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That means 1 – 6 next game in Carolina or something like this.
Florida always coming strong after such games like tonight.You’d be surprised, Carolina is a lunch pail team. Florida lost 3 straight games to Edmonton last year too, so they aren’t perfect either. I don’t think they’ll blow the series but Carolina won’t quit. I could see them winning one more.
Marner is walking out the door with no return on the asset.
Not 100% that he’s leaving. That just seems to be the story for idiot fans with bloodlust and the media painting him as the bad guy to cover MLSE’s ass.
Leafs are in a tough spot to try to get better. Not a great pool of free agents and few assets to deal.
If they can reach a deal with Marner, the UFA pool can work in their benefit so long as they purge the roster of the passengers.
And if you let Tavares walk….who is playing center on this team??
It almost doesn’t matter because as long as whomever replaces Tavares isn’t a defensive blackhole, the Leafs will be better off without him.
It’s going to be difficult to move Rielly.
I disagree. It’s a challenge but not any more difficult than deals we’ve seen in the past. Just need to get everybody on the same page and be creative. Let’s all remember, Karlsson got traded at a cap hit over 11 million. There’s always a buyer if the price is right.
1st you need him to waive in NMC
2nd you need to find a team that can take on his entire salary with no retention.
3rd get ready for a crappy return ..I think Rielly, at his best, gets you a 1st round pick, roster player and a top prospect. A guy who can skate and put up 60-70 points at 7.5 AAV would be a bargain. Obviously, he’s not at his best and his value will be nowhere near that. But the cap is going up 7 million dollars this year. That means almost his entire cap hit could be covered by the cap increase alone. The cap minimum is up to 70 million. There’s about to be a big increase in the amount of teams that will be looking to spend money just to reach the cap floor.
Now, that’s not to say Rielly will accept a trade to San Jose, although it’s close enough to BC that he might consider it if they weren’t a trash team, but there are a number of teams that geographically might work for him. Top of the list is Vancouver and Seattle. Possibly Utah because they’re closer to the West and not a bad team either.
In terms of salary, again, because you have so many teams out there looking just to reach the cap floor, you can never dismiss a team being a 3rd party to lower his cap hit. Meaning, Leafs trade Rielly to San Jose (or Columbus), they retain 2-3 million, take a 3rd round pick, then Rielly lands in Vancouver for 4.5 – 5.5 million. Leafs get a 3rd liner and/or a depth D to fill Rielly’s spot at half the cost.
A cap floor team increases it’s cap hit without paying real dollars and gets a draft pick. Vancouver gives up a mid draft pick and a 3rd liner for a player who could replace Hughes when he eventually wants to be moved out. The Leafs get cap relief and a gritty 3rd liner.
Everybody wins.
Kampf has a 10 team no trade clause which can be work with. lucky to get a 3rd round pick for him
Kampf absolutely sucks for what the Leafs need but he’s another guy who would fit on a team somewhere just looking to reach the cap floor and add a 4th liner. Future considerations would be fine.
Jarnkrok I’d hang on to him. he’s got 1 more year before he’s a UFA. Could be a trade dead line to move him out
Jarnkrok is a playoff failure. I think a bubble team would take him but he absolutely sucks for the Leafs. Could easily see him going to a team like Columbus and being able to score 15-20 again but he’s not right for the Leafs.
Reaves not sure to buy him out or just send him to the minor but he should be done as Leafs.
His contract is allegedly very easy to bury. He’s finished. Maybe somebody takes him for a 7th round pick but I don’t think the Leafs need to worry about his contract very much anymore.
Robertson is most likely gone and I’d try to move Holmberg
Would gladly trade both of them as additions to any deal that helps the Leafs acquire more guys like McBain, Pospisil etc.
The series was not as close as it seemed. Bobrovsky was hot trash in games 1 and 2. If he’s average even, those games are split.
The Panthers took more shot attempts, more shots on goal, more chances, more possession, more goals etc. They brought their best, did all that stuff but they still needed 7 games to beat the Leafs.
Florida plays an exceptional high pressure game. But Bob is turning 37 next year. He won’t be Bob for much longer. If the Leafs keep this team together, drop the passengers (Tavares, Rielly, Kampf and Jarnkrok), replace them with needle movers (even just a 5-10% improvement overall), they can beat the Panthers and go further than they have ever gone before.
