What are the looming issues for Dubas that you believe are key?

[HoweHullOrr]

Cap & defense.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

#1 is goaltending, as it is for most any team.

I'm not an Andersen fan and therefore carry bias on the matter, but I don't think he's the guy and getting someone in here who can be is top priority. the lack of depth in the organization for goaltending is concerning.

which leads to #2 for me, which is rebuilding the prospect depth. It's even more important to find cheap capable players to plug into the top 9 and top 4-5 defence. a revolving door at the mid to lower end of the lineup is very likely as yearly juggling and short term deals will be the reality.

I Think if he had stolen a playoff series everyone would like him. He hasn’t so can’t blame you for that. Maybe he can pull it off this playoff and then we might sing a different tune. I like him already. I would not want to commit to him if he doesn’t absolutely stand on his head this playoff. I mean just kill it and steal games. This playoff is his make or break year actually. He can’t lose in the qualifier or i will turn on him myself.

 

[LeafsNation75]

I don’t think Nylander would represent the biggest cap improvement but he would be the easiest to move. The way he was playing near the end of the season makes it difficult to want to get rid of him though.

What if we see Mitch Marner get 94 points again or very close to that. Wouldn't that make it difficult to trade him, even though his cap it is more than Nylander's.

 

[Toronto makebeleifs]

Seems pretty simple and kinda consensus. Rielly would be my #1, the guy can easily command 8m on the open market which in turn leads me to managing the cap as my #2. How can we keep our best defenceman at a contract that isn't team friendly (or even market value) when almost half our cap is dedicated already long-ish term to 1/5 of our team. It would be a song if we got rielly to 7m or less on term. Freddy is my #3. Goaltending is a voodoo position, we have a solid starter in Freddy, but with a flat cap he may get priced out. It isn't unfeasible that we can find a cheaper solution in fa but like I said, voodoo. We could sign a guy and get a passed over gem like keumper or we could end up with another toskala.

 

[deletethis]

Go Boomer!
Tell us all!

I thought it was the Boomers who spend all of their money on jet-skis and PT Cruisers leaving none for anything else. Maybe Kyle's got a portrait in his attic.

 

[Stephen]

What if we see Mitch Marner get 94 points again or very close to that. Wouldn't that make it difficult to trade him, even though his cap it is more than Nylander's.

Yeah, I probably wouldn't make any hasty decisions, and see how Matthews, Tavares, Lafreniere, Marner and Nylander all do under one roof while Lafreniere's on his ELC. Based on age alone, I think 91 would still be first on the chopping block for me, and that would be a difficult move, but would be happening in Year 4-5 of the contract so maybe it's okay.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

@67Leafs67

Woll is more likely to make it by the 22-23 season just because he is older with more experience and Scott lost a year of development. I think it is still unlikely though but you never know with goalies. Sometimes something just clicks and they never look back. Like Hart and Binnington. Hart had an ok season in he AHL before getting called up to the Flyers when they were devastated with injuries and he has been a middle of the pack starting goalie/1B ever since. Binnington was a similar situation and he has been outstanding ever since.

Woll admits he didn't have the year he wanted and had a tough transition to a heavier workload. He has a great mindset and is a hard worker and student of the game. I think he will figure it out and really improve and become more consistent. I think he likely needs 2 more years on the Marlies and 1 year as a backup on the Leafs. Problem is when will hockey get up and started again. Hopefully this virus will pass soon and these young players don't lose more development time.

Scott will have a tougher road. He missed time with a groin injury which is very tough to recover from for goalies. I had a bad groin pull last year that had me miss about 9 weeks of hockey and still didnt feel right for about 6 months after. After having a pulled groin my hips tighten up on me all the time which I have to go to physio for. This is likely what happened with Scott this year having the hip impingement surgery. It's unfortunate that he had to lose a full year of development already when he was transitioning to the pros. He likely has 3-4 years before seeing time with the leafs. Very talented goalie but needs experience and confidence.

Goalies don't usually make it till they're about 24 so there is still time. The leafs will have to figure out what they're going to do in the meantime with Andersen/Campbell/ FA till that happens. Wouldn't surprise me if they do a cheap tandem situation for a couple seasons.

