Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
for those interested, Dom put out his most improved teams so far.
net rating, whatever that actually means. Leafs 4th.
worth noting, that doesnt include Mckenna. he has Mckenna as similar to Michkovs rookie season.1. Nashville Predators
Net Rating added: +272. New York Rangers
Net Rating added: +263. Washington Capitals
Net Rating added: +234. Toronto Maple Leafs
Net Rating added: +21
In: Jack Roslovic, Nick Paul, Teddy Blueger, Colton Sissons, Brandon Duhaime, Darren Raddysh, Emil Andrae, Sergei Bobrovsky
Out: Matias Maccelli, Nick Robertson, Calle Järnkrok, Brandon Carlo, Simon Benoit, Joseph WollIf “improvement” means going from a lottery team to a wild card pretender, sure. Obviously, the worst teams have the biggest margin to improve by but if you look at what they did, they didn’t really do much except splash a bunch of money on older players and take a bunch of risks to hope they can keep Matthews happy in his final two years.
Roslovic: Worst UFA signing the Leafs made. One-dimensional player, soft as shit, overpaid, trash in the playoffs.
Paul: Overpaid for 7 goals. Already have Joshua doing the same shit for the same price. Lorentz, same player, half the price.
Blueger: Solid 4C option, good price. Zero offense.
Sissons: Good player but overpaid. Zero offense.
Duhaime: Good 4th line winger, hits everybody. Zero offense.
Raddysh: Grossly overpaid for his first and only good season. Can’t skate or play D. Another Rielly contract situation sooner rather than later.
Andrae: Tiny 7th D, probably won’t do shit until injuries hit.
Bob: Was once great but coming off a horrid season and 38.Woll was the best goalie in the system and should have stayed over Stolarz. Also, Rielly is still not gone which is a defensive disaster.
Leafs are still one of the oldest teams in the NHL and in one of the toughest divisions. If “improvement” means they can be a wild card team, the bar is low because the goal should still be a Cup and this team is nowhere near that.
The trick is getting off to a fast start, since again this year, they have a lot of home games to begin the season. Where should they improve? The bottom 6. It’ll be better depth-wise. If they can improve by 21 points, it probably gets them into the playoffs. Not a big deal, but it will make the lost 1st rounder worth less to whoever gets it. I’d give it to Boston, since the next year could be not as good to surrender. Detroit will be worse, so will Ottawa; with Boston being stagnant, it might allow them to get into the playoffs.
Another top-heavy home schedule to start the season. That’s how they got buried last year. A poor start at home, and they could never catch up. Let’s pray that they come out on fire to start. At least the West Coast games will be gone by Christmas.
Stevie Yzerman was overrated as a GM. Sure, they drafted some good young talent, but they never drafted a significant super-youth. When you look at the Sharks, Ducks, and Hawks, none of those top-end players ended up in Detroit. They look destined for the basement this year, probably behind Ottawa in 7th. Maybe that’s the ticket for both of those teams…..a massive trade of top-end talent to see if they can break free of their doldrums.
man, the sky in Toronto is orangy red today
quite eerie I would say.Yeah, looking at the sky here in Kingston, that orange hue is kind of Martian-like. It makes it hard to go into the swimming pool. Outside of that, it’s deadsville in the sporting world. Where’s UG to throw a box of hand grenades?
You really gotta stop using this term mercenaries for players as if this started two weeks ago. Players have been going to the highest bidder since free agency was invented. It’s not new, it’s just how the market works.
Matthews and Nylander @ 50% retain would give the Leafs the biggest boatload of rebuild assets ever seen in Leafs history. If they shit themselves in the first half of this year, trade everybody starting in January and reap the rewards.
Not all players are mercenaries. Some want to win and do leave money on the table. It’s much easier, if they’re in a low tax red state, instead of Communist enclaves in Canada and the U.S. Some players who took less to be competitive, include Sidney Crosby, Nikita Kucherov, and Steven Stamkos. Others took a smaller haircut, like Connor McDavid and David Pasternak. All of these guys were proven commodities. Today’s 22 year old’s don’t have that kind of loyalty. They only want the gravy to start their careers. I fear that all of the hard work that San Jose and Anaheim will go out the window, within 3 years.
