Line Combos: Thoughts on Leafs 2022-2023 Roster

[Hockey 4 Life]

Just looking for opinions on what everyone thinks our roster will look like after training camp next season ? Also I have faith in our Leafs and this thread has nothing to do with how successful I believe we will be in this years playoffs.

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[Tak7]

Think the flat cap will ensure that things look very different next season.

Even if the big 4 + Rielly come back, I expect plenty of changes - they won't be able to keep Mikheyev & Engvall without providing raises, and they probably can't afford to do that.

Robertson, Knies, and Abruzzese will all hopefully be cheap talent that they can rely on in full time roster capacity, even if they aren't all playing 82 games.

 

[notbias]

Think the flat cap will ensure that things look very different next season.

Even if the big 4 + Rielly come back, I expect plenty of changes - they won't be able to keep Mikheyev & Engvall without providing raises, and they probably can't afford to do that.

Robertson, Knies, and Abruzzese will all hopefully be cheap talent that they can rely on in full time roster capacity, even if they aren't all playing 82 games.

Adding onto this, eventually, you have to give the young guys a shot.

Sandin/Liljegren may get a bigger role, so that means 2 D need to be traded/not brought back.

And then on forward guys like Steeves, Robertson, Knies, Abruzzese, Holmberg, and Douglas could all get some sort of look, and we don't have that many open roster spots.

 

[Tak7]

Adding onto this, eventually, you have to give the young guys a shot.

Sandin/Liljegren may get a bigger role, so that means 2 D need to be traded/not brought back.

And then on forward guys like Steeves, Robertson, Knies, Abruzzese, Holmberg, and Douglas could all get some sort of look, and we don't have that many open roster spots.

Yeah, you're right - I forgot about the Dmen.
It wouldn't surprise me if they decided to move 1 of liljegren/sandin, so they aren't running into the same problem they had this year where they didn't really fancy running 2 youngsters on the blueline.

 

[Ciao]

Nylander and Kerfoot both have very tradeable contracts, and are both looking a bit expendable.

I think the Leafs just defeated Florida without either of them scoring a point or playing on the top two lines.

That's a lot of cap space down below, but then again there is a ton of hockey yet to play before these decisions will be made.

 

[Zero1]

Maybe something like this if the Leafs don’t blow it in the playoffs. It also might be too soon for Knies to be a top-6 winger, so they’ll have to pay someone to take Mrazek to add a decent top-6 winger.

Bunting-Matthews-Marner
Knies-Tavares-Nylander
Engvall-Kampf-Kase
Robertson-Abruzzese-Anderson
Spezza

Reilly-Brodie
Gio-Liljegren
Muzzin-Lyubushkin/Sandin

Campbell
Mrazek

 

[TopCheese]

I would like to see Nylander traded in the off season. Would love to see something around Nylander for Lafreniere or chychurn and crouse. We should also sell high on Kerfoot as he just hasn't been able to find a spot in the lineup to stick.

Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Lafreniere - Tavares - Palat
Rakell - Kampf - Kase
Blackwell - Engvall - Robertson
Deslauriers


Rielly - Brodie
Gio - Liljigen
Sandin - Lyubushkin
Middleton
Macdermaid

 

[seanlinden]

Kerfoot, IMO, will be a very quick cap casualty after his bonus is paid on July 1st.... he's a $750k player to a non-cap team at that point.

It would not suprise me to see the Leafs try to move on from Jake Muzzin and/or William Nylander as well.... especially if they can resign Giordano for a fraction of Muzzin's cap hit.

I'd imagine that the Leafs take a really strong run at signing both Mikheyev & Lyubushkin. Even though the former requested a trade, I get the sense that he's starting to realize his potential here; and could be an ideal top 6 winger with his ability to back off opponents with his speed.

That being said, if you figure Muzzin to Giordano saves you $3.5m, and Kerfoot to an ELC saves you $2.5m, that does open up quite a bit of cap flexibility, even if you have to give Mikheyev a $1.5m raise.

If moving Nylander, that's a ton of flexibility, even if you bring in a $4-5m forward to replace him.

That could theoretically be an incremental $7m player, with "trade assets" in Muzzin, Nylander, and Kerfoot to utilize.

 

[Buds17]

I'd anticipate a bit more than a handful of changes spread throughout all areas of the team. The goaltending tandem should at the very least see partial change (either Campbell isn't re-signed or Mrazek becomes too expensive to be anything less than a starter/1A). Giordano and Lyubushkin being slated for free agency either results in departures for them, or for others that may present a roadblock to their playing time. Not moving out any of the big pieces up front would have to involve shuffling out some bodies from the lesser tier (Mikheyev, Kerfoot, Kase, Blackwell). There's always that hope of having (at least) one of the farmhands ready for graduation to the big league as well.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Kerfoot, IMO, will be a very quick cap casualty after his bonus is paid on July 1st.... he's a $750k player to a non-cap team at that point.