 

[Morbo]

The potential “Kawhi” move in all of this could be Toronto’s decision to go with another goaltender going into Andersen’s final season. Like what if they went and rolled the dice on Holtby and he rebounds like Belfour did when he got here? Or take a a swing at Jacob Markstrom and he turned out to be the long term answer?

yeah it'll probably have to be something like that. I just wish we could have a guy come out of nowhere like so many teams seem to find. And of course that is yet one more reason to hate JFJ with the burning hatred of a thousand suns. We had our 10+ year starter in hand with Rask and proceeded to shoot ourselves in the face.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Yeah, I probably wouldn't make any hasty decisions, and see how Matthews, Tavares, Lafreniere, Marner and Nylander all do under one roof while Lafreniere's on his ELC. Based on age alone, I think 91 would still be first on the chopping block for me, and that would be a difficult move, but would be happening in Year 4-5 of the contract so maybe it's okay.

What message would that send to big name UFA's if they did that to Tavares, because there was always this reputation how they didn't want to play in Toronto.

 

[Stephen]

What message would that send to big name UFA's if they did that to Tavares, because there was always this reputation how they didn't want to play in Toronto.

It's fine. The Rangers signed Scott Gomez to a big deal, got rid of him a couple of years later and then signed Brad Richards. Then bought him out. Then they signed Artemi Panarin a couple of years later. Circle of free agent life.

 

[LeafsNation75]

It's fine. The Rangers signed Scott Gomez to a big deal, got rid of him a couple of years later and then signed Brad Richards. Then bought him out. Then they signed Artemi Panarin a couple of years later. Circle of free agent life.

All of those players had wanted to play for the Rangers and were rumored for months they wanted to sign with them. Especially Richards because of his connection with John Tortorella and the fact they were allowed to match any other offers from other teams.

Besides Tavares how many big name UFA's have wanted to sign in Toronto and it was rumored for months that would actually happen.

 

[nuck]

What message would that send to big name UFA's if they did that to Tavares, because there was always this reputation how they didn't want to play in Toronto.

JT is not getting chopped, they are married to him. Like the deal or not you don't pull out all the stops to convince a top flight UFA to come to your team long term and then deal him as soon as you figure out you aren't winning this season. Plus the guy has a NMC. Does anyone really think KD has the stones to approach him to waive that when their window is still wide open? Or that he would agree if they did? This doesn't happen.

 

[LeafsNation75]

JT is not getting chopped, they are married to him. Like the deal or not you don't pull out all the stops to convince a top flight UFA to come to your team long term and then deal him as soon as you figure out you aren't winning this season. Plus the guy has a NMC. Does anyone really think KD has the stones to approach him to waive that when their window is still wide open? Or that he would agree if they did? This doesn't happen.

I would include the fact that he was named captain as another reason why.

 

[nuck]

It's fine. The Rangers signed Scott Gomez to a big deal, got rid of him a couple of years later and then signed Brad Richards. Then bought him out. Then they signed Artemi Panarin a couple of years later. Circle of free agent life.

Think about the sell job to bring him to TO. Think about Dubas "promise" not to trade Willie even when it was pretty obvious that was the smart move.. Tavares was the Toronto son coming home, #1 pick still in his prime, and captain of the club he was on. Gomez had one season with over 16 goals, was born in Alaska, and had no real connection to Jersey, NY or Montreal. Different kettle of fish.

Dubas won't deal players even without the NMC issue. JT might be the logical one but he isn't a realistic one.

 

[Gabriel426]

Only one issue, win the Cup.

 

[nuck]

The idiot should have seen the pandemic coming from a mile away!

The pandemic might be the thing that got them into the playoffs. Now IF Freddie brings his A game and IF Mo is past his gunnion injury and IF Marner starts playing Marner hockey again then things look really good. If the boys don't bring it, that isn't Dubas fault but he will still wear it.

 

[Menzinger]

Balancing between upgrading the D via trade/free agency vs letting the younger guya like Dermott/Liljegren/Sandin develop.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Think about the sell job to bring him to TO. Think about Dubas "promise" not to trade Willie even when it was pretty obvious that was the smart move.. Tavares was the Toronto son coming home, #1 pick still in his prime, and captain of the club he was on. Gomez had one season with over 16 goals, was born in Alaska, and had no real connection to Jersey, NY or Montreal. Different kettle of fish.