It does when your hero has given every indication that he wants to play elsewhere.
I am not sure why this is such a hard thing for you to grasp.. Even if the Leafs offered 8 X $14. According to Friedman or Dregger he already turned down 8 x $13.5 in season.
Must be why he accepted the trade to Carolina to play on a better team, make more money after taxes and leave Toronto. Oh wait…he didn’t…
Ever stop to think for a second that the guys in the media are either useful idiots or total liars? Or, get paid by the company that owns the team and therefore has a vested interest in making Marner look as bad as possible to save face for the company because they mismanaged the team so badly they have to make the players seem like bad guys so they can continue to make money without providing results?
Nah, you probably didn’t.
Nobody knows what any real offer or demand actually looked like and how or what was negotiated except management and his agent.
You cannot possibly be serious. Florida didn’t win the division because Barkov and Tkachuk were injured, Ekblad was suspended for 1/4 of the season, and, quite frankly, they probably coasted for most of the season knowing they could just turn it on at any point in the playoffs.
The Leafs didn’t choke, Florida just pounded them into oblivion like they did to Tampa, like they’re doing to Carolina, and like they’ll do to whoever comes out of the West.
The Leafs may have been fortunate to win the division but they also had Matthews at 50% for most of the season (when he played) and their own list of injuries, particularly in net. You can debate back and forth if the Leafs could win the division if all things were equal. But in the playoffs, the Leafs made it to Game 7. That you can’t debate.
They started the series with a 2-0 lead. Took Game 3 to OT and could have easily been up 3-0. Then lost in 7. That’s a bit of a choke considering how strong they started and how they fell off towards the end. That being said, they still shut out Florida, in Florida, in Game 6 to survive. Game 5 and Game 7 were a major disappointment, of that there is no doubt, but they didn’t get blown out every game in the series like Carolina is right now. The Leafs had early success, Florida made adjustments and the Leafs didn’t have the depth to counter punch once their top stars got figured out. Florida had the depth even though most of their top guys were also under control (Tkachuk 0 goals in 7 games, for example).
Ultimately, replacing Marner with a Bennett doesn’t really solve for that – it probably makes you even slower with the puck, but more physical.
Bennett scored a career high 51 points last season. And also -15. I could see the argument for adding Bennett. But to replace Marner? That’s a crackhead idea. I’m not saying that’s what you are suggesting but there’s way too many people who seem to think: Marner out, Bennett in, Cup parade.
Not only would he be stupid to leave Florida (more money, less pressure, better weather, proven successful team) but he’s going to get the biggest contract of his career and most of it will be paying him for years after 30. He fits in Florida but his next contract will also be an anchor sooner rather than later.
They need to upgrade the bottom-6 and find a way to improve their puck speed in the top-6. -monkeypunk
You are 100% correct with this statement.
What is the best possible advanced stats 3rd line (LW | C | RW) collection of current UFAs you can find for 12-15 AAV or less?
Florida is head and shoulders above just about every team in the league. The Leafs need major upgrades to compete on that level, but there really isn’t much out there in this year’s UFA class that is going to move the needle enough. Marner is gone, but paying him $14M wasn’t going to be the answer either. Next year is likely going to be a step backwards, but I’m curious to see what Tre cooks up.
Florida is better than Toronto in a lot of key categories. Of that there is no doubt. However, the Leafs still beat them 3 times. Game 3 went to OT.
That does not scream “major changes”. You must also remember that the Panthers are on their way to their 3rd straight Cup final. That means most of the Panthers have played a total of 60-70 extra playoff games the past 3 years. They have to spend more cap space to keep Bennett, Marchand and Ekblad. Which means, as good as they are, they’re unlikely to be able to get significantly better with what little cap space they have left to keep the band together. And finally, Bob is about to be 37.
All these factors combined means if the Leafs retain Marner, move on from Rielly, Tavares, Jarnkrok and Kampf, the Leafs can bring back the exact same team that pushed Florida to Game 7 but have 28 million to sign the correct replacements to win you ONE extra game.
