In reality, Rielly was the one that needed (and still needs) to go and the Leafs still can’t make it happen, meanwhile Nurse went to the Sharks with 0 dollars retained by the Oilers and they got a top prospect to boot. The Leafs are retarded. Those are the facts. End of story.
This is the prophecy that makes you incorrect. You keep saying that we should have ditched Rielly and a bunch of 3rd and 4th liners for Cap. The issue really was about the Salary Cap and no Movement clauses. We’re realizing that Rielly was unmovable back then and now. He had a no movement clause, that he’s still wielding today. He supposedly has a 4 team list of places that he would go, but do any of those 4 teams want him on their roster? $7.5M of Cap space is just off limits until they can move him. In reality, he could just keep saying no and he’s still part of the team and the Cap space and roster spot is unusable. On the 3rd and 4th liners that you mentioned, you do have to fill out the roster and that takes Cap space. Right now Chayka has done a good job at gutting the bottom 6 and replacing most of them, but still….it takes Cap Space. It’s why the imbecile Treliving had to let Marner go, because his dinosaur brain could not compute and he didn’t have a lot of options. I’m glad that they sent him off to the land of Dinosaur bones before he could completely destroyed the roster and traded Knies. That trade chip may become more relevant going forward, with the lower cap hit of a top 6, younger player with the ability to trade him anywhere.
Looking at some of the teams that have a massive number of top draft picks, like San Jose and Anaheim, they won’t be able to fit too many of their under 25 young stars under the new Cap, when they’re looking for $20M per season. Knies could easily fit at $7M, so getting a top end talent, that would cost more on the Cap, for a player that’s maybe a step below at $7M even up could work. It’s a good poker chip to have moving forward. The NHL is screwed with the new dynamics after the entry level contracts expire. San Jose are going to find out fast, within 3 years.