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R.Smith is to old. 34 and he cannot stay healthy. PERIOD!
and has hands of stone. He got what 11 points last year.
I’d rather keep Lorentz who will be cheaper and better IMOAnd how old is Tavares? Right…34.
He scored 40 points and played 79 games last year. What fucking stats are you looking at?
The difference is that Smith is a two-way winger who brings plenty of playoff experience. And most importantly, he’s an actual winner. Cheaper than Tavares too, on a shorter deal. Still a hometown guy too.
On no planet or universe is Lorentz better than Smith. Just because a player is cheaper doesn’t mean you’re going to win a Cup. Otherwise, the Columbus Blue Jackets would be Cup champs by now.
I think JT will get a 4 or 5 year extension @ 5 or 5.5M cap hit
I agree with Knies.I think the Leafs can’t win a Cup with a player that bad defensively, that old at that price. He was useless in 6 out of 7 games against Florida. Why does anybody think that just because he’ll make 50% less money that he’ll some how become 50% more effective. He wasn’t even scoring on the PP, the one area of his game that should still be sharp as a tack. Looks like people are lying about him being as sharp as a tack. Sounds familiar.
Knies should be on the lowest possible cap hit over 3 years. The longer the deal, the higher the cap hit because the Leafs would be buying UFA years. The Leafs are better off avoiding the same mistake they made with previous players and keeping his deal to 3 years. When Domi’s contract expires, you give Knies that extra cap space and make him the 10-11 million AAV player when he’s earned it. By then, Matthews will be gone too anyways.
Assuming we resign all 3 RFA FW
Current rosterKnies Matthews Nylander
McMann Tavares Robertson
Domi Laughton Jarnkrok
Holmberg Kampf Cowan/ReavesWe need more toughness in bottom 6
Lorentz is meh
Kant must go!
Holmberg/Robertson/Jarnkrok trade baitOptions: Tanev, Jeannot, Kuraly, Frederic, Armia, Bjugstad, Cousins ?
Knies @ 7×3 | Matthews | Marner @ 13.16×8
R. Smith @ 4×3 | Jenner @ 3.75×1 | Nylander
Domi | McBain @ 3.5×3 | B. Tanev @ 1.75×2 (or Corey Perry)
Laughton | Blueger @ 1.8×1 | Lorentz @ 1×1
Comtois @ 850 (or Pacioretty @ 1 if he doesn’t retire)OEL | Tanev
McCabe | T. Myers
Burns @ 2×1* | Carlo
BenoitWoll | Stolarz
one who seem to now be screaming from the roof top that the Leafs should pay him 16.5 M because of taxes.
Said no one, ever, except the voices of the strawman you are arguing with in your own head.
On the Oilers, if I’m the Leafs, I send out feelers to them regarding acquiring one of our goaltenders. Make it a steep price, like Bouchard
Yes, then sign Bouchard to 900K, 8 year deal.
Then throw in McDavid for Reaves’ game worn mitts.
That remains to be said. If Marner wants $13.5M, it’s way too much.
Basic math says that anything less than 16.5 AAV for Marner would actually be a home town discount.
It’s very easy to do. Try it yourself.
https://puckpedia.com/tax-calculator
Marner would take home the same amount in Vegas at 12 AAV as he would in Toronto at 16.5 AAV.
So if he’s asking for the same as Matthews, that actually is a hometown discount. The problem is, absolutely nobody seems to be sharp enough to realize that he’s losing a lot of money by staying in Toronto at that price.
You can’t win with this playoff no show at that pay grade. 9 years of this! You wanna make it 10?
More career playoff points than Matthews, Nylander, Rielly and Tavares. But somehow, the idiots in the media (whom you are parroting) label him the one “no show”. Makes no sense.
Took Yzerman 14 years to win a Cup. Took Ovechkin 12 years, and he’s only advanced past the 2nd round once. Yes, it’s frustrating but it takes time to continue adding pieces to the team to be able to win a Cup in a stacked division.
It’s what you get if you don’t do something about the Cap with this player. He has not won us Jack Sh!t since he’s come to Toronto. No leadership skills, no grit. But he wants more than McDavid. I call Bullsh!t on this mini mercenary.
So trade Matthews and Nylander too by your logic?
Leafs need a banger and a player that can shoot the puck from the point. Rielly isn’t it, but Ekblad is.
Bennett, Marchand and Ekblad are not leaving Florida for Toronto. Ekblad had 3 goals last year. Rielly had 7. Both had 4 playoff goals each. But Ekblad only has 8 career playoff goals. Rielly has 15. Imagine being so stupid as to trade away Rielly, only to sign a guy for the same (or more) money who gives you even less offense, with a history of concussions and who will demand more money than the Leafs can afford to give him. The Leafs would be better off with Brent Burns than Ekblad at 30% of the cost without the long term commitment.
