Speculation: Is Lou really all that great.

Mess

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BUT one has to fairly ask

would we have seen the change if the organisation had not already filled out it's skill quota

almost all of our skilled players could be listed as "not big" and that being the case

it does not hurt to draft big guys IF they only major difference between two potential picks, is their size.

Too bad Lou wasn't here to negotiate the Kessel trade on Leafs behalf.

The young pups Dubas/Hunter got taken to the cleaners on that trade and it help the Pens win 2 Cups in the process.

Lou Lam likely/might have taken MA Fleury in trade from the Pens and not been forced to deal away 1st and 2nds to acquire Freddy Andersen afterwards.
 

Faltorvo

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Feb 18, 2008
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Too bad Lou wasn't here to negotiate the Kessel trade on Leafs behalf.

The young pups Dubas/Hunter got taken to the cleaners on that trade and it help the Pens win 2 Cups in the process.

Lou Lam likely/might have taken MA Fleury in trade from the Pens and not been forced to deal away 1st and 2nds to acquire Freddy Andersen afterwards.

Given all the circumstances regarding the kessel trade ,we did OK ish

Kappy/Andy/Mattews really do ease the pain. We used the Pitt 1rst.
 

LeafFever

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Feb 12, 2016
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Too bad Lou wasn't here to negotiate the Kessel trade on Leafs behalf.

The young pups Dubas/Hunter got taken to the cleaners on that trade and it help the Pens win 2 Cups in the process.

Lou Lam likely/might have taken MA Fleury in trade from the Pens and not been forced to deal away 1st and 2nds to acquire Freddy Andersen afterwards.
Doubt the Pens were ready to trade Fleury. Murray had not played an NHl game yet. And the Leafs did want Murray.
Wait till Kapanen gets real Ice-Time. You'll be happy he's here.
 

diceman934

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Too bad Lou wasn't here to negotiate the Kessel trade on Leafs behalf.

The young pups Dubas/Hunter got taken to the cleaners on that trade and it help the Pens win 2 Cups in the process.

Lou Lam likely/might have taken MA Fleury in trade from the Pens and not been forced to deal away 1st and 2nds to acquire Freddy Andersen afterwards.
We got rid of a bad influence on our young players with a huge contract when the whole league knew he had to go.

We did fine based on the results of our play and lack of dressing room issues.
 

hotpaws

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Funny that those Smurfs Habs teams constantly made the playoffs while Burke’s truculence continued in mediocrity
funny how that didn't stop a large number of our fans from laughing about there smurfs and how they wouldn't go anywhere in the playoffs
 

bonjovi0308

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I think the selling (Dion, Kessel) is the fairly easy part once you got the approval from the shareholders. Its also fairly easy to pick good young players when you have a strong scouting team and high picks. But yes I have been pretty disappointed by Lou's moves so far.
Good:
Traded Polak and other vets for picks
Sign Kadri and Rielly (don't remember if he is responsible on Gardiner's too) for extension at bargain
Traded for Boyle and pushed into playoffs
Traded for Anderson
Acquired and extended Curtis
Signed Madley, good vet who can still perform and to lead by example.

Don't know yet (questionable):
Extended Zaitsev
Did not trade Leivo
Did not trade Carrick
Traded Nikita Soshnikov for a 4th rounder

Most likely wrong moves:
Kept JVR
Kept Bozak
Traded for Plekanec for a 2nd rounder

Probably B-/C+ at best in my books
 
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hotpaws

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Nov 21, 2009
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I think the selling (Dion, Kessel) is the fairly easy part once you got the approval from the shareholders. Its also fairly easy to pick good young players when you have a strong scouting team and high picks. But yes I have been pretty disappointed by Lou's moves so far.
Good:
Traded Polak and other vets for picks
Sign Kadri and Rielly (don't remember if he is responsible on Gardiner's too) for extension at bargain
Traded for Boyle and pushed into playoffs
Traded for Anderson
Acquired and extended Curtis

Don't know yet (questionable):
Extended Zaitsev
Did not trade Leivo
Did not trade Carrick
Traded Nikita Soshnikov for a 4th rounder

Most likely wrong moves:
Kept JVR
Kept Bozak
Traded for Plekanec for a 2nd rounder

Probably B-/C+ at best in my books
Selling Dion was far from easy without having to retain salary or take back long term cap dumps , that trade was one of the best moves he's made .

