Updated line up

[Byron Bitz]

Hyman-Tavares-Marner
Mikeyev-Matthews-Nylander
Vesey-Thornton-Kerfoot
Engvel-Spezza-Simmonds

Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin-Holl
Dermott- Bogosian


Andersen
Campbell

Click to read more...

 

[I am Canadian]

That team is 1 million+ over the cap. Either Johnsson or Kerfoot needs to be traded

 

[Buds17]

I'd guess possibly Johnsson might be moved and replaced with Barabanov in that lineup, though not necessarily directly/without other line changes.

 

[Subway Schenn]

Johnson, Kerfoot, Engvall*, Holl, Dermott, Andersen. Wonder who'll make it to next year.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Hyman	2.250	Matthews	11.634	Marner	10.893
Mikheyev	0.900	Tavares	11.000	Nylander	6.962
Vesey	0.900	Kerfoot	3.500	Simmonds	1.500
Engvall	1.250	Thornton	0.700	Spezza	0.700
		Barabanov	0.925
	Rielly	5.000	Brodie	5.000
	Muzzin	5.650	Holl	2.000
	Dermott	0.900	Bogosian	1.000
		Lehtonen	0.925
		Andersen	5.000
		Campbell	1.650
		Kessel	1.200
		Salary Cap	81.500
		Total Cap	81.439
		Cap Space	0.061

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Srsly]

That team is 1 million+ over the cap. Either Johnsson or Kerfoot needs to be traded

I could still see Dermott’s rights being moved as well. Sandin should be capable of playing on the third pairing.

 

[Community]

Hyman-Tavares-Marner
Mikeyev-Matthews-Nylander
Johnson-Kerfoot-Simmonds
Engvall-Spezza-Robertson

Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Holl
Lehtonen - Dermott

Andersen
Campbell

Trade Johnsson (Robertson shouldnt be in a 4th line role), sign another gritty depth player (Perry? Or a 4th line 2-way C and move Spezza to the wing), and still explore the Weeger/Savard trade possibilities.

 

[IPS]

Will be precisely 0 improvement.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

That team is 1 million+ over the cap. Either Johnsson or Kerfoot needs to be traded

According to Dubas they don't

 

[Byron Bitz]

Trade Johnsson (Robertson shouldnt be in a 4th line role), sign another gritty depth player (Perry? Or a 4th line 2-way C and move Spezza to the wing), and still explore the Weeger/Savard trade possibilities.

I don’t mind him playing on THIS 4th line because this is a 4th line we could actually give good minutes to and flanking a veteran leader like Spezza would be good for his development.

 

[LennytheWeedwhacker]

OP has no idea.

 

[hamzarocks]

We need an upgrade on RHD still

Need to get a savard/murphy/weegar to play with rielly

And ideally we need to add more grit to bottom 6. 1 forward alone isnt enough to fix those issues. We tried it with Clifford but he cant don't alone. Need to add another gritty physical winger for the bottom 6

 

[Community]

I don’t mind him playing on THIS 4th line because this is a 4th line we could actually give good minutes to and flanking a veteran leader like Spezza would be good for his development.

I understand your outlook on that and its a good point, but I want Robertson playing ~15mins a night and he doesnt get that on the 4th line. If he isn't ready for 13-15 minutes then I don't want him on the Leafs as I think it is bad for development.

I dont think there is enough minutrs to go around for him to get 13+ minutes while playing on the 4th line, even with 2nd PP duties. I see the top 6 getting 18-ish mins a night/line, 15-ish for 3rd line, 9-ish for line 4.

 

[ponder]

IMO, if we don’t make other significant moves, we’ll probably see something like:

Hyman - Matthews - Marner
Johnsson - JT - Nylander
Robertson - <someone cheap> - Mikheyev
Barbanov - Spezza - Simmonds

Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Holl
Dermott - Lehtonen

Andersen
Campbell

Which actually does look pretty good, softer than I’d like but lots of talent. Not sure if that’ll fit under the cap though, will be real tight - depends on Mikheyev/Dermott price, will need to sign them REAL cheap.