Even if they do as you say, their toughness quotient is not up to the task. Watching Florida manhandle and destroy Carolina, a Euroteam, after the score was out of hand is a major red flag. Leafs need some high end grit to take care of the nonsense that Florida seems to get away with. It’s better to initiate, than take it from that goon squad. It’s quite effective. Florida is winning again this year.
The issue vs. Florida was the bottom-six had 0 goals for and our 2nd line was on the ice for a lot of goals against.
And they still made it to Game 7. Almost was up 3-0 in the series after OT in Game 3. Never mind the “6-1 on home ice” BS. We still beat Florida 3 times. Adding enough to this team to win one more game is a matter of inches, not miles.
Another contributing factor to the reason the Leafs lost; their lack of snap shots and snap shot goals. For comparison: Edmonton leads with 22. Next is Carolina with 17, same as Florida with 17. Then Dallas with 15. The Leafs? 4. I’m sure there’s some kind of technical advanced stat reason for it, but the Leafs were among the worst of all the playoff teams in snap shot goals. In fact, they only attempted 36 total snap shots. That’s the ENTIRE TEAM. 36. Dallas has 162. Edmonton 155. Carolina 116. Florida 87. Clearly, there is something the Leafs are missing in that area that successful teams are clearly feasting on.
But, what you are suggesting, would still happen under what I was suggesting. It’s not one or the other. It can be both. I would advocate adding the likes of B. Tanev, Pospisil, McBain; these are all guys with 200-300 hits. Each. Heart and soul, tough character players.
The Leafs can still be plenty tough without losing their best players.
I would like to agree with most of what you say, but the same problem exists.
Get rid of Kampf, that’s Marner’s salary increase. And the rest of the team could be exactly the same. Replace Jarnkrok with another (or two) 4th liners for the same salary.
The “problem” is the money wasted and the goals scored against with Tavares and Rielly.
Remember, Tavares scored 2 goals in the entire series against Florida. They were both in the same game and they lost the game. The other 6 games, he was useless offensively and defensively a liability.
The same applies to Rielly in Games 4, 5, 6 and 7. There is nothing he does offensively that OEL can’t do. And there is nothing defensively that a guy like Dumoulin can’t do for half the price as a replacement. If you can move Rielly for even a 3rd line player who makes 2-3 AAV plus you sign Dumoulin for 3 AAV, you would still have left over cap space to sign a guy like Brandon Tanev.
Two right wingers who will command too much cap space. Sure, sign Marner, but you’d need to be moving on from Willie, since he’s got another 7 years on his contract.
Now ask yourself, if the Leafs team was exactly the same but instead of Tavares and Rielly, they had a two-way 2C, a two-way 3C, 2nd pair LHD and a 4th line crash and banger, all for the same salary, would they not beat Florida in 7 games? I’d say they do. But even if they couldn’t, you add more players with the 7 million dollar cap increase (maybe a playoff LW like Reilly Smith + another shutdown 3rd liner) and you definitely can beat Florida in 7. Why? Because Florida will have to spend all their cap space to keep their team exactly the same as it is now without adding anybody new. And Bob will be 37 next year. Three long playoff runs in a row catch up to you eventually.
Marner can’t get more than $12.5m per season or it just won’t work.
It works just fine. Not ideal, but still manageable. The money required to fill the gaps doesn’t have to come at the cost of Marner.
Knies must be the priority, since he’s younger and a playoff player.
Knies had 7 points (5G/2A) in 13 games. Remember that. Where was Knies in Game 5, 6 and 7? Where was he when he had breakaways in OT? Sorry, but you’re overrating Knies. He’s not a superstar yet. Without Marner and Matthews, he’s not carrying a line or a team by himself and would still be behind Marner, Matthews and Nylander in terms of value and importance. It’s important the Leafs keep Knies to a 3 year, 6.5 AAV contract. When Domi comes off the books, they can give Knies an increase to 10 AAV, if he earns it. Both sides win.
Trading Stolarz might be an idea, since his stock has risen. The Oilers might be willing to make a trade to upgrade their goaltending. Make them pay, for sure.
Very low odds the Leafs do that considering Woll is still an injury risk and the Oilers don’t have much to give the Leafs that they don’t need themselves.
