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

[Duke16]

Not 100% certain, but Aaltonen may be leaving for Europe again. On Instagram he said "Thank you, Toronto" instead of the usual "see you soon." I asked him, "you're coming back right" and he read, but ignored my message. He has answered me every time in the past and it's not like a simple "yes" would reveal much. Probably looking to deep into, but it seems a bit odd from him.

It would make some sense, he is not guaranteed a spot and may not want to go through the pre-season/camp process again.

 

[TheCLAM]

Not 100% certain, but Aaltonen may be leaving for Europe again. On Instagram he said "Thank you, Toronto" instead of the usual "see you soon." I asked him, "you're coming back right" and he read, but ignored my message. He has answered me every time in the past and it's not like a simple "yes" would reveal much. Probably looking to deep into, but it seems a bit odd from him.

It would make some sense, he is not guaranteed a spot and may not want to go through the pre-season/camp process again.

He is off the boat so english won't be 100%.. thank you toronto? they just won the cup and anointed marlies day... let's relax a little

Also, he's not going to blatantly say yes.. if he goes through camp and doesn't make the team you could see him jet off to europe.. It's just poor etiquette to ask him blatantly on social media and then draw assumptions when he ignores you LOL

 

[Duke16]

He is off the boat so english won't be 100%.. thank you toronto? they just won the cup and anointed marlies day... let's relax a little

Also, he's not going to blatantly say yes.. if he goes through camp and doesn't make the team you could see him jet off to europe.. It's just poor etiquette to ask him blatantly on social media and then draw assumptions when he ignores you LOL

I did not blatantly ask him, but I get how this sounds. He has followed my Leafs account for over a year and we have talked in the past. This would be considered a more direct question as you said obviously, so that may be it.

 

[TheCLAM]

I did not blatantly ask him, but I get how this sounds. He has followed my Leafs account for over a year and we have talked in the past. This would be considered a more direct question as you said obviously, so that may be it.

It's kinda like me asking how much do you think you'll have in your bank account in October? Don't get me wrong I don't think you're a bad guy for asking.. it's just he could very well leave if he sees his chance dwindling. Personally, I think he'll make the team. But I don't blame him for jetting off if he wants to go that route.

 

[LeafChief]

Not 100% certain, but Aaltonen may be leaving for Europe again. On Instagram he said "Thank you, Toronto" instead of the usual "see you soon." I asked him, "you're coming back right" and he read, but ignored my message. He has answered me every time in the past and it's not like a simple "yes" would reveal much. Probably looking to deep into, but it seems a bit odd from him.

It would make some sense, he is not guaranteed a spot and may not want to go through the pre-season/camp process again.

That would be a shame. He looked pretty solid.

Maybe the Leafs already have handshake deals in place with UFAs and have advised Aaltonen out of respect.

 

[LeafChief]

It's kinda like me asking how much do you think you'll have in your bank account in October? Don't get me wrong I don't think you're a bad guy for asking.. it's just he could very well leave if he sees his chance dwindling. Personally, I think he'll make the team. But I don't blame him for jetting off if he wants to go that route.

I think you're overreacting a tad.

 

[Duke16]

It's kinda like me asking how much do you think you'll have in your bank account in October? Don't get me wrong I don't think you're a bad guy for asking.. it's just he could very well leave if he sees his chance dwindling. Personally, I think he'll make the team. But I don't blame him for jetting off if he wants to go that route.

You are more than likely correct in saying I am looking into it too much, but we do both agree that it would make some sense if he sees his opportunities are limited with us.

 

[TheCLAM]

I think you're overreacting a tad.

Not at all, better not to say anything than create speculation in a fishbowl.

 

[TheCLAM]

You are more than likely correct in saying I am looking into it too much, but we do both agree that it would make some sense if he sees his opportunities are limited with us.

100% agree he's 25.. why play in the AHL making 90k when you can play in Finland or the KHL for millions.

 

[Canada4Gold]

100% agree he's 25.. why play in the AHL making 90k when you can play in Finland or the KHL for millions.

He's RFA so could sign a 1 way contract so he'd be making NHL money in the AHL if that were to happen, and the Leafs wouldn't care about the 1 way contract with the money we have. I think he just wouldn't answer such a direct question when there's still an RFA negotiation that needs to happen. Going back to Europe is basically his only leverage.

 

[OVO16]

Meh Aaltonen isnt someone Im gonna stress over.

I personally prefer Gauthier to be our permanent 4th line C anyways, but thats just me

 

[1specter]

Meh Aaltonen isnt someone Im gonna stress over.

I personally prefer Gauthier to be our permanent 4th line C anyways, but thats just me

Gauthier is pretty bad. Babcock pretty much forced the 4C job on him and he still couldn't take it.

 

[Scott Malkinson]

Meh Aaltonen isnt someone Im gonna stress over.

