Free Agency and Trade Thread - Post deadline wasteland

[Warden of the North]

Not much going to happen now until the draft

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[SprDaVE]

A lot of the scouting and rumours will be revisited in the off-season 100%. I'm sure we will hear about how the trade has been months in the making once they are done in the off-season.

 

[Warden of the North]

A lot of the scouting and rumours will be revisited in the off-season 100%. I'm sure we will hear about how the trade has been months in the making once they are done in the off-season.

I love when like a "13th forward for future considerations" trade happens and the GM is like "Weve been working on this for about three months. The AGMs really did a lot of the leg work here"

 

[WTFMAN99]

• Brown gone in the off-season, we all knew this, just a numbers game. I have a feeling the preference will be to liquidate him for a pick(s)
  
• Gudbranson moving says to me that Zaitsev can move. People point to the term differential, I point at the ability to play hockey differential. Gudbranson is awful.
• Marleau to OTT/ARI is a possibility if they want to hit the cap floor and Marleau agrees to retire at the end of the year. That is a huge if that none of us will ever know until this off-season.
• Euro imports disappointed, Lindholm gone and Oz likely isn't coming back either.
• I could see us re-visiting a deal with Carolina with one of their defense. Edmonton might be the team that comes back on Brown. In a perfect world you land a 2nd or a 3rd+5th or 6th
  
• You could make a strong case that our entire right side of defense needs an overhaul

 

[Jozay]

Maybe Dermott moves to the right side. Liljegren probably graduates to the bottom pair.

Rosen probably takes bottom pair LHD. Maybe Sandin has a shot there too.

Rielly-xxxx
Muzzin-Dermott
Rosen-Liljegren

 

[BertCorbeau]

Oz is a RFA .. I could see the Leafs keeping him for depth .. Presuming they acquire that coveted RHD they're still looking at replacing Hainsey's spot, as well as Zaitsev if he's dealt. Could slide in on the third pairing, depending on if Liljegren can early a spot.

Rielly - RHD acquisition
Muzzin - Dermott
Rosen/Sandin - Oz/Liljegren
Holl

I think we're looking at a young d-core next year which carries some risks.

 

[MyBudJT]

• Brown gone in the off-season, we all knew this, just a numbers game. I have a feeling the preference will be to liquidate him for a pick(s)
  
• Gudbranson moving says to me that Zaitsev can move. People point to the term differential, I point at the ability to play hockey differential. Gudbranson is awful.
• Marleau to OTT/ARI is a possibility if they want to hit the cap floor and Marleau agrees to retire at the end of the year. That is a huge if that none of us will ever know until this off-season.
• Euro imports disappointed, Lindholm gone and Oz likely isn't coming back either.
• I could see us re-visiting a deal with Carolina with one of their defense. Edmonton might be the team that comes back on Brown. In a perfect world you land a 2nd or a 3rd+5th or 6th
  
• You could make a strong case that our entire right side of defense needs an overhaul

I don't think a Brown trade is garunteed. Its very clear that Brown really wants to be a leaf... IF Dubas can negotiate a long-term deal early in the offseason at a discounted rate (lets say 5 years 8-9 million), then I think Dubas will find other ways to be cap compliant.

 

[Anthrax442]

• Brown gone in the off-season, we all knew this, just a numbers game. I have a feeling the preference will be to liquidate him for a pick(s)
  
• Gudbranson moving says to me that Zaitsev can move. People point to the term differential, I point at the ability to play hockey differential. Gudbranson is awful.
• Marleau to OTT/ARI is a possibility if they want to hit the cap floor and Marleau agrees to retire at the end of the year. That is a huge if that none of us will ever know until this off-season.
• Euro imports disappointed, Lindholm gone and Oz likely isn't coming back either.
• I could see us re-visiting a deal with Carolina with one of their defense. Edmonton might be the team that comes back on Brown. In a perfect world you land a 2nd or a 3rd+5th or 6th
  
• You could make a strong case that our entire right side of defense needs an overhaul

Marleau is going to be an interesting case. There is a weird fetish here between Marner/ Matthew and him. Maybe someone can trade for him after his signing bonus kicks in and then buy him out and Leafs sign him back for league minimum.

 

[Anthrax442]

Personally I don't get it why NHL doesn't allow teams to restructure deals like they do in other sports or why they punish teams for buying out players.

 

[4thline]

Personally I don't get it why NHL doesn't allow teams to restructure deals like they do in other sports or why they punish teams for buying out players.

