"I'm not sure what to do here because the Leafs are in such a mess. "

This has to be a joke, no? They are one of so few teams without a bad contract needing to be bought-out. Kerfoot can be moved easily,. They aren't buying him out.

It's ironic he says that when most team have a Skinner, Bobrovsky, Hayes contract

What a "Mess" a team with a signed core of Matthews/Marner/Tavares/Nylander/Rielly/Muzzin is.
- RogerRoeper

Depends how you look at it Roger. Example: If league DOES allow a "contract buy-out" and the CAP goes up zero or just a small bit. Teams with a "bad" contract can rid themselves of 6-7-8-10 million and be able to add flexiblity under the CAP. If the Leafs do NOT have a contract to "get rid of" they go forward with the same HALF their CAP tied up in 4 forwards...Barrie leaving...defence still not good enuf WITH Barrie, let lone with him gone. The Leafs will still be hard pressed to add any substantial depth while still carrying all that salary. Now, I will agree there would be no glaring BAD contract. But, I would say bad roster construction with sooooo much salary tied up in 4 guys, all bringing lots of offense, but none being much help defensively. Just too much of the same thing for all that money.
Time will tell. But, unless the Leafs add some REAL help to get the team more defensively responsible. I see the CAP buy-out helping almost ALL teams more-so than it would help the Leafs. Leafs would be better if the league did not offer this buy-out, as other teams would be unable to create that new CAP space and get that "jump" on the Leafs.

Why Why Why? NHL General Managers and their owners never learn. It is time to start Managing the Cap, not just giving money away, it's not candy or the deposit on a bottle of beer. All a buyout does is give GM's another do over. It is time for players to realize that the goose is cooked and that getting a pay increase is because you earned it. So some players will actually have to take a pay cut on their next contract because they were overpaid. A prime example is Saad, he turned a situation into a great contract for him, but there is no way he should be getting a raise in 2021.

I have one suggestion to all sports leagues and that is go the different levels of Government and negotiate an Athlete's tax profile to put all teams on equal footing, Tampa Bay is an example of a team that has benefited from good scouting and better tax laws.
- Hawks1961

2 points;

1. They have a hard cap, I don't know what else would you could do to help them manage their cap.

2. Its because all contracts don't look as good 3 or 4 years later than they originally did. Its the price you pay for "going for it". Rarely pays off. Btw, that happens in every sport.

Lastly, I didn't like the Seabs contract when Stan gave it to him. I knew it was bad, and would get worse. Other than Kane, he deserved it more than anyone, if you were going to reward a player for past performance. I'll take the 3 cups, and the hit on Backes, and live with it.

RE: Columbus: Disagree with both Wennberg & Dubinsky. Wennberg has some value in a trade package. He's a good kid, and I think if/when he gets into another system he will flourish, as he did in the 2019 World Championship. Part of a package for a top-6 forward or picks in the 2nd/3rd rounds.
Jarmo is much more likely to do everything to get value out of this.

Dubinsky would be more likely to go LTIR, or retire, due to his chronic wrist problems.

So the Jackets really wouldn't need the "freebie buyout" - and essentially have to waste the opportunity.

Ideally I'd like to see them be able to trade the buyout for picks or a top-six forward!

I don’t think the Coyotes could buy out Marian Hossa - after all he’s “injured” with a mysterious “allergy!” 😂😂😂😂

The Athletic has an article rating the 31 local NHL TV broadcasts.

Carolina rated the best and Boston, no surprise, comes in last. Chicago comes in 9th, mainly due to the presence of Olczyk on the broadcasting team.

The Athletic has an article rating the 31 local NHL TV broadcasts.

Carolina rated the best and Boston, no surprise, comes in last. Chicago comes in 9th, mainly due to the presence of Olczyk on the broadcasting team.
- boilermaker100

Watching some of the “old” games while there aren’t any new ones - Foley and Olczyk were pretty good back in the day, before they began all of the “shtick” they use now. Although Foley often didn’t accurately identify the players (other than the annoying “Hendrik has the puck - where’s Daniel...”).

I watched a number of Carolina games this season - I agree with their top ranking - Forslund is terrific, and Tracy does a nice analytic job. Foley should watch Forslund for some tips in how to call a game.

Just do the game accurately with good analysis

What if Seabrook is still on LTIR and not medically cleared to play during the buy out window. Can he still be bought out? Same holds for Shaw. So if these two can't be bought out for this reason, who's next in line?
- boilermaker100

Excellent question and I'm not sure the answer to it.

The rules I used is that, I didn't factor in LTIR obstacles or trades that I cannot predict.

I tried to find some sort of rationale for all teams and I'm glad this has sparked so much conversation.

Keep it coming and be nice to your fellow hockey fans from other teams.