Looking at the list of UFAs this year, there are some intriguing options for PTOs and Marlies.
Maxime Comtois, 6’3″, 222, spent last season in the KHL and scored 21 goals and 50 points. Also scored 7 goals and 13 points in the KHL playoffs. Big body, LW with NHL experience could probably get him back in the NHL with at least a PTO. This guy would be an upgrade for the Leafs bottom-six for sure.
Jaden Lipinski is a 20 years old center, 6’4″, 210 from Scottsdale, Arizona. That’s an interesting one considering he might already know Matthews and Knies. He scored 58 points in the WHL last season. Could potentially come in for the Marlies to start but gives the Leafs a free prospect.
Perhaps Justin Kipkie, at 19 years old, LHD, 6’3, 208 and is worth a look. Utah hasn’t signed him. 62 points, 13 playoff points in the WHL.
Seth Griffith, a familiar name, had 68 points in the AHL. Solid Marlies addition who could compete for a spot at camp. He’s basically the same size as Holmberg and Robertson. Might be worth a look for a PTO.
Also from the AHL, Matthew Peca scored 30 goals and 63 points. Not as small as Griffith but another solid Marlies addition and PTO candidate.
John Leonard, 26, LW/RW, 35 goals and 60 points in the AHL. Only 5’11”, 190 but could be worth a look for the Marlies / PTO.
Alexander Barabanov, another familiar name, spent some years in the NHL as a depth player. He’s a UFA again after scoring 25 goals and 58 points in the KHL. Another late bloomer that might want another crack at the NHL. Again, seems like an improvement over Robertson and Holmberg, at the very least.
Nolan Stevens, 28 years old, 6’3, 190 from Brantford, scored 22 goals and 52 points in the SHL.
Most of these players have obvious flaws but the risk is so low for the Leafs, they could literally sign them all to be Marlies at whatever they want. I’d hand out PTOs to 12 guys and even if ONE of them turns into a productive 4th liner or free prospect, I’d consider it a win.
After watching Easton Cowan and the Hunter Brothers London Knights, they deserve an NHL look. That OHL franchise has been one of the best run franchises for over a decade. If they really want to make a difference, bring the Brothers in and put them into upper management. A winning pedigree is just that. The Leafs need more winners, not has-beens. To beat the Panthers, you have to be as tough as the Panthers. It looks like they’re going to roll into the finals and probably win it again.
The USNDP is catching up to the OHL but the OHL is still the gold standard for winning, successful NHL players. Looking at this Leafs roster, they would severely benefit from having battle tested draft picks on ELC. It doesn’t have to be the Hunters, but the Leafs need a head of scouting that brings in gems in every round that knows the OHL like the back of their hand.
Of all of the Leafs contracts, this one needs to be moved. Even for a 3rd rounder, if possible. Ekblad would be the player that I’d target for that money in the off season.
I would still say that Rielly has value left in him, albeit not peak value. Vancouver, he would waive for and they’re going to have a Hughes problem pretty soon. I don’t think there’s a chance in hell he stays on that team. They’ll need, at worst, an offensive LHD to replace him eventually.
Same goes for Seattle and to a lesser extent, Utah. I think there’s some wiggle room to have Rielly waive his NMC. Worse players have been traded before. Players usually accept to waive if they are given ample time to consider their new team.
I’d be happy to receive a depth D and/or a bottom-six player for Rielly and use the added cap space to sign a steady depth replacement.
The Panthers are just dummying the Canes again tonight. If only Willy and Knies could have scored in overtime, in game 3 against the Panhandlers, then we could have been dummying the Canes. Now there’s a team that needs a retool. I guess losing in 7 against this team doesn’t look as bad, after seeing the Canes and Bolts getting destroyed by the Panthers.
The idiots blaming Andersen are getting a rude awakening right now because obviously the goaltending change didn’t make a difference. Unfortunately, the Panthers are just the best team in the East. The Leafs seem to be 2nd best. It’s been a long time since the Leafs could say that. It’s just more evidence piling up by the day that the Leafs should move forward by keeping their best pieces, purging the passengers and adding some new muscle to the mix.
