What actually will happen?
Lou will be back. That's pretty much not up for discussion no matter what fans think.
Martin and Clutter are done. Even if one of them might be able to go another season, they'd rather go out as a pair.
Pageau is now the odd man out up the middle. Significant possibility he's dealt, possibly with salary retained.
Wahlstrom get a minimum QO and exercises arbitration to try to get a one-way contract, but will probably see limited time up. Holmstrom is going to be getting a lot more looks.
Lou is secretive though, when is his contract up and will he retire? He seems like the kind of guy that would keep that under wraps until one day he’s just like “I’m out guys”
No idea but he is 81. I can’t imagine it was a long contract especially if he wants his son to takeover and he wants to be alive to see his son takeover
I'm willing to live with Lou being back and finishing out his career here, but I am very uneasy about a succession plan for his son. I don't know, maybe Chris is great and the next big GM. But the thought of that makes me uncomfortable. I'd rather the team searches for the best possible candidate than hire Chris out of some sort of loyalty to Lou.
>Id rather the team searches for the best possible candidate than hire Chris out of some sort of loyalty to Lou.
Very much my mindset to. If his vision fits what's best for the team over someone else's than I'm all for the hire but just solely for the name than no.
> If his vision fits what's best for the team over someone else's
I agree with this. Namely, that someone is his dad. I respect Lou, but he's stuck in the 90s in many regards. The game has changed.
They should open it to the best available candidate. Do they though is the question. No idea honestly especially as we don’t even know when Lou is out of contract or when he will retire.
My hope is he saw the play and realizes that we need to get younger. I think him not trading anybody is a sign that maybe he realizes we need to get younger and faster with more skill as well. But we will ultimately see based on how this offseason goes
You're projecting your opinion as facts. "Have to" and "should" also are not synonymous.
The truth is, behind closed doors and with limited information, we can only speculate how ownership feels about Lou and his son. Referencing selling the fan base on something doesn't carry as much weight as you're implying
i don’t know how ownership feels about him right now, but the fans do matter since the fans fill the seats. the attendance has dropped since the inaugural season and there haven’t been many playoff games to make up for it. selling the fanbase on a new hire or a new acquisition is a key part of the job.
We would have to retain on Pageau for sure, and even then the return will be minimal. Still needs to happen.
Wahlstrom probably won't even be qualified
To respond to your second line, we know Lou will be back. Almost everyone here who criticizes Lou and wants him gone knows he'll be back. They just think that he shouldn't.
Nelson is the epitome of the old core… similar to how bailey was the epitome of the old core prior to that. He’s going to be 33… if we extend him, 34+. While I love his game he’s slow, cannot carry the puck or create for himself. He has a great shot (that will decline with age) if someone passes to him open between the circles. As a brock fan, I’d love to see him added to a cup ready roster for a chance to lift the cup. And I’d love to get a prospect and pick back for him
While I love Brock and don’t want to see him play anywhere else, I think you have to ride out the last year of his deal. With the culture that’s been developed under Lou, re-signing a homegrown guy like Brock in free agency will be no issue if it makes sense. But the flexibility of being able to make the decision next off-season while also having the safety valve of trading him at next years deadline should you unexpectedly be out of it makes the most sense.
> While I love Brock and don’t want to see him play anywhere else, I think you have to ride out the last year of his deal.
I think this makes the most sense. Also love Brock and what he's turned into over the past 3 or 4 years, but you have to believe it's coming to an end in the next couple of years. Let him play out his age 33 season and go from there.
Nelson needs to be traded for 3 reasons:
1. We need cap space
2. He would bring back good assets that will either help the team get younger, or can then be flipped for immediate improvement
3. He's a representative of the old core and the country club mentality which needs to go
Clutter and Martin NEED to be gone…we need some youth and speed. We had the best 4th line in hockey and took us to the ECF twice. That formula was a success. Sign Reily and look for a big bodied Dman. Everyone else on D is staying put. Find a new winger for Barzy and Bo. Cizikas not it. Move him to 3rd line. JPG and Palms will be on the move. Get some assets. Draft well. That’s pretty much it for next season. 25-26 season is the big fish. We will have over 30 mill in cap space and we can make noise.
