Armchair GM Thread 2024-25
- Thread starter herman
- Start date
Champ Kind
New member
Ooooooo, good, I get to be the frst one throwing out reactionary and baseless organizational moves.
First, and foremost, let's get a good old Bay Street two-for-one special happening and sign Brett Pesce and Rod Brind'Amour. They can split the U-Haul costs by driving up together.
Second, sign a good-but-no-great goaltender (Laurent Broissant?) to go 1A-1B with Woll. Hidelby waiting at the Ricoh for when Woll inevitably chips a toenail.
I think Tavares can be run back as the robotic heart and soul of the team (Artificial Intelligence?) but they need to upgrade 3C to alleviate the pressure of JT's defensive zone misgivings. Looking back, how good would somebody like Vincent Trochek have looked on 3C after being salary dumped by Carolina (granted, the $6M could not have been accommodated then).
Marner must be moved somehow, someway. Send him to Florida to play with Matthew, he seems to vibe with people who have that name. Picks and young players are fine, the $11M is more important. Sign Scott Walker, Max Domi and Teuvo Teravainen for $15M collectively and the Leafs will be exponentially more balanced than they are now.
Ride the cheap young forwards, (reluctantly) trade David (Mein) Kampf and give an opportunity for Minten to make the team. Bob's your uncle.
First, and foremost, let's get a good old Bay Street two-for-one special happening and sign Brett Pesce and Rod Brind'Amour. They can split the U-Haul costs by driving up together.
Second, sign a good-but-no-great goaltender (Laurent Broissant?) to go 1A-1B with Woll. Hidelby waiting at the Ricoh for when Woll inevitably chips a toenail.
I think Tavares can be run back as the robotic heart and soul of the team (Artificial Intelligence?) but they need to upgrade 3C to alleviate the pressure of JT's defensive zone misgivings. Looking back, how good would somebody like Vincent Trochek have looked on 3C after being salary dumped by Carolina (granted, the $6M could not have been accommodated then).
Marner must be moved somehow, someway. Send him to Florida to play with Matthew, he seems to vibe with people who have that name. Picks and young players are fine, the $11M is more important. Sign Scott Walker, Max Domi and Teuvo Teravainen for $15M collectively and the Leafs will be exponentially more balanced than they are now.
Ride the cheap young forwards, (reluctantly) trade David (Mein) Kampf and give an opportunity for Minten to make the team. Bob's your uncle.
Jolly good show chaps
Member
When thinking about potential new goalies Boston would seem to be a good trade partner for Ullmark...for someone in the Western conference.
Wonder if someone like the Ducks can spin a deal for him and flip him to Toronto. Bonus if Marner can be persuaded to waive his no-trade clause to go there in return for a package.
Wonder if someone like the Ducks can spin a deal for him and flip him to Toronto. Bonus if Marner can be persuaded to waive his no-trade clause to go there in return for a package.
Champ Kind
New member
Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington said:
Shoot, my mistake, I thought Ullmark was UFA this year. Edit forthcoming.
Jolly good show chaps
Member
And there's me calling him Ullman instead of Ullmark
Highlander
Active member
Loved the post, funny and not far of the mark.A Weekend at Bernier's said:
Jolly good show chaps
Member
Arn said:
I was up for this (with extension in place) last year. No chance Marner waives for Winnipeg though.
bustaheims
Well-known member
Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington said:
Also, no chance Winnipeg does it, either. They have no one to take his place.
bustaheims
Well-known member
While I?m far from the ?blow it all up? camp, I do recognize there do need to be some significant changes to the roster - either in terms of magnitude or quantity. In my mind, there are only 3 guys who spent significant time on the NHL roster who should be considered untouchable - Matthews, Nylander, and Knies. Everyone else should ne a potential trade piece if it means upgrading in net, adding a top pairing D, or other significant upgrade.
mr grieves
New member
While I was for it before they signed his extension and was for it again after last season, I don't see any point in trading Marner at this late date--too little term left, likely contract demands, that dang NMC. What value are they getting back? So I find myself thinking they should... 'run it back'? No, more like 'ride it out.'
The solvable (without a rebuild) problem is that there's no depth and no middle-class with this core on these contracts under the COVID cap. That's changing. The cap going up, Tavares's contract is off the books next season. Maybe he comes back at a number in line with his current value.
As to Marner, he makes sense around that Nylander number, but no more. What happens if he's handled the way Stamkos was (c. 2016)? Only the most wretched, desperate of teams (Caps?) would pay him $11.5M x 8 Leafs years / 7 UFA years = $13M AAV. Let him see what's out there. I suspect, in the end, an offer he finds somewhat underwhelming from the Leafs will make him richer than anything any other team is inclined to offer a guy who's not proven he can be The Guy.