On Matthews and Nylander, sure, if you can get a great haul for them. In Matthews case, if he takes another 5 year contract under $15M per season and he regains his 50 goal prowess, then keep him. Nylander is immature for his age and wouldn’t mind seeing him moved for at least 2 first rounders in the top 10 of the draft. That could seal the two Treliving debacles and allow the Leafs to pick off a couple of UFA’s next year. The Colorado pick will be 25th to 32, you can book that.
Can you imagine what Bedard and Celebrini are going to command? Over $20M per season on a 4 year deal. They’re now mercenaries who’ll go where the money is. This also means that low tax states have a hugely distinct advantage over the Canadian and Blu States. Now look at Knies, signed long term, only 23 and no trade protection. When a team has more than one of these type of players, making north of $20M on a shorter term contract, it’s going to put them in Cap hell and they’ll come calling on the Leafs and Knies. You can score a franchise changing player, even up for the lower contract of Knies. The other scenario is keeping Knies on the cheap contract, moving a Matthews and add a Superstar, $20M player for that rebuild.
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.
I think the day is coming, when the NHL is going to have to go the way of the NFL, with franchise player designations. Once the Entry level contract expires, a team can sign one star player for $25M per season. It shouldn’t count against the Cap and the team has the option to renew it 3 years in a row. Once thee 3 years is up, the player can resign as the Franchise player for a series of 1 year contracts and can opt out after the 3 year contract is over. The salary cap, after the franchise player designate, should be pegged at $15M maximum on any 5 year or less contract and after 8 years of NHL experience, Unrestricted free agency. This would put an end to the revenge RFA signings and allow stability for the league. This can’t go on, targeting young superstars and destroying teams that are trying to rebuild. There are so many great young players, but most of them are on teams that are not in contention and if they lose a top drafted and developed player after 3 years, it just puts them back into the draft lottery again. The rich teams will be the benefactors and the secondary markets will suffer. Continue down this road and teams like Columbus, Salt Lake City, Winnipeg and Ottawa will be doomed. Want a stronger league? Fix the unequal tax system and allow teams to keep their best player for a longer period of time.
Love Marner or hate him, there is one constant that needs to be addressed. His salary Cap hit. The Leafs were having Cap problems before he left. Something similar is about to fall on the heads of the Anaheim Ducks. Too many players, with no playoff pedigree looking for top dollar. Young, talented, but unproven. The Leafs went through 10 years of this core and they couldn’t reach the 3rd round. Something had to give. Marner was the last one up, after Matthews and Nylander signed. Would it have made a difference if Marner was a Center? Probably. Wingers shouldn’t be considered the most important position on the team. Hence, they should be paid less than a Center. Unfortunately for Marner, he wanted Matthews money and it wasn’t going to happen. The Leafs couldn’t find a way to pay three, in their prime forwards max money. So he had to go. I can see this being an issue for the Ducks and eventually, the Sharks. Their astounding rebuilds will be cut to shreds with offer sheets. I guess the new NHL is about to devolve into the NBA with players having all of the power in negotiations. The second and third tier players are about to get a haircut. Sad, but it’s come to that. Grabbing players on expiring contracts will be the way to win in the playoffs.
So far, I’m impressed with the job that Chayka and Sundin have done. It’s a complete culture change. Out with the smaller, weaker players, in with size and durability. The Leafs now have a future, where 2 months ago, they looked dead on arrival. Amazing how a ping pong ball can change the future of a franchise. The Leafs were looking at giving up the 6th overall draft pick to Boston and their team was in the toilet. It looked like a 10 year rebuild on the horizon. Today, their forward group is strong. The defense needs work, but the defense is better than the end of the 2026 season and their goaltending looks stronger, as well. The farm team did the impossible and became Calder Cup Champions and the Leafs got the 1st overall pick. I think McKenna should change his number to 12.