Dubas won't deal players even without the NMC issue. JT might be the logical one but he isn't a realistic one.

I always thought Dubas "promise" not to trade Nylander meant he wouldn't go calling other GM's asking if they were interested in trading for him. If a GM called Dubas and asked about Nylander I'm sure Dubas would listen to what the offer might be.

Remember how Brian Burke said he wouldn't trade Luke Schenn and thought of him as a future captain. He eventually traded him to the Flyers for James van Riemsdyk.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

The real game changer could be the Alexis Lafreniere pick if everything fell into place.

It could be used to really change the Big 4. Maybe we could look seriously at moving one of Marner, Nylander or Tavares for a big boy on defense. Or be used to bring in a big haul to fill in a lot of organizational gaps.

I'd wait a year before making that move, wait for Lafreniere to prove he's that dude

 

[Stephen]

Think about the sell job to bring him to TO. Think about Dubas "promise" not to trade Willie even when it was pretty obvious that was the smart move.. Tavares was the Toronto son coming home, #1 pick still in his prime, and captain of the club he was on. Gomez had one season with over 16 goals, was born in Alaska, and had no real connection to Jersey, NY or Montreal. Different kettle of fish.

Dubas won't deal players even without the NMC issue. JT might be the logical one but he isn't a realistic one.

If we got to that point, and that's a lot of if's, you have to make the right move for the organization. I just hate the idea that we lose a relatively cheap Nylander entering his prime, or 90+ point Marner to keep JT if he's in steep decline. We already gave him the captaincy for a number of 'political' and storyline reasons, and that always felt like the wrong move.

 

[Stephen]

I'd wait a year before making that move, wait for Lafreniere to prove he's that dude

I would suggest that if any of that happened, it wouldn't be till closer to the end of Lafreniere's ELC, which would be like Year 5 of that JT contract.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

The answer is Andersen's contract because there is NOBODY in the system, Campbell included that can replace Andersen meaning Dubas either has to sign Andersen or swing a trade for a guy like Murray because Campbell is a good back but he is a backup and neither Woll or Scott are going to be ready in a year

 

[nuck]

The answer is Andersen's contract because there is NOBODY in the system, Campbell included that can replace Andersen meaning Dubas either has to sign Andersen or swing a trade for a guy like Murray because Campbell is a good back but he is a backup and neither Woll or Scott are going to be ready in a year

Lehner is the silver bullet. I like him more than Freddy but there arent a lot of other options.

 

[93LEAFS]

Figuring out how the hell he's going to navagate the cap over the next 4 years when the increases he was relying on to ease our cap situation are highly unlikely (not his fault, I mean, no one predicted a global pandemic). But, it reduced whatever cushion he was expecting when he thought he could ease the team into the Matthews/Marner/JT cap hits, along with figuring out Rielly and Freddie (or a different long-term starting goalie).

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Lehner is the silver bullet. I like him more than Freddy but there arent a lot of other options.

Lehner couldn't handle Buffalo, Toronto would destroy him, he's got mental issues, he's spoken openly about his mental issues. So if Lehner came Toronto what do you think happens when the slump hits? because it will it happens to everybody.

What happens in December when he goes through a 3 week stretch where he plays like dog shit and the media and fans get on him, because we will.

Even if he wins some of those games 6-4, 7-5, 8-6, even 5-3, it doesn't matter if his play sucks media and fans are going to be critical of him and rightfully so because you need to be accountable for your performance.

But what happens WHEN that happens? not IF, WHEN can he be trusted to hold it together? or does he crumble and come apart like a freshly baked cookie?

He's a risk, ESPECIALLY in a place like Toronto where they are the team, you can argue he played in Chicago and New York but the Hawks aren't the Cubs, or Bears, or Bulls, the NYI aren't the Yankees, or Knicks, or Rangers or Giants.

He comes to Toronto he is on the #1 team it's different here, and yes the Raptors won the title they are #2 and always will be.

Lehner is a risk and I don't know if it's a smart one