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What would it take to move the 1OA pick?

Joe S. said:
I dream that somehow they can swindle Edmonton to take on Stolarz. I'd even be fine if they did some salary retention.
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I find assessing NHL goalies really difficult (almost crazy). So I'm not the best person to say what I am about to say.
I did take a close look at Stolarz at the start of the 2025-26 season.
His team hung him out to dry. Brutal team defense.
But I think Stolarz would improve the Oilers goaltending. I'm not certain that they would have to offer salary retention. I think some NHL teams would bid for his services. I think they would get some kind of talent value back - a 5/6 puck mover maybe.
 
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cabber24 said:
Fire Berube today. Can anyone explain to me why they would keep him? I am genuinely interested in hearing any argument for keeping him. Is there one?

The only thing I can think of is self-preservation, an extra bullet in the chamber. His prospect development, style of play, in-game decision making, and personnel deployment were all shit.
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From an HR and Organizational Behaviour perspective, it does not make sense to be hired into a new situation and just start firing folks before even having a conversation. Never seen it in the NHL before I don’t think.

Chayka and Sundin are coming in cold, there are people under contract and there are people on expiring deals and they’re all already on tenterhooks fearing for their job security with the managerial change. To effectively build a functional team, you can’t just just start dropping bodies without seeing if existing parts fit and can still contribute (or possibly even should be promoted or re-roled to a more effective function for their skillset) or else even the people you want to keep will jump ship.

That’s how Chayka got the backstabber conman monikers when his first move was to tell Doan they’re moving on. Right play, but wrong way.

Now Berube really should be let go after having that 2025/26 post-mortem, vision sharing, plan explaining discussion. There is literally nothing in his body of work to suggest the Leafs will be successful with the current lineup and with the incoming 1st overall pick if they run this coaching staff back.
 
cw said:
EDIT: I'll get flamed for this: If they want a free top 4 puck moving dman: change the coach. His name is Morgan Rielly
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He's never been praised for great D but he does move the puck well and join the rush. Berube's style has done him no favours. I think he still might need to be moved. Let's see what Chayka does with Berube.
 
Guilt Trip said:
He's never been praised for great D but he does move the puck well and join the rush. Berube's style has done him no favours. I think he still might need to be moved. Let's see what Chayka does with Berube.
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His regular season ppg is .58, His playoff ppg is .67. Usually, a players ppg drops 10+% or so in the playoffs.
Between 2016-2025, he leads the Leafs in playoff +/-
His hits per 60 and blocked shots per 60 go substantially up in the playoffs.
Beyond the stats, he usually appears to step up his play in the playoffs.

If more of his teammates did that, we'd be talking about different playoff results.

His skating numbers are still very good on NHL Edge. He posted his second fastest speed this season since 2022. He is still 80-90ish percentile in a number of the skating stats in 2025-26. He still has good wheels.

When in his career as a Leaf has he had a regular, decent top 2 right handed partner? I'm drawing a blank. Am I forgetting someone?

I find him really grounded in his interviews. Seems like a very solid individual.

In the circumstances they're in, needing a puck mover, I'd try him with a different coach/system.
 
cw said:
His regular season ppg is .58, His playoff ppg is .67. Usually, a players ppg drops 10+% or so in the playoffs.
Between 2016-2025, he leads the Leafs in playoff +/-
His hits per 60 and blocked shots per 60 go substantially up in the playoffs.
Beyond the stats, he usually appears to step up his play in the playoffs.

If more of his teammates did that, we'd be talking about different playoff results.

His skating numbers are still very good on NHL Edge. He posted his second fastest speed this season since 2022. He is still 80-90ish percentile in a number of the skating stats in 2025-26. He still has good wheels.

When in his career as a Leaf has he had a regular, decent top 2 right handed partner? I'm drawing a blank. Am I forgetting someone?

I find him really grounded in his interviews. Seems like a very solid individual.

In the circumstances they're in, needing a puck mover, I'd try him with a different coach/system.
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He hasn't had a top 2 partner partially because he's not a top 2 himself. If he were slotted correctly he wouldn't be playing with a top 2 defender. We all know how rare top 2 defenders are let along right handed ones.
 
Bender said:
He hasn't had a top 2 partner partially because he's not a top 2 himself. If he were slotted correctly he wouldn't be playing with a top 2 defender. We all know how rare top 2 defenders are let along right handed ones.
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All the more reason for Chayka to take this exciting bag of magic beans, hop on the phone, and work his way down the line of best defensemen in the league. McKenna for Makar? Click. McKenna for Hughes? Click. McKenna for Heiskanen? Click. And so on. Eventually they'd get a yes.
 
