Sportsnet - "Maple Leafs will miss Hyman, see chance for other players to step up."

[Tie Domi Esquire]

People were mad last year that he was on the Matthews/Nylander line. Well he's not on it anymore!

 

[Notsince67]

Absolutely not.

If they decide they aren't keeping Gardiner (or Jake simply decides he won't stay), ship him to a team out West that won't make it past the second round (Colorado and Anaheim spring immediately to mind) for a futures package (2019 2nd, 2020 3rd and prospect).

Duncan Keith is a first ballot hall of famer but he's no longer what he once was and at 35 isn't going to be getting better.

Keith would easily be the leafs second best Dman right now. He plays an a bad team. Nobody would have picked him up when he was what he once was. Mark Giordano is 35 years old. Would he have difficulty making any top 4 in the league? Heck, I would even sign Chara at 41 if I could just to stabilize the dcore long enough to allow my young prospects to ripen. The leafs will be losing some leadership this year. The leafs need that to shelter the second pairing.
My preference before the season began was to solidify the core for the next 7 years and tweak the replacement level players for a good long cup window. The Nylander fiasco (for which I blame Dubas as well), not only made the numbers technically impossible to do because of Willy's contract, but made the term impossible by delaying contracts with Matthews & Marner. I was hoping for contracts something like 10MM, 8.5MM and 6.2MM for 7-8 years but we are now looking at something like 12.5 x 8, 9.1 x 5 and 7 x 6. There is little chance that Gards will now be staying with the reduced cap space. The Marner resigning after 5 years will bump him up into McDavid & Matthews contract territory or beyond (12.5MM). The window has shortened significantly. A good vet on a contract of current Gardiner + 1.5MM would be a good place to go.

 

[Notsince67]

People were mad last year that he was on the Matthews/Nylander line. Well he's not on it anymore!

This is what is frustrating. Anyone playing with Nylander gets accused of being "hot trash". From, Hyman to Marleau to Kadri to Brown. I get that lines aren't perfectly suited to players but players need to find ways of turning water into wine. It's called driving a line. This last game, I thought Willy took a step in that direction. His line mates didn't help but they too need to get used to a Willy playing good solid (and heavier) hockey for a period of time. Once that happens, everyone will be better for it.

 

[Maple Leaf]

They were right
g Hyman is the muscle for this team