What is your expected trajectory for the Leafs over the next 7 years?

[AppsSyl]

Ridiculous

I suspect that the Leafs. Will finish between 7 th
last and 12 th best with first rnd exits every yr that they squeak in in playoffs

Your post doesn't make sense. What are you trying to say?

 

[WillNytheSwedishGuy]

All depends on the core assembled.

Key pieces for playoff contention:

1C - Stamkos
2C - Nylander
1W - Marner
2W - ?
1D - Rielly
2D - ?
1G - ?

A legitimate top pairing partner for Rielly and a solid/top goaltender are crucial pieces. Depth is easily attainable.

Depending on what the Leafs end up doing in this draft, I think the goaltender is likely to be the most difficult piece to acquire. Other than praying that Reimer becomes consistent, I don't see anything occurring in the short term that would solve that hole in the roster. So, in my mind its the crucial consideration when we talk about the expedience of this team's trajectory.

Just to illustrate my point a different way, its possible we complete the coming offseason like this:

1C: Stamkos
2C: Nylander
1W: Marner
2W: Maybe JVR, but far from certain
1D: Rielly
2D: Chychrun/another first round pick on D
1G: Not a clue who it could be if not Reimer/Bernier

I'd also say that I know the focus of this management group is on the draft (as it should be, its the most important player acquisition method in a salary cap system), but I wouldn't totally ignore the other avenues to acquire talent either. If the team can find a way to trade for youngish players to fill the holes in the projected roster, they should look to do that (with the caveat that they should not jeopardize the team's draft capital too heavily while doing so).

Edit: After I wrote this post, I consulted the 2016 FA class. Nothing that promising in the way of youngish goaltending, other than maybe Jhonas Enroth. Maybe signing him to short term deal (3 years at most) for average money and seeing what he does as a starter is a possibility. Even if we draft a goalie in the upcoming draft, they take forever to develop so we would need someone to mind the net and do a reasonable job in the interim. Enroth is probably a better idea than throwing assets at Washington for Samsonov or Tampa for Bishop/Vasilevskiy.

 

[AvroArrow]

2015-16 - Finish near the bottom of the league (25th-30th)
2016-17 - Competing for a wild card position, finish between (7th-10th)
2017-18 - Finish 3rd in our division (1st round playoff loss)
2018-19 - Finish 2nd/3rd in our division (1st round playoff loss)
2019-20 - Finish 2nd in our divison (2nd/3rd round exit)
2020-21 - Compete for 1st in our division, finally a contender (conference final/cup final)
2021-22 - Compete for 1st in our division, remain a contender (conference final/cup final)

I expect current coaching and management to attract a lot of strong players. I trust their skills in drafting high end talent and acquiring players that will help us become a contender. Nylander/Marner will become strong impact players by that time. We will have a very impressive surprise prospect crack the big squad. Rielly will be a seasoned veteran by that time, and our core will look very different from what it is today.

JVR, Marner, Nylander, Rielly, Gardiner, Percy, Dermott, Kapanen, 2016 1st round pick, Stammer maybe ? I don't expect Kadri, Phaneuf or Lupul to be around by the time this team is ready to become a cup contender.

 

[Apotheosis]

Depends. Of the non-first round guys, I expect Connor Brown, Dermott and Timashov as the most likely locks to make an impact on the team in the future. I think we likely draft either Chychrun or Laine in the draft (unless we win the lottery but I'm not banking on such uncertainty). Stamkos seems likely too. With Pitts pick, I would love to draft Dante Fabbro.

So...

2015-2016 - 29th-30th (top 3 pick with the aforementioned guys)
2016-2017 - growing pains with Nylander, Marner and possibly the 2016 first round pick coming in. 24th-30th. Slight improvements.
2017-2018 - This is where I think we shall start seeing the real potential of the team. Guys like Dermott will likely graduate to the first team, Marner and Nylander will have a year under their belts in the NHL and building chemistry with Stamkos (again, assuming we get him). This is the year we become a bubble team and pull a "Calgary". Showing improvement as a team.
2018-2019 - Showing signs of a contender. Stamkos is 29 and in good spot to succeed. 2 years for Marner/Nylander and more experience overall.

Top 6 of Marner, Nylander, Stamkos, Brown, Timashov and Laine (assuming we draft him and if not him then Andreas Johnson).

Leivo - Gauthier - Leipsic as out shutdown third line. Haven't thought too much about the fourth line just yet.

Rielly - Dermott
Chychrun (assuming we get him over Laine) - Fabbro/Gardiner
Lindgren/Nielsen - Loov

 

[hoglund]

I think the next 2 seasons they will miss the playoffs, probably finish between 10th and 14th in the East, in 3 seasons they'll make the playoffs, but be eliminated 1st round, 4 years they'll make the playoffs and be eliminated in the semifinals, 5th year they'll make it to the conference finals, but lose, 6th year they make it to the conference finals and lose again, 7th year they'll make it to the Finals and win the Stanley Cup. So in 7 years (2023) they will be Stanley Cup Champions, that's not far fetched and I'm sticking with it.

 

[A1LeafNation]

JVR(3) a-Stamkos(1) Nylander(2)
Komarov(6) Kadri(4) Marner(5)
Winnik(9) Holland(8) Lupul(7)

Gardiner(3) c-Phaneuf(2)
Chychrun(4) a-Rielly(1)

Reimer(1)
Sparks(2)

We could be a playoff team as early as next season.

 

[The CyNick]

Impossible to say.

Who are the players that we have that we think can be part of the core (i.e top 6 F's, 3D, and 1 G)?

Say we think JVR, Morgan, Willie, and Mitch are in that group. Does that make us elite? No, probably not.

Then who are filling in the other holes? Seems like we dont have those guys in the system yet. Let's be positive and say we can sign Stamkos, so that adds to the Forward group. We're still missing 2 forwards, a couple D and a Goalie.

Best case scenario is we pick one of those guys in the upcoming draft. They likely wont be a factor on the team until at least 17/18, if not 18/19. As we get better, you reduce the chances of adding those key pieces in the draft.

The long term success of this team probably comes down to two things 1. How we draft beyond the first round - which is impossible to predict. 2. Can we increase our prospect depth in a specific position to use in trade to fill out the roster. For example, how are we getting Carey Price or Quick or even Crawford? Goalies usually take a while to develop. If that goalie isnt in the system, and we draft him this summer or next, we are probably 5 years from them impacting the big club.

Its fun to speculate, but we just have way too many holes to make a prediction like this. It could take us 15 years to get where we want to.

 

[ULF_55]

Top out as a contender.

Don't expect to see another Cup.