Thomas Harley is potentially an extractable asset (Dallas is at an impasse with Jason Robertson looking for Rantanen money 12.5M, but getting offered Harley dollars 10.6M) but Leafs would have to fight off the Sharks. Going to a different conference and returning Nick Robertson+ might sway the conversation a little bit more in Toronto's favour. Maybe this is more of an Armchair GM post.
 
mr grieves said:
All the more reason for Chayka to take this exciting bag of magic beans, hop on the phone, and work his way down the line of best defensemen in the league. McKenna for Makar? Click. McKenna for Hughes? Click. McKenna for Heiskanen? Click. And so on. Eventually they'd get a yes.
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I would keep whatever young assets we have instead of trying to find a short-ish term solution. Is the team a 2D away from contending? I really don't think so, and I covet a cost controlled, high end young asset more because you'll automatically get more years out of him.
 
Bender said:
I would keep whatever young assets we have instead of trying to find a short-ish term solution. Is the team a 2D away from contending? I really don't think so, and I covet a cost controlled, high end young asset more because you'll automatically get more years out of him.
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"A 2D" would mean you're getting past the top-20 defensemen in the league. Once you're past the franchise-level defensemen, or someone very much on that trajectory, then it's not worth doing, no.
 
I think Simmons floated the idea today of drafting McKenna and trading Matthews and Nylander ( and others ) for assets to build around him... it's not the worst idea if you think they are leaving ..or that the team cannot contend while they are here...
 
caver said:
I think Simmons floated the idea today of drafting McKenna and trading Matthews and Nylander ( and others ) for assets to build around him... it's not the worst idea if you think they are leaving ..or that the team cannot contend while they are here...
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Yeah I bet they do this but only mid season if team is not doing well. They will do what they can in FA (hopefully no terrible contracts) and via trade, and then head into the year with full confidence. Then they play games and see what happens, if they are terrible, they have McKenna and whatever they can get for Matthews and/or Nylander. There's lots of talk of this past season being an anomaly. True or not, it's likely the premise they will be deciding upon.
 
Bill_Berg said:
Yeah I bet they do this but only mid season if team is not doing well. They will do what they can in FA (hopefully no terrible contracts) and via trade, and then head into the year with full confidence. Then they play games and see what happens, if they are terrible, they have McKenna and whatever they can get for Matthews and/or Nylander. There's lots of talk of this past season being an anomaly. True or not, it's likely the premise they will be deciding upon.
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So, the mushy middle. Feels high risk. If things go south, they'll likely get some late firsts for Nylander (4th best player in his draft class) and Matthews (1st). Conference rivals reap the rewards of the garbage seasons, and you hope the one top-of-class pick you get turns out to be a better core piece than Auston Matthews.
 
mr grieves said:
So, the mushy middle. Feels high risk. If things go south, they'll likely get some late firsts for Nylander (4th best player in his draft class) and Matthews (1st). Conference rivals reap the rewards of the garbage seasons, and you hope the one top-of-class pick you get turns out to be a better core piece than Auston Matthews.
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Feels like every path forward is mushy.
 
Bill_Berg said:
Yeah I bet they do this but only mid season if team is not doing well. They will do what they can in FA (hopefully no terrible contracts) and via trade, and then head into the year with full confidence. Then they play games and see what happens, if they are terrible, they have McKenna and whatever they can get for Matthews and/or Nylander. There's lots of talk of this past season being an anomaly. True or not, it's likely the premise they will be deciding upon.
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agreed... unless Matthews tells them he wants out... then it's time to work the phones..( or emails... texts.. )
 
mr grieves said:
So, the mushy middle. Feels high risk. If things go south, they'll likely get some late firsts for Nylander (4th best player in his draft class) and Matthews (1st). Conference rivals reap the rewards of the garbage seasons, and you hope the one top-of-class pick you get turns out to be a better core piece than Auston Matthews
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It is what it is at this point. What's the purpose of Matthews leaving for nothing if we are middling anyway? It's not great either way but you can't relive the Marner saga. Something is still better than nothing.
 
Bender said:
It is what it is at this point. What's the purpose of Matthews leaving for nothing if we are middling anyway? It's not great either way but you can't relive the Marner saga. Something is still better than nothing.
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I dunno. I don’t think I’m that down on where they are right now. Like, this puzzle doesn't seem as impossible to solve as it did before the draft lotto:

https://imgur.com/a/rQW8is1
 
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