Tavares is also a huge liability that needs to be addressed.
Probably the only accurate statement you’ve made all night.
However, they could grab Aaron Ekblad as a UFA. If Rielly was moved for picks or prospects, that cash could go straight to Ekblad and solidify the right side of the defense. Leafs need to dispose of both Marner and Rielly. Replace with picks to restock the cupboard. Brock Boeser, and Nikolaj Ehlers could be had for the price of Marner’s contract. You solidify the top 6 and the defense is stronger. Is it enough to win the Atlantic? Maybe. Some time soon, the drain of talent from Florida will finally take them out. Leafs have 2 years to get it done, before the younger teams like Ottawa, Montreal, and Detroit come knocking.
Why the fuck would Ekblad want to play for the Leafs? Please, explain yourself. UFAs aren’t a box of nails you buy at Home Depot. They aren’t just sitting there, waiting for you to be the first one to show up when the doors open.
Do you honestly believe Ekblad has had so many blows to the head that he forgets how much better off he is in Florida?
Additionally, even if he actually was that stupid, why should the Leafs pay him a ridiculous amount of money for 3 goals and 33 points from age 30-37…?
I’m sorry but you’re absolutely fucked if you think Marner needs to be “disposed of” but then want to replace him with soft as baby shit Ehlers and -25 Boeser.
You make absolutely no sense.
Well, if you can convince Rielly to waive and work a deal with Vancouver to take him (preferably zero retention) and get some assets in return, then I nominate you as the next executive assistant to the assistant general manager.
The Leafs don’t need to get gold in return for Rielly. They just need a little extra cap space and to fill gaps in the line-up. I don’t think it requires anything special to get him to waive. They just need to sit down with him and tell him he’s not part of the future plans of the team. At that point, he starts picking places he would like to land in.
Blueger has a $1.8m caphit for next season and then UFA after that.
Myers has a $3m caphit until 2027 and then UFA, and he’s 35 right now, BTW.
Which is perfect for the Leafs. Blueger gives the Leafs a Cup winning 4C who can play the PK and with speed.
Myers gives the Leafs another big body, RHD, who can PK and defend. Maybe gives the Leafs another PP option with his point shot.
So, you would be taking on $4.8m in cap and shooting Rielly’s $7.5m caphit into the Sun… which runs until 2030 by the way, so I hope the Canucks really really want him with no retention.
As I said earlier, they’ll probably end up losing Hughes one way or another by 2030. He doesn’t want to stay in Vancouver. Rielly is at least a hometown guy.
You would be gaining $2.2m in free cap. That’s a nice little piece of change that gets you another bottom sixer or #3-#5 dman.
And that extra cap space would go to either Dumoulin or Brent Burns (hometown discount). Dumoulin gives the Leafs another steady Cup winner with a bit of size and defensive awareness.
At the moment, the Leafs have 3 LHD in OEL, McCabe and Benoit. None of them are #1 D, that’s for certain. However, the Leafs lack 3 RHD.
A big source of the Leafs defensive issues is that they had OEL playing on the right side and it significantly lowered his ability to move the puck effectively.
OEL / Tanev
McCabe / Myers
Dumoulin or Burns / Carlo
BenoitThe problem I see here is, Myers is definitely not a top pair guy. And that still leaves you without a true #1 dman, which Rielly was at least cosplaying as on the Leafs. Blueger is basically a plug and is a noshow in the playoffs, so I guess he’s a little cheaper than Kampf.
None of this solves the root issue on defense – the Leafs don’t have a rock or warhorse. They don’t have a true #1. Rielly is trying and failing. Shooting him into the Sun, but taking back almost $5m in cap on a 35 year old dman and Kampf-lite doesn’t feel like a big upgrade, although you get free of Rielly’s cap from years 2027 onward.
This gives the Leafs the ability to deploy 3 sets of evenly LHD/RHD pairs that can each play 20 min each. Ideally, it would be nice if the Leafs had a guy like Seth Jones (Leafs were too stupid to acquire him) or some other minute munching top pair D. But unfortunately, those guys are A) not available and B) not within the budget.
On further reflection, I think it might be better if Rielly gets a coke habit.
There’s plenty of fentanyl in Vancouver and Seattle, he can do whatever he wants as soon as he’s off the Leafs cap.
At this point you’d almost have to give Rielly away. Even if he agreed to waive (he won’t), the return is going to be scrubs and low picks unless you retain and fuck retaining on a contract like that. Send him to Utah for a 7th and a box of timbits.
Sure, the ownership could run him out of town and basically “override” his NMC by driving him out, but then you damage the team’s reputation as a destination for other players like free agents or trade targets. That’s far from ideal.
Put him in rehab, bury the caphit.