Guaranteed contracts + flat average cap hits

 

[SprDaVE]

• Brown gone in the off-season, we all knew this, just a numbers game. I have a feeling the preference will be to liquidate him for a pick(s)
  
• Gudbranson moving says to me that Zaitsev can move. People point to the term differential, I point at the ability to play hockey differential. Gudbranson is awful.
• Marleau to OTT/ARI is a possibility if they want to hit the cap floor and Marleau agrees to retire at the end of the year. That is a huge if that none of us will ever know until this off-season.
• Euro imports disappointed, Lindholm gone and Oz likely isn't coming back either.
• I could see us re-visiting a deal with Carolina with one of their defense. Edmonton might be the team that comes back on Brown. In a perfect world you land a 2nd or a 3rd+5th or 6th
  
• You could make a strong case that our entire right side of defense needs an overhaul

I'd put Brown at 75% likely gone. It will entirely depend on a few scenarios. First, Kapanen, Johnsson and Marner extensions will play a part in this. The other thing is if they can completely remove Zaitsev and maybe even Marleau (with a miracle). If they re-sign a few players to cheap short-term deals and can remove a good chunk of their cap from the bad players, then it's possible they'd much rather keep him. But it might be wise to sell "high" if there's interest to grab a top 60 pick or two.

Gudbranson was traded for another bad-ish contract. This is the likely return for Zaitsev, where he'll go for another bad-ish contract. If Dubas can trade him for little to no [bad] cap space back, then people should praise him heavily.

Ozhiganov has been solid. Provided solid depth minutes. As long as the Leafs don't give him a 7 year contract, he should be back on a cheap contract to keep giving us decent depth. If he can work on his foot speed, he could be someone that surprises.

 

[rumman]

next year I could see any or all of the following happening:
Brown traded (cap savings)
Zaitev traded (cap savings)
Jake walks (cap savings)
Ennis resigns (2 years, reasonable contract only)
Hainsey resigns (1 year, reasonable contract only)

I also wouldn't rule out the possibility of one of WN/KK/AJ/NK being moved for cap relief and to acquire a RHD.

 

[Anthrax442]

Guaranteed contracts + flat average cap hits

If there be no cap penalties for buyouts there be much more money flowing into players pockets

 

[4thline]

If there be no cap penalties for buyouts there be much more money flowing into players pockets

But there'd be no point of a cap.

 

[ChazzMichaelMichaels]

Personally I don't get it why NHL doesn't allow teams to restructure deals like they do in other sports or why they punish teams for buying out players.

They gotta punish them or teams will just be reckless making stupid deals knowing they are no repercussions or they can clean their mess up. The restructuring of deals would be interesting, what would that look like?

 

[Anthrax442]

But there'd be no point of a cap.

You still won't be able to sign too many good players. Cap sucks.

 

[Anthrax442]

They gotta punish them or teams will just be reckless making stupid deals knowing they are no repercussions or they can clean their mess up. The restructuring of deals would be interesting, what would that look like?

Not every team can afford to just throw money at a problem. Not like every year there'd be 10 players on each team bought out.

 

[4thline]

You still won't be able to sign too many good players. Cap sucks.

That's not what I'm saying. Pro-cap, anti-cap, is besides the point.
The cap would be absolutely useless. It would be the backdiving deal cap circumvention trend only way more blatant

 

[ChazzMichaelMichaels]

Not every team can afford to just throw money at a problem. Not like every year there'd be 10 players on each team bought out.

Yes but some teams can thus creating a pretty unfair environment. Large market teams would sign free agents to deals that small markets couldn't knowing full well they over-paid but not caring cause they'd just clear it out later on. Teams like the leafs would be able to rack up assets by taking on large contracts and buying them out.

 

[BlueForever75]

I like how the NFL does it. No contract is fully guaranteed for entire term. There is the ability to restructure contracts to be able to field the most competent team possible without losing home grown players too early. The NFL in my eyes has the best salary cap of all leagues.

Imagine signing Marleau to a 3yr contract but 3rd year wasn't guaranteed!!!

Or being able to restructure Matthews, Nylander and Tavares contracts for longer terms to save money and resign other players!!!

This hard cap crap in the NHL with little opportunity to for teams to better mistakes or keep teams relevant for the long haul is plain stupid. In my eyes this doesn't help teams or players with how the rules are setup right now

 

[deletethis]

I don't think a Brown trade is garunteed. Its very clear that Brown really wants to be a leaf... IF Dubas can negotiate a long-term deal early in the offseason at a discounted rate (lets say 5 years 8-9 million), then I think Dubas will find other ways to be cap compliant.

