have plenty of players, they really don't need him.

Clutterbuck isn't great but I do think he's faster and has been a top PKer for the Islanders for awhile. He's got some form of value on a PTO.

As for an offer sheet for Robertson -- it would need to be a complete over payment (4M+) for the Leafs not to match. If the Leafs match an offer sheet, Robertson is stuck on the Leafs for the year even if he still wants to be traded. I'd be surprised if he signed an offer sheet for that reason. He isn't unsigned because of a salary dispute.

 

[Menzinger]

I can see Martin getting a PTO out of respect for the guy/his agent. But there's no room for him and Reaves,.unless they see Martin as a guy who can mentor some Marlies in the AHL (which is be all for), but he's likely done as an NHLer. Clutterbuck is a bit more intriguing, but again he's not really what the teams needs (offensive drivers for the bottom six)

That rumour (if you're talking about the source who's called BlueJays signings) also said expect two of Kampf, Robertson or Jarnkrok to still be traded.

A Twitter source?