Toronto off-season signings

[Edanl]

 

In this post, I want to talk about the signings that Toronto has made during the summer and the addition of the three veteran players.

 

I already spoke of the Patrick Marleau signings in Toronto so that I will focus on the other signings. Toronto has extended the contract of the core of the young talented players as the extended Zach Hyman and Tylor Bozak which in my opinion is very smart move, but in Bozak case, the extension is too long and too much. They had great success last year, and in my mind, this is an incredible core of young players that will lead Toronto to success in the next few years. The chemistry that they have with each other and their passion for the game are amazing qualities which are fun and exciting to see them play. I think that this core of young and talented players should stay in Toronto and the management should do everything to keep them. Also in another two years, they should sign Matthew, Nylander, and Marner to a long term deal because their contract will expire and they are part of this amazing core of talented players that will lead Toronto to great success.

 

In addition to the extending of the core of the talented young players, Toronto added two more veterans players that I will talk about in the next two paragraphs.

The first one is Dominic Moore that came from Boston who is an experienced player and plays center. I think that he will be a great addition to our fourth line and will add another scoring threat and experience to the team which will help the young players improve their game. Also, he will contribute to killing penalties and will assist the offensive and will provide guidance in a stressful situation and during the long season. I think that the Toronto offense was already high last season, but hopefully, he will help Toronto keep the pressure on the opponent which in my opinion they didn't do enough last season.

 

The second one is Ron Hainsey who came this year from Pittsburgh and was a part of their back to back championship seasons. I think that he will be a great addition to the defense and will provide stability and leadership. He has a lot of experience, and the defense was Toronto Achilles heel last year. I think that with his experience the defense will be much more stable and he will provide leadership and share his experience with the young players because he knows what it takes to play in the league and the playoffs. Last year we lost too many points because of the defense, and in my opinion, with his experience, he could mentor and guide this young defense of the Leafs and make them better. I hope that it will make the defense of Toronto more stable and we will not blow leads and lose points like we did last year. If we do it, we will be able to get higher in the standing and further in the playoffs.

 

In conclusion, I think that the move that Babcock and the management of Toronto made is an amazing one and will make Toronto a dangerous and a real threat in the league. These three veterans will be a great addition to the team, and with their experience, they could mentor the young and talented players and help them improve their game. In my opinion, with the training of these players, Toronto young and a talented team could take the next step and be better next year and reach higher in the standings and the playoffs. Hopefully, they will get to a more higher spot in the standings and reach the semi-finals or even the conference finals. I can't wait for next year to see the Maple Leafs, and I am proud of the team and the management that make Toronto a great franchise like they were in the 70s.

 

[hobie]

I fail to see the logic of signing a 38 year old to a 3 year contract at 6 mil. per when that player is obviously in decline, Marleau isn't Jagr, isn't Howe and the fact that he can still skate isn't enough justification for me. 27 goals is great but 46 points isn't a 6 mil player on any level.

 

Does Marleau's contract mean that there isn't room for Kappy or Sosh or does it mean TO's cap will be so stressed that Leo, Bozak and or JVR have to go even tho those 3 are far younger and still productive.

 

TO scored enough last year to make the playoffs but the d was less than ideal so will his contract make it nearly impossible to truly upgrade the d where his money should have been spent?

 

At the very least any team that can spend 6 mil. for a player should be getting a 6 mil. value.

 

The Hainsey and Moore signings make sense because TO was filling a need. 

[OccamsRazor]

On 8/22/2017 at 1:02 AM, hobie said:

does it mean TO's cap will be so stressed that Leo, Bozak and or JVR have to go even tho those 3 are far younger and still productive.

 

 

Not really.

 

I still think you get the relief when Horton's money is moved to LTIR at the start of the season.

 

But i think JVR could be moved regardless.

[hobie]

1 hour ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

 

Not really.

 

I still think you get the relief when Horton's money is moved to LTIR at the start of the season.

 

But i think JVR could be moved regardless.

 

You do get LTIR relief before and after the first day of the season but on that day your cap must comply to the max or minimum.

[OccamsRazor]

1 hour ago, hobie said:

 

You do get LTIR relief before and after the first day of the season but on that day your cap must comply to the max or minimum.

 

No it is almost at the same time it just shifts all at once.

