It's almost certainly the case. Muzzin also gives the other young D in the organization another year to develop and give us a clearer idea of what we have behind Rielly.
TSN: Lebrun: Re-signing Jake Gardiner still an option
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It's almost certainly the case. Muzzin also gives the other young D in the organization another year to develop and give us a clearer idea of what we have behind Rielly.
Duke Silver
Truce?
This is an assumption based on Marleau only caring about money, and not about winning a cup.
Something he's been chasing for 20 years.
Sorry if haven't seen any games east of the Rockies. I would have assumed the Leafs would have placed in Gardiner in best position on defence. Leafs have lots of LWers, and don't need to pay an average to poor winger 5m year. Do you know the NHL has changed to a salary cap league?
I certainly thought Marleau would be chasing a Cup next year for the reason you suggest. Now I'm thinking with the acquisition of Muzzin the Leafs know Marleau will be retiring (and his cap traded). Marleau's declining play makes me think he will retire..which would his only reason. We'll see.
Duke Silver
Truce?
Could you elaborate on why you think the Muzzin trade is a precursor to a Marleau retirement?
Mess
Global Moderator
In principle sure you're correct.
However the ultimate goal is the Stanley Cup and so if a GM prioritizes his responsibilities and goals then making decisions to try and win will supersede any potential expansion losses multiple years in the future.
A GM wouldn't/shouldn't make a deal that doesn't make his team better like Brett Pesce or afraid to resign a young player like Dermott to a multi-year contract in fear he can't protect that player down the road. IMO
Again just my opinion and the math. Even before the the 4m Muzzin signing, the Leafs couldn't resign 7m of Dmen with vanishing contracts Hainsey and Gardiner. With Marleau, I would say 6m (Nylander) was going to have to traded with no money being returned to the Leafs. Now with Muzzin....it's 9m, has to go. With a traded 6.25m retired Marleau , Leafs have a much easier time jettisoning some cap money. Maybe just 3m
Marleau play the year up to all star game has severely eroded IMO. My thinking Marleau knows "he's done" and can't take the rigours of full NHL season next year.
rumman
Registered User
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and so he should. I hope someone gives him a nice payday and he can help another team for the remainder of his career.
Gary Nylund
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- Oct 10, 2013
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I should have added "if we resign Muzzin". I assume we will try to do so, if not then of course we can add another D without worrying about losing Dermott to the draft.
Leafsdude7
Stand-Up Philosopher
I will open the door for him and say goodbye.
Good offensively
But
A tire fire in his own
LeafsLegendAkiBerg
The original great 8
- Oct 12, 2006
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Problem is that no one is just going to take those players off of our hands for nothing. Either we're taking back salary as well or we're trading away picks/prospects with them.
I really can't imagine a scenario that has Gardiner staying even if he does stay at the AAV for reasonable term.
Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Rielly, Andersen, and Nylander is the core and outside of those 6 players every penny needs to be spent wisely.
Kadri, Hyman, Muzzin, and Dermott make up a layer of quality, reasonably priced support players beneath that core. Marleau's experience may or may not be needed going into next year depending on how this year goes and considering we now have Tavares and Muzzin; obviously a 6.25M cap hit is too much, but he does bring a nice ingredient to the recipe and you can't just solely look at his on-ice play as he contributes off the ice as well.
Kapanen and Johnsson need to be resigned at reasonable figures as they are also key support players.
All of the above support players offer us a lot of versatility; special teams ability, defensive acumen, depth scoring.
Gardiner is a good player but proven to struggle in big game situations. We want to be in game big situations and big game situations are what actually matters; we will make the playoffs with or without Gardiner. Do we want to have a liability playing high up in our lineup in a game 7?
We have LD depth of Rielly-Muzzin-Dermott which is excellent, with Sandin as a top tier prospect in that position. We can't afford luxuries and Gardiner would be just that; we don't need him, and he could end up being a risk in big game situations. We need to be wise with the money we do have.
Obviously I am not privy to all the trade scenarios/FA options Dubas has/will have, but I really can't see Gardiner being the best fit. In a perfect world, Zaitsev finds himself, Liljegren steps into the 3rd pairing, and we add a Pesce-esque player; if not, we move Zaitsev, add a Pesce-esque player, add a stop-gap to hold Liljegren's 2nd pair spot for a few years (a Ron Hainsey type but ideally right handed).
We need to be wise with how we spend every penny outside of our core. Gardiner is not a very good option in that regard.
Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Rielly, Andersen, and Nylander is the core and outside of those 6 players every penny needs to be spent wisely.
Kadri, Hyman, Muzzin, and Dermott make up a layer of quality, reasonably priced support players beneath that core. Marleau's experience may or may not be needed going into next year depending on how this year goes and considering we now have Tavares and Muzzin; obviously a 6.25M cap hit is too much, but he does bring a nice ingredient to the recipe and you can't just solely look at his on-ice play as he contributes off the ice as well.
Kapanen and Johnsson need to be resigned at reasonable figures as they are also key support players.
All of the above support players offer us a lot of versatility; special teams ability, defensive acumen, depth scoring.
Gardiner is a good player but proven to struggle in big game situations. We want to be in game big situations and big game situations are what actually matters; we will make the playoffs with or without Gardiner. Do we want to have a liability playing high up in our lineup in a game 7?
We have LD depth of Rielly-Muzzin-Dermott which is excellent, with Sandin as a top tier prospect in that position. We can't afford luxuries and Gardiner would be just that; we don't need him, and he could end up being a risk in big game situations. We need to be wise with the money we do have.
Obviously I am not privy to all the trade scenarios/FA options Dubas has/will have, but I really can't see Gardiner being the best fit. In a perfect world, Zaitsev finds himself, Liljegren steps into the 3rd pairing, and we add a Pesce-esque player; if not, we move Zaitsev, add a Pesce-esque player, add a stop-gap to hold Liljegren's 2nd pair spot for a few years (a Ron Hainsey type but ideally right handed).
We need to be wise with how we spend every penny outside of our core. Gardiner is not a very good option in that regard.
tmlms13
Registered User
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