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

[fahad203]

A player i would like to target is Lawson Crouse

A big body who can skate and play. We need a physical body who can contribute once on a while

Not another Mikaheyev who can skate but can't score or Simmonds who can't skate or do anything

 

[baton elevated]

Oops, just posted the same sentiment in the playoff section. Good call. What would it take?

 

[McSnypsky]

A player i would like to target is Lawson Crouse

A big body who can skate and play. We need a physical body who can contribute once on a while

Not another Mikaheyev who can skate but can't score or Simmonds who can't skate or do anything

But Crouse scores less than Mik? When I saw him at the world juniors I thought he was gonna be a beast but not so much anymore at least he is big i guess?

 

[Stephen]

Elliotte Friedman says the only untouchable Flyer is Farabe, so Provorov, Hart, Patrick, Konecny and their 1st would all be interesting in some ways.

 

[baton elevated]

But Crouse scores less than Mik? When I saw him at the world juniors I thought he was gonna be a beast but not so much anymore at least he is big i guess?

He wouldn't be brought in for his lack of scoring prowess. He is tough along the boards and not shy about plastering someone. Mik has no scoring and absolutely no toughness what so ever. No difference from puzzles the goat.

 

[Knies iT]

He's on the second pair in Carolina....

You think that means he's a 2nd pair D? They have two monster pairs and Hamilton has spent time with Slavin throughout the season. They have the luxury of spreading the load between Pesce/Hamilton and Slavin/Skjei.

He earned Norris chatter last season and arguably a similar impact this year. Easily a top-pair D.

 

[Dreakmur]

You think that means he's a 2nd pair D? They have two monster pairs and Hamilton has spent time with Slavin throughout the season. They have the luxury of spreading the load between Pesce/Hamilton and Slavin/Skjei.

He earned Norris chatter last season and arguably a similar impact this year. Easily a top-pair D.

He’s excellent offensively, which is how you get Norris votes. Defensively, he’s very suspect.... which is why he plays behind Brett Pesce, who is a borderline #2.

Morgan Rielly is a better player.

 

[McSnypsky]

He wouldn't be brought in for his lack of scoring prowess. He is tough along the boards and not shy about plastering someone. Mike has no scoring and absolutely no toughness what so ever. No difference from puzzles the goat.

Can't you get that with a good skating 4th liner for league minimum? does Crouse PK? Mik is good 3rd/4th liner with that's pretty decent defensively and isn't gonna really cost that much more going forward, if Crouse was brought in the 3rd line is where he probably best fits my guess that Engvall is probably the one that gets moved. Crouse isn't a 1st or 2nd line guy we need. A guy like Machessault but younger is kinda what I think would match, don't know how many guys like that are available though.

 

[Dreakmur]

Can't you get that with a good skating 4th liner for league minimum? does Crouse PK? Mik is good 3rd/4th liner with that's pretty decent defensively and isn't gonna really cost that much more going forward, if Crouse was brought in the 3rd line is where he probably best fits my guess that Engvall is probably the one that gets moved. Crouse isn't a 1st or 2nd line guy we need. A guy like Machessault but younger is kinda what I think would match, don't know how many guys like that are available though.

Crouse has been one of Arizona’s top PKers for a while now.

 

[TMLAM34]

To Toronto: Matthew Tkachuk
To Calgary: Mitch Marner

To Toronto: Rasmus Ristolainen, Casey Mittelstadt
To Buffalo: Travis Dermott, Rodion Amirov, Pierre Engvall and Mikhail Abramov


Re-Sign: Zach Hyman, Jason Spezza, and Zach Bogosian


Expansion Draft Loss: Justin Holl


Sign: Jonathan Bernier


Tkachuk (7) - Matthews (11.6) - Robertson(0.82)
Hyman (4.25) - Tavares (11) - Nylander (6.9)
Kerfoot (3.5) - Mittelstadt (2.25)- Mikheyev (1.65)
Anderson (0.75) - Brooks (0.72)- Spezza (0.7)

Rielly (5) - Brodie (5)
Muzzin (5.63) - Ristolainen (5.4)
Sandin (0.9) - Bogosian (1.5)

Campbell (1.65) - Bernier (3)


Buyout: Phil Kessel (1.2)
Cap Space: 1 million

 

[TheBigFour]

Hamilton over Rielly any day

 

[McSnypsky]

Crouse has been one of Arizona’s top PKers for a while now.

So Crouse is a 1st/2nd line guy now? and not on Arizona but on the Leafs? I mean he seems like he'd be a good replacement for Hyman, but Hyman shouldn't be on those lines either 3rd line would be perfect!

 

[Dreakmur]

So Crouse is a 1st/2nd line guy now? and not on Arizona but on the Leafs?

No...

