Line Combos: What is your offseason wish list?

[HolyCrap]

What the absolute ****. Bracco and Marleau for a 5th? Lol what the **** dude, what the ****.

No way Detroit trades Glendenning for Brown. Brown is worth a ****ing bag of pucks and a poutine.

Cmon

Cmon man. Did you really have to mention poutine. Now all I want is to eat a freaking poutine. I would trade my truck for one right now.

 

[Ratboy]

A better player than hyman with JT and Marner. More size in our top 6.
Gardiner gone.
Some chocolate.

 

[egd27]

Cmon man. Did you really have to mention poutine. Now all I want is to eat a freaking poutine. I would trade my truck for one right now.

What kind of truck? I have poutine.

 

[Lightsol]

Bracco and Matthews has the potential to be lethal. Bracco probably has the best vision/ playmaking skills in the entire organization, IMO. He' s not as athletic as Marner though and serves up the same kind of muffin shots. Babcock will hate him, I'm sure.

That's my thought too. Bracco isn't as talented as Marner, but they're cut from the same cloth. I have a feeling the Leafs will eventually use Matthews-Tavares-Marner-Bracco as a loose conglomeration of two forward lines, where exactly which ones are playing together is somewhat malleable from game to game. What the Leafs need to do is get two big, grinding left wingers to play on these lines.

 

[Field of Dreams]

Trade Connor Brown for Zemgus Girgensons to play with Matthews and and Kapanen. Give him 1.7*4.

Trade Nylander for Pesce because good ideas are better than original ideas.

Sign that Russian free wallet people seem high on.

 

[Thissiteisgarbage]

That's my thought too. Bracco isn't as talented as Marner, but they're cut from the same cloth. I have a feeling the Leafs will eventually use Matthews-Tavares-Marner-Bracco as a loose conglomeration of two forward lines, where exactly which ones are playing together is somewhat malleable from game to game. What the Leafs need to do is get two big, grinding left wingers to play on these lines.

Agree 100%

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Bracco stays, period.

 

[The List Of Jericho]

Adios to Hainsey and Gardiner
Brown traded for a 5th/6th D men
Sandin and Bracco make the big club

 

[Crysis]

Do you think Hollowell/Scott/Timashov would be enough value to move the contract?

The only one of those I'd consider moving to get rid of Marleau is Timashov. Scott is a non-starter and Hollowell had an awesome year as well and has history playing with Sandin so he should be kept.

 

[pcruz]

Cmon man. Did you really have to mention poutine. Now all I want is to eat a freaking poutine. I would trade my truck for one right now.

That’s a great deal.

For you!

 

[Stephen]

Seems scary that we don't even have the room to make significant upgrades. Kadri, Marleau, Zaitsev, Hainsey, Gardiner may all have to be removed from the equation.

 

[AreBe]

Bracco stays, period.

You don't want to run the kids out of town? Has your Leafs Nation membership been revoked?

Everyone is just doing hot takes and not math based, professional, let's enter the data into the spreadsheet, see if we should do our weighted averaging differently (How to Calculate Weighted Average) and recalculate the spreadsheet, and recalculate the analytics, the entire myriad

The dumbest, most idiotic thing we could do is run the amazing magical potential of Nylander out of town, Just textbook Leafs stupid to do so. The textbook idiot Leafs trade. And always, always, always, for torn ACLs. 40 year olds 10 years past their last Norris, Con Smyth and cups won. And why do we drum this amazing talent out of town? Because of a statistical outlier of a bad season after singing a big contract and the fan base resents wealth for others. In short: force Nylander to hoist cups elsewhere for no return because he choked.

Of course, don't want to hot- take the math either! Really need to not look for vindication in the hot takes, that recency bias thing, and then we all get to go wonder in the desert. Let's try to not have that goal. Let's not stupidly blow it up and run this amazing collection of speedy skill out of town just because we can now hear the dinosaurs roar with delight. Best not to suffer the fate of the dinosaurs, best not to have this team hit by an asteroid.

 

[hockeywiz542]

LeBrun: Bruins edge Leafs again, and a sense of urgency for...

I asked one Western Conference team executive via text message after Game 7 what the Leafs needed and he responded:

“Their D. And they need to change the forward mix by adding some size/grit to the mix.” An Eastern Conference team executive suggested the following needs for the Leafs: On defence, an emotionally better version of Jake Gardiner and an upgrade to Ron Hainsey; leadership and character support in a No. 3 centre who skates better; and an upgrade on the left side.

Those are probably areas Babcock would agree with if allowed to say.

