Speculation: TDL - Is it time for Dubas to mortgage the future to bolster The Leafs?

[JT AM da real deal]

I am pretty sure we are protecting:

Tavares Matthews Marner Nylander Rielly Muzzin Brodie Holl and Campbell

Really da only issue is Holl or Dermy ... it will be debated at length on here I'm sure .. if Holl keeps up current level of play then it is a no brainer ... but we will see ... sucks if we lose a kid who has all da skills to be a top 4 dman in league for nothing ... or maybe we let Brodie go if he does not improve his play too ... we could always buy another dman in UFA with closer attributes to compliment Rielly ... to me an Edmundson type is more what Rielly needs .... a guy who can work wall and net front with speed and just unload free pucks to Rielly ... kinda an upgrade on Hainey but same big man presence

 

[FMichael]

From an outsider - I could see my beloved Red Wings sending over either Griess, or Bernier for depth (and retaining salary) for future considerations...

 

[zeke]

OK, we got <$30k in cap space, your version of "lots" and the rest of the worlds version of "lots" might be different.

We're on track to bank a couple hundred K in space at least.

Last year the Bolts added Coleman and his $1.8m hit at the deadline. That's $1.1m over a minimum salary. That translates to about $200k in deadline space needed to add him. We'll likely have banked that much by then. If not, we could easily get the other team to eat half the remaining caphit, and only need $100k in deadline space which we will definitely have by then.

 

[Guy Boucher]

Another guy I'd love to target, but I don't know if New Jersey would have interest in trading, is Miles Wood. He's very fast, has skill, has grit. One of the most underrated NHL players imo. Definitely has a Hyman-like effect on the ice.

 

[Guy Boucher]

We're on track to bank a couple hundred K in space at least.

Last year the Bolts added Coleman and his $1.8m hit at the deadline. That's $1.1m over a minimum salary. That translates to about $200k in deadline space needed to add him. We'll likely have banked that much by then. If not, we could easily get the other team to eat half the remaining caphit, and only need $100k in deadline space which we will definitely have by then.

We were on pace to be able to add a player making more than $4.2M by the deadline before we had to put Thornton and Robertson on LTIR. Not sure how it'll shake out now, but we should definitely be able to add players making more than $2M.

The dream for me is that we have about $4M in deadline cap space, Buffalo is out of the playoff picture, and we trade for Taylor Hall.

 

[Fogelhund]

Really da only issue is Holl or Dermy ... it will be debated at length on here I'm sure .. if Holl keeps up current level of play then it is a no brainer ... but we will see ... sucks if we lose a kid who has all da skills to be a top 4 dman in league for nothing ... or maybe we let Brodie go if he does not improve his play too ... we could always buy another dman in UFA with closer attributes to compliment Rielly ... to me an Edmundson type is more what Rielly needs .... a guy who can work wall and net front with speed and just unload free pucks to Rielly ... kinda an upgrade on Hainey but same big man presence

Maybe it's Rielly who needs to go?

 

[zeke]

Maybe it's Rielly who needs to go?

A reminder that Rielly, a #1 dman for years now, is only 2yrs older than healthy scratch Dermott.

 

[Morbo]

We were on pace to be able to add a player making more than $4.2M by the deadline before we had to put Thornton and Robertson on LTIR. Not sure how it'll shake out now, but we should definitely be able to add players making more than $2M.

The dream for me is that we have about $4M in deadline cap space, Buffalo is out of the playoff picture, and we trade for Taylor Hall.

yeah Hall would be an awesome rental. would make their top 6 really ridiculous.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Maybe it's Rielly who needs to go?

I hear you ... I wouldn't do it as he is our drafted guy who started our rebuild ... he is heart and soul of team ... but we do have CAP issues due to overpay for 4 forwards and 7.5M AAV to Rielly is not likely in da cards ... if that were da plan then I would trade him first but exposing him this summer means we lose him for nothing for next year ... I would do Brodie first if it came down to numbers ... Seattle won't take Brodie likely they would go for Mik over him .. younger faster and 1 more year on da cheap

 

[Beaumaris]

TDL could also stand for To-Do-List and then trade deadline day simply the last day to complete it.

I suppose if mortgaging your future is your objecting, there is never a bad time to start planning.

Makes more sense to me.

 

[Stephen]

How do you gain talent at the level that will be a difference maker when your team is at the cap? Difference makers tend to be paid well. How do you fit them under the cap when we are pretty much spending every penny we can already?

That’s the fundamental problem I’m running into thinking about this scenario. Let’s say we take Dermott and package him off with a first and second round pick. Great futures package. But what are we getting back? It would have to be a stud on an ELC - which I would be okay with, but not sure how feasible, or it would have to be some veteran unicorn making under $900K which to my knowledge doesn’t exist. And when you think about the fat we could trim to build the cap space to make a move, there doesn’t seem to be any obvious places we could subtract.