Kerrigan his kneecap and put him on Robidas Island.
Redeploy him as a 2nd pair, optimize for a reduced and overpaid role, and live with it.
That’s pretty much your options.
Disagree.
Rielly has negative value to the Leafs but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have value to somebody else. Remember, Karlsson got traded. Rielly can be traded.
He will waive for Vancouver or Seattle. He doesn’t have a cocaine problem, that’s just insane bullshit that’s been said about Nylander too. He is what he’s always been; good skater who can’t play defense.
The Leafs can get a bottom pairing D and a 4th line C for him. Vancouver would probably welcome him as they expect to trade Hughes as he has no interest in staying long term and wants to play with his brothers.
Rielly to VAN for Blueger and T. Myers.
You’ve earned nothing to warrant the salaries that you opine for. Either shut-up and take a hometown discount, or get the hell out.
Basic math says that anything less than 16.5 AAV for Marner would actually be a home town discount.
It’s very easy to do. Try it yourself.
https://puckpedia.com/tax-calculator
Marner would take home the same amount in Vegas at 12 AAV as he would in Toronto at 16.5 AAV.
So if he’s asking for the same as Matthews, that actually is a hometown discount. The problem is, absolutely nobody seems to be sharp enough to realize that he’s losing a lot of money by staying in Toronto at that price.
Rielly for Lafrenière ???
they have roughly the same cap hit.
why — just because.
Don’t think either team or player benefits or accepts that trade.
Moving Rielly is mostly about getting his horrid defense off the team, clearing cap space and bringing in defensive depth.
You posted stats about 2 players with zero context other than “playoff points / goals” which was intentionally misleading since one guy has played 128 playoff games and the other 75 and when that fact is pointed out to you this is how you react?
There is absolutely nothing misleading or out of context about stating the fact that Stamkos has actually been a playoff performer and Tavares has not.
For the record I didn’t see ANYONE say JT was a better playoff performer (I sure as hell didn’t), I provided context to your post that was missing important information – had you posted it initially instead of trying to spin a narrative by intentionally omitting it we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
You certainly implied it by trying to spin the context by stating that Stamkos was playing on “stacked” teams while Tavares wasn’t.
The facts slapped you harder across the face than Edmonton got slapped in Game 3.
Here are some more facts that may hurt your feelings:
JT HAS in fact played 75 career playoff games https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=89823
34 years only and he’s only played in 75 career playoff games? And you want that garbage to come back?
Tyler Johnson was the playoff goal and point leader in 2015, he also led in even strength goals, Game Winning goals and goals created in those playoffs.
Tampa had Ben Bishop in net who had the most shutouts in the playoffs, a .921 Save % and a 2.18 GAA.
Maybe it’s you who should do research before posting ‘stupid shit’ or post the entire set of data and not just cherry pick what helps support your opinion and purposely omit what doesn’t but should be considered.
Irrelevant. Having Tyler Johnson and Ben Bishop on the team is hardly having a “stacked” team the year he first brought his team to the Cup Final. That same “stacked” team, didn’t go as far without him the next year. Tyler Johnson never had a playoff run like that ever again. Bishop got replaced by Vasilevskiy.
Your dumbass point was refuted. Easily.
The only person screaming about JT is you, it’s quite probable that JT will be back, you may want to look to accept that fact while considering that facts don’t care about your feelings.
Thinking that not bringing a guy back for 3-5M is the major change that’s needed vs not paying a winger 13M or more and yet again putting the Leafs into a cap situation where they simply can’t build the balanced roster that the true, like the elite teams in this league have right now is incredibly short sighted.
Throwing away your leading point producer in his prime for nothing while bringing back an old, proven loser is the precise manner in which this franchise continues to fail miserably. Keep supporting the failure.
I’m done with this debate – sorry / not sorry to have spoiled your narrative with facts.
Good, you know when you’ve been defeated. Now stay silent like a good boy.
Stamkos has played 128 career playoff games many of them with stacked Tampa teams.
JT has played 75 with the Islanders and Leafs.
#facts
You should at least attempt to do research before you say stupid shit like that.
If Tavares only played 75 career playoff games, it’s probably because he played like shit so often, his teams didn’t advance as often or as far as they should have.
Stamkos, in 2015, led his team to the Final with the super megastar Tyler Johnson. Kucherov was a 65 point, 2nd year player, great in the playoffs, yes, but not yet considered who he is today at that time. Vasilevskiy was the back-up. Point wasn’t even drafted yet. Hedman had less points than Stralman. The next year, Stamkos only played 1 playoff game. His team did not return to the Final without him, despite every other major player still being on the team. They did not return to the Final for many years, despite missing the playoffs entirely one year and getting swept by Columbus after being the #1 team in the NHL. Did they blow up the team? Trade Kucherov? Point? Stamkos? Hedman? Vasilevskiy? Nope. Luckily they didn’t have idiot fans running their best players out of town.