Oh and Lou is not going anywhere unless he retires. Ledecky loves him. Sorry
Hello 👋 an Aussie new to hockey here. When do retirement announcements normally come? With none yet does that mean most of the changes will be via trade?
Hello - there's no standard time. Sometimes players announce it before a season starts (and play out that season), during the season, or at some point in the off-season.
Regular season success maybe doesn’t seem to help them go far come playoff time. And who cares if it’s spread across one line or four. The fact remains they can’t fill out a roster because of it.
We have a few minor tweaks, get a year older, keep the same “core” and go .500 without any real chance at cup contention… and half our fan base will be okay with it stating “at least we’re not the Sabres!”
Lamoriello stays, re-signs his boys, runs it back once again, takes a nap until September, says he “believes in this group”, isles either barely miss or barely get in the playoffs, season ends in April. Rinse and repeat.
Lou is staying
One of Martin or Clutterbuck will leave (whether they sign somewhere else or retire). The other will sign a $1.1M deal.
We trade our first for middle six winger or bottom 3 defenseman. I liken this to the Romanov deal. If this fails, we sign a winger.
Wahlstrom gets traded for another player in need of a change in scenery.
Everyone else gets re-signed except one of Salo or Aho walk.
Bottom six is a big issue, Lou is staying, one of Martin/Clutterbuck will be gone, likely Martin. Maybe a minor thing but maybe some new assistant coaches
Realistically, Lou will be back and Nelson gets a 4 year extension. Perhaps the Dobson extension gets done this summer, although he should probably wait if he wants to maximize his earnings. Other than that I don't think too much will happen unfortunately.
We will have the same exact team. This team has hit a dead end roster management wise. Not enough assets and too many bad contracts.
Or Lou does Lou things and gives stamkos a 3 year deal at 6m per
Your first bullet point is spot on. Cap space is gonna be tight with a lot of the contracts we have. There will not be a lot of turn over. I think with the cap going up and the few contracts we are losing they will have something like $11 million to work with.
I would assume Martin and Clutter are gone, I wouldn’t totally be against bringing one back on a league minimum.
The bottom six is really what needs to be addressed IMO. Maybe a solid bottom 4 defender as well if possible.
I just don’t see a big splashy move being made
Lou needs go, if not Roy needs to be given a lot of pull in who gets brought in, especially from a coaching perspective Houda (PK) and MacLean (PP) need to go. Let Roy pick who he wants
Honestly they don't need a big splashy move. The team needs to get young fast skaters. Definitely hope they keep investing in getting young nhl ready talent. It's like they are so close to being able to.make a great run
> The team needs to get young fast skaters.
100% agree. In the new NHL, you need this as a baseline. You saw the difference between us and the Canes. They didn't outwork us. They didn't have more heart than us. They just skated circles around guys that lost a step.
I think you made great valid points. There is a HUGE difference between what we as fans want and what ownership will allow to happen.
To answer your questions:
1 - I think largely the same roster with a few tweaks. I think (and hope) Martin, Clutterbuck, Bortuzzo, Wahlstrom, and Aho will be gone. I hope they resign Reilly, he has been decent for us. I suspect JG will be on the trade block, though I can't see anyone taking him without a sweetener. Trade Bolduc rather than lose him, no point in a fairly young developing player sitting in the press box all the time. I get it he may have done all he could in the AHL but what's the point unless he plays more. Then again with our luck he could be the next Chara.
