Line Combos: Thoughts on Leafs 2022-2023 Roster

[TMLAM34]

Honestly I’d try addressing this teams goaltending short and long term. Hopefully we can dump Mrazek, worst case I’d strongly consider a buyout.

I might get a lot of heat for this but something along the lines of Sandin for Knight might be worth doing.

 

[riffle]

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?

Yes, he does and has fit in quite well.

Who? I have no idea. (EDIT: Trade for someone like Tage Thompson who makes 1.4 mil? Has 5 more goals than Willy) I had no idea Michael Bunting would be this kind of answer, at least so far. He plays with Matthews and Marner because he fits with them. Perhaps, another unheralded and cheap relative unknown comes in and picks up that slack and meshes tremendously with JT. Perhaps, Knies is that answer?

Brandon Hagel at 1.5 mil could've been that guy but we didn't get it done. Hagel has one less goal than 88 and costs 5.5 million less. That was a RARE opportunity to fill his potential void for a few years to come and save cap.

 

[Menzinger]

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.

Unless management tries to sign them long term neither Sandin or Lily will probably get too much more. They don't have arbitration rights and theyre low risk for an offer sheet. I'd expect them to sign a fairly cheap 1-2 year deal.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Yes, he does and has fit in quite well.

Who? I have no idea. I had no idea Michael Bunting would be this kind of answer, at least so far. He plays with Matthews and Marner because he fits with them. Perhaps, another unheralded and cheap relative unknown comes in and picks up that slack and meshes tremendously with JT. Perhaps, Knies is that answer?

Brandon Hagel at 1.5 mil could've been that guy but we didn't get it done. Hagel has one less goal than 88 and costs 5.5 million less. That was a RARE opportunity to fill his potential void for a few years to come and save cap.

Hagel has two less goals than Nylander while having a shooting percentage twice as high as him and far above anything he has ever done at any level before. He hasn't produced at all since going to Tampa and is still severely lagging behind Nylander in assists.

 

[riffle]

Hagel has two less goals than Nylander while having a shooting percentage twice as high as him and far above anything he has ever done at any level before. He hasn't produced at all since going to Tampa and is still severely lagging behind Nylander in assists.

How about a trade with Buffalo for Tage Thompson and his 28 goals, 5 more than Willy, at 1.4 million? He is 8 points back, but to say it would be impossible to replace his offense seems more likely than impossible.

EDIT: For less than 200k more, we could potentially get Keller from Arizona. His 28 goals and 63 points are better production, and he plays for the dreadful Coyotes. And, he would be under team control for 5 more years vs. Willy's 2. Nylander would only get a 188k raise if he is extended? It'd be more. Gladly take the guy on a friendly deal for 5 more seasons. Willy is gone in 2, I don't think he's coming back. Bail out now for better production and much better term. Of course, these are hypotheticals. Why would Arizona do it? Probably wouldn't, but, again his production can be replaced as well as upgrading the little things part of it. And, I should add, I've seen his shooting percentage. Did you see Willy's the year he hit 31?

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Leafs have Matthews, Tavares, Marner, Nylander, Bunting, Kerfoot, Kampf, and Simmonds signed at forward for next year who have been regulars this season. On defence it's Rielly, Brodie, Holl, and Muzzin. Our notable RFA's are Kase and Engvall up front and Liljegren and Sandin on the back-end. Mrazek and Kallgren are both signed for next season with Campbell as a UFA.

Of that list, I'd want every forward but Simmonds and Kerfoot back. Simmonds is done and Kerfoot doesn't do anything that can't be done by guys already on the roster and who would be cheaper to keep. I'd be fine with nearly every defenseman coming back; Muzzin is the one question mark. Jury is out on Campbell as well.

