Armchair GM 2019-2020

[Guilt Trip]

I'd say the only way to move Kadri would be if they felt Brooks, Engvall or someone else on the Marlies was ready. Not sure they do yet for a 3rd line role. I do agree with ZBBM and also think Kappy and Johnsson are top 6 talents and will only get better. Let's keep in mind that both just finished their 1st full NHL seasons and by all accounts did well. I see no reason for both not to keep progressing. Now instead of arguing about the top 6 thing, let's also keep in mind that not everyone who plays in the top 6 is a top 6 forward. Hyman has been in a top 6 position for 3 years now and not many witch about it. Both Kappy and Johnsson have better numbers then him and can do just as good a job defensively.
I don't mind Nylander as a centre but he can't play with a Brown and Marleau type wingers. Fact is, no one can other then McDavid. Nylander needs a shooter or two with him as he's the puck carrier.

[cabber24]

Stressing about the offseason roster.

Worries:
How our D is shaping up
Losing Kappi/Johnsson
Having to trade a Nylander to make it all fit
No $ for July 1

[bustaheims]

That's a fair point; at a certain place in the build, you do need to make a push to try to get over the hump though.

Kapanen isn't going to stay cheap (breakaway goals) and I'd argue that his team contributions next year probably aren't going to outweigh adding a 1RD even if only for a year. I get that this is exactly what most people want to say about Nylander, but for me (and Dubas it seems) Nylander = elite and Kapanen = pretty good but mostly replaceable (hello Trevor Moore, Ilya Mikheyev).

I'm all for moving Kapanen - I think his decision making/instincts/hockey IQ/whatever you want to call it will keep him from being much more than what he already is, which is a good but not great 2nd line winger. He's not a player you absolutely need to hold on to, but, he's a valuable trade chip. So, I'm not on board with moving him for a short-term piece, like Spurgeon would be right now. If he's moved, it has to be for someone with more than one year left on his contract.

[Bender]

Stressing about the offseason roster.

Worries:
How our D is shaping up
Losing Kappi/Johnsson
Having to trade a Nylander to make it all fit
No $ for July 1

I think we're actually in decent shape and losing one of Johnsson or Kapanen isn't a big deal when we can get something back in trade. We have one year of pain next year and going forward we have a bunch of cap space and Sandin/Liljegren might be able to make the team in a year and a bit. I think we'll have a few more bits solved at that point, although you have to start wondering how long Freddy can be Freddy for, he's 30 this year.

[Highlander]

Stressing about the offseason roster.

Worries:
How our D is shaping up
Losing Kappi/Johnsson
Having to trade a Nylander to make it all fit
No $ for July 1

Positives
D is going to be fine, we have a lot of meat and potatoes on the farm. Just going to be young and very fast.
Won't lose either Kapi or Mango.
Not trading Nylander, however Brown and Kadri, Zaitzev may go and Gardiner is going.  Bridge deals for both Kapi and Mango (sounds like a new detective show).
A team without Cap problems not doing their job or competitive right now.

Somehow I hope that Dubas can fix the Marleau Conundrum (a hockey relativity problem that Einstein probably couldn't solve).

[cabber24]

Stressing about the offseason roster.

Worries:
How our D is shaping up
Losing Kappi/Johnsson
Having to trade a Nylander to make it all fit
No $ for July 1

Positives
D is going to be fine, we have a lot of meat and potatoes on the farm. Just going to be young and very fast.
Won't lose either Kapi or Mango.
Not trading Nylander, however Brown and Kadri, Zaitzev may go and Gardiner is going.  Bridge deals for both Kapi and Mango (sounds like a new detective show).
A team without Cap problems not doing their job or competitive right now.

Somehow I hope that Dubas can fix the Marleau Conundrum (a hockey relativity problem that Einstein probably couldn't solve).

All of your suggestions are obviously easier said than done.

D won't be fine, 2 rookies into the lineup won't be pretty.
No one wants Zaitzev or Brown at their cap hits.
Mango and Kappi probably don't want bridge deals.
Marleau will be on the cap.
Oh yeah, that Marner contract too.

I wish I could fast forward to October to see how this plays out.

[princedpw]

Stressing about the offseason roster.

Worries:
How our D is shaping up
Losing Kappi/Johnsson
Having to trade a Nylander to make it all fit
No $ for July 1

Positives
D is going to be fine, we have a lot of meat and potatoes on the farm. Just going to be young and very fast.
Won't lose either Kapi or Mango.
Not trading Nylander, however Brown and Kadri, Zaitzev may go and Gardiner is going.  Bridge deals for both Kapi and Mango (sounds like a new detective show).
A team without Cap problems not doing their job or competitive right now.

Somehow I hope that Dubas can fix the Marleau Conundrum (a hockey relativity problem that Einstein probably couldn't solve).

All of your suggestions are obviously easier said than done.

D won't be fine, 2 rookies into the lineup won't be pretty.
No one wants Zaitzev or Brown at their cap hits.
Mango and Kappi probably don't want bridge deals.
Marleau will be on the cap.
Oh yeah, that Marner contract too.