I personally prefer Gauthier to be our permanent 4th line C anyways, but thats just me

I watched a lot of Marlies hockey this year and there is almost no chance that Gauthier comes back to the Maple Leafs organization.

I wouldn't be shocked if they choose to let him walk.

Gauthier is done.

 

[hockeynorth]

Could Kevin Hayes be a target for 3C? Rumour is the Rangers are getting calls on him. Would our first and Bracco do it?

Another note, would you guys be up for a move for Honka?

 

[Menzinger]

I can see Aaltonen even getting a wing spot on the 4th line if they want to go with another guy at C. Gives the Leafs more depth that way too.

I doubt he will play again in the AHL. So nhl or bust.

 

[Glenn Isildur Healy]

I still think Carlson should be our main target if we're planning to spend

We already have Matthews, Kadri, Nylander as centers. I don't mind bringing in a tweener 3rd/4th line center on a 1-2 year deal but it's not a pressing need IMO.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Could Kevin Hayes be a target for 3C? Rumour is the Rangers are getting calls on him. Would our first and Bracco do it?

Another note, would you guys be up for a move for Honka?

Kevin Hayes would be great but not sure that price makes sense for us.

 

[Havoc]

I still think Carlson should be our main target if we're planning to spend

We already have Matthews, Kadri, Nylander as centers. I don't mind bringing in a tweener 3rd/4th line center on a 1-2 year deal but it's not a pressing need IMO.

Oh for sure.

People need to take in the fact that Islanders were running an offence just as good or even better than ours.

Their team defense is garbage and Tavares' skill set is not setup to help a team overcome this problem.

How does adding Tavares fix any of our problems if our problem is team defense? We're going to bring in Tavares just to increase our odds of out scoring our issues?

If the goal is wins and the cup, the less exciting route should be the path Leafs take. We already have superstars in the making . We don't need a hype name like Tavares to excite the crowd.

I'm team Carlson if we were willing to sign one of them. He'll be on the ice for 25+ minutes a night breaking those plays up at the blue line and shooting bombs from the point on the powerplay. Two things we need to improve on.

If we sign Tavares we increase on a strength and don't do anything about our weaknesses.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Not 100% certain, but Aaltonen may be leaving for Europe again. On Instagram he said "Thank you, Toronto" instead of the usual "see you soon." I asked him, "you're coming back right" and he read, but ignored my message. He has answered me every time in the past and it's not like a simple "yes" would reveal much. Probably looking to deep into, but it seems a bit odd from him.

It would make some sense, he is not guaranteed a spot and may not want to go through the pre-season/camp process again.

I think you may be reading a bit too much into his comment. I'd be shocked if he didn't come out for camp next year. There's likely a center spot open, it wouldn't make sense for him to write it off so quickly. If we signed Tavares and someone else I wouldn't blame him for going back to Europe but that's a stretch at this point. "Thank you, Toronto" seems more like thanking the fans for their support in the Marlies cup run.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

I watched a lot of Marlies hockey this year and there is almost no chance that Gauthier comes back to the Maple Leafs organization.

I wouldn't be shocked if they choose to let him walk.

Gauthier is done.

Yeah I've seen plenty of Gauthier over the years and the guy just isn't going to cut it. If you're going to win an NHL championship you're gonna have to do better than players like him. It's a shame because he's such a likable guy.

 

[613Leafer]

I hope we keep Aaltonen. I think he's our best internal option for 4th line C at the moment. Like others have said, I really don't think Gauthier is an NHLer, and who knows what we have in Lindholm.

 

[SprDaVE]

It would be a very weird move for Aaltonen to leave already. It makes no sense. I think people are reading into an Instagram post a little too much.

He's got a great chance to make the team, at least for now. He had a great playoff run and I think he turned a lot of heads in the playoffs. He also was one of the last few cuts in last training camp and Babcock really liked him from the sound of things. I really don't understand why he'd make the move for 1 year and go back... I am pretty sure his plan is to play in the NHL.

With that said, the one thing he'll likely have is an out-clause to go back to Europe if he doesn't make the Leafs.

 

[Deebo]

It would be a very weird move for Aaltonen to leave already. It makes no sense. I think people are reading into an Instagram post a little too much.

He's got a great chance to make the team, at least for now. He had a great playoff run and I think he turned a lot of heads in the playoffs. He also was one of the last few cuts in last training camp and Babcock really liked him from the sound of things. I really don't understand why he'd make the move for 1 year and go back... I am pretty sure his plan is to play in the NHL.

With that said, the one thing he'll likely have is an out-clause to go back to Europe if he doesn't make the Leafs.

He could probably get a 1-way deal too so the money won't be an issue for him.

 

[hullsy47]

Meh Aaltonen isnt someone Im gonna stress over.

I personally prefer Gauthier to be our permanent 4th line C anyways, but thats just me

hes is in tough to play center for the leafs ….

 

[justafan22]

He could probably get a 1-way deal too so the money won't be an issue for him.

He'll get more money overseas, so money isn't the issue here.