Is the "tear down" complete?

[HockeyGuruPitka]

From what i gather, there are 4 stages to a rebuild

1) tear down
2) draft and develop
3) contend
4) maintain long term success

The leafs have a plethora of young assets and high draft selections in the next two years. We also have 4 core building blocks in Rielly, Marner, Nylander and the 1st-4th overall selection.

We saw yesterday that the leafs were not desperate to trade PAP for anything less then our asking price, this showed me that

1: the leafs were not going to hinder their future negotiating power by accepting a lesser offer
2: are not desperate for more draft picks

are the leafs done the tear down portion of this rebuild?

Click to read more...

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

Lupul and likely Bozak are the last core pieces of the previous era that I do not think are part of our plan

 

[pspot]

Kadri, JVR, Gardiner if they want to go deeper

are these 'vets' you have during the develop stage?
or are they more valuable as assets to deal now?

 

[Morguee]

Now it will be more of a grow and prune. Start growing and developing all the while pruning the older players once their rolls have been filled.

 

[Mess]

Lupul, Bozak, Bernier are at least 3 players that are still standing in the way of the tear down completion stage.

I don't see any of these 3 players being a part of the plan going forward.

 

[Clark4Ever]

Lupul, Bozak, Bernier are at least 3 players that are still standing in the way of the tear down completion stage.

I don't see any of these 3 players being a part of the plan going forward.

Agreed. That should be the extent of it in my opinion.

 

[613Leafer]

Essentially.

Any selling off they do now will be offset by young guys starting to take over and freed up capspace that can be used to add players.We should maintain good asset management essentially indefinitely though. Even when we're contenders.

Chicago sold a ton of their secondary talent off in the offseasons, which has helped fuel farm system and keep their success rolling. We need to do something similar once we start making the playoffs, dont put yourself in a position to lose a key pieces to free agency.

 

[Faltorvo]

From what i gather, there are 4 stages to a rebuild

1) tear down
2) draft and develop
3) contend
4) maintain long term success

The leafs have a plethora of young assets and high draft selections in the next two years. We also have 4 core building blocks in Rielly, Marner, Nylander and the 1st-4th overall selection.

We saw yesterday that the leafs were not desperate to trade PAP for anything less then our asking price, this showed me that

1: the leafs were not going to hinder their future negotiating power by accepting a lesser offer
2: are not desperate for more draft picks

are the leafs done the tear down portion of this rebuild?

Nope the tear down is not done BUT

It's real real close.

We have a number of players to deal with next year and then the tear down is done.

 

[Mess]

Agreed. That should be the extent of it in my opinion.

I personally wouldn't hesitate dealing Kadri, Gardner, Leo and JVR if the right deals presented themselves, however I also don't see them as necessary requirements tagged for departure under the "tear down" phase by the current management team.

They could "stay or go" depending on what options present themselves, but management is not forcing them out the door like others they had a strong desire to remove and replace.

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

Core: Rielly, Marner, Nylander

Maybe: JVR, Komarov, Kadri

 

[TLeafsFan]

I personally wouldn't hesitate dealing Kadri, Gardner, Leo and JVR if the right deals presented themselves, however I also don't see them as necessary requirements tagged for departure under the "tear down" phase by the current management team.

They could "stay or go" depending on what options present themselves, but management is not forcing them out the door like others they had a strong desire to remove and replace.

Agreed on Gards, anyway. He needs to watch some Atom games and learn from the kids on how to make a legal drop pass when you're skating up ice.

 

[Stand Witness]

Agreed with Lupul, Bozak, Bernier being the remaining pieces BUT I don't think they have to be torn out to move forward. Besides Bozak I don't think there is a market for the other 2. If Simmons is right and Lupul is Robidas'd than that is one way to cut bait. Bernier is gone after next season.

Could hypothetically have all 3 'gone' next year. In my opinion, next year could go up or down. Doesn't matter to me which direction we go because either is an option depending on how things go.

 

[ACC1224]

For the most part it's complete, next is the tweaking stage.

 

[TLeafsFan]

To the OP.

Its already been mentioned but IMO when Bozak and Lups, Bernier depart the team and when Robidas' contract expires at the end of next season, the 'tear down' is complete.

None of those pieces prevent the rebuild from kicking into high gear like its doing now though.

 

[sommervr]

I think it is in the next phase. We are going to have a mix of young kids and a core leadership group of holdovers and cap dumps. It will be a dog's breakfast next 2 years while we stabilize both groups and the kids start moving into the leadership group.