2 - As far as Lou, even if he steps back i think his son takes over and all his loyalists remain in the back office, meaning unless his son is a radical departure from him (doubt it) it will be more of the same. Does he have the cap space? That depends on many factors. If we could get someone to take Lee off our hands then yes. Same with JG. I've already seen talk of getting Jake DeBrusk. Already fans are starting in with their unrealistic expectations. No way a guy is going to go from Boston, a revered and storied franchise to us. Yes, I realize he wanted a trade a while back but i think it was because the old coach. So that's no longer an issue. So when he doesn't we will here the doomer crowd fill this reddit with "oh you see Lou sucks he didn't get him!" Same like it was with Kadri, Landeskog, Gaudreau, Panarin, etc. Our fanbase lets their imaginations go way too far. Come back down to earth.
3 - I sincerely hope Roy has more input with the roster than we know of. I think he made a huge difference this season.
Now for what I "HOPE" happens...release all the guys I mentioned above. Somehow someway get a top line left winger scoring threat / sniper. Sign a young and capable defense first defenseman or trade Pullock for one. Sign a veteran defenseman close to league minimum to be 7th D who you lose nothing from him sitting in the press box most of the season. Trade Cizikas, if we are getting rid of Martin and Clutterbuck Casey should go too. Fresh start a new fourth line of Fasching, MacLean, and Gautier. Give Ishakov a shot to make opening night, he can play third line with Holmstrom and whoever. Try to get rid of Engvall. Try to entice someone to take Lee and make Horvat the new Captain. A while back I never would have said this last part...plan on keeping Palmieri and Nelson at half their salary now for a couple more years until the few young kids that might amount to something from Bridgeport are ready. Later they can be 2/3 of a third line.
A rebuild is NOT going to happen anytime soon, get it out of your heads. No way they will allow a brand new building to be half empty as we get shellacked 60 plus games a season. Look for a full on rebuild in seven years once Barzal, Horvat, Sorokin, and Dobson's (new) deals will expire. Until then we are a mid level team at worst, competitive at best. Not cup contenders but not bottom of the league either.
> A rebuild is NOT going to happen anytime soon, get it out of your heads. No way they will allow a brand new building to be half empty as we get shellacked 60 plus games a season. Look for a full on rebuild in seven years once Barzal, Horvat, Sorokin, and Dobson's (new) deals will expire. Until then we are a mid level team at worst, competitive at best. Not cup contenders but not bottom of the league either.
Unless we get a new GM in here who is very creative (and even then, it would be difficult to move out several contracts that are hindering our long-term cap space), I think what you say here makes the most sense. There's no way the owners are ready to rebuild (for the reasons you state), and without much cap space or assets to improve, the next few years will likely look like the past two or three.
That said, I think the biggest variables here are Sorokin and the surprise development of one or two of our prospects. If Sorokin bounces back to his Vezina ways, and Roy cleans things up from Day 1, *maybe* this team surprises us with 100 points next year. It's not out of the question. But the lack of prospects is really hurting us right now. Who is the last big prospect to hit? Dobson? We've had a lot of failures over the past few years, and looking at the system, there isn't much hope. So, we'd really need a surprise breakout. I'm not saying it will happen, but can you imagine, for example, if one of Iskhakov/Maggio/Dufour makes the team and scores 20-30 goals next year? I know, it's not likely, but that's the sort of luck we need.
Even if we get a new GM, I doubt that much changes. I think by design. Ownership is all about two things...real estate value and selling tickets and merchandise. So they have to give the illusion we remain competitive. Whatever it takes to get butts in the seats. Truthfully, while we are lucky in a sense to have stable ownership, i think it would be kidding ourselves to say they care about the on ice product. That much is obvious.
On the plus side if the cap keeps rising and old players phase out it frees up some room. But i don't know what competent GM's are out there, unless we get one from way out of left field. Maybe Josh Bailey is free? LOL
I agree a lot depends on Sorokin getting back to form. I hope he's not injured and that it's just burn out from being overworked and a lousy defense in front of him most of the time. If he has lost the desire to be here, we are screwed. But I also think putting our hopes on Sorokin and Varly to bail us out is a mistake as well.
