Armchair GM 2021-2022: Catharsis

[herman]

You know you're thinking about it already. Which no-good bum who struggled to produce anything tangible in a 7 game sample do we need to dump?

If you're thinking about Seth Jones, do yourself a favour and just replace those two words with Miro Heiskanen so people don't laugh at you up front.

I'll start!

To LAK: Mitch Marner (signing bonus paid, 4x 10.903M), Morgan Rielly (1x 5M)
To TOR: 2022 1st, Quinton Byfield, Akil Thomas, Olli Maataa, Matt Roy, whatever buriable spare parts they want to dump

Why would LA do this?
Huge jumpstart for their impressive prospect pool on the cusp of entering the league. Immediately adds the speed they seek, especially on the backend and extending the viability of their two big tickets (Doughty, Kopitar). It's a lopsided trade on the cap side, but there isn't much real cash left on Marner's deal and it's a surefire top-end player to bridge the gap between the old Cup winners and the upcoming kids.

Why would Toronto do this?
Byfield is a high pick, but a project (they loooove projects) and is some higher-end centre depth. Thomas has existing chemistry with two Leaf prospects (SDA, Nicky Bobby) and he sort of buried pretty deep behind Turcotte, Vilardi, and the aforementioned Kopitar. Matt Roy is a good middle D get to replace Holl, Maataa is a dump.

[L K]

The bare mimumum/did nothing to change the team roster:

FORWARDS (12)
Right wing: Mitchell Marner ($10,903,000) - William Nylander ($6,962,366) - Jason Spezza ($750,000) - Nicholas Robertson ($821,667)
Centre: Auston Matthews ($11,640,250) - John Tavares ($11,000,000) - Adam Brooks ($725,000) - Joey Anderson ($750,000)
Left wing: Ilya Mikheyev ($1,645,000) - Pierre Engvall ($1,250,000) - Zach Hyman ($4,500,000) - Alex Galchenyuk ($1,500,000)

DEFENSE (7)
Right: TJ Brodie ($5,000,000) - Justin Holl ($2,000,000) - Zach Bogosian ($1,500,000)
Left: Jake Muzzin ($5,625,000) - Morgan Rielly ($5,000,000) - Rasmus Sandin ($894,167) - Travis Dermott ($1,250,000)

GOALTENDER (2)
Jack Campbell ($1,650,000) - Jonathan Bernier ($2,750,000)

RETAINED SALARY TRANSACTIONS (1)
Phil Kessel ($1,200,000)

DETAILS
Roster Size: 21
Salary Cap: $81,500,000
Cap Hit: $79,316,450
Cap Space: $2,183,550

[Guilt Trip]

4.5 for Hyman? That's a huge overpay for what he brings. Listen I love his work ethic but the way he's over valued is beyond nuts. He's not a 1st line player and he's not worth what some are mentioning. He has 5 pts in his last 3 playoffs playing with M&M. He had 2 more 5v5 goals then Mikheyev and Engvall. 1 more then Spezza and he played most of his time with M&M. They deserve  a better winger.
I'm also not giving Galchenyuk or Bogo a 500K raise. Time for Liljegren and I think Robertson could fill in for Galy.
Dubas will have to hold firm with guys this year again with the cap not moving up..every dollar counts.
Also of note...Robertson's contract slid this year so his hit is now 793 333.

[L K]

4.5 for Hyman? That's a huge overpay for what he brings. Listen I love his work ethic but the way he's over valued is beyond nuts. He's not a 1st line player and he's not worth what some are mentioning. He has 5 pts in his last 3 playoffs playing with M&M. He had 2 more 5v5 goals then Mikheyev and Engvall. 1 more then Spezza and he played most of his time with M&M. They deserve  a better winger.
I'm also not giving Galchenyuk or Bogo a 500K raise. Time for Liljegren and I think Robertson could fill in for Galy.
Dubas will have to hold firm with guys this year again with the cap not moving up..every dollar counts.
Also of note...Robertson's contract slid this year so his hit is now 793 333.

I think we have chatted a few times that I'm in agreement with you.  I'm just erring on the side of I have a feeling he's going to get more.  I hope that isn't the case.

[Guilt Trip]

I think if you can get Freddie for 3 mill or less, you do it. I think they would make a good tandem. Not sure we can rely on Jack for a full season. I also think you try to get Rielly signed for a small raise now if you can. If not, trade him this off season and let Sandin, Dermott take over. I would bring Simmonds back at league minimum.

[CarltonTheBear]

"He had 2 more 5v5 goals then Mikheyev and Engvall" is such a weird argument. Nylander and Tavares each only had 4 more 5v5 goals then those two as well, it doesn't really say anything about them as players.