As much as I struggle with it on either end of the logical scale in that, largely for their versatility, I would rather have Marner than Nylander – and they are compared here because of the salary issues – but the fact is that Marner checked out before that series was over and game 7’s response from the hometown put a lid on it. Adjustments are so hard to make mid-series with players, but you can’t help but wonder if Domi swapping with Marner would’ve helped in any capacity. I think no matter who was up there Matthews not finishing on his chances severely limited the top line. -monkeypunk
Marner is better than Nylander, even with the price difference. But if the Leafs dump the right players, they don’t have to pick one or the other.
Tavares must go away. Rielly must go away. Kampf must go away. Jarnkrok must go away.
Let’s face it the 2LW was an achillies heel for this team. Holmberg was -6 at 5v5 in that series. That’s double the next closest (Tavares, Laughton, Lorentz and Carlo were all -3) and it’s been one because they don’t have the money to put it there. They need a 2C and then to move JT to the wing. They also will need a top-6 RW; I do think that because he’s a shooter, they could keep Nylander and Matthews apart and find a different RW.
Agreed on Holmberg, he can’t score to save his life. But Tavares and Nylander can’t defend to save their lives either. And Tavares’ defense was the true Achilles heel, being on the ice for the most EVGA than any Leafs forward. I’m willing to tolerate Nylander because I know we can get him a LW and a C who can cover up his obvious flaws. But there’s no way I’m going to tolerate Tavares for a second longer after how many chances he got to make it work. Holmberg, if he wants, can be a rotational 4th liner. But he’ll never be useful to the Leafs in any meaningful role.
Suppose for a moment, Kampf’s salary goes to Marner’s increase. He didn’t play meaningful hockey anyway so the Leaf don’t lose anything of value but retain a 100 point player, 4th all-time in Leafs playoff points.
Next, suppose Knies gets a bridge contract. Let’s say 3 years, 6.5 million AAV with max signing bonuses. In 3 years, Domi’s contract ends and you can give Knies the increase from Domi coming off the books which would bring the Knies budget up to 10-11 AAV. It also gives the Leafs more time to see if Knies is actually worth a big, long term commitment.
Short term, the Leafs save on cap space by not buying UFA years. He hits UFA status faster, which agents want now more than ever. The Leafs can worry about his next contract later and focus on going for it now they still have Matthews in his prime. The savings from not giving him a long term deal allows the Leafs to sign another depth forward like Brandon Tanev, just as an example.
Third, Rielly’s money plus Jarnkrok’s money totals roughly 10 million. The cap increase is another 7 million. I wager you could go into your advanced stats and find three players, a LW, a C and a RW who could become the Leafs new 3rd shutdown line and play positive possession hockey, kill penalties, shut down players and even chip in some offense for 12 million or less. You could try to move Rielly to Vancouver or Seattle. I’d say Utah might be a stretch but you could try to bring in McBain to fill at least one hole in return for Rielly and replace Rielly with a cheaper UFA.
The X-Factor that the Panthers had that the Leafs did not. The Panthers 3rd line won them the series. And it was a close series but they were clearly the difference makers. That’s what the Leafs are truly missing. But luckily, they can afford to fix it if they make the correct sacrifices in other areas without losing their best players.
The left over 5 million can go one of two ways; either get a top-six LW (Reilly Smith?) or replace Rielly with an offensive D-man, preferably RHD (Dante Fabbro?). Or attempt to acquire Jenner on his expiring contract to replace Tavares as a younger, better two-way option.
I would also move on from McMann and use his “value” of 20 goals (but 0 playoff goals) at 1.5 AAV to bring in a wrecking ball like Martin Pospisil. Jack McBain is another excellent candidate to try to bring in as mentioned earlier. Or Mathieu Olivier. Eeli Tolvanen. Kiefer Sherwood. Garnet Hathaway. Any one of these guys would be so much more useful to the Leafs than McMann was in the playoffs. The way I look at it, I’d rather have the forward with 0 playoff goals (even though most of the guys I listed could probably score as much as McMann too) who throws 300 hits a season than McMann who seemed to be invisible most nights when the team could have benefitted from a spark.
Rielly may suck defensively, but he was only -1 and was on for more goals for than any other player on the team. I want him gone more than I want to keep him, but he’s not absent when the playoffs arrive. He’s just not physical. He’s never changing, but god I wish he could just put his body in front of the other team’s players rather than only his stick.