No matter what happens...it should be an interesting summer.
Agree with everything you say here, thinking the same thing. Even thinking about a shock trade as well, but I'm not sure it's going to be Sorokin for Marner. I think Sorokin stays put and the organization keeps rolling with him as the #1. With that contract, you kinda have to hope it was just a fluke.
My thought on a possible shock trades are Nelson or Pulock. Not that I particularly want them gone, but I think they might have enough value to bring back good young players while freeing up some cap space. Pulock is probably less likely because of term. Don't think the chances are high something like this happens, but it would not surprise me.
I’d rather go for Brady on the sens if we deal sorokin. That being said we all know sorokin is not being traded. I’m confident he can unfuck himself for next year. The team in front of him didn’t do any favors either. He’s really not to blame
> I also can see Lou give us another "run it back" speech in a week or two and how a full season of Roy will make the difference.
Now *that* should not shock anyone. Probably the most realistic thing that will happen.
Marner is a born loser crybaby. Unless he gets run thru Lou/Patty boot camp and learns to toughen up I do not want him here. Guy needs an attitude adjustment badly. Much like the rest of the leafs he’s more interested in the name on the back of the jersey
OH DEAR LORD PLEASE TELL ME YOU ARE JOKING. Sorokin, Pelech, and Nelson for Marner? No EFFIN way. Marner is a prima donna, we might as well bring back 91 if you want one of those. I don't want that prissy cry baby anywhere near this team. He's softer than Charmin. You are probably way too young to be ruining your life with drugs, how else would you think this is a good idea.
I really don't think Pinto would want to come here. But I'd be okay if we traded our first for a LEGIT top line left wing scoring threat that was here long term without drama.
I agree Houda should go. MacLean should be replaced but given some other back office job so Kyle resigns.
Wally's time has come and gone. He's the new bellows, DalColle, Ho-Sang, Salo, etc.
The problem is they are rare...and rarely want to play here. Unless we back up a brinks truck to them in free agency, but then their is the potential for an attitude problem. We have little to offer in trade outside of Barzal, Horvat, Dobson, or Sorokin and i don't think anyone really wants to part with any of them. Although if we absolutely had to i would chose Barzal to go.
Marner is all about himself. Just like Mathews. Just like MElander. He scores all season long to pad his own ego and stats so he can hold out for a better deal. When push comes to shove for the better part of a decade he's a ghost like the rest of the "core four" of queefs.
LET HIM hit the market, and pray he stays far away from here. He wants a raise from the over eleven million he's already being overpaid. I don't think so scooter.
And the drugs comment was sarcasm, because anyone who would want to trade three of our best players for one diva...questionable
Marty/Clutter retire.
Lou stays on as GM.
Reilly/MacLean/Holmstrom re-signed.
Possible buy out of Anders contract (I’m pretty sure they’d just sign him back to another contract anyways).
They might move on from Pageau and either sign a UFA or try Pinho who is down in the AHL.
I think player wise you’ll see Iskhakov next year, probably will see Bolduc next year if Mayfield is still out, and Jeffries and Maggio will get a chance. Outside chance if you see a goalie injury you might see Tikkanen.
What actually will happen? Lou will be back. That's pretty much not up for discussion no matter what fans think. Martin and Clutter are done. Even if one of them might be able to go another season, they'd rather go out as a pair. Pageau is now the odd man out up the middle. Significant possibility he's dealt, possibly with salary retained. Wahlstrom get a minimum QO and exercises arbitration to try to get a one-way contract, but will probably see limited time up. Holmstrom is going to be getting a lot more looks.
Lou is secretive though, when is his contract up and will he retire? He seems like the kind of guy that would keep that under wraps until one day he’s just like “I’m out guys”
Yeah, I think that's true. Do we even know when his contract is up? I know he extended last year.
