Letang wants to be a Leaf?

[lamajama]

I hope Nonis understands that Letang is not worth that much dough. That's asinine money.

And yes some idiot GM is going to blow his Cap budget by paying him over $7.5. Just hopefully not us.

Good Lord.

 

[nutman]

That is way to much money, now if we only paid Deon say 4-5 mil we could do it. but you just cant keep handing out 7+ a player and expect to stay under the cap. remember we have lots of young players coming up who will need cash to stay.

 

[Stickytape]

Yeah, that is way too much.  Ain't nobody got time for that.

Man, even if I was worth $4-5M I'd play for the Leafs for like $150k.    My agent would be ripping his hair out.

 

[Boston Leaf]

Id walk away from this mess. Way too much money. Sure he is talented but he basiclaly disappeared (yes his teammates did too) in the Boston series He was manhandled by Bostons big forwrds and was a turnover machine with their forecheck. I realize it is only one series but overall I don't think he is that strong a two way dman to be worth 8 mil..No thanks for that money. No one deserves that cash..Let someone else overpay

 

[Zee]

Those Letang numbers are crazy for a guy that is pure offense.  If he was the entire package then sure, but this guy is truly a one dimensional d-man.

 

[Britishbulldog]

Wow!! Does he ever want a TON of money to play with some of the best hockey players in the NHL.

I am not as interested in Letang anymore.

I get the feeling that you're going to be very, very disappointed in a lot of players and how much money they want.

;D

 

[cabber24]

Ain't nobody got time for that.

Relax sweet brown.

Like I said maybe he wants out.

 

[Nik]

I think some people are kind of kidding themselves about this. Letang over the last two years has scored 80 points in 86 games. He was better than a PPG this year. He's done this while playing around 25 minutes a night. He's been used in all situations, getting more than 2 minutes a night on the PK this year. He's been an all-star each of the last two years, one year being second only to Sid Crosby in the voting. He's got good Corsi numbers, if you're into that sort of thing. He just finished a season where he got 914 points in the Norris trophy voting which put him third(Zdeno Chara got 289, Duncan Keith 281, Shea Weber 49, our own Dion Phaneuf 28). He's already been a top 4 defenseman for a Stanley Cup winning team and had 16 points in 15 playoff games this year which was as many as Evgeni Malkin, one more than Sidney Crosby.

So not wanting the Leafs to trade a ton for him? Sure. Thinking he's a little over-rated? Yeah, I'm probably on board with that too. But all of this "who does he think he is" nonsense? He just turned 26 and is coming off a Norris trophy calibre season. Give your heads a shake.

 

[maplesyrup]

I just can't believe the Pens would let him walk. Honestly, I'd entertain Malkin offers to keep this guy.

 

[AvroArrow]

I wouldn't mind grabbing this guy and flipping Phaneuf.

 

[Zee]

I wouldn't mind grabbing this guy and flipping Phaneuf.

Pens will want a boatload for Letang.  Are the Leafs willing to part with young prospects?  I was looking at Letang's career development, he put up 33 points as a 21 year old, then 27 points the following year before his breakout year of 50 points.  Compare to our own young d-man Gardiner who is 22 and has a season of 30 points behind him already.  Are we willing to flip him (or Rielly) when perhaps he's on the verge of a similar type breakout year?  It's a huge risk to take, and our guys will be alot cheaper for a few years.  Who knows if Gardiner will ever develop into a Letang, but it's a huge risk to take if we dump him right now and make Letang the highest paid d-man in the league.  I'm sure the Pens would want one of 2 young skating d-men in a package.

I say we stick with the program of developing our own guys and drafting well.  "The Pittsburgh model", the Leafs are trying to follow that, we have some good young prospects, let's build around it.

 

[Kaberle15]

What if the price is: Kulemin+Liles and the 21st pick.

Who would do it ?

o/

 

[cabber24]

What if the price is: Kulemin+Liles and the 21st pick.

Who would do it ?

o/

That would be the biggest steal in the history of the NHL... seriously?

 

[Zee]

What if the price is: Kulemin+Liles and the 21st pick.

Who would do it ?

o/

That would be the biggest steal in the history of the NHL... seriously?

Yeah I'd do that deal.

History of the NHL?  Not so sure about that..there was a certain Doug Gilmour trade from Calgary to Toronto that I seem to remember being a huge steal...

 

[Britishbulldog]

What if the price is: Kulemin+Liles and the 21st pick.

Who would do it ?

o/

I would think yes.

- If the Leafs can replace Kulemin with Clarkson for around $1 MIL more per year (an upgrade),
- If Letang replaces Liles (an upgrade)
- If the 21st pick is typical of the last few which as mc pointed out is HIGHLY likely (inconsequential)

Last ten 21 overall picks:

2012 Calgary Mark Jankowski (played college last year)
2011 Ottawa Stefan Noesen  (played Plymoth Whalers last year)
2010 Detroit Riley Sheahan (played one game with Red Wings last year)
2009 Columbus John Moore (traded to NY Rangers, played 13 games)
2008 Washington Anton Gustafsson (in Sweden)
2007 Edmonton Riley Nash (traded to Carolina played 32 games last year)
2006 NY Rangers Bob Sanguinetti (traded to Carolina, played 37 games - 2 goals)
2005 Toronto Tuukka Rask (traded to Boston...yada yada yada)
2004 Colorado Wojtek Wolski (bounced around from a few NHL teams, Capitals)
2003 Boston Mark Stuart (bounced around, Jets, played 2 games)

As Nik pointed out, it looks like Letang is the real thing as a star dman.

 

[Nik]

What if the price is: Kulemin+Liles and the 21st pick.

Who would do it ?

o/

Who would do it: Leafs, Leafs fans

Who wouldn't: The Penguins, the tribe that sold Manhattan for 24 dollars

 

[Corn Flake]

Real_ESPNLeBrun: Hearing that Letang camp informed Penguins earlier tonight that they were turning down an 8-year contract offer worth around $56 million...

Real_ESPNLeBrun: Whether more contract talks are coming or whether Pens put Letang on trade market remains to be seen...

If true, turning that offer down is about as much of a "trade me, I'm gone" as a player can say I would think.

 

[bustaheims]

TIOPS_DePaoli: Can confirm Letang's agent Kent Hughes countered the Penguins 8 year, $54 million offer, asking for 8 years, $62.5 million/ full NTC

So, the difference is more than $1M per. That's pretty significant.

 

[caver]

What if the price is: Kulemin+Liles and the 21st pick.

Who would do it ?

o/

Who would do it: Leafs, Leafs fans

Who wouldn't: The Penguins, the tribe that sold Manhattan for 24 dollars

;D ;D

 

[Zee]

TIOPS_DePaoli: Can confirm Letang's agent Kent Hughes countered the Penguins 8 year, $54 million offer, asking for 8 years, $62.5 million/ full NTC

So, the difference is more than $1M per. That's pretty significant.

It'll be interesting to see if they cave to him.  Malkin, Crosby at $18.2M cap hit between them starting in 2014-2015.  If they give Letang anywhere near $7.8 that's $26M on 3 players...