They tried to trade JvR last summer and it was very understandable why they didn't move him for picks at the t/d considering the season we/he was having and the teams responsibility to their fan base .
 

Trapper

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Nov 21, 2013
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Too bad Lou wasn't here to negotiate the Kessel trade on Leafs behalf.

The young pups Dubas/Hunter got taken to the cleaners on that trade and it help the Pens win 2 Cups in the process.

Lou Lam likely/might have taken MA Fleury in trade from the Pens and not been forced to deal away 1st and 2nds to acquire Freddy Andersen afterwards.
I'm quite happy with the Andersen/Kapanen return for Kessel. When you get 2 pieces that can (one already is and the other will be) meaningful parts to the whole, that's a good deal IMO. Not spare parts/sheltered afterthoughts.

As for Lou, the Andersen trade was good, the contracts for Rielly/Kadri/Hyman/Brown were all good.

The bad, JVR should have been dealt in the summer and Gardiner should be dealt this summer.
The surrounding dynamic of this team needs to be changed. We've run with Bozak,JVR,Gardiner,Komarov,etc. for too long. A new look is required.
 
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17 Clark

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Mar 22, 2015
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Dubas being the potential GM is some pretty great news.
Lou is a weak link of this management group.
As Nithonel mentioned, the GM has made some very poor decisions.
Plekanec trade
Not getting assets back for JVR/Bozak(both have been invisible in these playoffs)
Zaitsev(maybe)
The drafting has gotten worse since Lou came in(all though Hunter is still finding some solid players).
Should Lou be replaced?
Well put could not agree with you more
 

Mickey Marner

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Plekanec was acquired specifically for Bergeron, but was otherwise a dumb move. We are literally the weakest team in the league at RHD without Zaitsev, maybe even with him, but that's still a bad contract. Drafting is too soon to tell, but 2015 was obviously a win.

Lou's bread&butter was identifying and acquiring goalie talent, instilling professionalism and accountability, and being frugal as hell. We don't really need any of those things anymore. He can stay as an advisor if it's really that important to him.
 

Nalens Oga

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Jan 5, 2010
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I think that this series highlights the lack of good puck moving dmen on this team outside of Rielly/maybe Dermott.

He's been here for two years and hasn't really added any proper PMD via trade. You don't have to get a top pairing guy because that's a steep price but at least you have to add a PMD and a better bottom six liner than Boyle/Moore/Plekanec.
 

Buds17

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Nov 29, 2015
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I think the selling (Dion, Kessel) is the fairly easy part once you got the approval from the shareholders. Its also fairly easy to pick good young players when you have a strong scouting team and high picks. But yes I have been pretty disappointed by Lou's moves so far.
Good:
Traded Polak and other vets for picks
Sign Kadri and Rielly (don't remember if he is responsible on Gardiner's too) for extension at bargain
Traded for Boyle and pushed into playoffs
Traded for Anderson
Acquired and extended Curtis

Don't know yet (questionable):
Extended Zaitsev
Did not trade Leivo
Did not trade Carrick
Traded Nikita Soshnikov for a 4th rounder

Most likely wrong moves:
Kept JVR
Kept Bozak
Traded for Plekanec for a 2nd rounder

Probably B-/C+ at best in my books

I know Lou wasn't the one that traded Kessel, but given the term left on the contracts and the trade protection involved, trading Kessel and Phaneuf weren't the easiest of moves for Dubas/Hunter/Lou from that standpoint.