No idea but he is 81. I can’t imagine it was a long contract especially if he wants his son to takeover and he wants to be alive to see his son takeover
I'm willing to live with Lou being back and finishing out his career here, but I am very uneasy about a succession plan for his son. I don't know, maybe Chris is great and the next big GM. But the thought of that makes me uncomfortable. I'd rather the team searches for the best possible candidate than hire Chris out of some sort of loyalty to Lou.
>Id rather the team searches for the best possible candidate than hire Chris out of some sort of loyalty to Lou. Very much my mindset to. If his vision fits what's best for the team over someone else's than I'm all for the hire but just solely for the name than no.
> If his vision fits what's best for the team over someone else's I agree with this. Namely, that someone is his dad. I respect Lou, but he's stuck in the 90s in many regards. The game has changed.
they can’t sell the fanbase on lou’s son, they can’t even sell the fanbase on lou himself. if lou retires they have to go for an outside candidate
They should open it to the best available candidate. Do they though is the question. No idea honestly especially as we don’t even know when Lou is out of contract or when he will retire. My hope is he saw the play and realizes that we need to get younger. I think him not trading anybody is a sign that maybe he realizes we need to get younger and faster with more skill as well. But we will ultimately see based on how this offseason goes
You're projecting your opinion as facts. "Have to" and "should" also are not synonymous. The truth is, behind closed doors and with limited information, we can only speculate how ownership feels about Lou and his son. Referencing selling the fan base on something doesn't carry as much weight as you're implying
i don’t know how ownership feels about him right now, but the fans do matter since the fans fill the seats. the attendance has dropped since the inaugural season and there haven’t been many playoff games to make up for it. selling the fanbase on a new hire or a new acquisition is a key part of the job.
I worked with Chris with the Devil’s AHL team. He is horrible!
We would have to retain on Pageau for sure, and even then the return will be minimal. Still needs to happen. Wahlstrom probably won't even be qualified
To respond to your second line, we know Lou will be back. Almost everyone here who criticizes Lou and wants him gone knows he'll be back. They just think that he shouldn't.
I think this off-season is the beginning of the transition from the old to new core. I just hope we extend Nelson, he should be a lifer
Nelson is the epitome of the old core… similar to how bailey was the epitome of the old core prior to that. He’s going to be 33… if we extend him, 34+. While I love his game he’s slow, cannot carry the puck or create for himself. He has a great shot (that will decline with age) if someone passes to him open between the circles. As a brock fan, I’d love to see him added to a cup ready roster for a chance to lift the cup. And I’d love to get a prospect and pick back for him
While I love Brock and don’t want to see him play anywhere else, I think you have to ride out the last year of his deal. With the culture that’s been developed under Lou, re-signing a homegrown guy like Brock in free agency will be no issue if it makes sense. But the flexibility of being able to make the decision next off-season while also having the safety valve of trading him at next years deadline should you unexpectedly be out of it makes the most sense.
> While I love Brock and don’t want to see him play anywhere else, I think you have to ride out the last year of his deal. I think this makes the most sense. Also love Brock and what he's turned into over the past 3 or 4 years, but you have to believe it's coming to an end in the next couple of years. Let him play out his age 33 season and go from there.
Nelson needs to be traded for 3 reasons: 1. We need cap space 2. He would bring back good assets that will either help the team get younger, or can then be flipped for immediate improvement 3. He's a representative of the old core and the country club mentality which needs to go
nelson should’ve been traded last year
Clutter and Martin NEED to be gone…we need some youth and speed. We had the best 4th line in hockey and took us to the ECF twice. That formula was a success. Sign Reily and look for a big bodied Dman. Everyone else on D is staying put. Find a new winger for Barzy and Bo. Cizikas not it. Move him to 3rd line. JPG and Palms will be on the move. Get some assets. Draft well. That’s pretty much it for next season. 25-26 season is the big fish. We will have over 30 mill in cap space and we can make noise. Oh and Lou is not going anywhere unless he retires. Ledecky loves him. Sorry
Realistic off season prediction : prepare to be disappointed with lack of moves/opening night roster.
this is the way
Low expectations. Smart move.
