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The concept that the Leafs stars ‘are fine’ and essentially the Leafs should just run it back as far as the stars go but moving & replacing Reilly and JT while getting a new bottom 6 will fix everything is severely flawed.
How the hell are the Leafs going to actually get a new bottom 6 that can compete with the top tiered teams bottom 6 if they just keep allocating a disproportionate amount of the cap to the star players?
Ok lets just pretend we are in GM mode in a video game (because that’s the only way this entire theory works) and lets say Reilly agrees to waive his no movement clause & the Leafs don’t bring JT back.
The combined salary for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ bottom six in the 2024-25 season is approximately $10.275 million. This includes Laughton, Lorentz, Jarnkrok, Domi, Holmberg, and McMann.
FUN FACT – The Leafs’ bottom six is paid less than any individual in the “Core Four”
Reilly is 7.5 M and JT was 11M so all that totaled give you 29M rounded up.
You now take that nd turn around and give what 3 M or more of it to Marner right off the hop so your 29M is now 26M.
With that 26M you have to get Knies locked up with a raise and if your scrapping the entire bottom 6 you have 8 contracts (Reilly, JT and bottom 6) to now replace with 26M and 2 of those are your 2nd line centre & a 2nd pairing D.
In what world can you find a 2nd line C that is better than JT was this year with 38 goals and 58% FO wins as well as find a 2nd pairing D + 6 more bottom 6 forwards who are better than what they had this year for 26M?
And the “just trade players X, Y and Z” is almost as much of a joke, what team is taking what some are labelling Toronto’s garbage from the bottom 6 or their overpaid 2nd pairing D and giving Toronto their value back as far as what their salary is? Toronto wouldn’t be trading from any position of strength in this scenario.
The only move is to eliminate one or 2 of the top tiered salaries and redistribute that money to other parts of the team aside from top 6 forwards to improve the balance. JT’s 11M off the books helps but you have to replace your 2nd line C so you gain what half that salary cap space as the average 2nd line C in the NHL has a 5M salary (do you want average or better than average?).
The move to make is obvious – who they make that move with is up to the Leafs but letting a UFA walk to get the space seems a lot easier and less messy than trading a player with a multi year deal they are in the very early stages of – at least to me.
Ugh boring final…imo
Hope edmonton gets in. The canes look done. After game 1, I said it was only one game for the canes, but they now look like their usual conference finals self.
Also, Freddy andersen is doing freddy andersen things again….someone on here was raving about freddy and how the leafs should have kept him…I laughed then and laugh now.But ya, the canes may win a game.
~FakepartofmeWhen you look at his overall stats, Andersen looks good. When you look at his pressure stats, Andersen is almost a torchbearer for the Leafs’ collective failures in closing out series. Obviously the problems continued with Campbell, Samsonov and Woll – but Andersen’s numbers were a seriously stark contrast (I had looked them up, but I don’t typically save that stuff when I look; I just get it and am sometimes surprised by it) between early series and Series clinching games.
Goalies at this level can be so undone by their own headspace. Remember Potvin? Always an excellent goalie but the last couple of years he had a tendency to allow a soft goal every other game or even more frequently. He was still typically well above league average in save percentage (usually being about top-10) – until his last season here, when he posted a .906, which was bang-on league average. The Leafs signed Curtis Joseph and Potvin just fell apart – save percentages of .885, .901, .900, all below the league averages. I don’t think he was ever the same. Even in 2001-2002, his last good season, he bounced back to .907 and league average was .908.
UG.
My gawd, what a headache.
The stars of this team arent fine and they are all similar – soft, disappear when it counts and dont hate losing enough.
The cap will rise this year but it probably doesnt go up as high as expected over the next couple of years.
As for your Thanksgiving comment, ya if you make over millions you should be taxed 53%, but there are ways around that. Also taxes are being lowered for those in the first two bracket – under $57 000 and under $114. As it should be. I’m perfectly fine with people who make millions paying more taxes.
JT can get more on the open market for sure, but having a quality 2nd line centerman who will transition to 3rd line in a year or so for $4-$5 would great. If the leafs sign a younger 2nd line center than JT could play wing or 3rd line. But if he walks he walks.
Marner isnt worth over $12.5…..heck he’s barely worth 10.9….but I say that about matthews and Willy as well. All were overpaid too early and continue to be overpaid.And sorry, while with the leafs Hunter’s track record is bad at drafting: Fedor Gordeev, Keaton Middleton, Nicolas Mattinen, Ryan O’Connell, Vladimir Bobylev, Ryan McGregor, Vladislav Kara, and Nikolai Chebykin. Lili was the best of the bunch…I guess timoshov had 45 nhl games.
So his eyes arent that great.
Mark hunter is old news, moving on.WHIPPER
Participant
As expected, Carolina is getting shit on again. Florida is simply on another level. Florida/Dallas final would be great to see!Ugh boring final…imo
Hope edmonton gets in. The canes look done. After game 1, I said it was only one game for the canes, but they now look like their usual conference finals self.
Also, Freddy andersen is doing freddy andersen things again….someone on here was raving about freddy and how the leafs should have kept him…I laughed then and laugh now.But ya, the canes may win a game.
