Juan Soto goes to the Yankees for 5 players. Trent Grisham also goes to the Yanks

https://www.mlb.com/news/juan-soto-yankees-trade

Once the rumours starting getting out there, the Yankees felt like the most likely landing spot.

He's veteran insurance with all the callups the Leafs are currently using up; their Giordano if you will.

He is like 8 years older than the next oldest defenseman, and just a year or two older than Clifford and Shaw (who are all younger than me, and I'm younger than most of you here).

Considering Giordano is younger than a large swath of us...

I'm seeing a rumour/semi-rando insider saying Ohtani is staying in LA but with the Dodgers

The only reputable source I see is saying he met with LA. Doesn't mean he won't end up there, but nothing yet from anyone I'd consider reliable.

Well, may as well start the build towards the new season with the big news...

https://theathletic.com/5113061/2023/12/05/blue-jays-shohei-ohtani-meeting/

Ohtani believed to have met with Jays officials at Dunedin.

Not sure it really means anything, but who knows...

Doesn't mean a ton - he reportedly met with San Francisco a few days ago - but it is an additional confirmation the Jays are serious about their pursuit and he's considering them as a real option.

Dreger just said CGY not likely to trade with Treliving.

I have to imagine that's not an absolute statement. If the Leafs make the clearly better offer, and Conroy turns it down because of Treliving, he's not doing his job and should be fired. If the Leafs offer is similar in value to others, that's when that can come into play.

Davidson confirms it was a workplace issue that was reported and investigated and had nothing to do with other players or their families.

I feel like he'd have to say something along those lines, regardless. It's a pretty meaningless statement.

All that really tells us is the team is aware of the rumours. Of course they'd try to downplay them. Without saying what did happen (which, they're also not going to do), a standard blanket denial doesn't actually tell us what didn't happen.

Leafs probably don't want Boston on their helmets regardless of the connection.

Doesn't Boston play in TD Garden?

I feel like the average person probably doesn't know that it stands for Toronto Dominion

I feel like the bank itself doesn't even acknowledge that anymore.

Yeah, my initial guess was something drug related a la Mike Richards, and I still think that's the case, but in regards to other rumour...

As LK says, if it was drug related (at least, drug use related), it's more likely he'd end up in the player assistance program instead of contract termination.

If anything, it supports them.

I don't know about that. This was likely leading to termination regardless. No point in delaying it because of that stuff.

With that said my belief that that thing is what led to this has increased from about 0.5% to 2.5% now.

I was mostly referring to the Hawks' statement - it supports them, even if not in a hugely significant way. It feels more plausible now than it did yesterday.

https://twitter.com/croumeliotis/status/1729575821369569641

Yesterday, he was trending for completely unsubstantiated rumours surrounding his removal from the team, and this new official statement does nothing to dispel them

If anything, it supports them.

I get that Marner isn't playing well now but he's just off a 99-point season and has been elite since Day 1.  Keefe is no favorite of mine but he's right, let's just cool off and see what the next few weeks bring.

Also, who knows what he's saying to his players in private. Part of his job is to manage media narratives. Giving them sound bites to run off of isn't going to help players who could very well already be questioning themselves and struggling with their confidence. Keep that stuff in house and give the media little to nothing.

Wonder what's going on with Perry??

He's a big ol' jerk face.

Kieffer Bellows a 1st round pick in 16 is rounding into form with the Marlies. Scoring a lot of goals.

I suspect he's likely an AHL star, NHL healthy scratch type.

Marlies wing depth took a hit with Robertson and McMann up (potentially for good). So even if he's just a AHL guy, which is probably the case but who knows, it's certainly not bad to have in the organization.

Oh, for sure. Just need to keep expectations realistic.

Kieffer Bellows a 1st round pick in 16 is rounding into form with the Marlies. Scoring a lot of goals.

I suspect he's likely an AHL star, NHL healthy scratch type.

I'm starting to like Bertuzzi.

He's finally started to look comfortable and fit in.