Free Agency and Trade Thread: Off-season alive and well ... for some!

[Budsfan]

Hopefully it's lip service. Got guys in the Marlies that deserve a shot and not to mention the likely bad deals it would take to sign them.

I think Training Camp will probably decide which players are ready for the Leafs and which aren't, keeping our options open is a good thing, I think JVR is a decent player and could be re-upped, Bozak and Komarov not so much but you never know, there is a real lack of good affordable centers available and Bozak knows the system and played well especially in the play-offs?

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I don't care if it's Tavares, Stastny, Thornton but just like I said in the draft thread get a center just do it, don't be lazy get it done

 

[DaJackal]

I understand that the Leafs have a ton of good players in Marlies waiting for their turn, but I think the Leafs should extend Komarov. There is no one in the organization (at least that I know of) that could take his role as an agitator & PK specialist.

The deal should be short and low cost, though. 1 year at 1.5M should do it, so they don't lose the cap space needed for Matthews & Marner for 19-20 season.

 

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

I understand that the Leafs have a ton of good players in Marlies waiting for their turn, but I think the Leafs should extend Komarov. There is no one in the organization (at least that I know of) that could take his role as an agitator & PK specialist.

The deal should be short and low cost, though. 1 year at 1.5M should do it, so they don't lose the cap space needed for Matthews & Marner for 19-20 season.

Have you seen Grundstrom play? I think he makes this team in the fall. Guy is in that exact mold but much higher upside. Loved Leo two years ago, but its time to move on, he's not that good anymore.

 

[Green Snow Storm]

Have you seen Grundstrom play? I think he makes this team in the fall. Guy is in that exact mold but much higher upside. Loved Leo two years ago, but its time to move on, he's not that good anymore.

Agreed. Even if Grundstrom sees time with the Marlies we still have enough PK’ers (Hyman, Brown, Johnsson, Kapanen, etc.) and we really need 4 lines that can play with pace and speed. The NHL game has passed Leo by and he is a pretty bad NHL’er by pretty much every metric now.

 

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

Honestly what Komarov, JvR, Bozak did 5 on 5 is very replaceable.

Even strength points:
JvR: 34 0.42 ppg
Bozak: 30 0.37 ppg
Komarov: 15 0.20 ppg

*Need about a point per game 5 on 5 from their 3 spots. Not hard at all.

Even strengh PPG career:
Leivo 0.32 ppg
Kapanen 0.16 ppg
Johnsson 0.20 ppg

Need to make up about 0.11 PPG 5 on 5 which could just come with giving these guys bigger roles next season.
The powerplay is where we'll need to find a guy or two.

 

[rumman]

Maple Leafs’ Kyle Dubas says ‘door is always open’ for free agents

Maple Leafs' Kyle Dubas says 'door is always open' for free agents - Sportsnet.ca

Dubas said the door hasn’t been closed on pending unrestricted free-agent forwards
James van Reimsdyk, Tyler Bozak and Leo Komarov

I hope none of the impending UFA's return, time to take the next step................

 

[showtime8]

I don't care if it's Tavares, Stastny, Thornton but just like I said in the draft thread get a center just do it, don't be lazy get it done

Aside from Tavares who is likely to stay on the Island & command a ton of coin, who else is going to be the option that actually fits in what the Leafs need?

Stastny - my guess is he re-signs with Winnipeg for 3 years
Filppula - didn't want to come to Toronto in a trade because of Babcock
Thornton - preference is SJ if they'll take him
Bozak - the only option for the Leafs through UFA


The 3rd line centre spot is the only centre position that the Leafs should address. The other options with Lindholm, Aaltonen, Gauthier are good enough for the 4th line spot. The other option is they wait until training camp starts and invite another Dominic Moore type player in for a shot.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Aside from Tavares who is likely to stay on the Island & command a ton of coin, who else is going to be the option that actually fits in what the Leafs need?

Stastny - my guess is he re-signs with Winnipeg for 3 years
Filppula - didn't want to come to Toronto in a trade because of Babcock
Thornton - preference is SJ if they'll take him
Bozak - the only option for the Leafs through UFA


The 3rd line centre spot is the only centre position that the Leafs should address. The other options with Lindholm, Aaltonen, Gauthier are good enough for the 4th line spot. The other option is they wait until training camp starts and invite another Dominic Moore type player in for a shot.