 

You kust want to be as close to his full cap hit as possible so you get as much of it as you can.

[hobie]

3 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

No it is almost at the same time it just shifts all at once.

 

You kust want to be as close to his full cap hit as possible so you get as much of it as you can.

 

This is true and if Marleau was signed for a single year then his contract might be tolerable but mindless signing on 38 year olds in obvious decline for 3 years at far too much $s isn't sensible. His contract is already choking TO's cap situation, Connor Brown situation.

 

Simply spending because the money's there isn't sensible, keeping the money and possibly exploiting other cash strapped teams, as one example, by getting what's needed rather than what's available seems to me the essence of success in a cap world. 

[OccamsRazor]

14 minutes ago, hobie said:

 

This is true and if Marleau was signed for a single year then his contract might be tolerable but mindless signing on 38 year olds in obvious decline for 3 years at far too much $s isn't sensible. His contract is already choking TO's cap situation, Connor Brown situation.

 

Simply spending because the money's there isn't sensible, keeping the money and possibly exploiting other cash strapped teams, as one example, by getting what's needed rather than what's available seems to me the essence of success in a cap world. 

 

Yeah the length is a head scratcher. One two years tops is enough.

[BluPuk]

The Leafs as a team have hardly improved at all IMHO. The kids that led them last season will not necessarily be as good this season. The rest of the league will be ready for them and that could make a difference. I must say that for me, the Marleau signing is a head scratcher for sure. Let's hope Lou knows something we don't. 

[Buffalo Rick]

45 minutes ago, BluPuk said:

The Leafs as a team have hardly improved at all IMHO. The kids that led them last season will not necessarily be as good this season. The rest of the league will be ready for them and that could make a difference. I must say that for me, the Marleau signing is a head scratcher for sure. Let's hope Lou knows something we don't. 

Short term he will help the Leafs big time.  

[WordsOfWisdom]

On 8/26/2017 at 6:02 PM, OccamsRazor said:

But i think JVR could be moved regardless.

 

I know people don't think much of JVR, but he's an important piece to the Leafs team. He provides much needed secondary scoring to relieve the pressure on Matthews, Marner, and Nylander. If the Leafs lose JVR, they will definitely be a weaker team as a result. 

[WordsOfWisdom]

12 hours ago, BluPuk said:

The Leafs as a team have hardly improved at all IMHO. The kids that led them last season will not necessarily be as good this season. The rest of the league will be ready for them and that could make a difference. I must say that for me, the Marleau signing is a head scratcher for sure. Let's hope Lou knows something we don't. 

 

According to The Hockey News, the signing of Marleau, Moore, and Hainsey are an indication that...  "the Leafs are unquestionably taking a run at winning the Stanley Cup sooner rather than later". 

 

The last time the Leafs tried to shortcut a rebuild, it "Phil Kesseled" itself into oblivion. You can't speed up the rebuilding process any more. It never works.

 

You have a core of six key guys. The rest are just along for the ride. You win or lose with your best six players. Nobody else makes any difference whatsoever to wins or losses. They're just filler players and every team has the same calibre of filler players in a parity-driven league. 

 

The Leafs six are:

• Matthews
• Kadri
• JVR
• Marner/Nylander (take your pick)
• Gardiner/Rielly (take your pick)
• Andersen

Basically, how far the Leafs will go depends entirely on how those six players stack up with the top 6 on the other NHL teams. If Matthews and co. can't match up to the Crosby's and McDavid's of the world, then they will never win a Cup, simple as that.

 

[hobie]

16 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

 

I know people don't think much of JVR, but he's an important piece to the Leafs team. He provides much needed secondary scoring to relieve the pressure on Matthews, Marner, and Nylander. If the Leafs lose JVR, they will definitely be a weaker team as a result. 

 

Is a secondary scorer valuable when his only effort is directed towards scoring?

 

Is a 20 goal scorer that contributes all over the ice as, if not more valuable?

 

I don't think that JVR measures up as a valuable Leaf in any way beyond his volume of goals.

 

JVR, Bozak and Marner were used as if they were rookies last year, facing 3rd lines, getting on the ice when the puck was in the OZ yet only Marner was a rookie.

 

All teams need to score to win so JVR has some value as a scorer but I doubt anybody is fooled by his offensive stats and I have little faith in his marketplace value. 