The scary part for Toronto now is that while the core of this team has gained some important playoff seasoning, the task gets tougher because the Leafs won’t have the same depth moving forward, not with three players making double-digit salaries once Mitch Marner joins Matthews and John Tavares in that exclusive club. The salary cap reality is going to affect Toronto’s depth.

All of which is why this was such an important season to break through while Mathews, Marner, Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson were all on cheap salaries.

I like what I’ve seen from Dubas so far as GM. His role in luring Tavares was huge. The Jake Muzzin acquisition was a good one. The William Nylander negotiation could have gone better, however.

Now Marner’s on deck.

The pressure is on.

 

[Einzakin]

My number one wish is a coach who will buy into what Dubas is trying to do. I think being on the same page is important, and I think Dubas' style is better for the new NHL than Babcocks. We know that won't happen so we just have to wait probably a year until Babcock is gone.

With that said
Brown/Marleau/Goat/Kadri Gone. Gardiner not coming back, unless it's on a great contract.

Double down on skill over grit, but nothing wrong with gritty guys who can contribute offensively.

Find defenceman who can all move the puck. The single most important thing is puck possession. Zaitsev played good D but was a shell of himself offensively. He was so scared to even enter the zone with the puck. So bizarre.

If Hainsey is back, it's on the bottom pairing.

This will change the dynamic and if Babcock doesn't adapt he's gone. He gets one more chance to change. He's not getting team f***ing Canada. Start giving skilled guys confidence. Some players are shells of their former selves and don't show up in big games. Babcock is known to have this problem with players.

 

[Lauro]

Somehow release Marleau.
Get that Russian RW.
Insert Rosen and Sandin, maybe Bracco, Brooks.

 

[lovemyleafs]

Gotta do what the Raptors did. FIRE THE DAMN COACH. Enough is enough. Can’t be trying the same thing over and over again. Raps got embarrassed out of the playoffs by the Cavs two years in a row and they fired Casey. Leafs got embarrassed out of the playoffs by the Bruins two years in a row so they should fire Babcock.
Babcock has won 1 playoff series out of his last 9. THATS FCKING AWFUL. GET THIS GUY OUTTA HERE AND BURN ALL THOSE BABSOCKS.

 

[lovemyleafs]

Moore deserves to play with Tavares and Marner next season.

 

[Jozay]

Get rid of marleau
Get a rhd

 

[ToMaLe]

I just want Babcock gone

this! If only this happens, I would be happy with just that.

 

[ToMaLe]

A better player than hyman with JT and Marner. More size in our top 6.
Gardiner gone.
Some chocolate.

once babcock is fired, you will see a better option then Hyman on the top line. thats a given.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Gotta do what the Raptors did. FIRE THE DAMN COACH. Enough is enough. Can’t be trying the same thing over and over again. Raps got embarrassed out of the playoffs by the Cavs two years in a row and they fired Casey. Leafs got embarrassed out of the playoffs by the Bruins two years in a row so they should fire Babcock.
Babcock has won 1 playoff series out of his last 9. THATS FCKING AWFUL. GET THIS GUY OUTTA HERE AND BURN ALL THOSE BABSOCKS.

There is some major differences between Babcock and the Raptors firing Dwayne Casey.

In 2017 and 2018 the Raptors were swept in the 2nd round by the Cleveland Cavilers. Now they still had LeBron James which is like having the NBA equivalent of Connor McDavid always defeating your team. However in 2018 the Raptors were 1st in the NBA's Eastern Conference and it was the first time when a #1 seed was swept in the 2nd round.

Yes losing to the Bruins in 2018 and 2019 is bad and Babcock should be held responsible for his decisions. However they still got to Game 7 in both years.

 

[Boy Hedican]

My number one wish is a coach who will buy into what Dubas is trying to do. I think being on the same page is important, and I think Dubas' style is better for the new NHL than Babcocks. We know that won't happen so we just have to wait probably a year until Babcock is gone.

With that said
Brown/Marleau/Goat/Kadri Gone. Gardiner not coming back, unless it's on a great contract.

Double down on skill over grit, but nothing wrong with gritty guys who can contribute offensively.

Find defenceman who can all move the puck. The single most important thing is puck possession. Zaitsev played good D but was a shell of himself offensively. He was so scared to even enter the zone with the puck. So bizarre.

If Hainsey is back, it's on the bottom pairing.

This will change the dynamic and if Babcock doesn't adapt he's gone. He gets one more chance to change. He's not getting team ****ing Canada. Start giving skilled guys confidence. Some players are shells of their former selves and don't show up in big games. Babcock is known to have this problem with players.