Also need a cheap 3C though, if we aren’t moving a star we need to trade at least one of Johnsson/Kerfoot, and I’d rather deal Kerfoot. We’ll probably need to add a bit to dump him, but hopefully not too much. For a cheap replacement, maybe Joe Thornton at near-vet-min? Or Hallander could be a dark horse pick.

 

[OptimusReim]

Just not sure the guys we acquired are difference makers and improve our overall toughness enough.

More move need to be made to address those needs.

 

[lovemyleafs]

Need to upgrade one of Holl/Dermott into Weegar. Then our defensive core will be set.

As for our offensive lines, I'd like to see the following:

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
Mikheyev-Tavares-Marner
Robertson-Kerfoot-Simmonds
Barbanov-Spezza-Engvall

Johnsson is of course omitted because he'll be traded.

I expect Dubas to acquire another forward or two via FA or trade.

The defense with Weegar:

Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Weegar
Lehtonnen - Dermott
---
Sandin/ Lilly

Freddy
Cambell

Notttttt baaaaaaddd. Dubas got work to do.

 

[cesareborgia]

Still need to add someone to bump Holl down to the third pairing. Open to trading Dermott. Also would like to see an improvement on Kerfoot for the 3C. Someone with some truculence.

 

[cesareborgia]

Johnsson for Weegar. Move Robertson up.

Dermott for a truculent 3C + a pick or two.

Get it done.

 

[B Champman]

Johnsson for Weegar. Move Robertson up.

Dermott for a truculent 3C + a pick or two.

Get it done.

Hard pass on this idea

trading dermott is insane (unless someone offers/accepts overpayment for him)

as nice as another RHD would be, it’s not likely going to happen. Good chance we start the season with this dcore, and to be honest, it’s quite good

edit: quoted the wrong quote. The one above. Yea maybe kerfoot can be traded, Johnsson obv possible too. But to even think about another D, they and maybe more need to go because losing dermott is not on their radar right now

 

[cesareborgia]

Hard pass on this idea

trading dermott is insane (unless someone offers/accepts overpayment for him)

as nice as another RHD would be, it’s not likely going to happen. Good chance we start the season with this dcore, and to be honest, it’s quite good

edit: quoted the wrong quote. The one above. Yea maybe kerfoot can be traded, Johnsson obv possible too. But to even think about another D, they and maybe more need to go because losing dermott is not on their radar right now

I just don't see good things happening while Holl is on the 2nd pairing. He's being massively overrated lately. He's a bottom pairing dman. We also still need to get tougher. Simmonds won't be able to do it all by himself. I fear that without these moves, the 2nd round of the playoffs is our ceiling. It's not good enough.

Dermott is young, I get it. But he's shown zero signs of improvement. We can still get a more than decent return on him.

I'm also open to the idea of trading Marner and signing Piet, as Holl will be pushed down to the 3rd pair by default, where he can pair with Dermott. And Lehtonen can be the Marincin this year. But this is quite far fetched. Though it would give us the best dcore in the league.

 

[RebuildYear5]

This rosters going to win us a cup in 4years?....so disappointed in management, they facked up the best opportunity we had in decades, just to grab that forbidden fruit again and take a bite before you built an army.

 

[RebuildYear5]

It's going to be hard to watch next year when we lose in the first round, and Andersen walks...plus we get worse.

Hell we might not make the playoffs, the East is strong this year.

 

[B Champman]

I just don't see good things happening while Holl is on the 2nd pairing. He's being massively overrated lately. He's a bottom pairing dman. We also still need to get tougher. Simmonds won't be able to do it all by himself. I fear that without these moves, the 2nd round of the playoffs is our ceiling. It's not good enough.

Dermott is young, I get it. But he's shown zero signs of improvement. We can still get a more than decent return on him.