I wish I could fast forward to October to see how this plays out.

Brown is easily tradeable, I believe. His salary is well below league average, he's a reasonable PKer, he scored 20 goals a couple of years ago. He's prime-aged.  We might not get much in return for him, but there are plenty of teams who would take him on.

[Bullfrog]

No way in hell I'd let Kadri go before Johnsson and Kapanen. Kadri's on a fantastic deal is a significantly greater value.

[princedpw]

No way in hell I'd let Kadri go before Johnsson and Kapanen. Kadri's on a fantastic deal is a significantly greater value.

+1

Kadri can prop up a 3rd line all by himself. The other two can't.

[Nik]

No way in hell I'd let Kadri go before Johnsson and Kapanen. Kadri's on a fantastic deal is a significantly greater value.

I generally agree but Kadri's really got to be on his last legs in terms of making stupid decisions. It doesn't matter how great a value his deal is when he's not in the line-up when the team needs him most.

[Frank E]

No way in hell I'd let Kadri go before Johnsson and Kapanen. Kadri's on a fantastic deal is a significantly greater value.

I generally agree but Kadri's really got to be on his last legs in terms of making stupid decisions. It doesn't matter how great a value his deal is when he's not in the line-up when the team needs him most.

I've given this a few more weeks of thought, and I still think there's no way that they can bring him back. What he did again this year can't be condoned.

[.]

No way in hell I'd let Kadri go before Johnsson and Kapanen. Kadri's on a fantastic deal is a significantly greater value.

Maybe I'm alone in this, but I found Kadri looking slow at times over the season relative to the pace of the game. Certainly not calling him a plug by any stretch, but if he and Kapanen were moved for a substantial piece/pieces on the back end, I'd be interested to see what might be out there as a value UFA 3C. I think Nylander is wasted anywhere but the Matthews or Tavaras line.

The priority in the offseason after Marner should be to substantially bolster the top 4 D, assuming sans Gardiner. We're going to have to be prepared to lose something good to get it.

[Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate]

No way in hell I'd let Kadri go before Johnsson and Kapanen. Kadri's on a fantastic deal is a significantly greater value.

All the more reason to deal him now.  We can't afford him as 3C once the contract is over.  And while I wouldn't use as a rationale his suspensions (though Nik's basic point is well taken), Frycer is probably right in terms of what should be prioritized if he is traded.  If you do trade him for a roster defenseman instead of picks, then you can't use that space to sign Johnsson/Kapanen.

Yeah, one way or another we are likely losing somebody pretty good this offseason beyond just Gardiner.

[Bender]

No way in hell I'd let Kadri go before Johnsson and Kapanen. Kadri's on a fantastic deal is a significantly greater value.

All the more reason to deal him now.  We can't afford him as 3C once the contract is over.  And while I wouldn't use as a rationale his suspensions (though Nik's basic point is well taken), Frycer is probably right in terms of what should be prioritized if he is traded.  If you do trade him for a roster defenseman instead of picks, then you can't use that space to sign Johnsson/Kapanen.

Yeah, one way or another we are likely losing somebody pretty good this offseason beyond just Gardiner.

Why trade him with term?

[hockeyfan1]

Dubas on the Leafs cap situation:

"Everybody knows our situation," Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said Friday over the phone. "We've got three restricted free agents up front that are important not just in the short term but the long term, because they're relatively young guys. You've got Andreas who is 24, 'Kappy' will be turning 23, and Mitch just turned 22. So you've got those guys that we want to lock up because we see them as very important core pieces of our group."

...if Toronto wants to get what it really needs – a right-shot, top-pair defenseman in the vein of Jacob Trouba, Dougie Hamilton or Colton Parayko – it has to move a bigger piece. Might it be Kapanen or Johnsson? We can't say for sure, and Dubas' best-case scenario is to obviously to keep both, but he did point out to me something important about Johnsson's status.

"He was a restricted free agent last year and took his qualifying offer, so he's arbitration eligible now, which means there will be a resolution," Dubas said. "It won't be long and drawn out. By the end of July, we'll have a solution to his status one way or another, whether that's a negotiated settlement or whether the arbiter declares what his worth is. And regardless of what the outcome of the summer is for him, he is a player that we strongly value. "

Because Johnsson's contract situation, as Dubas explains, has a clear resolution timeline, you could make a case Johnsson is more likely than Kapanen to remain a Leaf.

Still, after what transpired with Nazem Kadri for a second consecutive post-season and, given his affordable $4.5-million cap hit, it wouldn't be a huge surprise if he was the Leaf who ended up dealt. Nylander, whose cap hit comes in at just below $7 million, would be the best player to move from a financial standpoint, but Dubas has insisted he won't trade him.

Long story short: we know the Leafs need a right-shot blueliner, but the RFAs are their first priority. Once those contracts – at the very least Marner's – are sorted, Dubas can turn his attention to chasing that D-man. The guess here is that it will require trading Brown plus one of the team's core secondary forwards from the group of Johnsson, Kapanen, Kadri and Nylander.


https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/ask-me-anything-which-nhl-team-will-make-the-boldest-off-season-moves