LeBrun: LeBrun sees Vegas, Toronto and Calgary as best landing spots for Pietrangelo

[Team Cozens]

Not that I think we're close to a lock to sign him. But JT was the biggest free agent signing since Niedermayer

I find it strange that more players don’t want to home and play in Toronto. Stamkos as an example. The Leafs don’t need to overpay like they did with Tavares. That contract is going to be an anchor in a few years. Or now.

 

[oooooooooohCanada]

 

[BobClarkesfrontteeth]

They're in this weird spot where they have the talent to win, but not the consistency. JT and his cap hit aren't the problem, the problem is the Marner contract. They sign Pietro and trade Marner to make room they all of a sudden look a lot closer to a cup contender.

how does trading Marner make them better and a cup contender? how about instead they trade away the rest of the 3rd line that made 10.6 million last year and it was outscored by Cody Ceci in the play offs. That and a gapping wound on the right side of the 1st defensive pairing is why the Leafs got popped in the first round again. you make moves to fill holes not create more.
I am sure there will be a ton of UFA's out there that will sign for the league minimum that can play on the 3rd line and not score a point in the playoffs.

 

[ViewsFromThe6ix]

How does it make the sport more exciting?

A team full of stars taking up all of the cap...could either go really well, or bust terribly. We haven't seen it before. That's exciting. Much more so than building teams the traditional way, as almost every other team does.

 

[Menzinger]

How does it make the sport more exciting?

Star players are more fun to watch than depth guys

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

And why is that an issue? People should be encouraging teams to build and think differently, not be ridiculed for doing it. It makes the sport more exciting.

because depth is one of the most important needs for a team to win the stanley cup, and the leafs will have none of that when a few of their players take up most of their cap space

 

[ViewsFromThe6ix]

because depth is one of the most important needs for a team to win the stanley cup, and the leafs will have none of that when a few of their players take up most of their cap space

Look at the bottom 6 the Avs ran out last year, nobody said that was an issue. Dubas can easily replicate that with a combination of Euro free agents (Mikheyev, Barabanov), drafting (Robertson), and smart FA Adds (Spezza).

 

[oooooooooohCanada]

Yeah the depth issue in Toronto isn't really a huge deal to me, especially this season. Going to be a lot of great options under 1m in FA. Leafs can give lots of guys 1-way deals as well which other teams cant afford (1-way means they earn the same amount in the AHL as the NHL, so if one of them sucks they can bury them, a poorer team cant afford to be paying guys $1m to play in the AHL).

 

[Pure Slaughter Value]

A team full of stars taking up all of the cap...could either go really well, or bust terribly. We haven't seen it before. That's exciting. Much more so than building teams the traditional way, as almost every other team does.

Fair point. There is a curiosity to see if it works or not.

Star players are more fun to watch than depth guys

Depends. In the playoffs, which is always going to be a war of attrition and highly physical, it remains to be seen if a team so top-heavy can actually go far or if lack of depth ultimately dooms them (especially if one star goes down).

We may see...

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Look at the bottom 6 the Avs ran out last year, nobody said that was an issue. Dubas can easily replicate that with a combination of Euro free agents (Mikheyev, Barabanov), drafting (Robertson), and smart FA Adds (Spezza).

AVS haven't won anything. They lost in the 2nd round in these playoffs. They also arent really seen as a contender right now, but a contender in the very near future. When their top prospects in Newhook and Byram makes the team basically.

In the play-in, the leafs forward depth players (Kerfoot + Mikheyev + Kapanen + Johnsson + Robertson + Clifford + Engvall + Spezza + Gauthier) combined for a total of 1 goal.
The leafs depth will be even worse than that if they sign Pietriangelo. You aren't winning a stanley cup if that's the contribution your depth players give you.

 

[axlrose87]

This is a great article about contract structure.
Teams who have the capacity to offer signing bonuses will have a massive advantage in free agency. In fact, it will seem borderline unfair.
I now believe the odds of Pietrangelo signing in Toronto have tipped in their favour (better chance it’s Toronto instead of St. Louis). The leafs can pay him the max up front and in bonuses throughout the duration. This protects him from a pandemic shortened or cancelled season. It also protects him form a lockout. It also protects him from a buyout.
St. Louis has never given a non entry level player bonuses of any sort... ever... not even once. They certainly don’t have the money to do it now.
It might not be Toronto, but it almost certainly won’t be St. Louis. Unless the change their financial approach quite dramatically in the next two weeks.

Contract structure to be a major factor in NHL Free Agent Frenzy - TSN.ca

 

[Dion TheFluff]

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

I'm warning you Army, please pay me.

 

[Brobust]

Star players are more fun to watch than depth guys

Nonsense.

 

[93LEAFS]

To be fair, he grew up in Toronto, owns a second home in the area, spends a good amount of his summers in the city, and his parents live here.

The move would be seamless. Pretty much doesn't have to think about a thing.