Just a observation .25th in GGA .Their a lot more to Defense then scoring got to stop a few . Hang on to Tavares( you will soon be stuck with him) and his zero rings , the best news I heard . You will be watching BW cup celebration's for along time

- oldduffman

Leafs issue was goaltending, not D this year. Their team save % was 30th out of 31 teamns under Keefe.

Living in Dallas, I can tell you that the Pavelski contract would be the no-brainer here. While Benn from a numbers standpoint is not performing to his contract, he brings a level of compete and leadership this team needs. Pavelski at 35 and 7 AAV for three more years will keep Nill's job.

Yes the Leafs, not a bad contract or a good defenseman in the lot . And a Goalie that is allergic to game 7 .They should buy out Tavares, biggest mistake they made .His money would look good on a couple D men right now. .But who are we to tell the center of the universe Leaf fans how to win. HAWKS only owned them this year
- oldduffman

47 goals last year (and easily the Leafs best player) and on pace for low to mid 30's this season while having a broken hand.

Huuuuuuge mistake.

Living in Dallas, I can tell you that the Pavelski contract would be the no-brainer here. While Benn from a numbers standpoint is not performing to his contract, he brings a level of compete and leadership this team needs. Pavelski at 35 and 7 AAV for three more years will keep Nill's job.
- nickmo2699

Dallas is an aging team. They have enough leaders.

What are some fans opinions on the best performance of Toews career?

IMO either game 4 against Vancouver in 2010 or game 7 against Anaheim in 2015.

Was equally amazing against Boston game 5 in 2013 until getting injured and missing the 3rd period.

Toews gets a lot of criticism these days and deservedly so, but that will never erase what he did in those pivotal moments.
- SimpleJack

I'm not a Blackhawks fan so I wouldn't know as much as you guys would but, I honestly think the criticism is over-the-top. Every time I watch him he still looks like a very good player.

Yes, Morgan Rielly and his 72 points and 5th in Norris voting is crap.

Tavares is A #1 c. PPG this year and 47 goals, 88 points last year. He's never getting bought-out.

You might notice the guys named to be bought out are crap.

Leafs were 6th in NHL once Keefe came in with both Rielly and Muzzin out. Try to be realistic.,

What D do they sign with 11 million. Please tell me. And where do Dermott, Sandin Lilljegren play with Rielly/Muzzin+2 new D play.
- RogerRoeper

Typical Leaf fan. I'm sure you also have a parade route mapped out. But as we saw last spring, the parade routes you mapped out didn't go to waste as the Raptors used one of them.

Yes Reilly is a good defenseman, and there are a few serviceable ones behind him. But with four forwards taking up so much cap space the leafs can't improve on the backend without one or possibly two of those forwards gone. I like Tavares but I agree with the previous poster he was a bad signing. When the Leafs signed him they needed defense and they still do today. Look at the Leafs play, they continually trade chances with the opposition. The big four forwards have no interest in playing a two way game, Marner used to but seemingly not any more.

But I'm fine with Leaf fans thinking this is a great team. Hopefully Dubas thinks the same. My guess is there still won't be a cup in Toronto until at least 2067.

Dallas is an aging team. They have enough leaders.
- RogerRoeper

They are, but Benn still brings something to the table and for some salary retention can still be moved. Pavelski has been a swing and a miss and would free up 7 million to put towards expiring Hintz and Gurianov contracts.

I'm not a Blackhawks fan so I wouldn't know as much as you guys would but, I honestly think the criticism is over-the-top. Every time I watch him he still looks like a very good player.
- GreatGigInTheSky

Toews IS still a very good player. Not a great player, and certainly not a 10.5 million dollar player. That said, he is getting paid for Captaining this team to THREE Cups. He is over-paid by about 3 million, but we have to live with it.

Any time you hand out BIG contracts and Cups were won things are fine. Might hurt now, but was definitely worth it.

Look at Leafs. 40 million in 4 guys, and not a Cup to be seen. Give me the Cups any day and the suffering afterward with the bloated contracts. Nice to have a few "Good" players and guys that can rack up some points and play entertaining hockey....but, at the end of the day....if they don't bring a Cup. It is a fail.

Typical Leaf fan. I'm sure you also have a parade route mapped out. But as we saw last spring, the parade routes you mapped out didn't go to waste as the Raptors used one of them.

Yes Reilly is a good defenseman, and there are a few serviceable ones behind him. But with four forwards taking up so much cap space the leafs can't improve on the backend without one or possibly two of those forwards gone. I like Tavares but I agree with the previous poster he was a bad signing. When the Leafs signed him they needed defense and they still do today. Look at the Leafs play, they continually trade chances with the opposition. The big four forwards have no interest in playing a two way game, Marner used to but seemingly not any more.