I don't ghink Stansty is signing in Winnipeg, I don't think they can sign him Trouba, Hellebuyck, Wheeler, Laine, Connor and Myers are all up within the next 2 seasons .

I also don't think Thornton is going to be back in SJ, I think that would already be done if he was

 

[showtime8]

I don't ghink Stansty is signing in Winnipeg, I don't think they can sign him Trouba, Hellebuyck, Wheeler, Laine, Connor and Myers are all up within the next 2 seasons .

I also don't think Thornton is going to be back in SJ, I think that would already be done if he was

I believe that Winnipeg could move both Perreault & Kulikov if they needed to create some cap space and re-sign some of the others.

Thornton is probably waiting to see what else SJ does in terms of salaries & the suspected Paul Martin buy-out/trade. They're tighter to the cap than they'd like to be & they want to clear some things up.


Realistically, the Leafs just need a defensively reliable 3rd line centre that can contribute 10 goals. The 3rd line will likely have tons of speed on the wings in Johnsson & Kapanen. They'll just need to keep the puck out of the net and they'll be fine.

 

[aingefan]

I agree moving on from the FA’s is probably best, but, there are dollar values and terms - that are totally unlikely - where you’d be hard pressed to say ‘no’, and I’d imagine that’s the GM’s point.
If Tybo signs for 2x3.5 with no NMC or NTC, then, that’s totally worth considering. JVR at 5x5 with no NMC or NTC, same deal.
But, barely on the ‘likely’ spectrum.

 

[weems]

I understand that the Leafs have a ton of good players in Marlies waiting for their turn, but I think the Leafs should extend Komarov. There is no one in the organization (at least that I know of) that could take his role as an agitator & PK specialist.

The deal should be short and low cost, though. 1 year at 1.5M should do it, so they don't lose the cap space needed for Matthews & Marner for 19-20 season.

Komarov is finished.

What good is he as a "agitator" when he's no longer quick enough to even get to someone and hit them?

 

[The Nic]

I understand that the Leafs have a ton of good players in Marlies waiting for their turn, but I think the Leafs should extend Komarov. There is no one in the organization (at least that I know of) that could take his role as an agitator & PK specialist.

The deal should be short and low cost, though. 1 year at 1.5M should do it, so they don't lose the cap space needed for Matthews & Marner for 19-20 season.

Nobody on the current Leafs roster plays like Komarov used to... including Komarov.

 

[The Nic]

I agree moving on from the FA’s is probably best, but, there are dollar values and terms - that are totally unlikely - where you’d be hard pressed to say ‘no’, and I’d imagine that’s the GM’s point.
If Tybo signs for 2x3.5 with no NMC or NTC, then, that’s totally worth considering. JVR at 5x5 with no NMC or NTC, same deal.
But, barely on the ‘likely’ spectrum.

Why on earth would JVR settle for a 5X5 deal?

 

[ToneDog]

Nobody on the current Leafs roster plays like Komarov used to... including Komarov.

I prefer a younger, cheaper, grittier UFA like Schaller or worst case Grundstrom. Either acquire capable replacements for our UFAs or give the kids a shot and call it a developmental year.

 

[SprDaVE]

You don't have to look much further than Komarovs last injury sequence to know that he's probably never going to be the same.

 

[Boutette]

I prefer a younger, cheaper, grittier UFA like Schaller or worst case Grundstrom. Either acquire capable replacements for our UFAs or give the kids a shot and call it a developmental year.

Grundstrom isn't a worst case scenario. He's got the grit and speed and has scored at a 35+ goal pace over his last 69 games between the AHL and SHL. Damn sure if he's on a line with Kapanen, the gimmies that Kap pass to Grundy are not going to flubbed like the were by Komarov.

 

[Boutette]

Why on earth would JVR settle for a 5X5 deal?

He gets shot back in time to 2006.