I think it's that same comfort that makes him want to stay in St.Louis, which is why they are #1 on the list still. Toronto would be the second-most comfortable fit.

Yeah, depending on where he lives in the city he is pretty familiar with the local schools. If he wants to commute downtown from where he grew up such as King City or Vaughan, he knows that he can send his kids to CDC or SAC. If he wants to live closer to downtown, he'll know UCC, BSS, Branksome, etc. There won't be much research having to be done on that front of the relocation. Unless he really has an attachment to the northern suburbs, my guess is if he moves to Toronto he chooses to live somewhere in the city limits and avoid the nightmare of taking the 427 that often to get to practice. I believe Tavares had a 2nd home in Toronto in the Sauga area, but moved to the High Park area once he fully relocated here.

 

[oooooooooohCanada]

AVS haven't won anything. They lost in the 2nd round in these playoffs. They also arent really seen as a contender right now, but a contender in the very near future. When their top prospects in Newhook and Byram makes the team basically.

In the play-in, the leafs forward depth players (Kerfoot + Mikheyev + Kapanen + Johnsson + Robertson + Clifford + Engvall + Spezza + Gauthier) combined for a total of 1 goal.
The leafs depth will be even worse than that if they sign Pietriangelo. You aren't winning a stanley cup if that's the contribution your depth players give you.

Leafs top end guys didn't really score much either. The team just couldn't figure out CBJ / the goalies. On paper that bottom six should have contributed more, as well as the top six.

 

[StlBill]

Nonsense.

I agree, Sundqvist and Barbashev were my favorite guys to watch during the Blues cup run. Wrecking balls with plenty of skill!

 

[Mike Liut]

I agree, Sundqvist and Barbashev were my favorite guys to watch during the Blues cup run. Wrecking balls with plenty of skill!

And Blais

 

[StlBill]

And Blais

I like Sammy, but that 4th line was electric.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Star players are more fun to watch than depth guys

My favourite players to watch are the hard working stars. Skill and work ethic combined. Star power on its own gets shut down in the playoffs.

 

[Ridley Simon]

They're in this weird spot where they have the talent to win, but not the consistency. JT and his cap hit aren't the problem, the problem is the Marner contract. They sign Pietro and trade Marner to make room they all of a sudden look a lot closer to a cup contender.

Maybe. Maybe not. Marner was arguably the Leafs best player during the Babcock years.

It all may have been far easier has they allowed themselves to organically grow with the young core and see where it took them, then addressed deficiencies. But they didn’t.

They went for the big fish splash w Tavares (because literally everyone connected to the franchise was begging them too, including all the fans), and it was too soon.

or maybe the brain trust couldn’t figure out what to do next. That could be discussed for hours and hours.

but the hindsight isn’t good at the moment. And it was something many people thought was a bad choice (outside Toronto) at the time.

look — they could easily get the right decisions makers and fix it all. I don’t think it’s Kyle. He’s in over his head right now, but they could and still w a Cup with their “Young Guns”. My Caps did. But boy was it painful until it all happened.

we will see. But they are as flawed now as we were then.

 

[Menzinger]

My favourite players to watch are the hard working stars. Skill and work ethic combined. Star power on its own gets shut down in the playoffs.

Sure, hard work is important for sure.

Depth guys are still interchangeable

 

[Halla]

Pietro is gonna go from a consensus top 5 dman to fringe top 20 dman the minute he signs with Toronto (if that happens)

JT was vited the 4th best C in the league in a poll prior to signing with the leafs yet people on here talk about a guy that had 47g/88pts his first year like he is a cap dump lol.


Kerfoot and Johnsson out for cap space, maybe even one of Dermott/Holl as well.

Sign a few vets cheap to play bottom 6 roles (Thornton, Spezza, Simmonds etc)
They will have the money to make Pietro happen if he wants to go to TO

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Sure, hard work is important for sure.

Depth guys are still interchangeable

Some depth guys are. Others are key to winning like a great third line center and some consistent scoring tough third and even fourth liners.
I just look at every cup winner and see guys like that on every one of them.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Pietro is gonna go from a consensus top 5 dman to fringe top 20 dman the minute he signs with Toronto (if that happens)

JT was vited the 4th best C in the league in a poll prior to signing with the leafs yet people on here talk about a guy that had 47g/88pts his first year like he is a cap dump lol.


Kerfoot and Johnsson out for cap space, maybe even one of Dermott/Holl as well.

Sign a few vets cheap to play bottom 6 roles (Thornton, Spezza, Simmonds etc)
They will have the money to make Pietro happen if he wants to go to TO

Pietrangelo will be a top D whether or not he signs in Toronto so you can stop with your perpetual victim complex.

The issue is not whether the Leafs can fit him under the Cap but whether or not they can ice a team that is a top contender when a good chin of their roster is filled with minimum salary players. It has never worked before in a Cap world so it will be an interesting experiment.