Once you get into specifics it doesn’t seem likely. Unless there’s some huge fundamental shift that happens like Rielly, Muzzin or Andersen get shipped out.

 

[Bluelines]

We were on pace to be able to add a player making more than $4.2M by the deadline before we had to put Thornton and Robertson on LTIR. Not sure how it'll shake out now, but we should definitely be able to add players making more than $2M.

The dream for me is that we have about $4M in deadline cap space, Buffalo is out of the playoff picture, and we trade for Taylor Hall.

Dream for me to find players who have the ability to throw a blanket over the opposing teams best players and shut them down. This team does nothing easy, they always have to have a manic finish to pretty much every game. Knowing we have the players that are able to shut down the other team would be my priority. Give me a bunch more Hymans and Muzzins.

The first team to 6 goals wins is not the kind of hockey I enjoy.

 

[horner]

Side note - I didn't create this thread because I need to convince every fan. A move or two will likely happen at the trade deadline no matter what I do. I'm curious about what the other fans want in those minor adjustments.

You did say to mortgage the future .
I can see us doing something small at the deadline for depth and then maybe nothing.
No Robertson
No first Rd picks

Dermot could be a chip
Someone in our bottom six

 

[Fogelhund]

I hear you ... I wouldn't do it as he is our drafted guy who started our rebuild ... he is heart and soul of team ... but we do have CAP issues due to overpay for 4 forwards and 7.5M AAV to Rielly is not likely in da cards ... if that were da plan then I would trade him first but exposing him this summer means we lose him for nothing for next year ... I would do Brodie first if it came down to numbers ... Seattle won't take Brodie likely they would go for Mik over him .. younger faster and 1 more year on da cheap

I wouldn't expose him, but I do wonder if trading him, should be under consideration. He has been heart and soul, and he is a pretty good offensive weapon. But, he's not good defensively, and not getting any better. The only player worse defensively, from a stats perspective, is Bogosian. There is always a danger in not having the right balance in offensive, puck moving guys... but you wonder if a team, that has struggled defensively, and struggled physically, if committing to him at $7.5AAV is the right move. Our problem has always been... we can't find the right partner for Rielly, to make up for his defensive deficiencies... well, maybe we just need players, who aren't that defensively deficient? It really would have to be a great trade to do it though, some high quality players back, with cost control, (expansion exempt) in spots we need them... Bottom Line, we should never fall in love with players so much, that we can't objectively judge what's best for the team.

 

[ottomaddox]

You did say to mortgage the future .
I can see us doing something small at the deadline for depth and then maybe nothing.
No Robertson
No first Rd picks

Dermot could be a chip
Someone in our bottom six

I did. The reason I did is because Toronto is pretty capped out. They might have to use futures to sweeten a deal in order for a team to retain salary.

 

[horner]

I wouldn't touch our first Rd pick this year .
There could be some good players that teams miss
With the way Dubas track record.

 

[zeke]

Dream for me to find players who have the ability to throw a blanket over the opposing teams best players and shut them down. This team does nothing easy, they always have to have a manic finish to pretty much every game. Knowing we have the players that are able to shut down the other team would be my priority. Give me a bunch more Hymans and Muzzins.

The first team to 6 goals wins is not the kind of hockey I enjoy.

2020-21: 2.75ga/gm (#13), .899sv% (#20)
w/Keefe: 3.00ga/gm (#15), .902sv% (#21)

 

[JT AM da real deal]

I wouldn't expose him, but I do wonder if trading him, should be under consideration. He has been heart and soul, and he is a pretty good offensive weapon. But, he's not good defensively, and not getting any better. The only player worse defensively, from a stats perspective, is Bogosian. There is always a danger in not having the right balance in offensive, puck moving guys... but you wonder if a team, that has struggled defensively, and struggled physically, if committing to him at $7.5AAV is the right move. Our problem has always been... we can't find the right partner for Rielly, to make up for his defensive deficiencies... well, maybe we just need players, who aren't that defensively deficient? It really would have to be a great trade to do it though, some high quality players back, with cost control, (expansion exempt) in spots we need them... Bottom Line, we should never fall in love with players so much, that we can't objectively judge what's best for the team.