So I'd look to keep Domi around, get some defensemen who can move the puck, trade Kampf and let a kid take that line... small stuff.
Oh, and new coach. It's past time.
The solvable (without a rebuild) problem is that there's no depth and no middle-class with this core on these contracts under the COVID cap. That's changing. The cap going up, Tavares's contract is off the books next season. Maybe he comes back at a number in line with his current value.
As to Marner, he makes sense around that Nylander number, but no more. What happens if he's handled the way Stamkos was (c. 2016)? Only the most wretched, desperate of teams (Caps?) would pay him $11.5M x 8 Leafs years / 7 UFA years = $13M AAV. Let him see what's out there. I suspect, in the end, an offer he finds somewhat underwhelming from the Leafs will make him richer than anything any other team is inclined to offer a guy who's not proven he can be The Guy.
So I'd look to keep Domi around, get some defensemen who can move the puck, trade Kampf and let a kid take that line... small stuff.
Oh, and new coach. It's past time.
Quick, boring-ish armchair take:
Trade Kampf for cap relief. Sign Dewar for $1mil. Trade Liljegren for a Sandin-like return if possible. Sign Domi for $4mil, Montour for $8.5mil, Tanev for $4.5mil:
Knies-Matthews-Nylander
McMann-Domi-Marner
Cowan-Tavares-Jarnkrok
Holmberg-Dewar-Reaves
Rielly-Tanev
McCabe-Montour
Benoit-Timmins
Woll
____
That leaves you with just under $2.9mil for a goalie and maybe a spare roster player. The UFA goalie market is fugly. The Leafs will likely need to find a cheap platoon option with Woll and just like hope for the best, with possibly having a league minimum Murray and Hildebeast as back-up options with the Marlies.
Trade Kampf for cap relief. Sign Dewar for $1mil. Trade Liljegren for a Sandin-like return if possible. Sign Domi for $4mil, Montour for $8.5mil, Tanev for $4.5mil:
Knies-Matthews-Nylander
McMann-Domi-Marner
Cowan-Tavares-Jarnkrok
Holmberg-Dewar-Reaves
Rielly-Tanev
McCabe-Montour
Benoit-Timmins
Woll
____
That leaves you with just under $2.9mil for a goalie and maybe a spare roster player. The UFA goalie market is fugly. The Leafs will likely need to find a cheap platoon option with Woll and just like hope for the best, with possibly having a league minimum Murray and Hildebeast as back-up options with the Marlies.
dappleganger
Active member
Offseason Game Plan
Max Domi - Auston Matthews - Tyler Bertuzzi
Matthew Knies - John Tavares - William Nylander
Bobby McMann - Pontus Holmberg - Calle Jarnkrok
Nick Robertson - David Kampf - Connor Dewar
Extras:
Ryan Reaves
Noah Gregor
____________ - Brett Pesce
Simon Benoit - Jake McCabe
Joel Edmundson - _________
Joseph Woll
___________
*Players needed to be signed in italics
Players to target in Free Agency:
Forwards
Elias Lindholm
Chandler Stephenson
Tyler Toffoli
Jake DeBrusk
Victor Olofsson
Kevin Labanc
Dakota Joshua
Danton Heinen
Stefan Noesen
Defencemen
Sean Walker
Christopher Tanev
Nikita Zadorov
Brandon Montour
Sean Monahan
Goalies
Laurent Brossoit
Anthony Stolarz
Possible Trade:
Mitch Marner + Morgan Rielly
for
Zachary Werenski + Patrik Laine + Alex Nylander
Go win a Cup:
Max Domi - Auston Matthews - Tyler Bertuzzi
Matthew Knies - John Tavares - William Nylander
Bobby McMann - Pontus Holmberg - Patrik Laine
Calle Jarnkrok - David Kampf - Connor Dewar
Zach Werenski - Brett Pesce
Simon Benoit - Jake McCabe
Joel Edmundson - Sean Walker
*Ideally you may want to do something with Tavares at 2C and Holmberg at 3C. Maybe the answer is Tavares at 3C, Holmberg redistributed and sign one of Lindholm or Chandler.
Also, there's going to be a press conference where Tavares gives up the C and hands it over to Matthews.