[WordsOfWisdom]

4 hours ago, hobie said:

 

Is a secondary scorer valuable when his only effort is directed towards scoring?

 

Is a 20 goal scorer that contributes all over the ice as, if not more valuable?

 

I don't think that JVR measures up as a valuable Leaf in any way beyond his volume of goals.

 

JVR, Bozak and Marner were used as if they were rookies last year, facing 3rd lines, getting on the ice when the puck was in the OZ yet only Marner was a rookie.

 

All teams need to score to win so JVR has some value as a scorer but I doubt anybody is fooled by his offensive stats and I have little faith in his marketplace value. 

 

 

Well you can take comfort in the fact that once Nylander and/or Marner eclipse him, salary cap constraints will force the team to choose between them and at that point JVR will certainly be gone. Currently, it's hard to ignore someone that scores ~30 goals.

 

 

[hobie]

I think the choosing will come as soon as next year.

 

TO might have been able to resign him but the Marleau contract pretty well seals JVR's fate and I have my doubts that Marleau will be an upgrade on JVR.

 

Seems to me that TO has committed to going for it all next year as we haven't heard anything about TO extending JVR and TO has way overpaid for questionable depth in Marleau and Hainsey.

 

I'm not feeling comfortable about TO's moves this summer and I hope the Shanaplan proves smarter than me.

[jammer2]

On 9/4/2017 at 11:02 PM, WordsOfWisdom said:

According to The Hockey News, the signing of Marleau, Moore, and Hainsey are an indication that...  "the Leafs are unquestionably taking a run at winning the Stanley Cup sooner rather than later". 

 

 

 

 Well, sure....why not?  If you could somehow score a Cup "before" the kids get the big money, more power to ya. At the very least, guys like Marleau and Hainsey could give the kids extra playoff series, maybe a trip to the conf finals?  The more playoff experience, the better of course, these kids need to be battle tested when it matters the most. If no cups come out of it, at the least, it should supply playoff experience. Myself, I don't know if Andersen is a championship goalie and the Leafs transition game is not good enough to make up for his shortcomings....ie early easy goals. 

 

 Should be interesting to watch the Leafs and Flyers in the coming years, Leafs of course, built through offense because of high picks, Flyers chose defense picking a tad later...my gut says the first team to find a legit goalie will have a HUGE upper hand in the East. 

[hobie]

I think TO feels it has it's goalie and after a shaky start last year Anderson seemed fine.

[WordsOfWisdom]

On 9/6/2017 at 8:51 PM, jammer2 said:

Well, sure....why not?  If you could somehow score a Cup "before" the kids get the big money, more power to ya. At the very least, guys like Marleau and Hainsey could give the kids extra playoff series, maybe a trip to the conf finals?

 

Here's the thing:

 

If it's Marleau, Hainsey, and Moore added to a group that includes JVR, Polak, and Hunwick, then that's a stronger Leafs team. If it's Hainsey replacing Polak and Marleau replacing JVR, then it's more of the same. Different names, but no increase in talent.

 

My two cents.

 

[jammer2]

2 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

 

Here's the thing:

 

If it's Marleau, Hainsey, and Moore added to a group that includes JVR, Polak, and Hunwick, then that's a stronger Leafs team. If it's Hainsey replacing Polak and Marleau replacing JVR, then it's more of the same. Different names, but no increase in talent.

 

My two cents.

 

 

 Leafs have to get away from the Hunwicks of the world. Their number one problem last year was the defense and it's lack of transition game. Fixing that requires dmen that can skate and have vision. Guys that are also not dead from the head up in the offensive zone. Hunwick and Polak fit none of those criteria. Hunwick was useless. Polak was decent at what he does, a physical porch clearing dman who kills penalities ok. The two Swedes the Leafs just signed fit this criteria, so does Travis Dermott. Leads will be MUCH better without Hunwick and Polak. 

[WordsOfWisdom]

5 hours ago, jammer2 said:

 

 Leafs have to get away from the Hunwicks of the world. Their number one problem last year was the defense and it's lack of transition game. Fixing that requires dmen that can skate and have vision. Guys that are also not dead from the head up in the offensive zone. Hunwick and Polak fit none of those criteria. Hunwick was useless. Polak was decent at what he does, a physical porch clearing dman who kills penalities ok. The two Swedes the Leafs just signed fit this criteria, so does Travis Dermott. Leads will be MUCH better without Hunwick and Polak. 