The Leafs scored goals in spite of Rielly, not because of him. His goals were mostly flukes. He has been so horrid in offensive situations, he’s been removed from the PP1 and replaced by a forward. His defensive errors, were as numerous and as obvious as they ever have been. He played the most ice time, he gets paid the most money, he can’t be that bad and expect success. He is a passenger at this point. He can still provide value to a team like Vancouver or Seattle, trying to salvage a wild card spot, but he’s not winning anybody a Cup making 7.5 AAV. Not going to happen.
Don’t take anything I was saying or anything I’m about to say here as advocation – more as suggestions on players.
I think if Bennett is available, the Leafs would be interested and I have no idea about how he’d feel about playing near home.
Gourde – I’d imagine if they want him to stay, he stays. I was more commenting on how he was often heard in rumours with the Leafs and where’s there’s smoke, there’s fire . .
With regards to Marchand – look, Corey Perry is an asset and Marchand is far better and younger. I’d take him in a heartbeat whether he’s a total douchebag on the ice or not. Marchand did grow up a Leaf fan, but I suspect that ship has long since sailed, so I doubt there’s any nostalgic reason for him to want to play here, but the Leafs are still a top-tier team in the league.
I don’t know. I loved the timeliness of Patches’ goals, but I’m not sure if it was mostly luck or not.
I’d say there is no chance Bennett or Marchand are flipping over to the Leafs after having just beat them and on the road to the Cup Final. Win or lose, why would they leave warm weather, zero pressure, a formula that obviously works and way more money in their pocket?
The Leafs had their chance with Corey Perry long ago. The Leafs enjoyed watching him kill the Leafs for the Habs, Lightning and now Oilers. I’d love to add Perry, but again, his team went to the Final and appear capable of doing it again. He’s playing with McDavid sometimes. Why would he give that up? To play in this circus? I doubt it.
I’d take Pacioretty back at 900K but some think he’s going to retire.
The stars of this team arent fine and they are all similar – soft, disappear when it counts and dont hate losing enough. -fake
Errrrr. Wrong again.
Soft, is Nylander. 7 hits total in the playoffs. Marner and Matthews had 31 and 33. And Matthews was doing it injured. Marner blocks shots on the PK. Marner and Matthews each had a GWG. They did not disappear. The Leafs 1st line had 3 GWG vs the Panthers. And I’ll repeat it as many times as I have to before people wake the fuck up and realize the problem was not the Leafs 1st line.
I could see the argument that Matthews doesn’t care enough to win a Cup being a kid from Arizona but Marner definitely cares too much and hates losing. He internalizes the failures to a fault. But that’s no reason to let the guy walk as a free agent. That’d just be retarded.
The cap will rise this year but it probably doesnt go up as high as expected over the next couple of years.
Wrong. It will rise and continue to rise.
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.
Wrong again communist.
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.
Tavares absolutely sucks balls as a 2nd line center. He has always sucked defensively and as he ages, he will score less and defend even worse. You’d have to be on crack to think he could be a 3rd line center on a Cup winning team.
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.
Marner is worth every penny at 10.9 and 12.5 and even 13. Yes, they are overpaid and it’s because they live in a tax hell hole. They’re “overpaid” because their agents negotiate based on what money they take home, not based on their salary cap hit.
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.Was Mark Hunter in charge of the entire draft without question? No, he wasn’t. There were always conflicting voices in the room that muddies the waters to whom he actually picked and whom dumbass Dubas wanted. Or Shanahan. Or Lou. His work with the London Knights speaks for itself. He always builds a competitive team. London Knights players usually compete for and win Cups when they make the NHL for a reason.
Even if the Leafs refused to go back to Mark Hunter, why not Mike Futa, the guy who drafted the Cup winning Kings? Or any other drafting wizard? It was 12 years ago the Dallas stars hired Jim Nill (a year before the Leafs stupidly hired Shanahan). Most people would have never known who he was. Look at the Dallas Stars today. He built the Red Wings through the draft and he did the same with the Stars. The Leafs need a drafting guru. They haven’t had one in decades. Maybe ever.
