hobie Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 It's been eventful. Simmonds-UFA signing- he was atrocious in Buffalo and Jersey so is he worth $1.5 mil, doubtful. Gauthier had as many goals as Simmonds and Gauthier didn't get any PP time. Thornton-UFA signing- 31 points last year in 70 games, $.7 mil., this is a good signing as the contract is totally buriable, he should be a very good 2nd PP option. Spezza-UFA signing- liked him last year but he's mostly a PP option. These 3 might be very good as 2nd PP players but are they decent options 5v5 on a 3rd/4th line, all 3 have speed issues in an NHL where all teams have speed everywhere in their lineups. TJ Brodie- UFA signing- this is a puzzler, is he a good top 4 option or is he a player that Giordano propped up for years, he's not physical, 20 hits in 64 games, his offense went south last year, 19 points in 64 games, $5 mil. per until he's 34, we'll see. Vesey-UFA signing- totally buriable contract, ya!, he's big but not physical, boo?, 20 points in 64 games last year screams 4th liner but he played in Buffalo probably on the 2nd line so he probably needed lots of icetime to get those stats. Bogosian-UFA signing- I like this signing, his contract is buriable, he was paired with TB's top d-man during their Cup win last year, he is physical, has had a lot of injury history but he's an actual RHD. Lehtonen-ELC signing- don't know much about him, he's LHD which TO has lot's of, he had a great KHL year last year which was his first KHL year at 24, he's doing it again this year. His years in SHL and Liga don't suggest that his first KHL year was possible so he's an enigma. TO hasn't had much luck with KHLers except maybe Mikheyev so we'll see. Barabonov-ELC- 5'10" 192 lbs, this is a more normal Dubie type of signing, reasonable KHL stats and he's fast, interesting. HÅLLANDER-Kappy trade- 6'2" 190 lbs, good future potential as perhaps a center, his stats so far are nothing to get excited about in the SHL. Joey Anderson-Johnsson trade- a Hyman clone, tenacious, physical but small 5'11" 190 lbs and as an exUniversity player he might be an excellent 3rd/4th line option at 22 years old, still unsigned. Aaron Dell-UFA signing- probably a good 3rd goalie option? Is TO better, treading water or worse? Johnsson and Kappy are gone, Barrie too so are these new players upgrades, Johnsson and Kappy were decent regular season players but they weren't playoff capable, Barrie was bad with Babs and far more useful with Keefe, he might be missed if anything happens to Rielly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJgoal Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 On it's face, I think Toronto at best is treading water. Thornton is a good pickup, but Simmonds has unfortunately seemed cooked for the past two years. They will bring some accountability to the locker room though, if that was lacking. I don't think they make up for the losses of Kapanen and Johnsson on the scoresheet. Barrie wasn't great in TO, but I still think there's a bit of a downgrade going to Brodie. Bogosian's health will be a question mark all season- he's hit 65 games once since 2011-2012. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted October 29, 2020 Author Share Posted October 29, 2020 Something I didn't know, players who are signed after being 35 are not buriable, teams can't bury their contracts in the minors or wherever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 (edited) On 10/29/2020 at 3:05 PM, hobie said: Something I didn't know, players who are signed after being 35 are not buriable, teams can't bury their contracts in the minors or wherever. I consider all of this off-season talk to be hypothetical. Joe Thornton is never going to play a game in a Toronto Maple Leafs uniform, and neither will Simmonds. By the time the league gets going again, both of them will be retired. Spezza will retire as well. All of those veteran players will be gone. That leaves Toronto without Kapanen (who I liked) and Johnsson (who was okay I guess but meh). Whenever the league starts up again, Toronto will have a lot of roster spots to fill. It's going to be a very different team and a very different league two years from now. Distinct possibility that a handful of teams will disappear as well. Fans may need to be introduced to the players again. Hope you are doing well Hobie (and others). Edited November 15, 2020 by WordsOfWisdom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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