OOOOHHH 9/10 years they made it to game 7 in the second round for the first time…oooooohhh and their stars players were nowhere to be found in game 7. -fake
Florida is a bonafide, proven powerhouse. Defending Champs, soon to be Finalists three years in a row. You see what they’re doing to Carolina? Absolute destruction. Carolina will be lucky if they win a game at this pace. Just another piece of evidence this team needs to keep their best players and dispatch the passengers. The Leafs 1st line were not passengers. They scored every single GWG in the series versus the Panthers. But you’ve never been keen on following evidence.
So yes, the Leafs pushing that team to Game 7 (and Game 3 OT could have swung it in our direction too) is indeed impressive and evidence of improvement, albeit incremental and long over due.
The stars of this team cant get it together, this was probably the best version of them. Time for a change.
The stars on the team are fine. It’s the trash bottom-six, old ass defensive liability Tavares and garbage Rielly that need to be changed. If the Leafs dumped Rielly, Jarnkrok and Kampf, they’d have nearly 13 million to spend on better depth players. You could bet confidently with a solid, two-way, shut down 3rd line, this Leafs team, with all their star players intact, will go further in the playoffs.
You simply cannot have $40m locked up in 3 forwards who are very similar. You cant win that way. Its been proven. Time for change.
They actually aren’t similar. Matthews is an elite two-way sniper. Marner is a an elite two-way playmaker who kills penalties. Nylander is a one-dimensional scorer. You want change? Change the garbage players like Tavares and Rielly. The guys on the ice for the most goals against because they absolutely suck defensively. They give up 6 goals trying to score 5. Doesn’t add up.
No, what you can’t do is let your leading point producer (in his prime) walk away from the team for nothing in return. That is a proven way to lose. If you insist on getting rid of one the forwards, Marner stays, Nylander goes. Luckily, that doesn’t have to happen if they play their cards right in other areas.
The cap has never been higher and will continue to rise. If you’re pissy because the Leafs have to pay them so much more, maybe they wouldn’t if they weren’t stuck paying damn near 55% in taxes. Probably soon to be 60%. The Turkeys asked for Thanksgiving, now get familiar with the menu.
Unfortunately, Management screwed this team by trading away all their 1st rounder until 2028…so they cant even do a quick one year retool and get a nice prospect.
They are now stuck with having to try to get into the playoffs….so, let marner walk, move out morgan if you can, If JT will take $5m, sign him for 3 years. Build out the bottom 6, get a winger to play the top line and another quality D.Weren’t you the guy a few poorly written sentences ago repeatedly screaming change like a deranged lunatic? But you want Tavares back? The same Tavares that had ZERO points in 6 out 7 round 2 games and NONE in Game 5, 6 and 7 vs the Panthers? The same Tavares who led the team in even strength goals against?
You’re so blinded by the mirage of a “discount 5 AAV contract” but fail to see that whatever you “save” on Tavares won’t make up for his garbage play away from the puck that lose you a series. The level of discount Tavares would have to take to make up for the disaster he is defensively would have to be in 3 million AAV or less territory because you’d have to shift him to LW and have a REAL two-way center that can actually play defense in the 5+ AAV range just to break even.
So basically, Tavares would have to become Matt Duchene in Dallas at 3 AAV. And even that isn’t all that great because Duchene is on the ice for way more 5v5 goals against than he is for. His PP production keeps him marginally valuable but still negative overall. So even in THAT scenario, it still sucks. So, bye Tavares. Go enjoy Buffalo. I hear it’s a short drive from Oakville.
MArk hunter? LOL, What a joke.
Yes, laugh at probably one of the best damn eyes for Canadian junior hockey talent. It was a mistake to let him go. If you want to build a winner in the NHL, you better understand where to find the gems in the OHL and the CHL. Rare to find somebody better at it than Mark Hunter with the great teams his family has built in London year after year after year. The Leafs need a drafting wizard now more than ever with no 1st round picks and barely any prospects left to speak for. Worst case Ontario, this team gets blown up by idiot media personalities and dumbass fans who scream for the destruction of this team and the Leafs have a guy smart enough to know how to rebuild it through the draft. Best case, he can populate this team with cheap, young, OHL talent that can help this team get over the hump without having to pay through the nose in free agency or trades.
As expected, Carolina is getting shit on again. Florida is simply on another level. Florida/Dallas final would be great to see!
Willy seems to be skating by with little or no examination. Maybe he needs a little bit of the Marner/Matthews treatment. He is top 3 in salary, so scrutinizing him isn’t a bad thing. Leafs need a true #2 centre to replace Tavares. Rielly should be the first out the door and replaced with a UFA. Another righty is required for the 2nd pair to play with OEL.
The cap isnt going up as much as expected in the years after next.
It will go up for next season, but the original projection probably not happeningWendel Clark held him down while Darcy Tucker and Tie Domi took turns beating him.
Doug Gilmour was seen talking with Clark and the owners afterwards.
carlton gave him a good dry rogering right in his boy pussy for good measure????????????
