Confirmed with Link: Leafs Sign Pontus Aberg, Tyler Gaudet, Kalle Kossila (Announce Agostino, Shore, Wilson, Gravel)

[Nylander88]

That's very true. My hope would be that in the early going they'd use the interpreter to establish maybe keywords that he and his D partners could use in specific scenarios. At least as a baseline for establishing on ice communication.

Maybe a vet like Spezza would be helpful for Mikheyev. Obviously he can't speak Russian, but the patience to try and break things down for the kid. Let Mikheyev start out on Spezza's wing maybe

 

[Sypher04]

I meant linemates, not d partners. That's a whoops on my part lol

 

[Nylander88]

I meant linemates, not d partners. That's a whoops on my part lol

I knew what ya meant lol

 

[crump]

Interesting to see how he adjust with the language barrier and no Zaitsev or Komarov there to help. Heard with Ozhiganov that Zaits did a lot of interpreting for him in training camp drills so he wasn't as lost out there. Gonna be tough for Mikheyev to get it all together I think

“That’s what we’re hopeful of with him. He speaks really good English and can communicate pretty well in English, which is not overly that common. We hope that will reduce some of the transition and we will try to get him over here and get rolling.”
Maple Leafs sign Ilya Mikheyev to one-year contract

 

[Nylander88]

Assuming Marner plays hardball and isn't signed by the opener, and Hyman hurt, I have my forwards looking something like this:
(Go get the puck Agostino)
Agostino-Matthews-Nylander
Johnsson-Tavares-Kapanen
Kerfoot-Spezza-Mikheyev
Wilson/Aberg-Shore-Moore

 

[Nylander88]

“That’s what we’re hopeful of with him. He speaks really good English and can communicate pretty well in English, which is not overly that common. We hope that will reduce some of the transition and we will try to get him over here and get rolling.”
Maple Leafs sign Ilya Mikheyev to one-year contract

Interesting, thank you. I thought I heard somewhere his English isn't very good. I stand corrected

 

[Mess]

We have to be at the 50 window now, no?

AS per capfriendly : CONTRACTS: 48/50

 

[Nylander88]

AS per capfriendly : CONTRACTS: 48/50

Neuvirth and Marner being the last 2 hopefuls

 

[smitty10]

With Dermott, Hyman and Marner both out to start the season (Marner could be there, but it seems unlikely) I have this for my opening night lineup;

Mikheyev - Matthews - Nylander
Johnsson - Tavares - Kapanen
Agostino - Kerfoot - Moore
Aberg - Spezza - Shore
Petan

Rielly - Ceci
Muzzin - Barrie
Harpur - Holl (shudders)
Marincin

Andersen
Hutch

That is a scary bad bottom 6 and third pairing.

 

[Boutette]

Feels to me like this is something the Leafs should hopefully have considered already. I'd have an interpreter on payroll to join in practice and help Mikheyev.

Bob Hartley was his coach last year.

 

[Boutette]

That is a scary bad bottom 6 and third pairing.

Still better than what half the league can put on theirs, not to mention the team they'll be playing game one.

 

[crump]

Assuming Marner plays hardball and isn't signed by the opener, and Hyman hurt, I have my forwards looking something like this:
(Go get the puck Agostino)
Agostino-Matthews-Nylander
Johnsson-Tavares-Kapanen
Kerfoot-Spezza-Mikheyev
Wilson/Aberg-Shore-Moore

A few "tweeners" that can jump up and down the lineup, none of which will replace Marner, obviously, but at least is a stop gap. We have an embarrassment of riches in the top 6, arguably three franchise players and an elite winger that a lot of teams would be foaming at.

If Marner is unsigned at the start of the season, Moore, Agostino, Aberg, and Mikheyev will be competing for the extra spot in the top 6 (not to mention Bracco). Kerfoot, Spezza, Shore, and Gauthier give them options at centre to shift people around.

Dubas has masterfully shored up the top 4 right side on defence without losing any key pieces from the top 6, filled in depth with cheap cheap contracts, and manipulated the cap structure to ensure covering all options for the Marner contract situation.

Pretty good off-season so far, but of course he will ultimately be judged on how the Marner situation plays out.

 

[qqaz]

If our roster only works because of running 4-5 guys at 775 or less it's only prudent to have a few more that can be called up at the same or lower cap hit in case of injury.

Great point. If we have players making only 700K ish that get hurt, then their replacements have to be only 700K ish.

Should be a reallly interesting training camp. I like that. I think Petan and Aberg will both be forcing their way onto the roster.

 

[SprDaVE]

AS per capfriendly : CONTRACTS: 48/50

Worth noting SDA will slide, thus opening a contract spot at some point in training camp.

Generally teams operate between 47 and 50 contracts. It's pretty normal.

 

[The Iceman]

I was hoping for a Ennis type late signing. Someone looking to improve their value...maybe a 5-6 D will fit that model.

 

[aingefan]

Interesting to see how he adjust with the language barrier and no Zaitsev or Komarov there to help. Heard with Ozhiganov that Zaits did a lot of interpreting for him in training camp drills so he wasn't as lost out there. Gonna be tough for Mikheyev to get it all together I think

Leafs have a few bucks in the budget for an interpreter.
I wonder, do any of the coaches speak Russian?
And speaking of that, why aren’t there tons on multilingual coaches?

