Trades & Free Agency Thread - Too Soon Off-Season Edition

[TheGoldenJet]

Trade Dubas for a respected, capable GM.

 

[LMFAO]

Going after a bunch of 15 point players will surely help the leafs score more in the playoffs.

well this team needs more character if you haven’t notice.

 

[robertmac43]

Willie Nylander “Mr I was born with confidence “ shy away when the game got physical. Most of his shots after game 4 were perimeter shots. This guy is Alex Galchenyuk 2.0

what an utterly terrible take lol

 

[Torontonian]

The 3rd and 4th line cannot score. We're right back to square one.

Maybe, that wasn't the issue this time around though, We had the depth playing good enough to advance, just was the top line not producing was really the difference maker. I don't know where the Leafs go from here. I don't know who they look to acquire to get them to get more then 2.5 goals a game in the playoffs.

 

[Pi]

Yes, it is all on Willie because he was the reason why AM and MM can't score a goal in Game 5,6 and 7 while sitting on the bench. It is also Willie's problem that his 5 goals and 8 pts were enough for the Leafs to move pass the Habs. It is also Willie's problem that his contract is under 7mil instead of 11 mil bc if 7mil gets you 5 goals and 8 points, pretty sure 11mil is around 9goals and 13pts.

I want the Habs to win the next round as well so Bergevin gets a lifetime extension for proving that the Habs are the best Canadian team lol and then get smacked in 4 games against the Avs.

I don't know why that guy is trolling. No one cares about the Habs, the Leafs f***ing choked, simple as that, that Habs team isn't even making the playoffs next year. Might not even be better than Ottawa next year.

 

[robertmac43]

 

[ottomaddox]

I don't see why Dubas would be fired. He built a solid team and the reality is the top guys didn't come to play.. again.

Well do you think he'll fire Keefe? If he cannot fix the coaching then who will?

 

[SFKingshomer]

Kings fan here and I noticed something last night about the makeup of the Leafs roster that doesn’t work in today’s game. I know the Leafs needed to add some grit but they added players that really take away from their up tempo game. Thornton, Simmonds, Foligno, and Spezza (he played well) aren’t good enough skaters to add anything 5 on 5. They need grit but guys with speed to get in on the forecheck. Blake Coleman, Casey Cizikas, etc. would help a lot.

 

[4thline]

No idea but Bergervin has had 8 kicks at the can, and Benning still has a job, so one could argue Dubas deserves more time. On the other hand, Lou has 2 here, the Rangers just fired their Pres., GM and coach after a couple of years and the Sabres have been hiring and firing every couple of years. At the end of the day it should come down to results and copentancy. So far Dubas and Shanny are lacking one or both.

The other side of that coin
Sakic's first 5 years saw 3 misses and 2 first round exits, Yzerman's first 4 saw 2 misses and a first round exit.

There's a fine line being stubborness and staying the course.

 

[Faltorvo]

After game 5,6,7 I simply sat on my couch in silence for 15 minutes to distance myself from this team so I could fall asleep that day.

Seems like a ridiculous reaction for sports games but this team seriously makes you question what you're doing even watching them

a wise man would garner valuable life lessons from all this hilarity.

this is a live Greek tragedy

 

[Pi]

Kings fan here and I noticed something last night about the makeup of the Leafs roster that doesn’t work in today’s game. I know the Leafs needed to add some grit but they added players that really take away from their up tempo game. Thornton, Simmonds, Foligno, and Spezza (he played well) aren’t good enough skaters to add anything 5 on 5. They need grit but guys with speed to get in on the forecheck. Blake Coleman, Casey Cizikas, etc. would help a lot.

That might be true against the better teams in the league like Avs, Bruins, Lightning etc. but as much as you dissect the roster, it really came down to the stars choking.

If Matthews has another goal and Marner has 1-2 goals, this series is over in 5 or 6. Leafs weren't asking them to put up 2 PPG or anything crazy like MacKinnon is doing. Just play about 80-90% of your regular season stats, they didn't even have to "elevate" their play to win this series. They just choked.