It would not suprise me to see the Leafs try to move on from Jake Muzzin and/or William Nylander as well.... especially if they can resign Giordano for a fraction of Muzzin's cap hit.

I'd imagine that the Leafs take a really strong run at signing both Mikheyev & Lyubushkin. Even though the former requested a trade, I get the sense that he's starting to realize his potential here; and could be an ideal top 6 winger with his ability to back off opponents with his speed.

That being said, if you figure Muzzin to Giordano saves you $3.5m, and Kerfoot to an ELC saves you $2.5m, that does open up quite a bit of cap flexibility, even if you have to give Mikheyev a $1.5m raise.

If moving Nylander, that's a ton of flexibility, even if you bring in a $4-5m forward to replace him.

That could theoretically be an incremental $7m player, with "trade assets" in Muzzin, Nylander, and Kerfoot to utilize.

If you move Nylander you are not going to be able to replace his offense with 6.9 million.

 

[Ciao]

If you move Nylander you are not going to be able to replace his offense with 6.9 million.

This is true.

Nylander is not playing well and its easy to undervalue him now, as I did just yesterday.

I would bet that the coaching staff and management have days like that too, now and again.

 

[seanlinden]

If you move Nylander you are not going to be able to replace his offense with 6.9 million.

Likely not... but if the Leafs do trade Nylander, it is likely that they will be in the market for another winger with some degree of proven offensive ability in that ~ $4m range. The obvious hope would be that you get a guy that produces like Tyler Toffoli does.

Heck, maybe the Rangers are willing to entertain the concept of Lafreniere for Nylander.... A guy like Pavel Zacha's new contract is likely in the high 3s low 4s. Travis Konecny, Kevin Fiala theoretical "replacements" as well.

 

[Legion34]

The most simple roster decisions would be to
Trade Holl and kerfoot for picks (could be used for deadline). Mrazek hopefully gets his value back to at least even with a good run.

Sign engvall/kase/Lilly/sandin for contracts “around” 1.5 AAV. Some will be a little more. Some a little less.

You could sign lub and gio for around 2.5 ish.

That gives you a lineup of

Bunting. Matthews. Marner
Robertson. Tavares. Nylander
Engvall. Kampf. Kase
———. Steeves. Simmonds

Rielly. Brodie
Gio. Lilly
Muzz. Sandin
Lub.

———-
Kalgren

With 6.5 ish for a starting goalie. If jack comes back to form. We would have 2.5 ish to get a forward.

If we went for Gibson etc the. We would have to play a kid line and try to bank cap for a winger.

Of course if we trade muzz or will all bets are off

 

[Fogelhund]

Think the flat cap will ensure that things look very different next season.

Cap is going up next year, by $1 mil.


-----------------------------------

It's well premature, to start with a roster for next year. Let the season and playoffs, play out.

 

[SprDaVE]

It's waaaay too early to really get a hold on the roster for next year. A successful playoff run will make it far different than an early exit, for example.

The Leafs are in a good spot salary cap wise though. Leafs will have anywhere around between 11.5M to 14M in cap space if they only trade out Kerfoot and/or Mrazek. That's a good chunk of change with only Sandin, Liljegren, Engvall and Kase as RFAs.

Mikheyev will be very hard to re-sign, seems unlikely he stays. Campbell should be pretty easy to re-sign unless the Leafs let him go. They should be able to retain Spezza and Giordano for dirt cheap if they don't retire. Leafs will have a plethora of good young cheap players for various different roles.

 

[Tak7]

Cap is going up next year, by $1 mil.


-----------------------------------

It's well premature, to start with a roster for next year. Let the season and playoffs, play out.

That's your 1 player in the press box.

 

[jiggy35]

Three baseline trades for me:

Muzzin + Sandin + 1st (+) for Chychrun —> Muzzin gets flipped to Kings 50%
Nylander + Kerfoot for Miller + Dickinson
Mrazek for Buffalo 3rd

Frees up some cap space for depth while readjusts the look of the lineup up top:

Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Knies - Tavares - Miller (two physical skilled guys could be exactly what JT needs)
Engvall - Kampf - Mikheyev
Robertson - Abruzzesse/Dickinson - Kase (young guy 4th line instead of old guy 4th line)

Rielly - Brodie
Chychrun - Liljegren
Giordano - Lybushkin/Holl

Campbell (or Varlamov)
Wedgewood (or anyone decent and cheap)

 

[Menzinger]

It's waaaay too early to really get a hold on the roster for next year. A successful playoff run will make it far different than an early exit, for example.

