Free Agency and Trade Thread - Playoff Edition

[TML Dynasty]

The thing is we cant really afford adding a legit top pairing RHD and "bumping" Zaitsev down. We need to clear that salary cap space to add a top d man...And plus honestly Ozhiganov is probably just as good as Zaitsev on the bottom pair maybe even better.

Yeah it would take something big for sure. Marleau combined with Johnsson should be attractive to a floor team like Arizona or Ottawa if he agrees to retire. Brown could be dumped and a cheaper body promoted. Marner could always surprise us. Wouldn't be too upset if Nylander went the other way in bringing back a RHD....just don't want to sell low on him. Oz I really hope takes a step up. And for sure am ok with moving Z too

 

[Deebo]

The concept that we would have no cap problems was very popular not very long ago.

Yeah, they had problems this year due to immovable inherited issues.

2019-20 will potentially be tight again due to Marleau but they should be in pretty good shape for 2020-21 and 2021-22.

 

[HoweHullOrr]

Yeah, they had problems this year due to immovable inherited issues.

2019-20 will potentially be tight again due to Marleau but they should be in pretty good shape for 2020-21 and 2021-22.

True. Hopefully we don't get into cap problems again like we did this time (this summer) in pretty short order. Easier said than done of course as we have already witnessed with our current cap situation.

ELCs and real low cost replacements that play as well (preferably better) than the middle of our current roster will be very important and helpful. Again, easier said than done.

 

[The Podium]

I guess one good thing about Marner disappearing in the playoffs and Matthews producing well is a few dollars off of his relative contract. Im hoping for 8x9 but expect 6x9.75.

 

[Legion34]

If marleau/brownleaves. We are fine.

Figure an 83 million cap with marleau gone. This roster has 22 million left

Hyman. Tavares xxxxx
Xxxxxx. Matthews Nylander
Xxxxxx. Kadri. Xxxxx
Moore. Gauthier. Pétan

Rielly. Xxxxxxx
Muzzin. Zaitsev
Dermott. Rosen
Hill

Andy/sparks

Worst case ....Figure 11 for Marner and 6 for aj and kappy.

That leaves 5 million for a D and a forward. Could bring. Bracco back that’s 4 for a D. That’s ok.

That gives plenty of options. First the cap might be higher. Second I would hope to get 2 million more in savings on the cap for the forwards. That is up to 4 more....
So you could look at maybe have
85 million cap with 8-9 million to play with.

Could also trade kappy

Lots of options

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Yeah it would take something big for sure. Marleau combined with Johnsson should be attractive to a floor team like Arizona or Ottawa if he agrees to retire. Brown could be dumped and a cheaper body promoted. Marner could always surprise us. Wouldn't be too upset if Nylander went the other way in bringing back a RHD....just don't want to sell low on him. Oz I really hope takes a step up. And for sure am ok with moving Z too

We aren't going to package Johnsson just to dump Marleau. If we included Johnsson in a Marleau trade, we'd still get a pretty good pick in return, like the Bolland-Crouse deal.

If Marleau retires, I would trade him to Ottawa with a prospect and get MacArthur in return. Ottawa gets more money on their cap, doesn't have to pay any money to Marleau (although as it stands they would only have to pay like 900k to MacArthur, but regardless) and could maybe get a decent prospect like SDA or Rasanen out of it. Leafs just stick MacArthur with Horton on LTIR for the last year of their contracts. The main thing would be getting Marleau to retire in the first place, which seems highly unlikely TBH.

 

[TML Dynasty]

We aren't going to package Johnsson just to dump Marleau. If we included Johnsson in a Marleau trade, we'd still get a pretty good pick in return, like the Bolland-Crouse deal.

If Marleau retires, I would trade him to Ottawa with a prospect and get MacArthur in return. Ottawa gets more money on their cap, doesn't have to pay any money to Marleau (although as it stands they would only have to pay like 900k to MacArthur, but regardless) and could maybe get a decent prospect like SDA or Rasanen out of it. Leafs just stick MacArthur with Horton on LTIR for the last year of their contracts. The main thing would be getting Marleau to retire in the first place, which seems highly unlikely TBH.

Oh for sure on getting something back from Marleau/Johnsson. But agreed on it being unlikely too.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

The thing is we cant really afford adding a legit top pairing RHD and "bumping" Zaitsev down. We need to clear that salary cap space to add a top d man...And plus honestly Ozhiganov is probably just as good as Zaitsev on the bottom pair maybe even better.

I am REALLY curious to know what justification you have backing this statement...