 

[Torontonian]

Kings fan here and I noticed something last night about the makeup of the Leafs roster that doesn’t work in today’s game. I know the Leafs needed to add some grit but they added players that really take away from their up tempo game. Thornton, Simmonds, Foligno, and Spezza (he played well) aren’t good enough skaters to add anything 5 on 5. They need grit but guys with speed to get in on the forecheck. Blake Coleman, Casey Cizikas, etc. would help a lot.

Agreed, the tough to play against players and gritty players are needed, but they need to be able to play the game. Foligno (who was never 100%) / Jumbo Joe and Simmonds where those players for us and completely stunk and did nothing for us.

Now in saying that, in the end it did come down to our stars players not showing up again. There has to be a good chunk of the blame on Keefe in this series, refusing to keep Jumbo Joe off PP1 was a start, and refusing to scratch either him or Simmonds when it was clear they were providing nothing to the team is another thing. running Hyman-Matthews - Marner for 7 games straight without making a single change on that line was criminal.

 

[Gabriel426]

Kings fan here and I noticed something last night about the makeup of the Leafs roster that doesn’t work in today’s game. I know the Leafs needed to add some grit but they added players that really take away from their up tempo game. Thornton, Simmonds, Foligno, and Spezza (he played well) aren’t good enough skaters to add anything 5 on 5. They need grit but guys with speed to get in on the forecheck. Blake Coleman, Casey Cizikas, etc. would help a lot.

I think they need a leader like Kopitar, someone who actually shows up. Hoping JT and AM will become that.

 

[Faltorvo]

I was really hoping for a 2nd round series with you guys but unfortunately both of our teams didn't get the job done. I think that overall Dubas has done a good job managing the cap for you guys (outside of the Matthews and Marner extensions) but the playoffs really suck the life out of smaller skilled players because of all of the clutching, grabbing and interference that is allowed. Even McDavid had a subpar series. I know that many are wanting to be rid of Marner, but unless you get an upgrade on him or 2 really solid and useful pieces that are young and signed longer term I think that you keep him and add a hulking winger to open up more ice for him. If you can get Eichel for him IMO you do it assuming that Eichel is healthy. Sadly both your team and ours are in the same boat, trying to find the right mix to compliment our cores. IMO Dubas will do a better job trading to do that than Holland likely will for us.

keep eichel,,i'll take a signed Seth Jones please

 

[Gabriel426]

Can't blame you. One of our so called superstar player who thinks he's Patrick Kane has a grand total of 0 playoff goals in his last 18 games and zero powerplay goals, yes, I am being serious, zero PP goals in his last 85 games.

I don't care what it takes, I just want Marner off this team, I've had enough of his play. I don't even care if he turns around and suddenly breaks all of Gretzky's records in the regular season next year. I want no part of that guy on the Leafs.

NO PP goals in 85 games. I didn't know that.

 

[Leafs1991]

Nylander was the only good forward the whole series. Galchenyuk will probably score 20+ next season if he returns. It wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Faltorvo]

Serious question, and I don't know the answers.

What's the average lifespan of a GM over the past 15 years? How about a coach? Maybe we go back to the "Great lockout"

I see 7 coaches and 7 GMs (counting Dubas/Hunter/Shanny combo uniquely) over a 16-season span. That seems like a significant amount of turnover

naw,, those numbers are "off",, "interems" kinda don't count,,they know for fact they got hired to be fired.

 

[wingman75]

That's impossible considering the fact that the leafs have 12 guys taking up close to $70M in cap space.

I think Dregs meant no changes to the core. Question marks around Rielly and Hyman perhaps... are the considered to be a part of the core? I say yes.