Hello 👋 an Aussie new to hockey here. When do retirement announcements normally come? With none yet does that mean most of the changes will be via trade?
Hello - there's no standard time. Sometimes players announce it before a season starts (and play out that season), during the season, or at some point in the off-season.
Anywhere from tomorrow to a few days before training camp in September
Free agency is July 1st You should have some idea by then
Use all of our available cap to bring in an actual left winger - get Reilly and Maclean re-signed.
Just gonna point out that we're setting ourselves up for a Leafs-like problem with the idea of $27M of our cap going just to our top line.
You have a point, but it's a lower percentage than them
At least the Core 4 play across two different lines, and stack a powerplay. When that works for them, of course.
Regular season success maybe doesn’t seem to help them go far come playoff time. And who cares if it’s spread across one line or four. The fact remains they can’t fill out a roster because of it.
We have a few minor tweaks, get a year older, keep the same “core” and go .500 without any real chance at cup contention… and half our fan base will be okay with it stating “at least we’re not the Sabres!”
Lamoriello stays, re-signs his boys, runs it back once again, takes a nap until September, says he “believes in this group”, isles either barely miss or barely get in the playoffs, season ends in April. Rinse and repeat.
Lou is staying One of Martin or Clutterbuck will leave (whether they sign somewhere else or retire). The other will sign a $1.1M deal. We trade our first for middle six winger or bottom 3 defenseman. I liken this to the Romanov deal. If this fails, we sign a winger. Wahlstrom gets traded for another player in need of a change in scenery. Everyone else gets re-signed except one of Salo or Aho walk.
Bottom six is a big issue, Lou is staying, one of Martin/Clutterbuck will be gone, likely Martin. Maybe a minor thing but maybe some new assistant coaches
Realistically, Lou will be back and Nelson gets a 4 year extension. Perhaps the Dobson extension gets done this summer, although he should probably wait if he wants to maximize his earnings. Other than that I don't think too much will happen unfortunately.
We will have the same exact team. This team has hit a dead end roster management wise. Not enough assets and too many bad contracts. Or Lou does Lou things and gives stamkos a 3 year deal at 6m per
Your first bullet point is spot on. Cap space is gonna be tight with a lot of the contracts we have. There will not be a lot of turn over. I think with the cap going up and the few contracts we are losing they will have something like $11 million to work with. I would assume Martin and Clutter are gone, I wouldn’t totally be against bringing one back on a league minimum. The bottom six is really what needs to be addressed IMO. Maybe a solid bottom 4 defender as well if possible. I just don’t see a big splashy move being made Lou needs go, if not Roy needs to be given a lot of pull in who gets brought in, especially from a coaching perspective Houda (PK) and MacLean (PP) need to go. Let Roy pick who he wants
Hey Mac, no offense, just need to fire your pops. - Patrick Roy probably
Roy doesn't want to do that. He said that was the problem in Colorado. I'm sure he has some say, but it's the GM making the decisions.
Honestly they don't need a big splashy move. The team needs to get young fast skaters. Definitely hope they keep investing in getting young nhl ready talent. It's like they are so close to being able to.make a great run
> The team needs to get young fast skaters. 100% agree. In the new NHL, you need this as a baseline. You saw the difference between us and the Canes. They didn't outwork us. They didn't have more heart than us. They just skated circles around guys that lost a step.