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Yep. Zaitsev for me may have changed a little. I think him and Muzzin developed ok chemistry lately so Im ok with rolling that for another year if we don't see a really good trade out there. under the theory that his partners were not suited to him.
I have it as:

Reilly Dermott
Muzzin Zaitsev
other 4..

but adding a legit top pairing RHD and bumping the other two down should be the main goal this off season

That's how I see the top 4 next year no matter what. The Leafs may trade Zaitsev, but then you are just replacing him with another name likely making the same amount (i.e. Pesce, Tanev, etc.) and maybe switching up the pairings a little bit (i.e. Pesce would probably play with Rielly and Dermott with Muzzin instead).

If Dermott can show he can handle a #4 role, I think we are better off than with Gardiner in that top 4. The only other question marks would really come with guys like Rosen handling a bottom pairing role, but if his AHL play is any indication, he should be able to handle a Dermott role next year without any concerns.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Before we add to the right side we need to subtract. Zaitsev at 4.5 mil being a horrible puck mover needs to go. Get rid of Zaitsev and throw in a quality top 4 D like Manson or Pesce and then we are in business. Realistically We have so many quality LHD in Rielly, Dermott, Muzzin, Sandin, Rosen...One of those guys will play the right side(likely Dermott). Liljegren/Oz is definitely good enough bottom pairing RHD depth, both can pass the puck well.

I see our D like this atm heading into next year:
Rielly-Zaitsev
Muzzin-Dermott
Rosen-Oz
Sandin-Liljegren

Zaitsev on the top pairing is VERY ugly. If we can replace him with a quality guy our blueline is solid. Muzzin-Dermott should be a very good pair especially as Dermott continutes to develop...Hes ready for top 4 duty.

Based on your posts, I have the feeling that you have never truly watched a game of Zaitsev in your life... So I would do that before claiming anything about him going forward.

 

[Field of Dreams]

Doubt that treading Brown frees up enough cap space to make much of a difference. Nor does that address our biggest problem = defense. IMHO, that is like polishing a BB, or rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic.

Grains of sand make a heap.

With Matthews (and presumably Marner shortly) being overpaid, we must be find efficiencies in other avenues to improve (or even maintain) the quality of our defence.

 

[The Podium]

Gardiner, Hainsey, Ennis walk
Kadri + Johnsson for Pesce + Lucas Wallmark
Brown for Khaira
Bracco called up
Sign Kapanen for 5x4mill
Sign Marner for 8x9.5

 

[Field of Dreams]

Gardiner, Hainsey, Ennis walk
Kadri + Johnsson for Pesce + Lucas Wallmark
Brown for Khaira
Bracco called up
Sign Kapanen for 5x4mill
Sign Marner for 8x9.5

View attachment 220411

I feel like we are way past the point where we can get Marner for 8*9.5 considering what Nylander and Matthews have been paid.

 

[SHANNYPLAN]

Coach: Fire Babcock, Promote Keefe
Core: Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Rielly, Muzzin, Andersen
Keep: Dermott, Hyman, Kapanen, Johnsson
Trade: Nylander, Kadri, Brown
Dump: Marleau
Walk: Gardiner, Hainsey

____ - MATTHEWS - MARNER*
HYMAN - - TAVARES - - _____*
JOHNSSON - _____ - KAPANEN
MOORE - - GAUTHIER - - _____

RIELLY - - - _____
MUZZIN - ZAITSEV
DERMOTT - _____

ANDERSEN
________

 

[TML Dynasty]

Gardiner, Hainsey, Ennis walk
Kadri + Johnsson for Pesce + Lucas Wallmark
Brown for Khaira
Bracco called up
Sign Kapanen for 5x4mill
Sign Marner for 8x9.5

View attachment 220411

I did one to see if we could fit under the cap with internal moves and nothing crazy: Brown gone, Johnsson prob traded due arbitration rights etc. Not ideal but far from a concern. Other money can be freed up pretty easily too. I would be pretty excited rolling those top 3 lines

 

[HoweHullOrr]

If marleau/brownleaves. We are fine.

Figure an 83 million cap with marleau gone. This roster has 22 million left

Hyman. Tavares xxxxx
Xxxxxx. Matthews Nylander
Xxxxxx. Kadri. Xxxxx
Moore. Gauthier. Pétan

Rielly. Xxxxxxx
Muzzin. Zaitsev
Dermott. Rosen
Hill

Andy/sparks

Worst case ....Figure 11 for Marner and 6 for aj and kappy.

That leaves 5 million for a D and a forward. Could bring. Bracco back that’s 4 for a D. That’s ok.

That gives plenty of options. First the cap might be higher. Second I would hope to get 2 million more in savings on the cap for the forwards. That is up to 4 more....
So you could look at maybe have
85 million cap with 8-9 million to play with.

Could also trade kappy

Lots of options

Not sure how Marleau just conveniently disappears. We can hope I suppose.

Cap is projected at $83 m, not $85.

We will have $13.3 m of available cap space this summer, so using your scenario, we are already over cap by signing Marner, Kap & AJ.

