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

[LeafsNation75]

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

Remember what happened when Lehner was playing for Buffalo and got replaced in a game against the Maple Leafs that was played in Toronto.



Also here is a compilation video someone did of his angry moments during his career.

 

[cupcrazyman]

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.

If the Leafs get Lafreniere , they should trade Marner & his parents far,far,far away........

 

[Jeffrey Pedler]

Expansion draft- We have so many good fowards, I expect Seattle to take one, then there goes a depth piece.

Acquiring a top flight defenseman- Fans have been saying it for years, get Rielly a right shot, stay at home defense partner.

Restocking the prospect cupboard- I just hope that Dubas and the scouting staff can continue to find gems in the second round and beyond. Our right wing prospects seem to be the deepest part of our prospect pool, every other position could use some more help.

 

[34]

Goaltending.

 

[Mess]

Bob McKenzie has just stated this.

 

[biotk]

The only thing matters is the salary cap.

The pie will be shrinking.

This Leafs team is no more.

Yesterday's NHL is over.

Pretty much. Others will refuse to admit it because Dubas can probably make it work this coming season, but by the time you get to 2022/23 only one of two things can happen - either the Leafs' trade a 10+M contract or every up and coming player who is good leaves so that they keep their overly expensive core of 4 forwards intact.

The reality is that when Dubas signed Matthews (and Nylander and Tavares) they felt that the cap would be around 84M in 2019/20, around 88M in 2020/21, 91M in 2021/22 and 95M 2022/23.

The reality appears to be 81.5, 81.5, 81.5 and 82.5. That is a 12.5M difference. There is zero chance that Dubas would have signed any of those four to those kinds of contracts if he knew that the cap was going to remain flat. It is completely unsustainable.

So either they keep Matthews, Tavares, Nylander and Marner while surrounding them with an increasingly poor supporting cast and an increasingly unbalanced roster (and this might be the choice - MLSE knows that those players generate a ton of revenue, so you just decide that the revenue is worth more than winning).

Or they trade a big money player (which to me can only be either Marner or Matthews) while hoping to only take about half of the outgoing cap back in returning player(s) (ie a 4 or 5M top-4 RHD, a prospect, or cheap roster player, or cap dump that has one year left, and a first round pick or two), and try to reformulate their roster in a more balanced way while ensuring they have some space to pay for upcoming raises.

If they trade a big money player they would be far better off doing it this off-season when more teams (but still not many) have the cap space to take on one of those players. Because the number of teams is going to shrink each summer until the cap starts going up a lot.

 

[Merrrlin]

Need one more option for 'All of the Above"

Is it so hard to pick 3 that are most important to you?

We all know they are all important. By picking 3 and discussing it, we get some good opinions on each.

 

[Merrrlin]

Bob McKenzie has just stated this.

Honestly, I am not sure that is even a bad thing for the Leafs. They don't have a great candidate. The salary we may have to move is invested in good players who will get good trade returns.

 

[Merrrlin]

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.

That's a good thing.

I think Nylander is one of the easiest to move.

• Good cap hit
• Good term
• Young
• Highly skilled
• Can fit into most team's cap structure

I'd hate to lose him obviously, but he's the most realistic. I don't see a world where Tavares or Matthews are dealt (so hard to replace C's) and Mitch is in a bit of a strange spot with his cap hit that I don't think there would be as many suitors.

 

[ottomaddox]

It's really hard to talk about Dubas and his big 4 contracts without wondering if he's going to shift his design completely.

As of now Nylander is the only value contract. Marner, Matthews, and Tavares were signed with the premise of the salary cap going up.

I think this cup final playoff is the 1 and only opportunity to win with these players.

Both Clarkson and Horton are expiring (now that it's July 3rd), and Kessel is still on the books for 2 more seasons.
These names and these cap issues are a sad reminder of the past and the present.

You have to think that Covid-19 and economic uncertainty has completely blown up Dubas' plan. He has to shift his thinking. I don't how he couldn't.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Honestly, I am not sure that is even a bad thing for the Leafs. They don't have a great candidate. The salary we may have to move is invested in good players who will get good trade returns.

Well the only downside is that the Leafs won't be able to leverage their strong financial position to get assets .. I.e. taking on a bad contract and get a pick/prospect with it.

 

[The Iceman]

Prospect depth always a priority.
Other would be signing Clifford and getting other gritty players when he can in this bottom 6. Must be miserable to play our bottom 6 going forward. Easier said than done. Still needs to be ready to pounce on the right players when they fit. We can not be soft in the bottom six. The production we have now with the finesse players that don’t play aggressive is not hard to match from aggressive forecheckers. Agustino Is actually that type. Brooks is smart on pucks. We need changes there.

Expansion draft is a layer of complication I can’t wait to see behind us.

Under the same thought that you reference for bottom 6.
Maple Leaf trivia that I would say 90% of even die hard Leaf fans would not get correctly.

Which Leaf forward led the team in hits this season???

 

[BertCorbeau]

Dubas' biggest priority is strengthening the blue line and solidifying the goaltending position long-term while navigating the tight cap space they have.

But he also has to ensure long term success in building up the prospect pool. Hopefully this means keeping their first rounders for the next few seasons. This will help sustain the Leaf with cheap ELC talent to supplant the core.

What's imperative to his success is his ability to adapt. He has a vision for a team that favours analytics, though not 100% abiding by them. While advanced stats are helpful, there's more to building a cup-winning team. It's on him to learn from his mistakes and make the necessary adjustments to bring in the right mix of players.

