The Toronto Maple Leafs had a busy opening week of the offseason, with a pair of trades that sent the longest-tenured Leaf in Nazem Kadri to Colorado and added two right-handed blueliners to upgrade their sorely lacking defensive corps, as well as taking care of new deals for Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson, Alex Kerfoot and Cody Ceci, but the summer will not be considered fully complete until GM Kyle Dubas gets Mitch Marner signed to a new contract.
It is a good time to take some questions from the wonderful world of Twitter to see what is on the minds of the members of Leafs Nation.
Are the leafs even going to bother beefing up to compete for playoff runs with some grit? It seems a necessity to compete with the heavy teams. Marchment, Hyman, and Muzzin aren't going to cut it.
A - It doesn’t appear that adding role players with size and sandpaper is a major concern or priority of Kyle Dubas. His recent comments indicated that players like that will hopefully be developed, but if you look at the Leafs pipeline, only winger Mason Marchment appears to be the type of player you are describing. The Dubas philosophy looks to be players with high skill, speed and smarts, but if you look at the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues, they had some of that and also players whose best trait was physicality. There are skeptics who believe that Toronto will not have postseason success until they add bigger, tougher players that can make them more versatile (and I am one of them), but unless there is a dramatic change of course, Dubas is sticking with his plan.
Mike I really love that Kadri trade we made , I heard that Gardiner would take a pay cut to stay any chance we can sign and keep him ?
A - The reports of Gardiner wanting to stay in Toronto and the Leafs wanting to bring him back may have been true, but the chances of his return pretty much ended with the trade for Tyson Barrie. The late-season back injury is likely the reason why the 29-year-old has not been signed nearly a week into free agency, but it is still likely that he will get as much or more than Tyler Myers $6 Million AAV on a short-term deal.
Even if Gardiner were willing to take less than his $4.025 Million contract last season on a one-or-two year contract, the Leafs do not have the room to re-sign him and still have enough room to get Mitch Marner on a new deal.
How do you see Spezza fitting in with his new coach? He doesn't seem like Bab's preferred type, and he doesn't seem like an ideal bottom 6 guy, AND there are more than enough skaters to eat up the PP mins. Kind of run out of DAL. Worried it could go real bad... like TML Lindros.
A - Spezza is a fit with Mike Babcock’s modus operandi the last few seasons. He has pressed management for veteran depth up the middle at the trade deadline and that resulted in trades for Brian Boyle and Tomas Plekanec. It was clear that there was not a great deal of confidence or trust in Frederik Gauthier on the fourth line last season. Spezza was no longer capable of playing a top-six forward role and was being paid $7 Million in Dallas, but at $700,000, but the 36-year-old veteran is capable of playing 10 or 11 minutes a night and win faceoffs late in contests.
Im worried about Barrie's contract - does Dubas re sign him?
A - Dubas has his work cut out for him next summer, as Barrie, Jake Muzzin and Cody Ceci are unrestricted free agents and Travis Dermott’s entry-level deal expires. The assumption is that Ceci is a one-year stopgap and that Dermott will likely be a bridge deal.
The progress of Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren and how much the Leafs are paying Mitch Marner are factors in Dubas’ ability to re-sign both Muzzin and Barrie. Muzzin is not a big scorer and will likely cost a lot less than Barrie, who averaged over 50 points the last four seasons and had a career-high 59 points last season. It may simply come down to which veteran will be willing to take a more team-friendly deal.
With all the UFA next year on D, is it going to be Stanley Cup or bust ? saying Marner gets signed by the Leafs
A - “Cup or Bust” may be the philosophy that Dubas has adopted, if you believe that he has taken a page from Raptors GM Masai Ujiri, but the Leafs window is not one year like the Raptors was with Kawhi Leonard, with John Tavares signed for another six years, Matthews and William Nylander signed for five more seasons and Morgan Rielly locked up until 2022.
Why is Kerfoot getting a bigger salary than Kapanen and Johnsson?
A - Kerfoot is a center and centers get paid more in the NHL. Also, Kapanen and Johnsson scored less than 10 points two years ago before hitting the 20-goal mark in their first full season, while Kerfoot had 43 points as a rookie and 42 points last year.
If someone is hurt and not on the active 23 man roster, their salary does not count.
A - Players not on the 23-man roster do not count against the salary cap. The maximum salary that can be buried in the American Hockey League is $1.025 Million, so any amount above that counts against the cap even if the player is in the minors. If a player is injured and is on the 23-man roster, his salary would count against the cap even if he is on injured reserve. The player has to be placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) to have his salary not count against the cap, which is likely what will happen to Nathan Horton, Travis Dermott and Zach Hyman at the start of the season.
You see #leafs signing Nichuskin to add size, and for defense who can they bring in more ; lovejoy, Girardi or Hutton? Also looks like Gauthier, sparks can be moved to for low picks. Thoughts ? Also one move i would like to see is they acquire Honka from Dallas.
A - All for taking a flyer on a former first round pick with talent, but Nichushkin was a disaster with Dallas last season, scoring 0 goals and 0 penalty minutes in 57 games and getting bought out of the final year of his contract by the Stars means they have given up on him at the age of 24. It is highly likely that the Leafs are fishing for a low cost veteran to add to their blueline, with the prospect of Martin Marincin, Kevin Gravel, Ben Harpur or Justin Holl being in the mix for the bottom pairing until Dermott recovers from shoulder surgery. Gauthier may be kept, but it is probable that he will lose his fourth line spot to Spezza.
The re-signing of Hutchinson for one year spells the end of Sparks career with the Leafs. Whether that means being traded or being waived after training camp, we shall see.
What is the max AAV on an offer sheet that the leafs should NOT match
A - Should not match……anything over $12 Million AAV, but it is my belief that the offer sheet talk is not realistic and that no team will offer a deal that results in giving up four first round picks.
What do you make of all this smoke suddenly on an offer sheet Mike? I know everyone thought it wouldn't happen... but this NYI thing seems to have legs. Are you reconsidering the odds yet? #RFA#nhlfreeagency#Leafs
— Holden Caulfield 2.0 (@JDSalingerrr) July 5, 2019
A - The Isles have about $8.5 Million in available cap space, but still have forward Anthony Beauvillier to sign. Count me in the “I’ll believe it when I see it” category when Lou Lamoriello goes over the cap to offer sheet Marner with the financial situation on Long Island in question, ground still not broken a new building and Mathew Barzal a year away from restricted free agency.
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