I'd also try to bring back UFAs Mikheyev, Blackwell, Lyubushkin, and depending on his ask Giordano (really hope he takes a Spezza/Simmonds low cost hometown discount deal). I'm confident the former three will be relatively cheap to re-sign, I get Mikheyev is having a breakout year of sorts so he might ask for over a big raise. If he want more than Kerfoot's current salary you walk away. Anyway, with all those retentions from the current team we're looking at a Depth Chart of:

Left Wing​	Centre​	Right Wing​
Bunting​	Matthews​	Marner​
Mikheyev​	Tavares​	Nylander​
Engvall​	Kampf​	Kase​
Simmonds​	Blackwell​	Clifford​

Left Defence​	Right Defence​
Rielly​	Brodie​
Giordano​	Liljegren​
Sandin​	Lyubushkin​
Muzzin​	Holl​

I wouldn't want Simmonds or Clifford taking regular shifts. Ideally those last two winger spots belong to Knies and Robertson, mix and match the lines however you want. For muscle I'd want Douglas to be the go to enforcer. He's huge, he's young, and he's a bit crazy, Leafs just signed him too. Defence is crowded so if you need to sacrifice one of Boosh or Gio that wouldn't be the end of it all.

Have a future lineup of:

Bunting-Matthews-Marner
Knies-Tavares-Mikheyev
Kase-Kampf-Nylander
Robertson-Blackwell-Engvall
Douglas

Rielly-Lyubushkin
Giordano-Liljegren
Sandin-Brodie
Muzzin-Holl

Obviously losing Spezza isn't fun but I don't see how he stays while allowing our young guys to get playing time and making the cap work.

As far as goaltending is concerned, I dunno. Mrazek will probably get another chance here since he's signed so long and it looks like his season is done with now. Campbell, the jury is out. If he comes back and plays lights out then re-sign him of course and then maybe you could explore trading Mrazek and letting Kallgren backup Jack. Again, the cap may be a mess.

 

[IrishInOntario]

Mrazek, Kerfoot, Muzzin, Holl and Kessel's cap hit out. $1 million in cap space gained through the rise of the cap. Mikheyev probably walks because Toronto won't be able to afford him.

Ideally, Giordano starts making $1 million contracts until he retires at this point. He's made his money. It's time to go the Spezza route.

It's going to be tight and tough to make many upgrades, but I think we'll look something like this...

Bunting-Matthews-Marner
Addition-Tavares-Nylander
Robertson-Kampf-Engvall
Knies-Douglas-Blackwell
Abruzzese or Steeves or Holmberg


Rielly-Brodie
Giordano-Liljegren
Sandin-Lyubushkin
Addition

Campbell
Addition

Forwards
Matthews: 11.6m
Tavares: 11.0m
Marner: 10.9m
Nylander: 7.0m
Addition: 4.0m
Engvall: 2.0m
Kampf: 1.5m
Bunting: 950k
Knies: 925k
Abruzzese: 850k
Douglas: 837k
Robertson: 800k
Blackwell: 750k

Defense
Rielly: 7.5m
Brodie: 5.0m
Lyubushkin: 2.0m
Sandin: 1.7m
Liljegren: 1.7m
Giordano: 1.5m
Addition: 1.0m

Goalies
Campbell: 3.75m
Addition: 3.0m

Total: $80,300,000

If you use that baseline for a 22 man roster, you'd have about $2.2 million in cap room to upgrade the roster. Some of the contracts I've included might eat into that space if they're bigger than expected, but I'd hope that my predictions relative to cost are fairly accurate.

 

[Nylanderthal]

I moved muzz holl mrazek & Kerfoot for picks, or nothing (mrazek) Then gave Engvall & Kase their QO’s. Boosh got the Hakanpaa deal with a little bump for not being tax free Texas. Lilly & Sandin get short bridges. That leaves me $12m In space with a 22 man roster, but in dire need goalies & would like another forward. Keep in mind there’s place holders accounting for cap so a $5m starter only eats 4.2 of that.
Plenty of flexibility for a supposed cap strapped team.

 

[TMLAM34]

Hoping Florida gets bounced in the first round and Giroux comes home to finish his career off on a team friendly deal. Giroux on our third line playing with Knies would be dirty.

 

[Duffman955]

Depends on playoff performance so much

 

[MarMarSab3]

Playoffs will matter alot, if we fail again I think you finally see changes, Muzzin Traded, Mrazek, Holl and kerfoot also traded, Spezza is done and Simmonds on Robidas island

Bunting Matthews Marner
Knies Tavares Nylander
Robertson **** Kase
Engvall Kampf Steeves

Reilly Brodie
Gio Lily
Sandin Boosh

Campbell
******

 

[hockeynorth]

Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Robertson - Tavares - Kase
Knies - Abbruzese - Nylander
Steeves - Kampf - Engvall

Rielly - Liljegren
Sandin - Brodie
Giordano - Lyubushkin

Campbell
Woll

using only players in the system

 

[Maplebeasts]

How about a trade with Buffalo for Tage Thompson and his 28 goals, 5 more than Willy, at 1.4 million? He is 8 points back, but to say it would be impossible to replace his offense seems more likely than impossible.

