Shesty is so god damned quick with everything he does. He definitely looks like the real deal. Thought there might be way too much hype for a kid that never played a pro game, especially when it comes to goalies, but I really don't see a flaw in his game. Lighting glove, so quick side to side and a hell of a puck handler.
- mdw7413

Saying he never played a pro game is kind of a slight against him. He was playing in arguably the best league outside of the NHL while putting up ridiculous numbers.

I think the move for LA makes them younger and gets a local kid in the lineup. Clifford is on an expiring contract and a good add for the leafs as he is a gritty competitor who has 2 rings. LA has a really good young goalie who got called up to back up now that Johnson is gone.

guess the question is, is Johnson better than Georgie? I don't see anyone looking to meet our demands at this point. I think that's more of an offseason move, for a team that's looking to upgrade their goaltending, to bring in a younger goalie for the future or one to be a solid back up for a veteran goalie.

big piece from this game is that Kreider can absolutely dominate. his trade value is at a premium. he creates a ton of space and backs up defensemen to make things a lot easier for his linemates and is strong in his own zone. IMO, lock him up. make him captain. to make up for that gap in salary, buy out Staal/smith in the offseason. trade ADA and strome. both will yield some return, especially ADA. Fox & Lindgren will continue to develop, and there's a strong pipeline behind them. and seems like Lindgren knows how to play a very physical game and can rile up an opponent, as he got Tavares to lose his mind at the end there. he's starting to remind me of Darius Kaspairitis
- gskalt

We are not trading Tony D! Stop with this. Idc how deep our pipeline is with D-men there is no sure thing. This guy is still scratching the surface and getting better. I am full aware of what the cap implications might be but this is a guy you build around as part of your foundation.

Simply finding a way to move Brendan Smiths salary without retention will greatly ease our salary cap crunch for next season. Easier said than done, but I am confident that Gorton will get it done in the near future.
- TommyGTrain

Then what of ADA, AG and Brandon Lemieux's contracts?? Smith and Staal will not be enough. I think CK20's next contract will be at least 7 mil per. at least 6 yrs. There will be 30 teams in the league salivating to sign him. He is streaky and has never score 30+ goals.

How can we keep Kreider unless we move salary? Yes its only for next year, we will still be in salary cap hell for only next year, but we would need to move a lot out if we keep CK2, ADA and AG.

Hank would be ideal, but its of course up to him. If I were him, with a year and change to win, I would accept the trade.
- Brukie

That would be the "don't be sellers ANY MORE THAN NECESSARY" part.
Move out the bare minimum to sign Kreider. Easier said than done, I understand. But, as long as he is willing to sign to something that makes sense for the team, they can't let him walk, IMO.

We are not trading Tony D! Stop with this. Idc how deep our pipeline is with D-men there is no sure thing. This guy is still scratching the surface and getting better. I am full aware of what the cap implications might be but this is a guy you build around as part of your foundation.
- Awolff9

You arent aware of the cap implications. ADA will cost at least 3 mil next year, in the following years, if he continues to develop then of course the cost will rise. Fox also looks really good, his cap hit? Troubas hit is 8 million. 15 million is a good number JUST for our right side D. Factor in Panarins 12 and Zib's almost certain 9 in a few years you are looking at 36 million for 5 players. Salary wise something will give. Thats is the problem with the Leafs now. You have to look down the road a bit. Cant say never.

That would be the "don't be sellers ANY MORE THAN NECESSARY" part.
Move out the bare minimum to sign Kreider. Easier said than done, I understand. But, as long as he is willing to sign to something that makes sense for the team, they can't let him walk, IMO.
- Tonybere

If we could have moved the Staals and Smiths already, I think it would have been done so. Next years the problem, but it cant be bypassed. CK20 numbers probably wont improve much. Will he finally hit 30 goals? He will command a salary of at least 7 mil. Hayes got that and CK brings more to the table than Hayes does.

The Rangers havent had talks with CK at all according to reports. I think that is an indication the Rangers are moving on from him.

Wont know for another few weeks or few months. It will all be worked out by July 2nd thats for sure.

You arent aware of the cap implications. ADA will cost at least 3 mil next year, in the following years, if he continues to develop then of course the cost will rise. Fox also looks really good, his cap hit? Troubas hit is 8 million. 15 million is a good number JUST for our right side D. Factor in Panarins 12 and Zib's almost certain 9 in a few years you are looking at 36 million for 5 players. Salary wise something will give. Thats is the problem with the Leafs now. You have to look down the road a bit. Cant say never.
- Brukie

No, you can't say never. You are right there. But, IMO, Georgie and Lemeiux are goners if it helps us fit in Kreider and/or Tony D. Much more important players now and going forward.
I have loved Georgiev and it's too bad it won't work out that he can stay. But a back up, and to call him anything else with Shesty here is silliness, should not stand in the way of keeping a flourishing, top pairing D man.

