how? I just don’t see where people think all these prospects rookies are slotting in. We have a lot of NHL contracts still on the books for next year. Not to mention Roberson, Steeves, Spezza likely resigned, there is probably zero chance he makes the nhl club.
Confirmed with Link: TOR signs F Pontus Holmberg to 2 year ELC
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how? I just don’t see where people think all these prospects rookies are slotting in. We have a lot of NHL contracts still on the books for next year. Not to mention Roberson, Steeves, Spezza likely resigned, there is probably zero chance he makes the nhl club.
ULF_55
Moderator
Wonder how many other non-NHLers the Leafs have going? I know two college players are going with the US team. Holmberg the youngest on the veteran Swedish team. I'm guessing they know more about Holmberg than the half-blind in North America.
https://thehockeywriters.com/2022-mens-olympic-hockey-team-swedens-final-roster/#:~:text=2022 Men’s Olympic Hockey Team Sweden’s Final Roster,National League (NL) to fill out their roster.
LeafChief
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ULF_55
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LeafChief
Matthew Knies Enthusiast
You mentioned the two US college players in your post. I assumed you already knew Abbruzzese was going. You asked who else besides the two US players and Holmberg.
Stephen
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With the length of that contract, I could see Zach Hyman being Edmonton's Andrew Ladd/Kyle Okposo/David Clarkson/Nathan Horton.
I will give Hyman a bit more credit than that. Just look at what Coleman and Goodrow got in the same off season.
Stephen
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Those are difficult comparisons for Hyman. Hyman has had more of an offensive role in Toronto whereas those two were more of the 3rd line role players on championship teams.
But at the end of the day all three were signed to their new teams to have a top six role to provide something other than offence.
There’s gonna be 4-5 forward jobs open up I’d guess. Holmberg could be a 2nd or 3rd line winger, or 4th line C.
Gonna be sone moving parts to clear money for Jack, I think.
I think Holmberg could be part of that kind of third line moving forward. Not a burner like Mik/Engvall, or mosquito like Kase, but by all reports responsible and cerebral.
Something will have to give on the cap side to keep Jack, my crystal ball is still abit too cloudy to say if it’ll be Kerfoot or elsewhere.
kb
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Agreed. No idea where the $$$ will end up coming from. They do have options on LW as it is now the Leafs most stacked area from a prospect perspective. But I do think that even the most advanced of those prospects is more than year out from making the club.
TheBeastCoast
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I think Kerfoot has definitely proven himself valuable enough to keep around. Find other places to shed salary.
kb
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TheBeastCoast
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kb
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Works for me.....just need that solid backup for cheap.
Wonder if MA Fleury would give it one last whirl next season on the cheap?
keonsbitterness
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SeaOfBlue
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Not really all that difficult. Go cheaper on the #7 to open up money for Sandin/Liljegren. Leafs will have a specific ceiling on Campbell. If he wants to go for top dollar like Hyman did, then they likely turn to Holtby, Fleury, or Kuemper... Who should be within their budget.
Then it is just deciding who they want to fill their bottom 6 and maybe Kerfoot. The 4th line job likely is a competition among our prospects (Anderson, Malgin, Steeves, Holmberg, Robertson, Amirov, etc.) and maybe some AAAA guys we sign like Seney was this year. Engvall and Kase should not get major raises, and I think Kase wants to stick around with Kampf anyways. If Engvall wants more than 1.5 mill, we can easily replace him with someone else. Engvall - Kampf- Kase is your 3rd line. Simmonds - Spezza - Prospect is your 4th line.
We move Ritchie and Dermott/Holl in this case. We may still need some more money, which likely comes from making one of the following choices:
1) Move Kerfoot
Moving Kerfoot sucks because he has been a solid all-around guy for us on the PK and in the top 6, but he is a pending UFA who is likely moving on after next year and we would get something good out of him. If we move him, we could turn to a guy like Kuzmenko in the top 6 and save a lot of money, or maybe turn to re-signing Mikheyev (if he is willing) and giving him the top 6 job. Mikheyev likely won't make more than mid-2's on his next deal so it should open up enough money.
2) Move Mrazek
It won't be hard to find a market for him given the lack of quality goalie options this year, but at the same time, the UFA market for who are not major downgrades won't save us a lot of money and I can see the Leafs preferring to take a chance on replacing Kerfoot over replacing him.
3) Replace a guy like Engvall with a cheaper player and use Dermott instead of Holl.
More moving parts, and it depends on how much faith the Leafs still have in Dermott moving forward. You could replace Engvall with either a prospect, bargain bin guy like Bunting, or a guy like Kuzmenko (who could slot in Kerfoot's spot with Kerfoot moving to the 3rd line with Kampf and Kase). That and the 500k difference between Dermott and Holl should be enough to afford everyone.
All in all, it boils down to three subtractions + losing Mikheyev which should not be overly difficult to make, and then just making sure you stick to your budget, even if it means having to move on from a guy like Campbell unfortunately. This is likely the roadmap the Leafs have laid out for themselves, short of a more drastic, longer shot move being considered (i.e. moving Marner).
There’s lots of chances to skim from the top before getting to Kerfoot and Mraz. Then there’s relative value.
Could go lots of ways, really.
I might disagree on the readiness of some of the kids though, so long as you can be tolerant of the learning curve.
JoeyA can be bottom sixer, Steeves is proving he can play, Holmberg keeps getting better and better in the (what) third best league in the world?
Malgin if he comes over. College and Euro FA.
Mix and match.
That’s my hope anyway.
WTFMAN99
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Robertson has missed the majority of the season they wanted him to spend developing in the AHL, I think it's likely he spends time there again.
Spezza has been largely missing in action along with Simmonds for a large chunks of this season.
Steeves is no guarantee.
I like Holmberg's chances in a bottom 6 role, he's been playing men's hockey for a while an doing well with it.
kb
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Very well laid out.
I do wonder with the dearth of quality goalies available this offseason if Campbell will price himself out of the Leafs market. His recent 10 games could help out a little come contract time.
Glad it's not me making the calls on this......
SeaOfBlue
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Depends if there is another team like Edmonton who will stupidly overpay him. He has performed well, but so has our defense. I have the feeling that the Leafs would be fine with turning to Fleury, Kuemper, or even Holtby as our 1A with Mrazek as our 1B if Campbell wants more than he is worth. I don't blame him for going for it, considering he has never had a big payday in his career, but he also knows that won't be happening here.
I think the Leafs could end up going after Kuemper as a plan B for Campbell. He hasn't been great in Colorado, but their defense is also not that good (defensively). I would not be surprised if he can be a borderline top 10 goalie with us and if he can get hot during the playoffs, that is all we need to win. Holtby and Fleury's resumes speak for themselves, and as long as Mrazek looks like he can handle a legit 1B role, they should be fresh enough to go on a playoff run with us.
