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I still like the Mason McTavish angle. The Leafs really need a 2nd line center and McTavish fits the bill. That Colorado 1st for Roy and a 2nd pairing defenseman gets it done. McTavish is only 23, the same age as Knies. That is the next tier of Leafs top end talent, if that can be done. Losing a top 4 defenseman isn’t a huge loss, when you can backfill in free agency. If the Leafs do go sideways, again this year, then you move the two big dogs and get your boatload of draft picks and young talent for a real rebuild. Having Knies, McTavish and McKenna on cheap deals for 3 years gets you to a fast rebuild.
Things go from 0 to retarded pretty much every time you post – just like your bullshit made up stat was proven to be just that bullshit and made up when you claimed Raddysh will go “back to being a -10” and yet he’s never been anywhere near a -10.
plus minus is a dumb stat to use, which is why ug always does. it full of noise, highly depends on the goalie and 5v5 on ice sv% which can be volatile season to season and if players are used with empty nets.
add in coaching style and a player who is pretty much the same can have huge variance in plus minus season to seasonBrandon Carlo went from being a +44 in Boston to only +4 in Toronto so things can go very bad, very fast
Things go from 0 to retarded pretty much every time you post – just like your bullshit made up stat was proven to be just that bullshit and made up when you claimed Raddysh will go “back to being a -10” and yet he’s never been anywhere near a -10.
I really think that a bold move is going to happen to shore up the defense and 2C. Once the arbitration process moves forward, there may be more money to spend, once they release or get the fringe guys on a cheap contract. The Mason McTavish question is an interesting thought. We do have that 1st that belonged to Colorado in the Roy trade. Add another piece and I see it doable. Rielly? Probably not. However, dangle Brandon Carlo and that might be enough. Have them add a 2nd or 3rd rounder and see if that could do it. Of course, it would take finding another right handed defenseman for 3 RD. If there is a free agent that could do the job at 3 RD, then make that plug and play move.
i like that the new head honcho is making some moves and swung for the fences, but i don’t see any of these moves being game changers.
the defense and goaltending are still suspect.
at least it’s clear that chayka isn’t going to run it back. he’s either going to remake this team or burn it down and cripple it for years to come. it won’t be boring.
credit to raddysh for one of the biggest pay rises in the history of the league and he gets to bail out of meth-riddled florida for the completely sane environment of the gta. it’s tavares and his bed sheets all over again. i even saw a photo of him in a midget leafs jersey as a kid. lol
If he keeps adding 8 year deals for 30+ year old players without adding more 1st round picks, this team will be crippled by time he’s finished with it. Treliving already inflicted a boat load of damage with long term contracts of old D so that blueline is filled with anchors as the years go forward. If the Leafs keep getting older while the rest of the division is younger, it won’t end well.
He is not running it back but if the season ends with another playoff miss or even a 1st round exit, it’s only a matter of time before Matthews starts heading for the door and if he walks Matthews and other expiring contracts into UFA status without getting a return on those assets, this team will be absolutely fucked in the future.
In an ideal scenario, all the Leafs most valuable assets have good statistical years but the Leafs miss the playoffs and Matthews demands a trade. That way this team can rebuild properly and uses it’s remaining assets as trade bait at the deadline, uses cap space to take on bad contracts for 1st round picks and rebuilds properly.
Won’t happen though as the Leafs will strive for mediocrity and continue to overpay players as they usually do.
I sense some negativity, but there are some positives here, as well. We do have a first overall pick. If that translates into an 80+ point player going forward, that’s a bonus! The defense is old and injury prone. However, if the majority stay healthy, they either make the playoffs or position themselves to be traded for assets at the trade deadline. Is McCabe worth a mid level 1st at the trade deadline? I can see that. Same goes for OEL. Somehow, we have to eat up those 2 firsts that we owe for two years. Sure, the Leafs could kick it down the road one more time, if they finish under the top 10 threshold. But that doesn’t give us a path to respectability. It just means that Philly and Boston get an unprotected 1st, down the road. It does buy the 1st overall pick to develop into a star player within 3 years. I remember Marner took a couple of years to hit his stride when he first became an NHL’er. The Leafs do need to find a way to get a stud defenseman. If a team in the top 5 of the draft want to trade for Knies, then do so. Knies is a really good power forward, but the Leafs need a stud defenseman to play the next 15 years at a high level. You aren’t getting one in a trade and must be drafted. If a team in the top 5 wants to move up to #1, consider doing so. It should cost them their 1st and a top prospect, or a second 1st rounder. The Leafs need to entertain this way of thinking. Outside of that, let the season play out. If we’re again buried in the standings, you start making major changes with Matthews and Nylander being sent out for major assets and the tear down occurs. Those 2 lost firsts are going to bite us in the balls, going forward.