The Leafs are in a good spot salary cap wise though. Leafs will have anywhere around between 11.5M to 14M in cap space if they only trade out Kerfoot and/or Mrazek. That's a good chunk of change with only Sandin, Liljegren, Engvall and Kase as RFAs.

Mikheyev will be very hard to re-sign, seems unlikely he stays. Campbell should be pretty easy to re-sign unless the Leafs let him go. They should be able to retain Spezza and Giordano for dirt cheap if they don't retire. Leafs will have a plethora of good young cheap players for various different roles.

Soup is definitely a near lock to leave in UFA. He's going to want to get paid and likely will prioritize opportunity of playing a bigger role on another team

 

[TML Dynasty]

Trade: muzzin, Mrazek, Kerfoot.
Resign: Sandin, liljegrin, Engvall, Gio
Try for on good contracts: Blackwell/Mikheyev

Bunting Mathews Marner
Knies Tavares Nylander
Robertson Kampf Engvall
Anderson Douglas _____
Abruzzze?

Reilly Brodie
Gio Liljegrin
Sandin Holl?

_______
Kallgren

Get a goalie, get a forward, upgrade Holl. In that order. I’m open to trading Nylander for a legit goalie too. Means either some rookies step up or another good forward is added

If Nylander traded for goalie, try to add a forward that bumps down someone from second line.

Bunting Matthews Marner
Robertson Tavares Knies
Engvall Kampf Anderson
_____ Douglass _____

 

[Maplebeasts]

Trade: muzzin, Mrazek, Kerfoot.
Resign: Sandin, liljegrin, Engvall, Gio
Try for on good contracts: Blackwell/Mikheyev

Bunting Mathews Marner
Knies Tavares Nylander
Robertson Kampf Engvall
Anderson Douglas _____
Abruzzze?

Reilly Brodie
Gio Liljegrin
Sandin Holl?

_______
Kallgren

Get a goalie, get a forward, upgrade Holl. In that order. I’m open to trading Nylander for a legit goalie too. Means either some rookies step up or another good forward is added

If Nylander traded for goalie, try to add a forward that bumps down someone from second line.

Bunting Matthews Marner
Robertson Tavares Knies
Engvall Kampf Anderson
_____ Douglass _____

That last line-up is exactly why Nylander SHOULD NOT be traded. Unless Robertson is fully ready and able to play like a 70 point guy our secondary scoring gets a lot worse.

 

[TML Dynasty]

That last line-up is exactly why Nylander SHOULD NOT be traded. Unless Robertson is fully ready and able to play like a 70 point guy our secondary scoring gets a lot worse.

Agreed, my first line kept him but…..

We’d have a ton of cap space and a solid goalie hopefully with that second lineup. Would feel way more comfortable with an awesome signing or another trade to fill that hole

 

[Maplebeasts]

Agreed, my first line kept him but…..

We’d have a ton of cap space and a solid goalie hopefully with that second lineup. Would feel way more comfortable with an awesome signing or another trade to fill that hole

I don't know man. It just seems like creating one big hole to fill another. I hope for goaltending we can just unload Mrazek and sign someone like Kuemper.

 

[kevsh]

From Sportsnet;

"The Maple Leafs have already committed about $73.6 million of that in player salaries.
That leaves roughly $8.9 million to re-sign RFAs Rasmus Sandin, Timothy Liljegren, Pierre Engvall, and Ondrej Kase; re-sign or replace UFAs Ilya Mikheyev, Jason Spezza, Colin Blackwell, Mark Giordano and Ilya Lyubushkin; and, most importantly, extend Jack Campbell or find a suitable substitute."

Although this sounds bad (and by no means is it good), Sandin, Liljegren and Campbell are likely the only ones there looking at a significant raise (I'll mark significant as a $1.5M+ raise) if they stay.
- Campbell alone might eat up to $4M (over his $1.65M now) on his own.
- Mikheyev I assume will walk.
- Engvall maybe in the low/mid 2s?
- Giordano only makes sense on a short term deal with a pay cut freeing up some more.
- Lyubushkin may go elsewhere, but how much more than $1.35 is he going to get?
- Should let Kase walk. Like his game but he's snake-bitten with injuries.

 

[riffle]

If you move Nylander you are not going to be able to replace his offense with 6.9 million.

Why not?

Bunting has 3 less goals and 8 less points and makes 950k.

We find another one of him and we still have 6 million left over to find 3 goals and 8 points.

Muzzin's money needs to come off the books. Doubt a trade with him happens, but perhaps a Robidas Island situation.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Why not?

Bunting has 3 less goals and 8 less points and makes 950k.

We find another one of him and we still have 6 million left over to find 3 goals and 8 points.

He also plays with 2 of the NHL's best forwards. Who do you propose they sign for that price that could reasonably equal Bunting?