 

[slozo]

Lupul, Bozak, Bernier are at least 3 players that are still standing in the way of the tear down completion stage.

I don't see any of these 3 players being a part of the plan going forward.

I'm also in agreement with this.

Past those three players, it's not a tear down . . . it's a re-shuffling of pieces in the deck as we move onwards and develop our young future core.

 

[Durrr]

I think the last remaining is Bozak and Bernier (as Lupul isn't going anywhere).

Probably going to see both available at the draft, then the development phase really starts.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Lupul, Bozak, Bernier are at least 3 players that are still standing in the way of the tear down completion stage.

I don't see any of these 3 players being a part of the plan going forward.

I think that Bozak is definitely a goner if they decide to re-sign Kadri. And especially so if they also end up with Matthews or Stamkos. I just don't see room for him anymore. We would have, at the very least, Kadri and Nylander as the top 2 Cs then you can slot somebody cheap as your 3rd line C. Bozak can return some more additional assets that we can use.

 

[seanlinden]

Now it will be more of a grow and prune. Start growing and developing all the while pruning the older players once their rolls have been filled.

I'd say this is an accurate descriptor.

Sure, the Leafs would love to rid themselves of Lupul, and to a lesser extent, Michalek, Greening, Laich, Robidas, and Bernier, but they're not going to put that in the way of progress.

Lou has talked about getting young players in the lineup next year. Given the move to get NHL ice time for the likes of Nylander, Kapanen, Hyman, Soshnikov, Leipsic, in addition to the fact that players like Carrick, Percy, and Leivo are not waiver eligible next year; it seems obvious that he wants as many of them to be NHL-ready as possible.

In regards to Bozak, personally, I don't see him going anywhere short term. He's Toronto's most useful centre. They're not going to want 2 rookies playing centre next year. One would figure that you're basically looking at Kadri, Bozak, 1 rookie, and Holland as this team's centres next year. Toss Laich & Komarov into the mix as well for injuries, and maybe the Leafs go to the dumpster bin in the offseason, and pick up a guy like Santorelli/Winnik who can play both.

 

[HockeyGuruPitka]

To the OP.

Its already been mentioned but IMO when Bozak and Lups, Bernier depart the team and when Robidas' contract expires at the end of next season, the 'tear down' is complete.

None of those pieces prevent the rebuild from kicking into high gear like its doing now though.

This is very true. Lupul is a likely candidate to be "Robidas'd" in the offseason. Bernier is not worth a bag of pucks. Bozak could be a good mentor, but obviously a big part of the previous core.

Leafs have also done a great job with the cap.

 

[The CyNick]

We're in the collecting as many assets (picks and prospects) as possible stage. Should be there for another 3 years.

Next stage will be building up guys like JVR, Kadri, and Gardiner to see if we can maximize those assets. Also continue to use our money to acquire picks through 1 yr deals in free agency.

At the same time we need the Nylanders and Marners to get exposed to the NHL. Those guys will be looked upon to lead the next generation with Reilly and whatever we get at the top of the draft this year.

Need another 3 seasons of doing this. By then hopefully our scouts have given us a few gems, and we have a young, solid foundation. Hopefully by then our internal talent has brought us to be a steady playoff team, and then you look to add.

Of course the problem remains you can't guarantee the cornerstone pieces are available when you're drafting. If we're bottom of the table bad for another 3 years, but a #1 centre, a #1 D and a #1 Goalie are not available, we will have spent 5 years under Shanny and likely only got to a boarderline playoff team.

I remember posting here one time that this process can take 3 years, it can take 5 years, it can take 10+ even if you do everything "right".

 

[HockeyGuruPitka]

As we saw happen with Buffalo last off-season, they were able to accelerate the rebuild by puring some of their asset depth to acquire O'Rielly and Kane. I feel that the leafs are in an even better position to do this.

If Vatinen or Trouba extensions get testy, we should be the first team knocking at their doors. However these are two teams that will most likely be looking for "now" help.

 

[Mad Brills*]

lupul, bozak and bernier gone and then yes.

I think they'll be active in trades for players this summer

 

[BertCorbeau]

Tear down isn't quite done yet IMO .. It will be completed this off-season

 

[SprDaVE]

The tough part is mostly done. No contracts longer than a few years. Lupul and Bozak to me are the only 2 players that should be moved as soon as possible.

Now it's about development, plugin holes and making sure you're making the right kind of moves at the right time.