i like that the new head honcho is making some moves and swung for the fences, but i don’t see any of these moves being game changers.
the defense and goaltending are still suspect.
at least it’s clear that chayka isn’t going to run it back. he’s either going to remake this team or burn it down and cripple it for years to come. it won’t be boring.
credit to raddysh for one of the biggest pay rises in the history of the league and he gets to bail out of meth-riddled florida for the completely sane environment of the gta. it’s tavares and his bed sheets all over again. i even saw a photo of him in a midget leafs jersey as a kid. lol
I have a feeling that they Leafs are going to do more trades and UFA signings. The defense needs another body and the 2C needs to be addressed. The Leafs can’t get far with Tavares at 2C. He needs to be bumped down to 3C or the LW on line 2. The bottom 6 needs to be addressed and a few dead weight players need to be traded or just not re-signed. Maccelli, and Robertson need to be moved. Either a late round pick or just not qualified needs to happen. I don’t see a decent return for either one of these guys. They only put up points in garbage time, when nothing is to be gained. Some of the Marlies would do a better job for less. Goaltending also needs to be sorted out. Arturs A needs to get a good look, after being the AHL Playoff MVP. He’s quick and great positionally, but has a tendency to drop too soon to the butterfly. You see the opposition shooting high on him, so he needs to work on that. Hildeby will slot in behind Stolarz to start the year, so there will be decent goaltending, as long as they stay healthy. If they start slow, AA will become relevant sooner than we think. The draft lottery should be interesting.
Tavares can’t play 3C. He’s defensively worthless. If you make him a shutdown center, he won’t be able to score and doesn’t shut down anybody. His only option is to play LW if you pull him away from 2C. One of the few options for 3C is the long anticipated Boone Jenner. He could be a shutdown, physical 3C that could kill penalties and probably play a solid 16-18 minutes a night. If Matthews plays 20, Tavares plays 18, Jenner plays 16, you need a 4C to eat up the last 8 minutes per game which you might get from Groulx or another FOs/PK specialist veteran as a UFA.
While it’s nice the Marlies won the Calder Cup, it was mostly led by career AHLers. The last time the Marlies won the Calder Cup, the NHLers we saw come from it were Andreas Johnsson, Trevor Moore, Holl, Kapanen, Marincin, Dermott, Liljegren, Engvall, Grundstrom and Garret Sparks with most of them being in their early 20s and under 25. This time around it seems Cowan and Villeneuve were the only leaders under 25 with Danford, Quillan, Tverberg and Groulx might having some chance at being depth players but Lettieri, Shaw, Nylander unlikely to make the NHL jump.
From what I saw from Akhtyamov in the NHL, he looks like another Samsonov. Not that big, relies more on athletics than technique and not really starter material in the NHL but maybe a back-up. Previous playoff AHL MVP goalies of the past 30 years include Silovs, Hunter Shepard, Robin Lehner, Michal Neuvirth, Carey Price (20 years old), Fred Cassivi, Nittymaki, Flaherty, Holmqvist, Nurminen, Mike Dunham and Corey Schwab going all the way back to 1995. Most of the time, it’s pathway to becoming a back-up with some rare exceptions like a 20 year old Carey Price.
Indeed.
Nothing for C in free agency. Not many options for a trade.
Bo Groulx gets a real shot maybe. That would probably mean keeping JT on the 2nd line for the time being.
I have a feeling that they Leafs are going to do more trades and UFA signings. The defense needs another body and the 2C needs to be addressed. The Leafs can’t get far with Tavares at 2C. He needs to be bumped down to 3C or the LW on line 2. The bottom 6 needs to be addressed and a few dead weight players need to be traded or just not re-signed. Maccelli, and Robertson need to be moved. Either a late round pick or just not qualified needs to happen. I don’t see a decent return for either one of these guys. They only put up points in garbage time, when nothing is to be gained. Some of the Marlies would do a better job for less. Goaltending also needs to be sorted out. Arturs A needs to get a good look, after being the AHL Playoff MVP. He’s quick and great positionally, but has a tendency to drop too soon to the butterfly. You see the opposition shooting high on him, so he needs to work on that. Hildeby will slot in behind Stolarz to start the year, so there will be decent goaltending, as long as they stay healthy. If they start slow, AA will become relevant sooner than we think. The draft lottery should be interesting.