Friendly lurking, but if you think skill over grit is going to win in today’s NHL you haven’t been paying attention. You need both. Y’all have skill. You need more grit. If you can grind down a teams defense on a gritty forecheck you won’t survive the modern day playoffs.

 

[Einzakin]

Friendly lurking, but if you think skill over grit is going to win in today’s NHL you haven’t been paying attention. You need both. Y’all have skill. You need more grit. If you can grind down a teams defense on a gritty forecheck you won’t survive the modern day playoffs.

Fair enough although I completely disagree. I'm not saying everyone should be a weak skilled player. I'm saying skill should always trump grit IMO.

We didn't lose this series because of grit and that's clear to everyone. We lost it because we didn't get enough scoring. A few games our offence was non-existent. Our bottom 6 did nothing. The impact players in this series were Matthews, Moore and Ennis (when they got a chance), Rielly. I'd hardly call that a gritty group. Willy Nylander played decently IMO.

Who didn't play well? Hyman wasn't great. Hainsey. Marleau and Brown were terrible. Kapanen who's a mix was not good.

So I disagree with you. Again, players shouldnt be babies, but skill should always trump grit.

 

[unitedstars87]

What do you want this leafs team to look like come October? Before you criticize the hypothetical moves I made post your team.

My take:
Trades
1. Nylander for Rakell - Leafs get cheaper add more goal scoring pedigree. Anaheim adds a centerman/winger who is 3 years younger and has extra term for their rebuild.
2. Marleau+Scott and/or Hollowell for 2020 Ottawa 5th (changed from Bracco by popular demand) - Ottawa adds the second best goalie prospect in the WHL and/or a puck moving RHD who lead the OHL in defenseman scoring which they currently don't have in their system and they get 6.25M closer to the cap floor while only paying 1.25M
3. Kadri+Kapanen for Pesce+Necas - Carolina adds a right shot forward which they lack who's coming off a 20 goal season as well a shutdown 2C/3C with recent 30 goal history in exchange for a position of strength (RD) and their top prospect. Probably needs more value going to Carolina.
4. Brown for Glendening (or Rowney if the value is off) - Yzerman begins clearing cap space while the Leafs add a 4th line C who is good on the draw and averages 2:30/GP on the PK.

I didn't try to find a suitor for Zaitsev because I believe a season alongside Muzzin (and one more year off his contract) will do wonders for his value and because I believe he can help ease in the two russians I signed below.

Signings
Marner 10.5Mx6 - my best guess at a Marner contract
Kyle Connor or Timo Meier offer sheet 8Mx5 - compensation: 2020 1st, 2nd, 3rd - WPG will be in tough to sign all of their RFA's and Toronto will be in a position to handicap them. San Jose will be able to match so Meier is probably not the player to go after. Both players add skill and goal scoring to Matthews wing.
Andreas Johnsson 2.7Mx2 - Best guess at Johnsson's bridge
Ilya Mikheyev 0.925x3 (2?) - Dreger pretty much confirmed he will be joining the Leafs today on Overdrive. Hopefully he brings talent to the 3rd line.
Yegor Korshkov 0.925x3 - It was rumored a few weeks ago that he was coming over

Hyman - Tavares - Marner
Connor - Matthews - Rakell
Johnsson - Necas - Mikheyev
Moore - Glendening - Korshkov
Gauthier

Rielly - Pesce
Muzzin - Zaitsev
Rosen - Dermott
Holl

Andersen
Sparks

Total of 82.6M with Kessel

PP1: Connor
Marner - Tavares - Matthews
Rielly

PP2: Johnsson
Rakell - Necas - Mikheyev
Rosen

PK1: Glendening-Hyman
Muzzin - Zaitsev

PK2: Marner - Moore
Dermott - Pesce

Pros:
-balanced top pair
-lethal 2nd line with size
-2 right handed centers

Questions:
-can Mikheyev play 3rd line minutes?
-can Necas play 3C?

Cons:
-Zaitsev is still around
-weaker 3rd line

Expansion draft protection:
F: Tavares
Marner
Matthews
Connor
Rakell
Johnsson
Bracco/Mikheyev/Korshkov
(don't protect Hyman then re-sign him as UFA)

D: Rielly
Pesce
Dermott

Love all these trades except parting with Kap. But we would be a much better team. Please add letting go of Babcock as I think we need a new game plan scheme and new voice.

Connor - Tavares - Rakell second line might be the best cycle line in the league with high end skill.

 

[Whaleafs]

4. Brown for Glendening

A new first line centre for Babcock ?