 

[ToneDog]

Grundstrom isn't a worst case scenario. He's got the grit and speed and has scored at a 35+ goal pace over his last 69 games between the AHL and SHL. Damn sure if he's on a line with Kapanen, the gimmies that Kap pass to Grundy are not going to flubbed like the were by Komarov.

Thinking Leafs will wean Grundtsrom into the lineup like they have Kappy and Johnsson. Worst case meaning they fast track him into the lineup to start the season.

 

[Boutette]

Aside from Tavares who is likely to stay on the Island & command a ton of coin, who else is going to be the option that actually fits in what the Leafs need?

Stastny - my guess is he re-signs with Winnipeg for 3 years
Filppula - didn't want to come to Toronto in a trade because of Babcock
Thornton - preference is SJ if they'll take him
Bozak - the only option for the Leafs through UFA


The 3rd line centre spot is the only centre position that the Leafs should address. The other options with Lindholm, Aaltonen, Gauthier are good enough for the 4th line spot. The other option is they wait until training camp starts and invite another Dominic Moore type player in for a shot.

I'd look at signing Derek Ryan and Brandon Pirri, both good on the faceoff and speak to the different things the team has lost and are 55%+ on the faceoff in the last couple years. I'd have them, Aaltonnen, Lindholm and Nylander battle it out in camp and pre-season for the 2 Center spots and then keep the bottom 2/3 as depth/wingers.

 

[Community]

I think it is pretty obvious the Leafs have to do one of 2 things:

Option 1: Move Nylander to center full time

Option 2: Re-sign Bozak to a short term contract which effectively keeps Nylander from moving to C for its duration.

They need a #2/3C after Matthews and Kadri so they either need to re-sign Bozak, convince Stastny/Thornton to come to Toronto on reasonable contracts, or find somebody within the oeganization. If they go internally, it is a much bigger risk to go with a rookie #3C (Lindholm/Aaltonen) over a proven young NHLer with faceoff and center experience. Especially if their current plan for #4C is one of these rookies.

Edit: If they decide to move Nylander to C, they need to find at least 2 new wingers and a 4th line C to come in (UFA, Leivo, or Marlies). If they re-sign Bozak, they just need 1 winger and a 4th line C.

Current wingers with Nylander as a C:
Hyman, Marner, Kapanen, Johnsson, Brown, Marleau - These guys are not losing a spot to start the year IMO unless we make a big trade that changes everything.


Defense is a little tougher to determine as we need to decide what capacity Hainsey will be used in this year so he doesnt get burnt out and how quickly we want to push Dermott up the depth list. Also because we should be focusing on improving here most and trades could be made.

 

[Critical13]

I'd love to acquire Ryan Ellis.

 

[jaric1862]

Realistically (assuming both Carlson and Tavares re-sign with their respective teams) i think our offseason looks something like this

Re-signing all of our RFAs
Signing Stastny
Small Signing of a young undervalued player (Matthew Peca or Austin Czarnik)
Trade one of Mcelhienny or Pickard for a pick

Our Team ends up looking something like this:

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
Marleau-Stastny-Marner
Johnsson-Kadri-Brown
Grundstrom-Aaltonen/Lindholm-Kapanen
Leivo-Peca/Czarnik

Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Holl/Ozhiganov
Carrick

Andersen-Sparks

Not an amazing offseason but realistically this is what i believe it will look like

 

[LeafChief]

I'd love to acquire Ryan Ellis.

I think he's a UFA next summer.

 

[darrylsittler27]

Defense is the weakness guys, we can resign Plakenac or Bozak or move Nylander in 3rd C. We need a top 2 Dman and some size or we aren't winning the East next year. We have plenty of scoring as Mathews, Marner,Nylander etc enter their 3rd year. We also have Kapanen and Johnson not to mention Grundstrom. Id rather sign a Myers and go cheap at 3C while watching how Nylander does in that spot. We need 3 scoring lines and an old school 4th line. I'm not into getting eliminated first round because we are cap strapped.

If we sign Myers, Gardiner plus Brown might fetch us a top 2 Dman. I'm even ready to throw in our 2019 first rounder if need be. We have way too many wingers and a big hole on the back end to fill.