That would be the "don't be sellers ANY MORE THAN NECESSARY" part.
Move out the bare minimum to sign Kreider. Easier said than done, I understand. But, as long as he is willing to sign to something that makes sense for the team, they can't let him walk, IMO.
- Tonybere

Do you think Kevin Labanc is not kicking himself in the ass for taking that 1 year team friendly deal? The players must cash in when they can. If as some say they can sign CK for 6 mil and 6 years, I think there are teams out there willing to go at least 7 mil at 7 yrs. CK will be leaving 13 mil on the table. Thats a big chunk of change.

Who knows.

Uggghhh....embarrassing loss for the Leafs. Can’t lose to teams like this, even with an ECHL caliber goalie.

The Campbell trade is great, but should have happened 3 weeks ago. Hutch single-handedly cost Toronto the past two games, and probably about five or six on the season.

They’ll still make the playoffs, but it’ll be closer than it should be

Uggghhh....embarrassing loss for the Leafs. Can’t lose to teams like this, even with an ECHL caliber goalie.

The Campbell trade is great, but should have happened 3 weeks ago. Hutch single-handedly cost Toronto the past two games, and probably about five or six on the season.

They’ll still make the playoffs, but it’ll be closer than it should be
- AxlRose91

Leafs really aren't that much better than the Rangers

I mean, 7 points but the Rangers have two games in hand

Zibanejad has 45 points in 39 games, if he had been healthy all year who knows where we'd be

No, you can't say never. You are right there. But, IMO, Georgie and Lemeiux are goners if it helps us fit in Kreider and/or Tony D. Much more important players now and going forward.
I have loved Georgiev and it's too bad it won't work out that he can stay. But a back up, and to call him anything else with Shesty here is silliness, should not stand in the way of keeping a flourishing, top pairing D man.
- Tonybere

Lemeiux is a keeper. He will be a 2.5 mil per player who brings some grit which this team doesnt have up front.

I dont know what will give with this goalie situation. I think AG is better than Cam and Annti. I would hate to trade him for a second and third rounder and then he goes on to win 300 games elsewhere. Goalies today play 50 games. You need a solid back up. AKA look at the Leafs. AG and Shesty will be cost controlled at the most valuable position for a few years.

Uggghhh....embarrassing loss for the Leafs. Can’t lose to teams like this, even with an ECHL caliber goalie.

The Campbell trade is great, but should have happened 3 weeks ago. Hutch single-handedly cost Toronto the past two games, and probably about five or six on the season.

They’ll still make the playoffs, but it’ll be closer than it should be
- AxlRose91

Hutchinson didn't cost the Leafs the game yesterday, the 4th goal he should of had, the other 3 are as usual poor defensive play.

Uggghhh....embarrassing loss for the Leafs. Can’t lose to teams like this, even with an ECHL caliber goalie.

The Campbell trade is great, but should have happened 3 weeks ago. Hutch single-handedly cost Toronto the past two games, and probably about five or six on the season.

They’ll still make the playoffs, but it’ll be closer than it should be
- AxlRose91

Not for nothing but the Leafs are 3 back of the Piles with the Piles having 3 games in hand. Thats a lot to over come. I dont watch the Leafs much but the way they played last night, they just handed the game to the Rangers. So many unforced turnovers and pretty plays that go nowhere. Jeez.

Not for nothing but the Leafs are 3 back of the Piles with the Piles having 3 games in hand. Thats a lot to over come. I dont watch the Leafs much but the way they played last night, they just handed the game to the Rangers. So many unforced turnovers and pretty plays that go nowhere. Jeez.
- Brukie

That's the Leafs all season, trying to score their way out of their defensive problems which doesn't work

That's the Leafs all season, trying to score their way out of their defensive problems which doesn't work
- Rangers99

Matthews and Marner are great passers to the other team

That's the Leafs all season, trying to score their way out of their defensive problems which doesn't work
- Rangers99

Yep. I probably see as much of the Leafs as you do. This is who they are, and they didn't have a top tier (or nearly) goalie behind them. Not that Hutch was the sole cause for the loss, but as we know well, teams tend to play differently in front of different goalies.
Axl is way off thinking that the Leafs are that much better than the Rangers. LOTS of similarities between the two. But, I feel our current roster has the potential to be better from an overall perspective.