EDIT: For less than 200k more, we could potentially get Keller from Arizona. His 28 goals and 63 points are better production, and he plays for the dreadful Coyotes. And, he would be under team control for 5 more years vs. Willy's 2. Nylander would only get a 188k raise if he is extended? It'd be more. Gladly take the guy on a friendly deal for 5 more seasons. Willy is gone in 2, I don't think he's coming back. Bail out now for better production and much better term. Of course, these are hypotheticals. Why would Arizona do it? Probably wouldn't, but, again his production can be replaced as well as upgrading the little things part of it. And, I should add, I've seen his shooting percentage. Did you see Willy's the year he hit 31?

Is this the real Clayton Keller though or is this the result of being a big fish in a small pond? This is the first time since his rookie season he has played and produced like a top line player.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Robertson - Tavares - Kase
Knies - Abbruzese - Nylander
Steeves - Kampf - Engvall

Rielly - Liljegren
Sandin - Brodie
Giordano - Lyubushkin

Campbell
Woll

using only players in the system

This is close to perfect. I would think though if we moved Muzzin and Mrazek we would have been able to sign a legitimate goalie though to pair with Campbell.

 

[hockeynorth]

This is close to perfect. I would think though if we moved Muzzin and Mrazek we would have been able to sign a legitimate goalie though to pair with Campbell.

yeah I just didn't want to do Free Agents or project trades

 

[Maplebeasts]

yeah I just didn't want to do Free Agents or project trades

Ah ok.

 

[Menzinger]

Is this the real Clayton Keller though or is this the result of being a big fish in a small pond? This is the first time since his rookie season he has played and produced like a top line player.

Keller's career production to date is also much less impressive than Nylanders, even adjusted for age. It would essentially banking that his current career year is sustainable (even though his sh% is likely not going to last long term).

 

[TMLAM34]

To Toronto: Tanner Jeannot + 2022 1st Rounder
To Nashville: William Nylander

To Toronto: Spencer Knight
To Florida: Rasmus Sandin

To Toronto: 2022 3rd Rounder + 2023 2nd Rounder
To Vancouver: Alex Kerfoot



UFA Signing: Reilly Smith + Claude Giroux



Re-Sign: Pierre Engvall + Ilya Lyubushkin + Mark Giordano + Jack Campbell





Bunting (0.95) - Matthews (11.64) - Marner (10.9)

Robertson (0.8) - Tavares (11) - Smith (5.5)

Knies (0.85) - Giroux (4) - Jeannot (0.8)

Engvall (1.5) - Kampf (1.5) - Abruzzese (0.85)

50.29



Rielly (7.5) - Brodie (5)

Muzzin (5.62) - Lyubushkin (1.5)

Giordano (1) - Liljegren (1.5)

22.12



Knight (2.8) - Campbell (3.5)

6.3



78.71

 

[PromisedLand]

The Leafs Roster:

Leafs look like the CW superhero shows. Its like watching dawson's creek with special effects

expecting superheroes bad assery and get emo stuff LOL

- Its like when Smallville brought in Doomsday and made him a loverboy; same as when Leafs bring in toughness and they become soft

PLEASE let this be a joke and not a reality.....

 

[Canada4Gold]

I could be off on extension estimates, but moving Kerfoot, Holl and Mrazek. Signing Kase, Engvall, Sandin, Liljegren, and Campbell(or some equivalent) gave me this roster with 5.5 million in space

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

Rielly - ______
Muzzin - Brodie
Sandin - Liljegren
Kral

Campbell
Kallgren

That's a lot of younger players though so I could see them preferring to mix in some vets which cuts into the space for another defenseman. I kind of really like the look of that extreme offensive 3rd line and extreme defensive 4th line.

 

[Clark4Ever]

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.

...and they were also our best players in the playoffs last season.