I'm also open to the idea of trading Marner and signing Piet, as Holl will be pushed down to the 3rd pair by default, where he can pair with Dermott. And Lehtonen can be the Marincin this year. But this is quite far fetched. Though it would give us the best dcore in the league.

You lost me at dermott shows no signs of improvement

still don’t know why anyone in their right minds thinks holl would start higher up than dermott.

Dubas already stated he will likely be playing on the right. He’s turning 24 in 2 weeks (4 years removed from defensive prime) and is already putting up seriously solid even strength metrics while playing second line minutes/competition.

if you don’t understand where dermott is at in his progression than this convo is useless. I’d go do some research on him and why he won’t be going anywhere unless it involves a better rhd coming back (seriously unlikely even with weegar and petro potentials).

the top 4 will almost guarsnteed be Reilly, Brodie, muzzin, dermott, and then lehtonen, holl, Sandin, and liljegren will be fighting through camp and season for the bottom pairing.

for anything else to happen, serious so space has to be opened up in the Johnsson/kerfoot area and replaced by barbarbanov/Robertson and/or maybe a cheap ufa (like Perry) and even then it’s super unlikely that it all works out in the order needed to allow us to make such a defensive signing or trade

 

[cesareborgia]

You lost me at dermott shows no signs of improvement

still don’t know why anyone in their right minds thinks holl would start higher up than dermott.

Dubas already stated he will likely be playing on the right. He’s turning 24 in 2 weeks (4 years removed from defensive prime) and is already putting up seriously solid even strength metrics while playing second line minutes/competition.

if you don’t understand where dermott is at in his progression than this convo is useless. I’d go do some research on him and why he won’t be going anywhere unless it involves a better rhd coming back (seriously unlikely even with weegar and petro potentials).

the top 4 will almost guarsnteed be Reilly, Brodie, muzzin, dermott, and then lehtonen, holl, Sandin, and liljegren will be fighting through camp and season for the bottom pairing.

for anything else to happen, serious so space has to be opened up in the Johnsson/kerfoot area and replaced by barbarbanov/Robertson and/or maybe a cheap ufa (like Perry) and even then it’s super unlikely that it all works out in the order needed to allow us to make such a defensive signing or trade

The fact is that Holl was paired with Muzzin on the 2nd pairing throughout the entirety of the season. Dermott was unable to take that spot from Holl. As it stands, Holl is our #4 defenceman. There is no discussion needed, this is the reality.

 

[seanlinden]

You lost me at dermott shows no signs of improvement

still don’t know why anyone in their right minds thinks holl would start higher up than dermott.

Dubas already stated he will likely be playing on the right. He’s turning 24 in 2 weeks (4 years removed from defensive prime) and is already putting up seriously solid even strength metrics while playing second line minutes/competition.

if you don’t understand where dermott is at in his progression than this convo is useless. I’d go do some research on him and why he won’t be going anywhere unless it involves a better rhd coming back (seriously unlikely even with weegar and petro potentials).

the top 4 will almost guarsnteed be Reilly, Brodie, muzzin, dermott, and then lehtonen, holl, Sandin, and liljegren will be fighting through camp and season for the bottom pairing.

for anything else to happen, serious so space has to be opened up in the Johnsson/kerfoot area and replaced by barbarbanov/Robertson and/or maybe a cheap ufa (like Perry) and even then it’s super unlikely that it all works out in the order needed to allow us to make such a defensive signing or trade

There's no reason to believe that Justin Holl will lose his spot in the top 4 to Travis Dermott. It all comes down to fit, and Holl fits very well alongside either Rielly or Muzzin.

That being said, I have to wonder, if we assume the Coyotes trade OEL, would they want to try and get another young defenceman into their lineup this year alongside Chychrun? I get the sense that the Coyotes aren't looking to start another 5 year rebuild, and Dermott could be a really good fit for them at a bargain-basement $ cost. If you can move Dermott for Crouse, and Johnsson to a team like Columbus for futures; you've injected another level of toughness, not just into your bottom 6, but for a guy who could play big minutes in the Leafs top 6.