The continually parroted projection that Connor Brown will be traded for cap compliance is laughable to me. Moving Brown and replacing him with a $1M body saves the team about $1M in cap space. That's a whiz in the ocean. More expensive bodies than Brown need to be moved for cap compliance this off-season. If the team's cap is down to needing to move a $2M player to meet the cap, they are playing it way too close IMO. Does that mean Brown won't be traded? Hardly but trading Brown is hardly a cap compliance panacea.

And to the same posters chanting this tired Brown is gone mantra: Kapanen is NOT re-signing for $2.5M. You've lost your minds. Kapanen is getting money north of $5M and Johnsson is getting money in the 3's.

 

[Anthrax442]

Yes but some teams can thus creating a pretty unfair environment. Large market teams would sign free agents to deals that small markets couldn't knowing full well they over-paid but not caring cause they'd just clear it out later on. Teams like the leafs would be able to rack up assets by taking on large contracts and buying them out.

You can of course create different mechanisms to mitigate these. I would love to see more flexibility under the cap.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

The continually parroted projection that Connor Brown will be traded for cap compliance is laughable to me. Moving Brown and replacing him with a $1M body saves the team about $1M in cap space. That's a whiz in the ocean. More expensive bodies than Brown need to be moved for cap compliance this off-season. If the team's cap is down to needing to move a $2M player to meet the cap, they are playing it way too close IMO. Does that mean Brown won't be traded? Hardly but trading Brown is hardly a cap compliance panacea.

And to the same posters chanting this tired Brown is gone mantra: Kapanen is NOT re-signing for $2.5M. You've lost your minds. Kapanen is getting money north of $5M and Johnsson is getting money in the 3's.

Kapanen is not getting 5 mill on a bridge deal. That's Kucherov money on a bridge. That is what Marner is getting on a bridge deal. Kapanen gets in the 2's or low 3's if he's on a bridge. Johnsson is not getting much more than 2.5 mill on a bridge deal either.

That is unless Dubas really just does not know how to negotiate a contract. If they have trouble with those two, he just has to trade them for defensive help. I'd rather take my chances with the long list of prospects who can fill a top 12 role than giving them way more than they are worth.

 

[SprDaVE]

The continually parroted projection that Connor Brown will be traded for cap compliance is laughable to me. Moving Brown and replacing him with a $1M body saves the team about $1M in cap space. That's a whiz in the ocean. More expensive bodies than Brown need to be moved for cap compliance this off-season. If the team's cap is down to needing to move a $2M player to meet the cap, they are playing it way too close IMO. Does that mean Brown won't be traded? Hardly but trading Brown is hardly a cap compliance panacea.

And to the same posters chanting this tired Brown is gone mantra: Kapanen is NOT re-signing for $2.5M. You've lost your minds. Kapanen is getting money north of $5M and Johnsson is getting money in the 3's.

First paragraph is on point. People don't seem to realize that if you trade Brown, you're not cutting out his full 2.1M. You need to replace him with at least a minimum league cap hit. Same for Zaitsev for that matter. You can't just remove a full cap hit and not replace X player.

Kapanen is not getting 5M+ cap hit and Johnsson is nowhere near a 3M+ cap hit player. That's absurd.

Kapanen will be looking at anywhere between 2.5M and 3.5M depending on the term. Johnsson is firmly in that 2M to 3M range depending on term. They both have clear comparables and if they are looking for WAY over what they should make, they will be traded.

Funny enough, 2 of their comparables are right on our team right now -- Hyman and Brown.

 

[MyBudJT]

The continually parroted projection that Connor Brown will be traded for cap compliance is laughable to me. Moving Brown and replacing him with a $1M body saves the team about $1M in cap space. That's a whiz in the ocean. More expensive bodies than Brown need to be moved for cap compliance this off-season. If the team's cap is down to needing to move a $2M player to meet the cap, they are playing it way too close IMO. Does that mean Brown won't be traded? Hardly but trading Brown is hardly a cap compliance panacea.

And to the same posters chanting this tired Brown is gone mantra: Kapanen is NOT re-signing for $2.5M. You've lost your minds. Kapanen is getting money north of $5M and Johnsson is getting money in the 3's.

Yeah, I hate to say it, but I think the writing is on the wall for both Kappanen and Johnsson. Acquiring Petan, and promoting Moore are a couple of signs of whats to come.

But this isn't a bad thing... they won't leave for nothing, we will get significant assets in return... possibly a couple of 1st round picks +.

Dubas et al. will scouer the European, College and Junior free agent markets. We could sign cheap depth in the offseason. These are assets we'd recieve for free.