[Guilt Trip]

4.5 for Hyman? That's a huge overpay for what he brings. Listen I love his work ethic but the way he's over valued is beyond nuts. He's not a 1st line player and he's not worth what some are mentioning. He has 5 pts in his last 3 playoffs playing with M&M. He had 2 more 5v5 goals then Mikheyev and Engvall. 1 more then Spezza and he played most of his time with M&M. They deserve  a better winger.
I'm also not giving Galchenyuk or Bogo a 500K raise. Time for Liljegren and I think Robertson could fill in for Galy.
Dubas will have to hold firm with guys this year again with the cap not moving up..every dollar counts.
Also of note...Robertson's contract slid this year so his hit is now 793 333.

I think we have chatted a few times that I'm in agreement with you.  I'm just erring on the side of I have a feeling he's going to get more.  I hope that isn't the case.

Yes we have and I know where you're coming from. I would give him 3 max and that's really pushing it. He belongs on the 3rd line, not on the #1.
And Spezza just said he wants to come back next year so that's a given. You can't turn that down.

[Guilt Trip]

"He had 2 more 5v5 goals then Mikheyev and Engvall" is such a weird argument. Nylander and Tavares each only had 4 more 5v5 goals then those two as well, it doesn't really say anything about them as players.

Not really, he should produce more playing with them. It's pretty simple.

[bustaheims]

"He had 2 more 5v5 goals then Mikheyev and Engvall" is such a weird argument. Nylander and Tavares each only had 4 more 5v5 goals then those two as well, it doesn't really say anything about them as players.

Not really, he should produce more playing with them. It's pretty simple.

Why? Matthews is the finished on that line and Marner is a reasonable goalscorer, as well. Hyman's not on that line to put puck in the net. He's there to get the puck to the other guys, so they can work their magic. I wouldn't give him that much money, either, but using 5v5 goals is a very very very limited metric of what Hyman provides.

[Guilt Trip]

"He had 2 more 5v5 goals then Mikheyev and Engvall" is such a weird argument. Nylander and Tavares each only had 4 more 5v5 goals then those two as well, it doesn't really say anything about them as players.

Not really, he should produce more playing with them. It's pretty simple.

Why? Matthews is the finished on that line and Marner is a reasonable goalscorer, as well. Hyman's not on that line to put puck in the net. He's there to get the puck to the other guys, so they can work their magic. I wouldn't give him that much money, either, but using 5v5 goals is a very very very limited metric of what Hyman provides.

So he's not on the line expected to finish? Why is he on the PP? That's pretty sad don't you think? He was a huge problem for M&M this series. He had 1 takeaway these playoffs so he wasn't really effective was he?
The problem with having a guy who can't finish on your top line is that it makes it easier to check them in the playoffs. The habs just focused on Matthews, who I thought actually played well despite not scoring.

[Chris]

Hyman seemed to forget his role a bit and looked like he tried to do too much himself. I honestly don't know how much he's worth at this point. I don't think he's going to age well because of his style and injury history. Maybe that combined with his desire to stay in Toronto would lead to a more reasonable deal than many think. Assuming he really wants to stay, that is.

Bogo I thought was really good this season and I'd be in favor of a small raise to keep him, especially if we're going to lose Dermott or Holl. Galchenyuk, I don't think he deserves a raise. I like him and would be interested in keeping him for depth but he wasn't all that effective scoring-wise for the most part despite playing hard and at least appearing to give a f...unless maybe they think the Leafs skills coaches can work some magic on him.

We really need someone like Robertson to come in and get comfortable and provide some more of a secondary scoring threat. Hopefully he's healthy and stronger by the start of the season so he can get in a full year.

[CarltonTheBear]

The Hyman-Matthews-Marner played 289 5-on-5 minutes together and in that time the Leafs GF/60 was 4.36 and they had a 72% GF%.

In the 453 minutes M&M played without Hyman on their wing the team scored at a rate of 3.7 GF/60 and they had a 65% GF%.

I'm all for finding an upgrade for that top line if one exists. Good luck doing it for less than $4.5mil.

[bustaheims]

So he's not on the line expected to finish? Why is he on the PP? That's pretty sad don't you think? He was a huge problem for M&M this series. He had 1 takeaway these playoffs so he wasn't really effective was he?
The problem with having a guy who can't finish on your top line is that it makes it easier to check them in the playoffs. The habs just focused on Matthews, who I thought actually played well despite not scoring.

The plant himself in front of the goalie and take away their line of site, and maybe bat in some rebounds - kind of like what Tomas Holmstrom did for Detroit. Also, he averaged 1:30/game on the PP, good for 7th among forwards, so it's not like he was seen as a key cog there, either. Wayne Simmonds averaged more than that, and he was awful.

Also, who else would go there? It's not like the Leafs had a ton of guys lower in the depth charts that would have been a meaningful upgrade.

[herman]

I'd like to move away from planting a stationary player in front of the goalie on the PP. Sort of neutralizes the 5-on-4 advantage (and even strength OZ cycles) if one guy is just standing there waiting for pucks to whizz by.

[Guilt Trip]

I'd like to move away from planting a stationary player in front of the goalie on the PP. Sort of neutralizes the 5-on-4 advantage (and even strength OZ cycles) if one guy is just standing there waiting for pucks to whizz by.

Agreed.