 

[Kiwi]

Getting a partner for Rielly on the top pair who can eat tough defensive minutes and insulate some of the other guys would be the first cab off the rank this off-season but the goaltending medium to long term seriously concerns me

To say I'd be Leary of resigning Andersen and giving him term would be a massive understatement but I don't like the thought of getting to next off-season with only Campbell as a viable starting option either

I think Dubas needs to be proactive about that one, Freddy can be fragile mentally and I can't say I like the thought of him getting 55 starts in a contract year with that uncertainty surrounding him

 

[NinjaKick]

Other.
The looming issue for me is getting past the 1st round... that's not just up to Dubas but it's also up to Shanahan and the coaching staff to squeeze everything they can out of this roster... because this team is a contender imo

 

[Leaf Fans]

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 would send a message that players know all too well- the NHL is a business.

 

[The Iceman]

Well the only downside is that the Leafs won't be able to leverage their strong financial position to get assets .. I.e. taking on a bad contract and get a pick/prospect with it.

AND
The other downside is other teams will have less money to spend if the Leafs choose to move an expensive forward.

 

[Mess]

My 3 Issues are;

1) Cap Management
2) Cap Management
3) Cap Management

Based on potential rumoured 3 straight years of flat cap locked in a current levels.

 

[WTFMAN99]

With the cap not really going up, I think we're going to need to re-think the bottom 6 and maybe look at moving a larger contract to actually improve defensively (legit player to play with Rielly)

PK has been garbage the last 2 years and a big reason we've gone out against the Bruins.

 

[LeafsNation75]

PK has been garbage the last 2 years and a big reason we've gone out against the Bruins.

This past season the Leafs finished 21st in the penalty kill. So did that at least improve with since Sheldon Keefe replaced Mike Babcock?

Also Game 6 last year against Boston is a great example where it cost them, because the Leafs took two penalties that day and Boston went 2/2 on the power play.

 

[Mess]

With the cap not really going up, I think we're going to need to re-think the bottom 6 and maybe look at moving a larger contract to actually improve defensively (legit player to play with Rielly)

PK has been garbage the last 2 years and a big reason we've gone out against the Bruins.

Ron Hainsey was a +30 +/- among the best Dman plus/minus in the league (tied for 6th best mark in the NHL) when paired with Rielly as he was putting up 20 goals and 70+ points. The perfect complimentary partner for Mo and he came with Stanley Cup winning experience.

Removing him created a big hole defensively and also hurt Rielly in the process as now he no longer has a stable and reliable D-partner. That is very much something that should be high on the GMs to-do list to fix, because right now it looks like this is Leafs top 4 Dmen (on paper) heading into next year after UFA departures.

Rielly -- XXXX
Muzzin -- Holl

I'm actually with you in that with limited cap space, and the real need for a top pairing/ top 4 dman Leafs might have to start dealing from forward strength to address glaring holes on the defense.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Ron Hainsey was a +30 +/- among the best Dman plus/minus in the league (tied for 6th best mark in the NHL) when paired with Rielly as he was putting up 20 goals and 70+ points. The perfect complimentary partner for Mo and he came with Stanley Cup winning experience.

Removing him created a big hole defensively and also hurt Rielly in the process as now he no longer has a stable and reliable D-partner. That is very much something that should be high on the GMs to-do list to fix, because right now it looks like this is Leafs top 4 Dmen (on paper) heading into next year after UFA departures.

Rielly -- XXXX
Muzzin -- Holl

I'm actually with you in that with limited cap space, and the real need for a top pairing/ top 4 dman Leafs might have to start dealing from forward strength to address glaring holes on the defense.

I think Dubas would have re-signed Hainsey if it wasn't for him getting $3.5 million AAV from Ottawa, which was a raise from his $3 million AAV he got in Toronto.

 

[kb]

My 3 Issues are;

1) Cap Management
2) Cap Management
3) Cap Management

Based on potential rumoured 3 straight years of flat cap locked in a current levels.

So you don't understand the issue?

Cap is in better shape than a lot of other teams.

 

[WTFMAN99]

This past season the Leafs finished 21st in the penalty kill. So did that at least improve with since Sheldon Keefe replaced Mike Babcock?

Also Game 6 last year against Boston is a great example where it cost them, because the Leafs took two penalties that day and Boston went 2/2 on the power play.

I don't think so but I haven't took a deep dive into it.

Ron Hainsey was a +30 +/- among the best Dman plus/minus in the league (tied for 6th best mark in the NHL) when paired with Rielly as he was putting up 20 goals and 70+ points. The perfect complimentary partner for Mo and he came with Stanley Cup winning experience.

Removing him created a big hole defensively and also hurt Rielly in the process as now he no longer has a stable and reliable D-partner. That is very much something that should be high on the GMs to-do list to fix, because right now it looks like this is Leafs top 4 Dmen (on paper) heading into next year after UFA departures.

Rielly -- XXXX
Muzzin -- Holl

I'm actually with you in that with limited cap space, and the real need for a top pairing/ top 4 dman Leafs might have to start dealing from forward strength to address glaring holes on the defense.

Only thing with Hainsey is that he had a massive drop off through the season likely due to the age/minutes he was playing. If he was on 3rd pairing, he would have been a beauty as well. I think the only player that really stands out to me is Dylan DeMelo in that he plays a simple game that could compliment Rielly.

I think Dubas would have re-signed Hainsey if it wasn't for him getting $3.5 million AAV from Ottawa, which was a raise from his $3 million AAV he got in Toronto.

Hard to say. We let Ennis go to Ottawa for like a 100k raise. He was actually a pretty nice bottom 6 player for us.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Hard to say. We let Ennis go to Ottawa for like a 100k raise. He was actually a pretty nice bottom 6 player for us.

That's because Dubas signed Spezza to the league minimum of $7,00,000 AAV.