But I'm fine with Leaf fans thinking this is a great team. Hopefully Dubas thinks the same. My guess is there still won't be a cup in Toronto until at least 2067.
- paulr

We heard that last year and they added Barrie. This is the same routuine non-Leaf fanbs spew yearly. I thought Dubas could never sign everyone? I thought they were leaving because of offersheets? I thought Nylander wa 100% gone because of "Cap Hell" and he was millions overpaid?

Rielly, Muzzin, Dermott, Holl, Sandin, Liljegrenb is an excellent D core with additrions coming.

Remember when people laughed all year they had "1" D signed...

And BTW if you think Matthews doesn't play D you are delusional. He was 3rd in NHl takaways this year. He was a hart candidate.

You talk about Leaf fans, geeze. The true unrealistic people are non-Leaf fans.

I'm not a Blackhawks fan so I wouldn't know as much as you guys would but, I honestly think the criticism is over-the-top. Every time I watch him he still looks like a very good player.
- GreatGigInTheSky

A Top 100 Player of all time?

Leafs issue was goaltending, not D this year. Their team save % was 30th out of 31 teamns under Keefe.
- RogerRoeper

I don't watch other teams that often, so this is a legitimate question...is their low save percentage specifically on the goalies, or is due to their defense allowing high danger shots?

The Athletic has an article rating the 31 local NHL TV broadcasts.

Carolina rated the best and Boston, no surprise, comes in last. Chicago comes in 9th, mainly due to the presence of Olczyk on the broadcasting team.
- boilermaker100

Where did Colorado rank? Their broadcast is genuinely awful and makes one of the most entertaining teams almost unwatchable.

I'm not a Blackhawks fan so I wouldn't know as much as you guys would but, I honestly think the criticism is over-the-top. Every time I watch him he still looks like a very good player.
- GreatGigInTheSky

Also not a Blackhawks fan, but my general take is that Toews was really overhyped / overrated at the beginning of his career and now the pendulum has swung the other way. (The gigantic contract of course does not help.)

Ten years ago people were talking about Toews like he was in the conversation for best player in the world with Crosby, and IMO that was always absurd. Great two-way first line center on a championship team, yes, but even at his absolute peak he was probably somewhere around the 5th-10th best forward in the NHL. And now he's 31 with more than 1,000 games (regular season plus playoffs) on the odometer.

I suspect the main source of the Toews criticism comes from people being unhappy that he isn't living up to expectations that were unrealistic in the first place. I think he is still a solid 1C by overall NHL standards, and has honestly held up better over the years than I would have expected him to.

I don't watch other teams that often, so this is a legitimate question...is their low save percentage specifically on the goalies, or is due to their defense allowing high danger shots?
- tvetter

How come robin Lehner had such good numbers on the Hawks? You as a Hawks fan should not look at Andersen not cracking top 30 in save % and giving him a free pass.


The goaltending was very bad. Much bigger problem than the D. I get you never hear that about the Leafs, but this fantasy that Andersen is some superstar that carries the Leafs every win is a laughable myth.

Any chance the Hawks trade Seabs, and then resign him after the other team buys him out? Having his leadership on the team for less than $2M may be worth it. Also, after his surgeries, he may be able to be a good 4/5 for a couple of years, or at least a 6/7.

Leafs issue was goaltending, not D this year. Their team save % was 30th out of 31 teamns under Keefe.
- RogerRoeper

Yep throw the goalie under the bus ,1st the coach was the problem .Now suddenly a new coach comes in and the goalie can't stop the puck ,has nothing to do with the system the new coach introduces . What next Tavares ?? bet on it ..

The Toews hate IMO is backlash from the media hilariously overrating him during the cup years. He has no place in the top 100 players ever, and the notion he was better "Overall" than Crosby was insanity.

Yep throw the goalie under the bus ,1st the coach was the problem .Now suddenly a new coach comes in and the goalie can't stop the puck ,has nothing to do with the system the new coach introduces . What next Tavares ?? bet on it ..
- oldduffman

Let's be clear here, the new coach came in and the Leafs had the 6th best NHL record with the 30th best save % and tons of injuries, inlcuding Rielly and Muzzin out.

Are you trying to say it was proven I was wrong and Babcock wasn't an issue? It's funny hearing you spin it that there was no change.

And that's just team results. The production of Matthews, Marner, Nylander went though the roof once Keefe came in. Why you ask? Because for 3 years myself and other Leaf fans told everyone they were laughably underplayed and it was hurting the team. I can't tell you how many non-Leaf fans told me they'd do no better with more TOI and it was irrelevant.

Babcock cost the Leafs playoff series. He was horrific. Matthews played 18 minutes in game 7 last year. Hyman took faceoffs against Bergeron with 1 leg in game 6 when they had the lead Jesus.