 

[aingefan]

Feels to me like this is something the Leafs should hopefully have considered already. I'd have an interpreter on payroll to join in practice and help Mikheyev.

lol, whoops. Replied before seeing your response haha.

 

[Havoc]

That is a scary bad bottom 6 and third pairing.

I don't think AJ and Kap are locks for top 6 so you might not have to worry.

Babcock would want a reliable third line and the easiest way to do this is by putting AJ and Kap on the wings with Kerfoot as C.

Our duos in the top 6 are capable of carrying their LW's and doing the majority of the work as long as the player has attributes that allow them to be carried and enjoy the ride. Aberg and Mikheyev fit that criteria. Agostino and even Moore will get chances sometimes if players fall into slumps. Aberg has the highest odds of impressing and then fading out hard but this won't be that big of an issue because Hyman will eventually be back.

4th line of Agostino-Spezza-Moore and things suddenly look much better.

 

[MapleLeafs9]

Worth noting SDA will slide, thus opening a contract spot at some point in training camp.

Generally teams operate between 47 and 50 contracts. It's pretty normal.

So will Sandin then no? Unless he makes the team

Or is SDA only eligible for this because he's in junior?

 

[MyBudJT]

So will Sandin then no? Unless he makes the team

Or is SDA only eligible for this because he's in junior?

His contract slides, but he isn't exempt from a 50 man contract limit. SDA going back to the OHL frees up a contract slot.

So we have room for Marner, Back-up (Neuvirth?) AND a depth defender (Gardiner?, Girardi?, Hutton?).

 

[aingefan]

Nice to see redundancy in the excess.
Top 6 winger goes down, Mich/AJ/Kap/Petan/Aberg slide up.

Bottom six, Shore/Goat slide in.
Nice.

Some is waiver safe, others will have done value in trade.

Pretty good positioning with the depth. And enough options to buy all kindsa time with Marner....including Bracco getting a bit more time in the A.

I still secretly hope for one of the vet RD to sign on for the third pair.

 

[Morgs]

Aberg has definitely not been "garbage". Maybe not as good as once thought to be but he's been a decently productive player with fairly limited minutes. He was doing very very with the Ducks. At the end of the day, he's a depth player though.

No idea how he'll do with the Leafs but I'd rate him one of the favourites to steal a spot in training camp. It all depends on the lines. Gauthier and Petan might be feeling the burn.

So I went back as I was mostly looking over the last 3 years combined, and I came to a different conclusion seeing JUST last year, and figured out why we're at least interested as a reclamation project.

Seems like he not only creates shot attempts fine, but he also limits them well too. Strange how much worse he is at creating/defending xG though.

The difference between his Min/Anaheim season goes from a "should he be in the NHL?" to "can this guy keep this up?".

When looking at this, it backs up the fact that he's again good at creating/defending shot attempts, but is bad at defending/creating xG. It's strange. When looking at the iCF/60 and ixG/60 he ranks (of forwards that played more than 500 5v5 minutes [365]) 111th and T-270th respectively. Could it be as simple as him being a perimeter player who sucks at creating chances, but throws everything at the net?

As it says, it stabilizes after 30 GP, but it's vastly improved compared to what he did in the two seasons prior. He looks like an average (or better) player by basically every metric. Was a mess looking at the 3 year sample size though, so really we don't know if this will stabilize.

So in conclusion, he improved last year (on Anaheim only), and if he can keep that up on our 4th line we might have something here. If he can't, he's nothing to get excited about and no harm done.

 

[SprDaVE]

So I went back as I was mostly looking over the last 3 years combined, and I came to a different conclusion seeing JUST last year, and figured out why we're at least interested as a reclamation project.

View attachment 246261


Seems like he not only creates shot attempts fine, but he also limits them well too. Strange how much worse he is at creating/defending xG though.

View attachment 246263

The difference between his Min/Anaheim season goes from a "should he be in the NHL?" to "can this guy keep this up?".

View attachment 246267

When looking at this, it backs up the fact that he's again good at creating/defending shot attempts, but is bad at defending/creating xG. It's strange. When looking at the iCF/60 and ixG/60 he ranks (of forwards that played more than 500 5v5 minutes [365]) 111th and T-270th respectively. Could it be as simple as him being a perimeter player who sucks at creating chances, but throws everything at the net?

View attachment 246269

As it says, it stabilizes after 30 GP, but it's vastly improved compared to what he did in the two seasons prior. He looks like an average (or better) player by basically every metric. Was a mess looking at the 3 year sample size though, so really we don't know if this will stabilize.

So in conclusion, he improved last year (on Anaheim only), and if he can keep that up on our 4th line we might have something here. If he can't, he's nothing to get excited about and no harm done.

Soooo... he's not garbage and a pretty solid depth option.

 

[SprDaVE]

So will Sandin then no? Unless he makes the team

Or is SDA only eligible for this because he's in junior?

SDA would be removed from the number since he's going to Junior and essentially on loan.

Sandin is different since he can be recalled from the Marlies thus it does count towards contract spots -- but his ELC doesn't kick in until he plays 9 NHL games or until next season. (Liljegrens ELC starts this season for example despite playing with the Marlies for 2 seasons)

 

[Morgs]

Soooo... he's not garbage and a pretty solid depth option.

Meh. Could be worse.