Max Domi - Auston Matthews - Tyler Bertuzzi
Matthew Knies - John Tavares - William Nylander
Bobby McMann - Pontus Holmberg - Calle Jarnkrok
Nick Robertson - David Kampf - Connor Dewar
Extras:
Ryan Reaves
Noah Gregor
____________ - Brett Pesce
Simon Benoit - Jake McCabe
Joel Edmundson - _________
Joseph Woll
___________
*Players needed to be signed in italics
Players to target in Free Agency:
Forwards
Elias Lindholm
Chandler Stephenson
Tyler Toffoli
Jake DeBrusk
Victor Olofsson
Kevin Labanc
Dakota Joshua
Danton Heinen
Stefan Noesen
Defencemen
Sean Walker
Christopher Tanev
Nikita Zadorov
Brandon Montour
Sean Monahan
Goalies
Laurent Brossoit
Anthony Stolarz
Possible Trade:
Mitch Marner + Morgan Rielly
for
Zachary Werenski + Patrik Laine + Alex Nylander
Go win a Cup:
Max Domi - Auston Matthews - Tyler Bertuzzi
Matthew Knies - John Tavares - William Nylander
Bobby McMann - Pontus Holmberg - Patrik Laine
Calle Jarnkrok - David Kampf - Connor Dewar
Zach Werenski - Brett Pesce
Simon Benoit - Jake McCabe
Joel Edmundson - Sean Walker
*Ideally you may want to do something with Tavares at 2C and Holmberg at 3C. Maybe the answer is Tavares at 3C, Holmberg redistributed and sign one of Lindholm or Chandler.
Also, there's going to be a press conference where Tavares gives up the C and hands it over to Matthews.
Zee said:
I'd love to finally see a top goalie here, but I don't really see anyone available right now. Maybe next offseason with potentially (a lot) more cap space available we go bigger game hunting for a goalie.
Guilt Trip
Well-known member
I have no idea why any of you have Jarnkrok in your lineup. He does nothing offensively in the post season. They should have dumped him last season and kept Lafferty for half the money. He'll be 33 at the start of next season and is a waste of space for essentially another 4th liner. We can't score in the playoffs so let's keep a guy who won't score, but trade Kampf, a guy who makes 300K more but is actually a good 4th liner/PKer in the playoffs. I'm sure there are plenty of Marlies we can use that won't score either for less then half the price.
And I'm not opposed to moving Kampf because of Holmberg. Both should go and you'd gain 2.6M in space with their replacements.
And I'm not opposed to moving Kampf because of Holmberg. Both should go and you'd gain 2.6M in space with their replacements.
Guilt Trip
Well-known member
The only target might be Brossoit out of the Peg. Stolarz is decent and will be looking for a raise.CarltonTheBear said:
herman
Well-known member
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/four-mitch-marner-trades-the-maple-leafs-could-consider/
[youtube]dX_j8gpir6M[/youtube]
Let's say Kypreos and his connections are correct and Marner is going to just turn this into a UFA-1 bidding war:
One of the suggestions I think makes sense from these is to target a young forward prospect (C preferrably) as the primary return and use the cap savings from 'losing' a Marner deal to shop on the stronger UFA D market this year.
Not entirely possible to get these, but it would make this move more palatable if the Leafs land one of:
Quinton Byfield, Shane Wright, Mason McTavish, Logan Cooley(!), that sort of pipe dream.
[youtube]dX_j8gpir6M[/youtube]
Let's say Kypreos and his connections are correct and Marner is going to just turn this into a UFA-1 bidding war:
One of the suggestions I think makes sense from these is to target a young forward prospect (C preferrably) as the primary return and use the cap savings from 'losing' a Marner deal to shop on the stronger UFA D market this year.
Not entirely possible to get these, but it would make this move more palatable if the Leafs land one of:
Quinton Byfield, Shane Wright, Mason McTavish, Logan Cooley(!), that sort of pipe dream.
herman said:
I don't know this draft well enough, but if the top of it could be described as "strong" I wouldn't hate this. I might consider David Jiricek instead of Johnson though. Or maybe even targeting both of them instead of the draft pick to get NHL bodies into the line-up sooner. Again as the article says the key here is opening up a boatload of cap space to target some combination of a C, D, or maybe G to fill holes on the roster while getting two high end young assets.
Nah. I respect Larsson as a player but there's a number of RHD we could sign for free this offseason that would fill a similar role on the team. So it comes down to just Wright really, and I'd put him behind both Johnson and Jiricke individually.
Honestly, not horrible. I'm a big Markstrom fan though and at 25% he'd give us the best goalie we've had in a long time for a pretty affordable rate. Value wise I don't think Minten is needed in this at all, or even probably BOTH Robertson and Lily.
SURELY the writer of this story slid this one in as a joke and just assumed the editors would use some common sense and remove it from the final publication, right? Right?! And I like both players the Leafs are getting there but jeeeeeze.