Then what of ADA, AG and Brandon Lemieux's contracts?? Smith and Staal will not be enough. I think CK20's next contract will be at least 7 mil per. at least 6 yrs. There will be 30 teams in the league salivating to sign him. He is streaky and has never score 30+ goals.
- Brukie

As I suggested, trading Smith w/o retention clears $4.3 cap space. Doing the math, that gives us just under $21 mill in cap space for next year ( assuming cap doesn't rise, which it probably will ). Rangers could totally keep Kreider and most of their players ( if they choose ).
You want to give Kreider $7 mill for next year? Done!

Kreider: $7 mill
Strome: $5 mill
D'Angelo: $4 mill
Lemieux: $2 mill
Georgiev: $2 mill

If cap goes up slightly, or you tweak above numbers a bit, we could even fit Fast in for next season.
I am NOT advocating the above scenario mind you, but just want to show that it is reasonably POSSIBLE if Rangers want to go this route...

Yep. I probably see as much of the Leafs as you do. This is who they are, and they didn't have a top tier (or nearly) goalie behind them. Not that Hutch was the sole cause for the loss, but as we know well, teams tend to play differently in front of different goalies.
Axl is way off thinking that the Leafs are that much better than the Rangers. LOTS of similarities between the two. But, I feel our current roster has the potential to be better from an overall perspective.
- Tonybere

And as much as Leaf fans don't want to admit it, Andersen has had a lot of bad games too where the Leafs depend on him to make the save to keep them in it and he doesn't, the blame then shifts to how bad Ceci is when Andersen is in net but to Hutchinson when he is in net

Yep. I probably see as much of the Leafs as you do. This is who they are, and they didn't have a top tier (or nearly) goalie behind them. Not that Hutch was the sole cause for the loss, but as we know well, teams tend to play differently in front of different goalies.
Axl is way off thinking that the Leafs are that much better than the Rangers. LOTS of similarities between the two. But, I feel our current roster has the potential to be better from an overall perspective.
- Tonybere

I think the Leafs are better than us, but it shows you the value of goaltending. Of course, their defense is also worse than ours which is really saying something.

As I suggested, trading Smith w/o retention clears $4.3 cap space. Doing the math, that gives us just under $21 mill in cap space for next year ( assuming cap doesn't rise, which it probably will ). Rangers could totally keep Kreider and most of their players ( if they choose ).
You want to give Kreider $7 mill for next year? Done!

Kreider: $7 mill
Strome: $5 mill
D'Angelo: $4 mill
Lemieux: $2 mill
Georgiev: $2 mill

If cap goes up slightly, or you tweak above numbers a bit, we could even fit Fast in for next season.
I am NOT advocating the above scenario mind you, but just want to show that it is reasonably POSSIBLE if Rangers want to go this route...
- TommyGTrain

According to cap friendly the Rangers have 14.5 mil in cap space next year. Add in Smiths 4.5 without retention, yea right, thats 19 million.

Lemieux will be around 2.5 and AG 3

What do you think it will take for a team to take Smiths full cap hit in a trade??

According to cap friendly the Rangers have 14.5 mil in cap space next year. Add in Smiths 4.5 without retention, yea right, thats 19 million.

Lemieux will be around 2.5 and AG 3

What do you think it will take for a team to take Smiths full cap hit in a trade??
- Brukie

I think Smith will need a sweetner for sure, but the fact he only has one year left and can play forward or defense might help us.

I'd rather just try to trade him and retain half. Smith at 2 million a year actually could be somewhat attractive for a decent amount of teams in the league. Even as a 7th D type, 2 million could be palatable.

According to cap friendly the Rangers have 14.5 mil in cap space next year. Add in Smiths 4.5 without retention, yea right, thats 19 million.

Lemieux will be around 2.5 and AG 3

What do you think it will take for a team to take Smiths full cap hit in a trade??
- Brukie

Smith also has a 10 team NTC

Saying he never played a pro game is kind of a slight against him. He was playing in arguably the best league outside of the NHL while putting up ridiculous numbers.
- JRR1285

Still not the NHL, so take your slight and shove it up your ass

Still not the NHL, so take your slight and shove it up your ass
- mdw7413

No, he's right. You're a jackass.
Saying Shesty hasn't played as a pro is silly. It takes more talent to shine in the KHL when you have to be worried about your plane falling out of the sky or your paycheck bouncing on you!!!
Same as all the press who keep talking to Quinn about making the jump to being an NHL coach when he had already been an assistant with Colorado.

Shesty is so god damned quick with everything he does. He definitely looks like the real deal. Thought there might be way too much hype for a kid that never played a pro game, especially when it comes to goalies, but I really don't see a flaw in his game. Lighting glove, so quick side to side and a hell of a puck handler.
- mdw7413

If I had to say a flaw, or something to improve on, could be high shots. Bjorkstrand owned him on those two goals last week

But he looks like he’ll be a superstar back there