 

[Rude Dog]

Simmonds and Thornton were total failures - - but at least they we’re only a waste of money.

Rittich, Ben Hutton and Riley Trash made ZERO contribution and wasted next years 3rd, 4th and 6th round pick.

Horrific mismanagement of assets just flushed down the toilet.

you can’t blame Dubas for adding Rittich. . Price was high but he didn’t have to quarantine given he was already in a Canada. Both the goalies were hurting. Turns out they didn’t need him but getting depth in net was a must.
Would have felt better giving up a 2nd and 4th for Foligno. Felt like an overpay from the get go. Sucks he got hurt.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Tampa Bay’s David Savard, Blake Coleman might pique Leafs’ interest as free agents | The Star

In their price range?

• Kyle Palmieri, Islanders: He has been a great deadline rental, with a career-high six playoff goals. He had a $4.65-million (U.S.) cap hit this season.

• Blake Coleman, Lightning: Everyone is looking to see if Tampa Bay can retain its workhorses. Coleman had a very affordable $1.8-million cap hit this season.

• Ryan Getzlaf, Ducks: He’s 39 and won’t come anywhere near that $8.25-million cap hit again. He would be a Joe Thornton-like presence and would have to come at a Thornton-like price.

• David Savard, Lightning: The Tampa defenceman was, arguably, the top blueliner available at the trade deadline. He would be in the class of a must-have player if he hits the market.

• Jaroslav Halak, Bruins: The 36-year-old goalie could be cut loose if the Bruins go with Tuukka Rask and youngster Jeremy Swayman. Halak has worked nicely in tandem with Rask, and could likely do the same with Jack Campbell.

A little too rich?

• Phillip Danault, Canadiens: Auston Matthews praised the Montreal centre as an underrated two-way player. He can move up and down the lineup and had a cap hit of just over $3 million, but he reportedly turned down a six-year, $30 million deal before this season.

• Taylor Hall, Bruins: As long as you’re not paying for that 2017-18 MVP season — he had an $8-million cap hit this season — he’d be a nice addition to any team’s top six forwards. That’s if he leaves Boston, his fourth team in three years.

• Philipp Grubauer, Avalanche: It’s hard to believe the Colorado goalie would be available after posting the sixth-highest save percentage of all time for goalies with more than 100 starts, but the Avalanche have to worry about contract renewals for captain Gabriel Landeskog and defenceman Cale Makar.

The long shots

Washington winger Alex Ovechkin, Carolina defenceman Dougie Hamilton, Edmonton forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Landeskog have expressed their desire to stay with their current teams. Hamilton would be an interesting prospect: He has tallied more goals than any other NHL defenceman over the past four seasons, and would be the prime option for the Leafs if they move on from Rielly.

 

[seanlinden]

Not that I agree with it.. but I will take Dubas at his face value in that he's keeping the core 4 this year... with that in mind, I think the priority in the offseason needs to be "how do we score differently?"

It's not necessarily about scoring more goals, the Leafs did plenty of that, it's about how they can increase the versatility of their scoring. The Leafs are a solid defensive team who is very dangerous on the counterattack, but they don't score a lot off the cycle. They certainly don't score a lot using deflections, rebounds, and screens -- something that's evidenced by the fact that they only got 14 goals out of their entire defensive core, all year.

I don't see any purpose in the leafs assembling a true "shutdown" line with the likes of a Riley Nash at centre. Their 3rd line centre needs to be somebody that's not going to lose a matchup, and needs to be defensively responsible, but the reality is, if the Leafs have their choice, they'll go best-on-best. That 3rd line needs to be an offensive threat, and they need the flexibility to take the 4 big guys, and spread them across 3 lines, given that they will almost certainly run into a team that has a true matchup centre to contain one of Matthews/Tavares line.

What would I do?

On D -- not a whole lot. Bogosian obviously has a contract up. Dermott is an expansion draft risk. Sandin will likely find his way in. If Bogosian goes, you certainly need a replacement like him. If Dermott goes, you probably just accept that. If you are able to keep all 7 -- that's probably the best situation.

In Goal -- you've gotta find a tandem for Jack Campbell around $2.5 to $3m.

Up front is obviously where there's a lot of moving pieces. To me, the skeleton of your roster is as follows. I put Tavares & Marner together, because I think they can give you a greater variety of looks than Matthews-Marner.
_____-Tavares-Marner
_____-Matthews-_____
_____-______-Nylander
_____-_____-______

Obviously there is the potential that Kerfoot remains, which would be fine as the #3C.

You have Engvall, Mikheyev, and Robertson all under contract, plus Galchenyuk who'd likely return -- but to me, there's only room for 2 of these guys, and probably just 1 in the top 9. There's certainly a spot open on Matthews wing. On the other side, I think you want grit -- size, somebody that's going to bang in a garbage goal and cause some havoc infront of the net. Similar for Tavares' line, and even a Kerfoot-Nylander 3rd line. 4th line, you'd figure Spezza would be back, and maybe Brooks has earned a spot.

