2026-27 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion | Official: Sundin & Chayka to lead front office

[gunnar36]

Well all that cap space sure got burned pretty quickly!

I know he's not done yet necessarily, but not having any cap breathing room at this point doesnt seem like a great strategy,and I know Domi could be LTIR and maybe move Reilley etc.

Things that I dont like or agree with so far:

- paying Scissons 2x 4.25
- our top 6 D currently has average age of 33
- selling low on Carlo when he could rebound and you could move him at this trade deadline instead for significantly more
- getting rid of long reach dmen that are effective on PK and more valuable in postseason (Carlo and Benoit)

 

[CarltonTheBear]

So we feel a bit light still on the LD for PK, where Benoit once ate those minutes (and watched a lot of pucks go in).

Emil Andrae defying Flyers’ concerns in AHL shorthanded role

Flyers prospect Emil Andrae was given heavy usage on the penalty kill for the Phantoms last weekend, and he’s carving out a role for himself as an effective player in that role.

www.broadstreethockey.com

This might be an internal solution until Werenski; reminds me of Sandin (once again)

Can we play some forwards on D?

But yeah that's certainly an area of concern as of right now, especially with Stecher likely not being an everyday defenceman. Raddysh, Rielly, OEL, Andrae all didn't really kill penalties with their teams last season.

Hopefully like you said that's something Andrae could develop into, because otherwise he's a defenceman who likely won't have a specialty team role and I'm not too high on those. Then assuming OEL doesn't have as much of a PP role (if Rielly sticks around) he could go back into handling some PK minutes too.

 

[herman]

Can we play some forwards on D?

But yeah that's certainly an area of concern as of right now, especially with Stecher likely not being an everyday defenceman. Raddysh, Rielly, OEL, Andrae all didn't really kill penalties with their teams last season.

Hopefully like you said that's something Andrae could develop into, because otherwise he's a defenceman who likely won't have a specialty team role and I'm not too high on those. Then assuming OEL doesn't have as much of a PP role (if Rielly sticks around) he could go back into handling some PK minutes too.

Basically, Werenski solves a lot of issues and we should get him and he should come here to have fun with his buddy and reunite with some other former Jackets.

More realistically, maybe Mermis or Rifai stay up as the extra D and rotate with Andrae.

 

[L K]

Obviously more moves may happen but I'm a little surprised at how log jammed we made the roster.

Top 6/Scorers: Matthews, Knies, Nylander, Tavares
Middle 6/Scorers: Roslovic, Cowan, Domi* (probably should assume he's not playing until proven otherwise)
Bottom 6/Grinders: Sissons, Joshua, Paul, Duhaime, Blueger, Lorentz

That's 13 forwards with Domi/12 forwards without.

That leaves Quillan, Tverberg, Groulx in a position to be a 13th forward or waived. Maybe there is enough hypothetical upside in Tverberg/Groulx to slot into a 3rd line role but I don't think any of them are necessarily catastrophic losses if they don't make the team and go on waivers. I'm just surprised that we aren't leaving a spot open for competition.

It's also a team that is at present over the cap (with 6D, 2G, 14F). It really seems like Domi isn't back...but that also does mean we are really hard on the top 6/bottom 6 makeup of the roster. I like all the moves individually but it feels like the roster is built to be more about being effective at specific things rather than jack of all trades type play. This roster also doesn't have McKenna on it because he hasn't signed his ELC although that should just be a formality.

Bottom line, the biggest chance for success is better goaltending, a more effective PP and Matthews needs to at least get back to being a 40 goal scorer.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Basically, Werenski solves a lot of issues and we should get him and he should come here to have fun with his buddy and reunite with some other former Jackets.

Maybe, he's not exactly a heavy-eating PK minute defenceman either of course. But regardless of that I think that will definitely need to be put on the back-burner for now as he's likely off the market until at least midseason.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2072725200823620029

7 and 1 look close enough too. It's almost too perfect really.

 

[rdowdall]

On the face of it, it’s a lot of money for mostly grinders.

But:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2072537480356618300

Committed grinders are far more effective than a committee of players forced to grind.

Coaching last season also had an impact in that their premier skill C was deployed to defend heavily with offense-first wingers who couldn’t perform offense properly.

Will this work better? I think the lines have clearer roles and expectations they can hang their hat on, and there is room within those roles to rotate and elevate and reward performance. At least three skaters can flow between top 6 and bottom 6 roles capably as the situation requires: Knies, Cowan, Paul, and arguably Tavares.

If it fails, most new pieces are very sellable at the deadline to recoup futures (outside of Raddysh). Sheet’s clear for whatever Matthews decides as well.

It feels like this is the Brian Burke approach, but with better identification around what skillset you need to effectively play that role, so that you don't end up with Colton Orr playing 82 games.

 

[herman]

The flag on the 1 numeral looks a bit like a shortened 7, or rotated counter clockwise along its vertical axis if you want to read it in 3D.