Even though we thought we'd have no cap problems 1.5 - 2 years ago, we find ourselves in this cap predicament. If we have Dubas and Shanny, what's changed this time versus the last time?

Guess I can copy a previous post as the real numbers don't seem to reflected in peoples thinking yet.

Important relevant stats from CapFriendly re: Leafs cap 2019-20 cap situation

Toronto Maple Leafs - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Projected cap space: $4.5 m
Cap increase: $3.5 m
Horton LTIR: $5.3 m
TOTAL $13.3 m

RFA & UFA are not signed and hence salaries are not included in the total team cap.

RFA: Marner, Kapanen, Ozhiganov, Johnsson
UFA: Gardiner, Hainsey, Hutchinson, Marincin, Ennis

If we sign Marner at $10 m AAV and Hainsey (or a Hainsey level defenseman replacement), the remaining cap space is gone. Players identified in blue font would be gone in this "scenario/example".

Conclusion - If we want to add additional players, more player cuts (in addition to those in blue font) will be needed. I guess that's why there is so many Nylander or Kadri (or both) trade proposal trades these days.

 

[Rielly4]

Based on your posts, I have the feeling that you have never truly watched a game of Zaitsev in your life... So I would do that before claiming anything about him going forward.

I could say the same thing about you. Or maybe that you just dont understand the sport very well...

Zaitsev is the worst passer on our blueline. He handles the puck like a hand grenade and has literally no vision on the ice. On the defensive side of things he is a good skater and good at closing gaps with physicality but he gets too focused on that most of the time and makes bad pinches and bad reads in the corners leading to guys wide open in front of the net. He is horrible at passing lane coverage and lets his man score tap ins in front of the net very frequently.

The only reason his off the glass every time method works "OK" for our team is that our breakout system is broken and makes it so 2/3 of our forwards just fly the zone giving skilled d men no chance to make a crisp tape to tape pass.

At the end of the day we are on an opinion based forum and im not going to sit here feeding you Zaitsev clips of how bad he is. But analytics do back up my opinion and im confident Dubas knows what needs to be done.

 

[Faltorvo]

I feel like we are way past the point where we can get Marner for 8*9.5 considering what Nylander and Matthews have been paid.

Dubas has to sit back and see if Rantanen/Point/Laine/Tkachuk affirm the "new market" that Dubas created

OR does the league show and tell Dubas,,,look kid,,, you got played "this is the real market"

I don't believe Dubas "set the new market" i think he got played hard...Time will tell.

 

[HoweHullOrr]

I did one to see if we could fit under the cap with internal moves and nothing crazy: Brown gone, Johnsson prob traded due arbitration rights etc. Not ideal but far from a concern. Other money can be freed up pretty easily too. I would be pretty excited rolling those top 3 lines

View attachment 220413

Is Kessel's retained? Couldn't tell .....

Even so, that's Johnsson, Brown, Ozhiganov, Ennis, Marincin, Hainsey & Gardiner that would be out of the lineup.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I could say the same thing about you. Or maybe that you just dont understand the sport very well...

Zaitsev is the worst passer on our blueline. He handles the puck like a hand grenade and has literally no vision on the ice. On the defensive side of things he is a good skater and good at closing gaps with physicality but he gets too focused on that most of the time and makes bad pinches and bad reads in the corners leading to guys wide open in front of the net. He is horrible at passing lane coverage and lets his man score tap ins in front of the net very frequently.

The only reason his off the glass every time method works "OK" for our team is that our breakout system is broken and makes it so 2/3 of our forwards just fly the zone giving skilled d men no chance to make a crisp tape to tape pass.

At the end of the day we are on an opinion based forum and im not going to sit here feeding you Zaitsev clips of how bad he is. But analytics do back up my opinion and im confident Dubas knows what needs to be done.

Good, because I don't need to waste my time on hyperboles, ignorance and pure BS, which seems to be the basis of your entire Zaitsev argument.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Is Kessel's retained? Couldn't tell .....

It gets included on CapFriendly.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

What is the price on Ferland?

 

[Field of Dreams]

Dubas has to sit back and see if Rantanen/Point/Laine/Tkachuk affirm the "new market" that Dubas created

OR does the league show and tell Dubas,,,look kid,,, you got played "this is the real market"

I don't believe Dubas "set the new market" i think he got played hard...Time will tell.

Call me a cynic, but when forecasting our roster, I'm penciling marner in at 10.5 to account for the dubas tax.

 

[TML Dynasty]

Is Kessel's retained? Couldn't tell .....

Yep, sorry forgot to show that:

and didn't put much effort into the returns for trades or the destination

 

[WTFMAN99]

What is the price on Ferland?

4-5.5M range.

I would be okay with 4.5M x4 years. More then a guy like Beleskey got....I don't want to go 5M+ and 5+ years because it always backfires with those types.