I mean we have 12 UFAs (including taxi squad). of those, I would bring back Hyman, Foligno, Spezza and Bogosian (and maybe Rittich). The rest can walk. I have no idea who is out there to sign that would in theory be better than what we had... didn't think I would have to be thinking about that so soon. I thought Rielly was in his last year for some reason... decision to be made there at next trade deadline.

 

[Cor]

Listened to the CJ hit; Here is a more in depth transcript.
- Says the Leafs played the exact same way they did in Game 5 last year against Columbus. There was 0 push, when it should be a game for their lives. Says it's them losing that is concerning, it's how they have lost.
- Fall out will need to determine whether this is a coaching issue again, or if it's specific players
- it's less obvious what needs to change this time around. Makes this loss that much more challenging to get over, and move on from.
- Says Dubas will need to consider trading Marner, but that doesn't mean he needs to do it. Points out these contracts were signed pre-pandemic, with the assumption the cap would rise, and Leafs can continue to add around them under the growing cap. Since that will no longer happen, Dubas needs to reassess whether it's still worth having all of these contracts.
- Is interested to see if Dubas says he won't trade a top forward at his press conference, as he did last year.
- Says he expects Jason Spezza to be back. Expects to move on from the other veterans (Foligno, Simmonds, Thornton were mentioned). Says Frederik Andersen won't be brought back.
- Says Leafs will look to find value buys, perhaps even other "home town" guys to try and come in. Think the Leafs will slant back a bit more to skilled underappreciated names.
- Leafs don't have a lot of draft capital. So unless they do trade a Mitch Marner, they will need to improve through free agency.
- Says of Shanahan, Dubas and Keefe, that the biggest question marks are likely about Keefe. Leafs likely played too safe in this series, and while the injuries played a factor, it's not enough of an excuse. Keefe will get some questions. He would be shocked if Shanahan or Dubas are removed.

 

[ToneDog]

The other side of that coin
Sakic's first 5 years saw 3 misses and 2 first round exits, Yzerman's first 4 saw 2 misses and a first round exit.

There's a fine line being stubborness and staying the course.

Good points. The only question is did their teams make strides each year or did they regress ?? So far we have regressed for 3 playoff series in a row under Dubas. Lost 4-3 to Boston after being up 3-2. Lost to offensively challenged Jackets team 3-2 at home. Lost to weakest team in the playoffs, blowing a 3-1 lead (at home) and the fanbase is in arms.

 

[Pi]

NO PP goals in 85 games. I didn't know that.

That's one of the reasons it sucks. I know he's passing to Auston but when your PP is a one trick pony and every player is trying to get it to Matthews, it will become unbelievably predictable.

Matthews isn't Ovechkin on the PP. He doesn't shoot one timers like that so it needs to have other threats and Marner's shot can be stopped Patrick Roy today if he laced them up.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

This is the hilarious part. We couldn't score for 2 playoffs in a row, and the league is saying get more defence? Yeah lets lose 1-0 instead of 2-0 next time. NHL will never advance as a league with 1950's thinking.

I’m convinced those anonymous league executives LeBrun interviews do not watch much hockey at all, or only caught the highlights of the two giveaways in OT and that’s their impression for the whole season.

 

[ToneDog]

I’m convinced those anonymous league executives LeBrun interviews do not watch much hockey at all, or only caught the highlights of the two giveaways in OT and that’s their impression for the whole season.

Wonder what our GAA would be in 7 games if we played the AVs or Lightning ?

 

[Faltorvo]

The other side of that coin
Sakic's first 5 years saw 3 misses and 2 first round exits, Yzerman's first 4 saw 2 misses and a first round exit.

There's a fine line being stubborness and staying the course.

and ahhh,,,what teams did sak/yzerm inherit?

did they have 3 super paid players? 4 supposed offensive STUDS and a offensive #1 D? you get the jist

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Is that merely his opinion or insider info?

No way Larry has even had a board mtg yet to finalize his decisions .. and then he needs to sit down with Shanny .. these things don't happen that fast .. unless he has a relationship with Larry who calls da shots in Leafland