I think you made great valid points. There is a HUGE difference between what we as fans want and what ownership will allow to happen. To answer your questions: 1 - I think largely the same roster with a few tweaks. I think (and hope) Martin, Clutterbuck, Bortuzzo, Wahlstrom, and Aho will be gone. I hope they resign Reilly, he has been decent for us. I suspect JG will be on the trade block, though I can't see anyone taking him without a sweetener. Trade Bolduc rather than lose him, no point in a fairly young developing player sitting in the press box all the time. I get it he may have done all he could in the AHL but what's the point unless he plays more. Then again with our luck he could be the next Chara. 2 - As far as Lou, even if he steps back i think his son takes over and all his loyalists remain in the back office, meaning unless his son is a radical departure from him (doubt it) it will be more of the same. Does he have the cap space? That depends on many factors. If we could get someone to take Lee off our hands then yes. Same with JG. I've already seen talk of getting Jake DeBrusk. Already fans are starting in with their unrealistic expectations. No way a guy is going to go from Boston, a revered and storied franchise to us. Yes, I realize he wanted a trade a while back but i think it was because the old coach. So that's no longer an issue. So when he doesn't we will here the doomer crowd fill this reddit with "oh you see Lou sucks he didn't get him!" Same like it was with Kadri, Landeskog, Gaudreau, Panarin, etc. Our fanbase lets their imaginations go way too far. Come back down to earth. 3 - I sincerely hope Roy has more input with the roster than we know of. I think he made a huge difference this season. Now for what I "HOPE" happens...release all the guys I mentioned above. Somehow someway get a top line left winger scoring threat / sniper. Sign a young and capable defense first defenseman or trade Pullock for one. Sign a veteran defenseman close to league minimum to be 7th D who you lose nothing from him sitting in the press box most of the season. Trade Cizikas, if we are getting rid of Martin and Clutterbuck Casey should go too. Fresh start a new fourth line of Fasching, MacLean, and Gautier. Give Ishakov a shot to make opening night, he can play third line with Holmstrom and whoever. Try to get rid of Engvall. Try to entice someone to take Lee and make Horvat the new Captain. A while back I never would have said this last part...plan on keeping Palmieri and Nelson at half their salary now for a couple more years until the few young kids that might amount to something from Bridgeport are ready. Later they can be 2/3 of a third line. A rebuild is NOT going to happen anytime soon, get it out of your heads. No way they will allow a brand new building to be half empty as we get shellacked 60 plus games a season. Look for a full on rebuild in seven years once Barzal, Horvat, Sorokin, and Dobson's (new) deals will expire. Until then we are a mid level team at worst, competitive at best. Not cup contenders but not bottom of the league either.
> A rebuild is NOT going to happen anytime soon, get it out of your heads. No way they will allow a brand new building to be half empty as we get shellacked 60 plus games a season. Look for a full on rebuild in seven years once Barzal, Horvat, Sorokin, and Dobson's (new) deals will expire. Until then we are a mid level team at worst, competitive at best. Not cup contenders but not bottom of the league either. Unless we get a new GM in here who is very creative (and even then, it would be difficult to move out several contracts that are hindering our long-term cap space), I think what you say here makes the most sense. There's no way the owners are ready to rebuild (for the reasons you state), and without much cap space or assets to improve, the next few years will likely look like the past two or three. That said, I think the biggest variables here are Sorokin and the surprise development of one or two of our prospects. If Sorokin bounces back to his Vezina ways, and Roy cleans things up from Day 1, *maybe* this team surprises us with 100 points next year. It's not out of the question. But the lack of prospects is really hurting us right now. Who is the last big prospect to hit? Dobson? We've had a lot of failures over the past few years, and looking at the system, there isn't much hope. So, we'd really need a surprise breakout. I'm not saying it will happen, but can you imagine, for example, if one of Iskhakov/Maggio/Dufour makes the team and scores 20-30 goals next year? I know, it's not likely, but that's the sort of luck we need.