Concerning high picks (where we drafted Matthews/Marner), a team that has those is almost always a non-playoff team (barring a rare circumstance where it's traded for) and it is essential to make good on those in order to avoid a long term spinning of the wheels. Being successful with Liljegren and this year's 1st, as playoff bound teams, will be key.
 
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mapleleaf979

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Shanahan made an error not forcing Lamarello to move JVR and Bozak at the deadline. With 2 month left together, who cares about any rift. I wonder if Hunter or Dubas was on board to move JVR and Bozak at the deadline, considering the playoff spot as cemented and the team is still rebuilding. Also move Nylander to center into Bozaks role, to see what his position will be moving forward which impacts his contract this summer and his future role on the team. Forget using 2nd round picks at the deadline. This summer, with Gardiner a UFA after the season and will command a raise to 6 million they should part ways with him Asap. With that being said. The Leafs would have (2) First round picks, (3) second round picks and Gardiner as assets to play with on the draft floor.
 

rent free

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Shanahan made an error not forcing Lamarello to move JVR and Bozak at the deadline. With 2 month left together, who cares about any rift. I wonder if Hunter or Dubas was on board to move JVR and Bozak at the deadline, considering the playoff spot as cemented and the team is still rebuilding. Also move Nylander to center into Bozaks role, to see what his position will be moving forward which impacts his contract this summer and his future role on the team. Forget using 2nd round picks at the deadline. This summer, with Gardiner a UFA after the season and will command a raise to 6 million they should part ways with him Asap. With that being said. The Leafs would have (2) First round picks, (3) second round picks and Gardiner as assets to play with on the draft floor.
management thought we could make a playoff run and boy were they wrong
 

hullsy47

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Dec 7, 2005
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Too bad Lou wasn't here to negotiate the Kessel trade on Leafs behalf.

The young pups Dubas/Hunter got taken to the cleaners on that trade and it help the Pens win 2 Cups in the process.

Lou Lam likely/might have taken MA Fleury in trade from the Pens and not been forced to deal away 1st and 2nds to acquire Freddy Andersen afterwards.
 

rent free

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Apr 6, 2015
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Even if Lou had traded JVR and Bozak, you don't think some Leafs fans would complain about not having them if they still lost in the first round?
they most definitely would. the majority of leaf fans would have complained for sure. however, they should realize jvr and bozak weren't the difference between winning and losing against boston. they should've also realized that this team isn't as good as boston and trading pending ufa's for assets would be great for this team.
 

hullsy47

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Dec 7, 2005
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u dunno kapanen ,Anderson and cap space for kessel not too shabby ,pens wont get a world class goalie in any deal for kessel
we could've kept kessel and never made the playoffs
 

rent free

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Apr 6, 2015
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u dunno kapanen ,Anderson and cap space for kessel not too shabby ,pens wont get a world class goalie in any deal for kessel
we could've kept kessel and never made the playoffs


thats quite trash of a return for a fantastic player. if management had patience, then they could have worked out a better deal for kessel.
 

diceman934

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Even if Lou had traded JVR and Bozak, you don't think some Leafs fans would complain about not having them if they still lost in the first round?
Most would have loss their minds.

We did the right thing we got a lot of cap space as the return. Had JVR had the season he had this year the season before we would have been able to move him last summer as we tried but the offers were underwhelming.

If we turn around and get the big fish to sign here JT would that change anyone’s mind as to keeping JVR, Bozak and Leo as that is the cap space we will need to make that move.
 

LeafsNation75

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u dunno kapanen ,Anderson and cap space for kessel not too shabby ,pens wont get a world class goalie in any deal for kessel
we could've kept kessel and never made the playoffs


thats quite trash of a return for a fantastic player. if management had patience, then they could have worked out a better deal for kessel.
Let's remember among the teams on Kessel's approved trade list it was only the Penguins who would talk about trading for him.

If anything I think people hated the Leafs agreeing to take on $1.2 million of his contract.
 

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