Speculation: Who stays..Jake or Nylander

[Morbo]

what's harder to find, a top line forward or a decent offensive #4 LD?

 

[Gary Nylund]

Come to the realization both wont work.

Have at it

I say you're wrong and both is an option. It's also the option that I prefer.

 

[Liminality]

"Baby"? What is wrong with you people?

 

[AllDay28]

lol Nylander the Baby coming from this bipolar fanbase is great. Leaf fans should be the poster boy/girl for mental health issues

 

[nuck]

Neither. This club does not have a defense worth fighting to preserve. Dump both, add Trouba.

 

[Its not your fault]

Jake, Baby. does someone have a crush seems odd choices.

 

[Buds17]

Could be neither, either or both, depending on the contracts they're looking for. Could argue Gardiner might be tougher to retain as a pending UFA, but maybe Nylander ends up with the bigger contract. Either also isn't really going to make the other expendable as they play different positions.

 

[deletethis]

The baby insult aside it's a legit discussion. My first thought was neither but why not sign Nylander, unfortunately let Gardiner walk, trade Kadri and anoint Nylander the team's 3rd line center/1st unit PP guy/Matthews' late game winger?

It would super nice if there was more cap space to go around but there just isn't. Even avoiding any big mistakes, there's no way to create a super team any longer. You have to make decisions. Chicago had Kane, Toews, Seabrook, Keith and Hossa (with a now illegal cap circumvention contract) and a balance of a team that was constantly turned over. Right now I see Tavares, Matthews, Marner, Rielly and Mr.X as the Leafs' big earners. Is Mr. X Nylander or another defenseman? It seems like the template is for that player to be a defenseman. I guess the Leafs could continue to be top heavy at forward but that will leave a lot of scrambling for defensemen every summer. But the reality is that players we like will have to leave every summer for the next 6 to 10 years. To keep Nylander and all, Kadri and Gardiner would have to be the first casualties of players you'd want to keep but can't. Finding a place for Marleau's a given. But later it could be Zaitsev.

A similar team to Chicago would be Pittsburgh. Crosby, Malkin, Kessel (discounted), Letang and Fleury in their recent Cup seasons then a scramble for the balance of the lineup. Way way back they had this real nice forward piece Jordan Staal who it was impossible to keep long term. They didn't move him because they didn't value him, they moved him because there was a cap crunch looming.

But there's some good news: look at what happened long term in Chicago and Pittsburgh. At time marches on, the contracts to their superstars become smaller and smaller fractions of their total cap hits allowing them to acquire more expensive support talent. So after the pain of watching players we'd really love keep have to go, we'll eventually see better reinforcements (in theory) as time marches forward.

 

[glucker]

“Both” and “Neither” should be options.


If it turns out that both are too hard to keep, then it’s entirely possible that whoever Nylander gets traded for would also price us out of resigning Gardiner.


I like Nylander more than Gardiner, and since he’s RFA as opposed to Gardiner’s UFA status, I think he’s the one that stays.

 

[moon111]

When I hear Nylander The Baby, all I can think of is the line from Dirty Dancing was, "Nobody puts baby in the corner." Not, "Baby won't go in the corners."

 

[HandshakeLineRespect]

The sooner we flush Gards out the better off this team will be. Dont need brain dead turnover machines on this team.

 

[ThreeLeftSkates]

But Pajama Boy signed with the understanding that the band was not going to be broken up.
Oh, the humanity!

Hint:
Maybe if we stop by enough you will stay out of our board.

 

[LeafGrief]

We're keeping Nylander, baby.

I'd like to keep Jake too, but Dermott is almost ready to replace him. We don't have a replacement for Nylander. Kappy has been great, but they're barely even from the same planet. In an ideal world it's Marleau who goes.

 

[PromisedLand]

Both

This! (if it goes according to how both babs and dubas want it).

OP you gotta know how cap works.

Only way Gards prices himself out of TO is if he is looking for 6.5M+

 

[Tak7]

Given how hard they are trying to squeeze Nylander, I'm guessing that they take a long hard run at trying to resign Gardiner.

Unlike JvR and Bozak, whom they let walk without much of an effort, I think they try hard to make Gardiner fit.

As frustrating as he is to watch, there aren't too many puck moving possession owning top 4 Dmen capable of putting up 50+.

My TL; DR answer = BOTH

 

[robertmac43]

Gardiner is easier to replace from within the system in my eyes

 

[ShaneFalco]

But Pajama Boy signed with the understanding that the band was not going to be broken up.
Oh, the humanity!

Hint:
Maybe if we stop by enough you will stay out of our board.

 

[SoVi3t]

Where is the option for "neither" ???

 

[AuGsY]

I will never understand why people want to pay jake gardiner 5.5-6m a season for his constant giveaways and brainfarts. Dermott is nearly ready to take his spot in the top-4 and will cost us under a million dollars in cap for the next 2 years.

 

[Goleafsgo95]

What kind of f***ing question is that? Nylander.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

But Pajama Boy signed with the understanding that the band was not going to be broken up.
Oh, the humanity!

Hint:
Maybe if we stop by enough you will stay out of our board.

Kick rocks.

 

[diceman934]

This is silly I would hope both but one is signed right now and wants to stay and the other is not signed. If in 10 games or so and Kappy keeps up his strong play along the wall and on the forecheck then the decision can become tougher.

It could be both if we trade for a top 4 d man. Kappy is building his worth while Nylander is out so providing more options.

Looking at our cap right now we have to shed Horton and perhaps Marleau to get all signed next year. I can not see us moving Kadri at this time as his value is far greater right now then most. We need his push back. Kadri is a player if he is going to be moved it is done with a year left on his contract at a very high return for a top prospect and a draft pick etc.,

Our GM has left us with more questions that answers as we are going into the season and do not have any idea of available cap space with out getting players signed. We need at least 2 of the 3 sighed before the deadline so that we can make decisions on roster depth for a playoff run as well as to ensure we can shed a player if needed at a high evaluation at deadline time.

 

[TheProspector]

With Marleau probably gone next year, and Hainsey definitely gone, can't imagine why we can't have both.

 

[Al14]

They can BOTH GTFO... Nylander for being greedy, and, Gardiner for being so darned giving!

 

[Canadian Game]

Come to the realization both wont work.

Have at it

Since Nylander and the Leafs haven't reached a contract agreement, you call Nylander a baby? It takes both sides to come to an agreement and they're both looking out for their best interests in the short and long term. It's called business.

So far both parties have showed more maturity than the creation of this thread.