Leafs need a massive shake up, and I think I accomplished that here with reasonable signings and trades. Of course, there will be people that think I'm bonkers, mostly fans of the teams I'm trading with, but I think I was fairly good at matching value.
With this lineup, Leafs D and G is as solid as it's ever been. The forward lines are more balanced and I think are a great mix of speed, threat to score, and physicality. There's big guys on every line. Their real weakness is probably at C when compared to other contenders, but I really believe Roy is SOLJD as hell and Domi proved he's capable of centering a top 6 line. Working with Nylander and McMann (or Cowan or Vatrano) will be easy for him.
The following year, Tavares money withheld is gone, cap probably goes up at least another 4M maybe more, and Leafs have more than enough to re-sign Knies, Saros, Woll, and McCabe to reasonable deals.
I also expect one of Lisowsky, Podkolzin, Grebyonkin, or Sidorov to make the jump to the NHL that year, replacing Vatrano.
Leafs draft capital is awful lol but with the young talent they have coming up and vets signed already to long term deals, they would be set for the next four years at least anyways.
Just wanna say, I hate trading with Montreal but I've admired Matheson for years now. He would run the top PP bumping Rielly to PP2. Roy is a great, physical 2way D. Pesce is amazing defensively. I can see that D core splitting time almost evenly, keeping everyone fresh. They can all play 18-20 mins easy and if there's an injury they don't fall apart.
I have a sneaky suspicion Canucks fans are gonna think I'm crazy, but Tavares at 5.5 for one year as a 2C or 3C is a pretty solid addition, considering Petterson seems to be more of a winger at this point. Miller/Tavares/Suter is a solid top 3 center group. Even if Pettersson stays at C, you get Petterson/Miller/Tavares. And to only give up what they give up? No brainer to me.
Also, I explained the Roy trade a bit but just to explain a bit more, I think Vegas looks at this as more of a dump-ish trade than looking for best value. They can Howden and other options for a cheaper 4C and the pieces they get give them some cost effective depth.
These changes all come with Shanahan and Keefe gone. It looks like Berube is the front runner for the new coaching gig and there's rumors that Treliving will take over President and Pridham will move into the GM role. We'll see, but either way I have Shanny and Keefe gone.
So yeah. Fair bit of turnover but I think this is where the Leafs need to go. Invest in D and G while still being a scoring threat through all 4 lines.
So for insignificant prospect (extra contract to the 50 limit) and a late 1st and a 3rd gets you a top pair defenseman whos top 10 in league scoring ?!?!?!? Montreal laught at this ridiculous offer
Karlsson is making almost double what Roy is, if they can afford a 5.9M 3C, they can afford a 3M one. The odd one out would be Karlsson but they can keep both. It just means they lose Stephenson and Marchasseult, but getting rid of Roy alone isn't going to help them retain either guy.
Doing way too much here anyways. Top priority for Treliving shouldn't be trying to disrupt the core, it's building the DCORE. You don't trade a player of Marner's calibre for cap either, assuming he even allows himself to be traded. There likely isn't going to be a trade for Marner that makes sense but who knows we'll have to see. Tavares is more than likely immovable, but he's in his final year anyways, and then his cap could be used towards either further improving the Dcore or getting a replacement 2C if Domi doesn't stick + extensions for the likes of Marner, McCabe, Knies and Woll.
That trade leaves the Canucks with 1 NHL dman signed for next season. So even though the value isn’t bad I can’t see them taking it. Also don’t see Tavares waiving
McDavid, Connor
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