What would you say were Lou's best moves as the Leafs GM?

Trapper

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Nov 21, 2013
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Moving Phaneuf.

Contracts are good, but that was just money and hasn't changed the team, just didn't overpay for good players.

Andersen is a good goalie, you expect any competent GM to acquire a good goalie. Look around the league and you can see other GM's acquired good goalies.

As far as culture of winning ... don't see one yet.
It takes time to build a winning culture. That's why I shrug my shoulders when people call us a contender. Win a playoff round first before you do that.
But a winning culture has to start somewhere. Regular season success and making the playoffs every year is the start. Teams know they will have to show up on a nightly basis fighting for the same playoffs spots. Players see the teams poised to make the playoffs every year. UFAs look at a team not destined to finish 25-31 and probably ignore the rest. These things are the beginning.
 

ULF_55

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Feb 27, 2002
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It takes time to build a winning culture. That's why I shrug my shoulders when people call us a contender. Win a playoff round first before you do that.
But a winning culture has to start somewhere. Regular season success and making the playoffs every year is the start. Teams know they will have to show up on a nightly basis fighting for the same playoffs spots. Players see the teams poised to make the playoffs every year. UFAs look at a team not destined to finish 25-31 and probably ignore the rest. These things are the beginning.

Certainly it starts somewhere.

But does the GM bring the winning culture or do the players create the winning culture?

I guess my point is I want the Leafs to have the best of everything and while they're currently in the top half of the league ... getting there is in large part because they've had a couple picks in the top 5 of the draft, one 1st. overall, and I'm guessing 99% of the posters here could have / would have selected Matthews.

To me the Phaneuf deal was the best thing Lamoriello did, that perhaps he made that happen, whereas everything else that was done is being done by other GM's around the league.

We shouldn't measure Leafs' success against Leafs' previous success, it should be measure against the best in the league, and frankly winning the lottery, with Matthews in the draft is luck and odds. Other teams have stunk as much as the Leafs and lost the lottery ... can you imagine if the Leafs got knocked down 3 spots in that draft?
 

Tak7

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Nov 1, 2009
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The new GM needs to be good at structuring long term contracts for Matthews, Nylander, Marner.
He needs to be good at signing reasonable deals for support players.
Needs to be good a signing UFAs. Not to long, not too much.
Needs to address the Gardiner UFA situation.
Needs to be able to make decisions on the draft floor if presented with options.
Needs to address the 3C/4C.
Needs to address the Nylander is center or not with Babcock.
Needs to be adept at making trades to bring in guys that support the core in a more playoff style of hockey.
Needs to make deals to address weaknesses in the organization: Center depth is terrible. RHD as well.

There is a lot of work to be done.

The new GM has to be good, basically
 

Trapper

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Nov 21, 2013
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Tony wants the next GM to be great!

Good is overrated.
Along with Montreal, this is the hardest job in the entire league.
The best/worst jobs in the NHL:
Toronto GM
Toronto Goalie
Toronto random Larry Murphy style player
 

93gilmour93

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Feb 27, 2010
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Some great contracts he got done but moving Phaneuf without retaining any salary is pretty impressive
 
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Nylanderthal

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Jun 9, 2010
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Sorry but asset management is a major part of the business and doesn't go away because you want to ignore it.
In the salary Cap era, new younger, faster NHL, you will live and die by some decisions.
Not all UFAs are created equal. Bozak/Komarov/Polak/Moore/Hainsey do not equal JVR or Gardiner. Letting some UFAs go is fine, a 30 + goal scorer walk is never a good idea. Ask Florida how they like letting Marchessault go for free. Now compare that to us letting Leipsic go. Big difference. Are you happy if we just let Gardiner walk? If Kadri was a UFA would you let him walk too? It's bad. It's done, but it's bad. The 2nd for Plek was not good either. Back to back 2nd round picks and you still haven't addressed an issue. That's bad as well.
This isn’t ea nhl 18, guys go to FA.... Bozak and jvr are not Kadri or Gardiner in terms of importance. We also gain roster space and cap room. Something that might not of been feasible with the guys being bellyached over.
What kind of message does it send to our boys when you sell off guys cause of “next year.” What does Florida have anything to do with that? They gave him up so Vegas would take smith as well. My point was Lou should of gotten in the mix more for the guys who did shake loose. Why couldn’t we offer a 2020 2nd for methot? Demers with retention for a throwaway? Those are he kinds of moves I wanted to see us in on.
 

Trapper

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Nov 21, 2013
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This isn’t ea nhl 18, guys go to FA.... Bozak and jvr are not Kadri or Gardiner in terms of importance. We also gain roster space and cap room. Something that might not of been feasible with the guys being bellyached over.
What kind of message does it send to our boys when you sell off guys cause of “next year.” What does Florida have anything to do with that? They gave him up so Vegas would take smith as well. My point was Lou should of gotten in the mix more for the guys who did shake loose. Why couldn’t we offer a 2020 2nd for methot? Demers with retention for a throwaway? Those are he kinds of moves I wanted to see us in on.
You're right about one thing. It's not NHL 18 it's reality. And reality is you're not going to get an upgrade for the suggested Carrick/Bracco and a 2nd. Nobody wants to deal Kadri/Nylander so we have very few tradeable assets to work out. JVR and Gardiner are our 2 best chips. We don't have a Drouin to make a needed move and we lack serious center depth in the organization. We've just let 2/3rds of a scoring line go who were also the 1st PP unit.
It sends no bad message moving JVR in the summer to create a spot/competition for Leivo/Kapanen/Johnsson. None at all. Another reality for guys fighting for a spot.
Roster and cap space? Could of had that anyway with a summer deal. And we used a 2nd for Plekanec, not those guys you wanted to see. And still haven't addressed an issue.
 

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