Hyman & Foligno should of course both be considerations.. but honestly, if I'm the Leafs, I might look bigger. Hyman's success comes from outworking everyone on the ice. Come playoff time, he's already giving 125%, and everyone else steps up their game to somewhat nullify his. My heart says it would be tragic, but I think the Leafs would be a lot better off giving Foligno a 2-3 year deal at $3m than they would Hyman for 5 years at $5m.

I'm not sure who the right names are... maybe a Lawson Crouse or Miles Wood... my lineup would probably look something like this:

Foligno-Tavares-Marner
Crouse-Matthews-Mikheyev
_____-Kerfoot-Nylander
Robertson-Brooks-Spezza

 

[Donnie740]

But Crouse scores less than Mik? When I saw him at the world juniors I thought he was gonna be a beast but not so much anymore at least he is big i guess?

FFS, this ridiculous idea that the 3rd and 4th lines need to have a bunch of 25 goal scorers is totally asinine.

No-talent hacks like Mikheyev don’t have a hope in hell of ever scoring 25 goals in a year.

But the “best case projections” suggest there’s a possibility Mikheyev MIGHT potentially get 25 if everything in the universe aligns correctly.

Mikheyev is complete garbage. Pure worthless trash hockey player. Doesn’t score, doesn’t forecheck, doesn’t fight. Just skates around in circles and calls it a shift. But Keefe and Dubas waste a roster spot on him because miracles happen and there may be a miracle season where Mikheyev scores 25.

At least with a guy like Crouse you KNOW with absolute certainty that he’s going to hit everything he sees and will drop the gloves whenever needed.

Scoring is the responsibility of the 1st and 2nd lines. Whatever garbage goals the 3rd and 4th lines bang in is an added bonus.

 

[Stonehands1990]

FFS, this ridiculous idea that the 3rd and 4th lines need to have a bunch of 25 goal scorers is totally asinine.

No-talent hacks like Mikheyev don’t have a hope in hell of ever scoring 25 goals in a year.

But the “best case projections” suggest there’s a possibility Mikheyev MIGHT potentially get 25 if everything in the universe aligns correctly.

Mikheyev is complete garbage. Pure worthless trash hockey player. Doesn’t score, doesn’t forecheck, doesn’t fight. Just skates around in circles and calls it a shift. But Keefe and Dubas waste a roster spot on him because miracles happen and there may be a miracle season where Mikheyev scores 25.

At least with a guy like Crouse you KNOW with absolute certainty that he’s going to hit everything he sees and will drop the gloves whenever needed.

Scoring is the responsibility of the 1st and 2nd lines. Whatever garbage goals the 3rd and 4th lines bang in is an added bonus.

Unless Crouse looks around and sees nobody else sacrificing the body and decides it’s not worth it to be the only one

 

[Donnie740]

Unless Crouse looks around and sees nobody else sacrificing the body and decides it’s not worth it to be the only one

Which is precisely why Dubas needs to dump his collection of useless gimps that are currently wasting roster spots in the bottom six.

Get rid of worthless hacks like Mikheyev, Engvall, Thornton, Riley Trash and Foligno.
Bring in two or three guys like Crouse to pair with Spezza and watch difficult it suddenly becomes to play against the Leafs 3rd and 4th lines.

 

[Stigma]

CJ rumor was that he thinks that the leafs will add one big time/big potential player on a us based team that didn’t play in the playoffs. Multiple years in the contract.


Philly is apparently up for anything.
Provorov?

Marner and small + for Provorov. I'm in. (although Philly would have to be pretty dumb to trade Provorov)

 

[ShaneFalco]

Toronto Maple Leafs: 5 Unrestricted Free Agent Targets

I would like to take a look at five possible free-agent signings from outside the organization the Leafs could make to bolster their lineup for the 2021-22 season.
Toronto Maple Leafs Free Agent Targets

Blake Coleman – C

Blake Coleman might only be 5’11, but at 200 pounds he is a solid guy. He likes to play with a physical edge and is good at winning puck battles. His offensive production is not as high as Hyman’s, but if he was given a role in Toronto’s top six, he could have better offensive stats.
Coleman can also be used on the penalty kill for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He is a good shot blocker and has also recorded 13 short-handed points in his career. Coleman’s stats this season were 14 goals, and 17 assists for 31 points in 55 games. He also recorded 20 blocked shots, 109 hits, 25 takeaways, and 19 giveaways.
Coleman made $1.8 million a season for the last three seasons. He will probably be looking for at least $2.5 million on his next deal. The likely contract will be a 5 year deal for an AAV of $3 million. If the Leafs are unable to re-sign Hyman, Coleman could end up being a slightly cheaper option.
Playoff experience is another reason to try and add Coleman. Last season he had 13 points in 25 games helping the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup. He also had 126 hits, and 12 blocked shots in those 25 games. He is willing to sacrifice, and pay the price to win.
Barclay Goodrow – RW