Totally agreed it has to be team first mentality ... I just don't have any faith in Dubie on trades after Kadri debacle ... he took a key trading piece we had and figured out a way to botch it up HUGE ... and I really don't like da way he looks at defense and to me that is da critical area ... that said our defense is best this year then since 1993 which says something ... we did get Muzzy and we did get Bogo which are 2 great pickups for a playoff run and Holl is playing over his head defensively so far this year ... I still worry about brodie and Rielly for sure as defensively they suck ... Dermy has been ok not great but not bad ... Lehtonen hopefully plays next few games so we can assess him better

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

Totally agreed it has to be team first mentality ... I just don't have any faith in Dubie on trades after Kadri debacle ... he took a key trading piece we had and figured out a way to botch it up HUGE ... and I really don't like da way he looks at defense and to me that is da critical area ... that said our defense is best this year then since 1993 which says something ... we did get Muzzy and we did get Bogo which are 2 great pickups for a playoff run and Holl is playing over his head defensively so far this year ... I still worry about brodie and Rielly for sure as defensively they suck ... Dermy has been ok not great but not bad ... Lehtonen hopefully plays next few games so we can assess him better

Had the trade he wanted happened, what would people's opinion be?

Do we know if it was his decision alone he had to go?

If you feel this is our best D since 93, you should be pretty happy with his job at D since it's almost all his.

 

[Big Muddy]

I've been trying to think or predict what might happen this season. I can see us getting into the Conference finals given the divisional focus. After that though, its much harder to predict especially this year as there are no inter-divisional games.

I guess there are both some things that suggest this might be the year, yet some areas that are unknown. Roll of the dice I suppose.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Don't see any big moves happening. I'd like to see smaller stuff happen, getting someone like Watson from the Sens would address a need. Would make sense going after players from the North Division who aren't going to make the playoffs.

 

[Critical13]

A reminder that Rielly, a #1 dman for years now, is only 2yrs older than healthy scratch Dermott.

The difference I see is we will protect Rielly only to have him demand 6-7m (my guess). Rielly is much better than Dermott, but the idea of moving on from Rielly is completely separate from the Dermott decision.

 

[Fogelhund]

Totally agreed it has to be team first mentality ... I just don't have any faith in Dubie on trades after Kadri debacle ... he took a key trading piece we had and figured out a way to botch it up HUGE ... and I really don't like da way he looks at defense and to me that is da critical area ... that said our defense is best this year then since 1993 which says something ... we did get Muzzy and we did get Bogo which are 2 great pickups for a playoff run and Holl is playing over his head defensively so far this year ... I still worry about brodie and Rielly for sure as defensively they suck ... Dermy has been ok not great but not bad ... Lehtonen hopefully plays next few games so we can assess him better

I've liked Lehtonen so far, and he actually uses his body fairly effectively. Not a big hitter though. Neither Lehtonen, nor Dermott have played enough to get a rhythm going. I get what you are saying about the Kadri deal, but that was kind of a forced situation, where he had to move Kadri, and took the best deal they could find. Many of the other deals have been great... Kapanen, Muzzin... We don't NEED to move Rielly, that much if for sure, so there is no pressure to make a move... Dubas kept Holl when Babcock wouldn't play him, brought in Muzzin, Bogo, Brodie, Lehtonen... Sandin and Liljegren look good... I'd think you would have liked the directions we've gone... I mean, I'd get why you would look at the draft picks and want more size/toughness... but we can find that in other ways.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

I've liked Lehtonen so far, and he actually uses his body fairly effectively. Not a big hitter though. Neither Lehtonen, nor Dermott have played enough to get a rhythm going. I get what you are saying about the Kadri deal, but that was kind of a forced situation, where he had to move Kadri, and took the best deal they could find. Many of the other deals have been great... Kapanen, Muzzin... We don't NEED to move Rielly, that much if for sure, so there is no pressure to make a move... Dubas kept Holl when Babcock wouldn't play him, brought in Muzzin, Bogo, Brodie, Lehtonen... Sandin and Liljegren look good... I'd think you would have liked the directions we've gone... I mean, I'd get why you would look at the draft picks and want more size/toughness... but we can find that in other ways.
Overall happy with defense no doubt ... results and eye test speak for itself ... we are moving in da right direction ... my only real worry is when things get tough in playoffs whether Brodie Rielly pair can handle it defensively together ... Bogo too slow to keep up with 1st lien guys so no option there with Rielly ... Dermy not ready ... Holl not good enough but who knows if he keeps progressing like this year ... maybe Rielly holl and Muzzy Brodie for playoffs when it counts ... we have to figure out a way to stop cycle on us when teams get harder on da forecheck like Boston did for 2 pairs as all playoff teams in north will have 2 great lines going in playoffs like Mtl. Peg and Flames/Canucks

 

[horner]

Don't see any big moves happening. I'd like to see smaller stuff happen, getting someone like Watson from the Sens would address a need. Would make sense going after players from the North Division who aren't going to make the playoffs.

Wanted us to trade for him this summer but would love him.