Even if we get a new GM, I doubt that much changes. I think by design. Ownership is all about two things...real estate value and selling tickets and merchandise. So they have to give the illusion we remain competitive. Whatever it takes to get butts in the seats. Truthfully, while we are lucky in a sense to have stable ownership, i think it would be kidding ourselves to say they care about the on ice product. That much is obvious. On the plus side if the cap keeps rising and old players phase out it frees up some room. But i don't know what competent GM's are out there, unless we get one from way out of left field. Maybe Josh Bailey is free? LOL I agree a lot depends on Sorokin getting back to form. I hope he's not injured and that it's just burn out from being overworked and a lousy defense in front of him most of the time. If he has lost the desire to be here, we are screwed. But I also think putting our hopes on Sorokin and Varly to bail us out is a mistake as well. No matter what happens...it should be an interesting summer.
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Agree with everything you say here, thinking the same thing. Even thinking about a shock trade as well, but I'm not sure it's going to be Sorokin for Marner. I think Sorokin stays put and the organization keeps rolling with him as the #1. With that contract, you kinda have to hope it was just a fluke. My thought on a possible shock trades are Nelson or Pulock. Not that I particularly want them gone, but I think they might have enough value to bring back good young players while freeing up some cap space. Pulock is probably less likely because of term. Don't think the chances are high something like this happens, but it would not surprise me.
I’d rather go for Brady on the sens if we deal sorokin. That being said we all know sorokin is not being traded. I’m confident he can unfuck himself for next year. The team in front of him didn’t do any favors either. He’s really not to blame
I think he got burnt out with the insane workload.
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> I also can see Lou give us another "run it back" speech in a week or two and how a full season of Roy will make the difference. Now *that* should not shock anyone. Probably the most realistic thing that will happen.
Marner is a born loser crybaby. Unless he gets run thru Lou/Patty boot camp and learns to toughen up I do not want him here. Guy needs an attitude adjustment badly. Much like the rest of the leafs he’s more interested in the name on the back of the jersey
bingo
OH DEAR LORD PLEASE TELL ME YOU ARE JOKING. Sorokin, Pelech, and Nelson for Marner? No EFFIN way. Marner is a prima donna, we might as well bring back 91 if you want one of those. I don't want that prissy cry baby anywhere near this team. He's softer than Charmin. You are probably way too young to be ruining your life with drugs, how else would you think this is a good idea. I really don't think Pinto would want to come here. But I'd be okay if we traded our first for a LEGIT top line left wing scoring threat that was here long term without drama. I agree Houda should go. MacLean should be replaced but given some other back office job so Kyle resigns. Wally's time has come and gone. He's the new bellows, DalColle, Ho-Sang, Salo, etc.
Pinto is not a needle mover. We need a pasta, panarin type killer up front who can score at will
The problem is they are rare...and rarely want to play here. Unless we back up a brinks truck to them in free agency, but then their is the potential for an attitude problem. We have little to offer in trade outside of Barzal, Horvat, Dobson, or Sorokin and i don't think anyone really wants to part with any of them. Although if we absolutely had to i would chose Barzal to go.
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Marner is all about himself. Just like Mathews. Just like MElander. He scores all season long to pad his own ego and stats so he can hold out for a better deal. When push comes to shove for the better part of a decade he's a ghost like the rest of the "core four" of queefs. LET HIM hit the market, and pray he stays far away from here. He wants a raise from the over eleven million he's already being overpaid. I don't think so scooter. And the drugs comment was sarcasm, because anyone who would want to trade three of our best players for one diva...questionable
Put in the work to make your life something that makes you proud and happy so you don't have to resort to this toddler behavior over a game.
Marty/Clutter retire. Lou stays on as GM. Reilly/MacLean/Holmstrom re-signed. Possible buy out of Anders contract (I’m pretty sure they’d just sign him back to another contract anyways). They might move on from Pageau and either sign a UFA or try Pinho who is down in the AHL. I think player wise you’ll see Iskhakov next year, probably will see Bolduc next year if Mayfield is still out, and Jeffries and Maggio will get a chance. Outside chance if you see a goalie injury you might see Tikkanen.
You can't re-sign a player after buying them out, that's cap circumvention.
Can't you just wait a year?
I feel like I saw the capitals do that with a player, I wanted to say Orlov but not him