Barclay Goodrow is another player who is not afraid to hit and sacrifice his body to win. The 6’2, 215-pound winger uses his size to his advantage. He recorded 111 hits this season, and also had 27 blocked shots.
He is not as offensively gifted as Hyman or Coleman, so if the Toronto Maple Leafs did sign Goodrow, there is a good chance he would be best suited for the third line. He would be a good depth signing for Kyle Dubas.
Goodrow is coming off of a two-year deal with an AAV of $925,000. Toronto should be able to sign him for $1.5 million or less on a multi-year deal.
Jamie Oleksiak – LD

Jamie Oleksiak would be a huge addition to the Toronto Maple Leafs blueline. Oleksiak is a big man (6’7 – 255 Lbs.) who loves to throw his weight around and punish the opposition. This season the left shooting defenseman recorded 148 hits, and 88 blocked shots.
If the Leafs lose Travis Dermott or Justin Holl to the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft, Oleksiak could be a very helpful signing for Kyle Dubas to fill the vacant spot. The signing would be even more helpful for Toronto if Dubas decides not to re-sign Bogosian. Although a defense that has Jake Muzzin, Bogosian, and Oleksiak is a very threatening blueline for the opposition to go up against.
Oleksiak is coming off of a three-year deal with an AAV of $2,137,500. To sign Oleksiak, Toronto would need to pay close to, if not over $3 million.
Chris Driedger – G

Chris Driedger had a very good season with the Florida Panthers. He posted a record of 14-6-3 with three shutouts. He finished the season with a GAA of 2.07 and a .927 SV%.
A pairing of Driedger and Jack Campbell could be a good tandem for the Toronto Maple Leafs to use while prospects Joseph Woll, and Ian Scott continue to develop.
Driedger had an AAV of $850,000 this past season, so it should not be too hard to sign him for around $1.5 million on a two-year or three-year deal. If that sort of deal is done, the Leafs would have a good tandem for just over $3 million next season. (All cap info capfriendly.com).
Brandon Montour – RD

Just like Oleksiak, Brandon Montour could be a good addition to the Toronto Maple Leafs blueline if they lose one of Dermott or Holl. Montour will not get a ton of points, but he is a good defender who can log big minutes.
During the 2020-21 season, Montour recorded 18 points in 50 games while averaging over 20 minutes a game. This could make him a perfect replacement for the Leafs second pairing if Holl is selected by Seattle.

 

[Trapper]

Elliotte Friedman says the only untouchable Flyer is Farabe, so Provorov, Hart, Patrick, Konecny and their 1st would all be interesting in some ways.

You would have to seriously consider a deal with Marner centered around Provorov/Konecny.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

Saw a trade rumor on an nhl trade rumor page on Facebook so take it with a grain of salt but it suggested that the Leafs are looking at making a trade with Sharks involving Rielly and Evander Kane. Thoughts?

His play style would be a good compliment to a line with Tavares and Nylander with his speed, physicality and shot but his off ice stuff could be an issue here in Toronto.

 

[mydnyte]

Hamilton is significantly harder to play against than Morgan Rielly who is a turnstile defensively. Watching him in Carolina it's clear he's an all-situations top pairing D.

Trading Rielly for assets and signing Hamilton rebalances the blueline perfectly and could also net you a young forward.

Brodie - Hamilton
Muzzin - Holl
Sandin - Bogosian
[Dermott - Liljegren]

Unlikely to happen but as much as Rielly elevates in the playoffs, i'm not confident he's a horse that can carry a D corps through four rounds, especially with Muzzin not being able to play 50% of a single series anymore at age 32.

Next summer's UFA D class is even more interesting with Parayko, Lindholm, Jones, Risto, Klingberg, Pulock, etc.

based on the above, wouldnt it make more sense to move Muzzin, who has the higher cap hit, and is the less durable, and hasnt been a physical force like he had been when younger, especially if his body cant handle playoffs anymore
even if we trade Reilly later, the right move for now, is trade Muzzin.

 

[Stigma]

Saw a trade rumor on an nhl trade rumor page on Facebook so take it with a grain of salt but it suggested that the Leafs are looking at making a trade with Sharks involving Rielly and Evander Kane. Thoughts?

His play style would be a good compliment to a line with Tavares and Nylander with his speed, physicality and shot but his off ice stuff could be an issue here in Toronto.

I love his style of play, but every indication is that this man is a mammoth d-bag.