 

Agreed.

 

 

 

[hobie]

I think that Kapanen might be able to provide as much value as Marleau both offensively and defensively and paying Marleau 6 mil. per for 3 years has the potential of screwing up TO's future on many different levels. Is Marleau TO's Hossa, I doubt it and is he going to be an irreplaceable cog in TO's Cup winning future, again debatable.

 

For me TO should be growing it's youth and looking for cheap short term stop gaps until it's youth is properly ready to contribute/thrive. Marleau's signing probably means TO won't be able to resign JVR and or Bozak who both are more productive than Marleau right now.

 

Over 9 mil. tied up in Marleau and Hainsey at this time is a head scratcher for me and more a case of spending the money cause it's there than an example of proper management.

 

I sure hope I'm wrong.

[Edanl]

You raised some good points, but I think that Marleau still has a lot of skills and can contribute to Toronto. He can contribute on and off the field.

 

I trust the management that they will find a way also to sign JVR and the rest of the four young players that Toronto have. I am sure that they are obligated to the rebuild and will do what Toronto needs.

 

I hope that it will prove a smart move that we will benefit from this move and I put my trust in the manegement, and I can't wait for the start of the season.

[jammer2]

8 hours ago, hobie said:

Over 9 mil. tied up in Marleau and Hainsey at this time is a head scratcher for me and more a case of spending the money cause it's there than an example of proper management.

 

I sure hope I'm wrong.

 

 If you subscribe to the "when the window opens" theory, this 9 mill on Hainsey and Marleau does feel a few years too early. Unless, the Leafs feel their window is opening right now....and I have my doubts about that. Not sold on Andersson as a Stanley Cup winning goalie. The one thing that sucked about the Leafs was investing or throwing away money on older players. I thought the Shanny lead Leafs were refreshing because they did not do that, everything seemed geared to the master plan....until this summer happened. 

[WordsOfWisdom]

12 hours ago, hobie said:

Over 9 mil. tied up in Marleau and Hainsey at this time is a head scratcher for me and more a case of spending the money cause it's there than an example of proper management.

 

The Marleau deal should have been a 1-yr deal, if anything, and quite frankly I couldn't care less about Marleau. I don't think the Leafs needed him at all. I'm sick and tired of the Leafs being a retirement destination for aging veterans. They pulled this **** a few years ago and they're doing it again.

 

As for Hainsey, he won't offset the loss of Polak and Hunwick I can promise you that. 

 

Leafs might be #1 in GPG this coming season... and 30th in GAA.  

[WordsOfWisdom]

3 hours ago, jammer2 said:

 

 If you subscribe to the "when the window opens" theory, this 9 mill on Hainsey and Marleau does feel a few years too early. Unless, the Leafs feel their window is opening right now....and I have my doubts about that. Not sold on Andersson as a Stanley Cup winning goalie. The one thing that sucked about the Leafs was investing or throwing away money on older players. I thought the Shanny lead Leafs were refreshing because they did not do that, everything seemed geared to the master plan....until this summer happened. 

 

I still think the Leafs "master plan" is a carefully orchestrated plan to avoid success. They make moves that don't help the team, and year after year they wilfully ignore the team's most pressing needs.

 

The Leafs needed a #1 defencemen to take a step forward. Naturally, Leafs management went out and got another forward (Marleau) and then lost two "steady as she goes" minute-eating D-men in Polak and Hunwick, to be replaced by Hainsey. That's just a "push" at best.

 

 

 

 

[jammer2]

36 minutes ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

 

I still think the Leafs "master plan" is a carefully orchestrated plan to avoid success. They make moves that don't help the team, and year after year they wilfully ignore the team's most pressing needs.

 

The Leafs needed a #1 defencemen to take a step forward. Naturally, Leafs management went out and got another forward (Marleau) and then lost two "steady as she goes" minute-eating D-men in Polak and Hunwick, to be replaced by Hainsey. That's just a "push" at best.

 

 

 

 

 

 The big thing for (was mentioned earlier) is the fact that....just cause you have cap space, does not mean you have to use it. Stash it away, and when teams are close to the cap, it puts the Leafs in a position of strength in a trade situation....OR....let's you steal a young UFA the following year.