Stamkos’ 50 career playoff goals is only 3 less than Kucherov, 6 more than Point and many more than other guy on the roster during that era. And he did that despite missing nearly two entire playoff runs due to injury.
Can Tavares say he did anything anywhere near that? Since 2018 up to 2025, despite being the 2nd highest paid player in the league for most of that time, Tavares (in his fucking prime) sat behind far younger, more inexperienced players like Marner, Matthews, Nylander and even Rielly in playoff scoring. And -15 too. If you wanted to make the argument that he was the best player on a team that lacked good players (like Sundin) you might have a leg to stand on. But you got nothing but excuses for a piece of shit player who did nothing to live up to the contract and praise he was given. People like you were screaming from the rooftops “look at what he did with garbage players in Long Island, just imagine what he’ll do in Toronto with Matthews, Marner and Nylander, we are spoiled with riches” and look how it all played out. Those same people are now screaming for his return. But they also scream “change, change, change”. You want fake change.
The more you look at the numbers, the more it seems like Matthews is closer to Stamkos than Tavares is because Tavares is absolute dog shit by comparison. Matthews is the 60 goal man, plagued by injuries in the playoffs who requires the team around him to be stacked because he can’t carry it all by himself. Which is fine because most players can’t. Not even McDavid seems to be able to win it all by himself.
Even if your argument was that Stamkos was a passenger (he wasn’t) on stacked teams for 16 years, behind Kucherov, Point, Hedman, Vasilevskiy etc., it holds zero water to expect the Leafs to have Stanley Cup success by bringing Tavares back along as a passenger at 34-40 when they have absolutely nobody who performs like the “stacked” Tampa Bay teams did, to carry him along. Much less, after also letting Marner (the #1 career playoff point producer on this team) walk for nothing and replacing him with spare parts at the bottom of the UFA barrel.
Facts. Will you accept them? Probably not.
Not exactly the same, but Steven Stamkos checks a lot of those boxes. Granted, Stamkos was only 30 when he got his first Cup and then 31 on the second Cup. Not great defensively, average skater, little playoff success prior to the Cups. He was making about $8m at the time.
So… kinda…. ish.
So, strike one, he wasn’t 34+, as you already said. Stamkos also had multiple deeper playoff runs (2011/2015/2018) in his younger days prior to winning, including one run to the Final that he lost. All in all, Stamkos has 50 career playoff goals and 100 playoff points to Tavares’ 28 playoff goals and 53 playoff points and they’re basically the same age. The way Tavares got shutout in 6 out of 7 games against the Panthers is something I don’t think Stamkos was capable of. But perhaps at 34+ Tampa Bay let him go away for good reason. And the Leafs should do the same.
If the Toronto media and fans want to blame the “core” for being bad playoff performers, perhaps it was their mentors, Marleau, Thornton, Spezza and Tavares that showed them how to be playoff losers.
I share the same sentiment. JT wants to remain and unless Treliving comes in insultingly low, a deal is going to get done.
Marner, I’m almost certain, is going to test the market and the only question left is whether the Leafs do a sign and trade or trade his rights to recoup some value.
Last year there was a lot of chatter about how everyone knew where certain free agents were going to sign prior to July 1 with the NHL saying that they were aware and were investigating (and I’m sure if it had been a Canadian team that as guilty, they’d have done something about it) – but with a high profile player like Marner, if teams start talking to him prior to July 1 or if it’s “a known done deal” before July 1, I’d suspect tampering could actually be brought up. It might be wise for an interested team to trade something to get that right to talk to him early. Carolina has Toronto’s 6th in 2026. That’s probably a fair trade to get a player’s negotiating rights.
Has any team in recent memory, let’s say, the past 10-15 years, with a player who fits the bill of Tavares been able to win a Cup?
I’d put Tavares in the category of: massive defensively liability, poor skating, 34-40 year old making 5-7 million getting top-six minutes and PP time with poor career playoff success. I’m going to guess; no.
If Tavares is on this team, even on a “discount”, the Leafs will still be fundamentally flawed and won’t be able to win a Cup with him on the roster. Much like how Duchene at 3 million seemed like a bargain for Dallas, Duchene was horrible at 5v5 and defensively for Dallas in the playoffs despite leading the team in scoring in the regular season. I see Tavares in the same light and I don’t think he gives the Leafs any real winning value unless he makes 1 million a year. At absolute most, 2 million AAV.
Tavares has made 112 million dollars in his career. Even with the government stealing 50% of that, Tavares is set for generations and can afford to play for 1-2 million a season if playing in Toronto is paramount to his existence. The Leafs, however, can’t afford to have Tavares at more than that.
