The Official 2011/2012 Armchair GM thread

[leafplasma]

I am not too worried about Connoly or even the Lombardi deals.  If cap space is needed in the event we trade for or sign a big name, one or both of the players can be sent to the Marlies.  Connoly has a modified NTC but neither of these players have a NMC.  So that is a good chunk of change available to resign Grabs or make other moves.

Taking it a bit further the same can be said for Mac and Armstrong.  I mean there is no way all of these players would be sent to the Marlies but I could see it happening to maybe two and maybe the other two dealt if possible.  The Komi contract is another one that we may just have to live with but if a deal is possible then of course you pounce on it. However, if Schenn were dealt for a top 6 forward I could certainly live with keeping Komi for next year at least. 

Burke will certainly have to make some big decisions as there is youth in the system that will most definitely be ready for next year. In a Cap era these big contracts in the bottom 6 are keeping this team from reaching the next level.

 

[Corn Flake]

Burke will certainly have to make some big decisions as there is youth in the system that will most definitely be ready for next year. In a Cap era these big contracts in the bottom 6 are keeping this team from reaching the next level.

I don't think so. I think time for the younger players to improve and develop, as well as a lack of willing trade partners to bring in a big fish or two are what keeps the team from reaching the next level.

 

[leafplasma]

Burke will certainly have to make some big decisions as there is youth in the system that will most definitely be ready for next year. In a Cap era these big contracts in the bottom 6 are keeping this team from reaching the next level.

I don't think so. I think time for the younger players to improve and develop, as well as a lack of willing trade partners to bring in a big fish or two are what keeps the team from reaching the next level.

Kadri and Frattin need to be given roster spots by next season or dealt.  Colborne may be ready by next year as well.  The cap savings is a big deal.  Armstrong as well is too expensive for the role he provides.  I think by this off season it is time to make the next jump to cup contender status.  Whether Burke can get there is another question. Trade some prospects now if need be, cut the bottom 6 high salary, go all in for a big UFA and at the same time do it while we can afford to pay some of our younger players before they become UFA's. Maybe this isn't next year but at the very least the year after or the rebuild we are currently in begins to derail.

 

[princedpw]

Between Connoly, Armstrong and Komisarek that's over 12 million dollar in cap space the Leafs are effectively wasting. That's awful

Just say the name Ville Leino a few times.... there.  Not so painful is it?

;D

I never thought that I would see a contract as bad as Jason Blake's.

Blake's deal looks like a steal compared to Ville's.

Don't look now, but Ville is on a tear and has almost caught Luke Schenn in the scoring race.

 

[the dingo ate my baby]

The Fourth Period has the Leafs listed a few times as an interested team in a few players on their top available players list.  Hardly a great source, but the rumours are slow, so if anyone's interested in the speculation:

http://www.thefourthperiod.com/trade_deadline/top25/index.html

Bascially they have the Leafs as 'interested' in:  Bobby Ryan, Ales Hemsky, Paul Stastny, Sam Gagner, Alexander Semin(???), and Derick Brassard.  They also list Luke Schenn as available, and have Philly, Edmonton and Anaheim as interested.  Oddly enough though, there's an article on the site where they say sources have Philly as not so interested in Schenn after all.  Anyway, speculate away.

 

[caver]

Horton is out with a concussion and Rask isn't happy in Boston. Send MacArthur and Kadri to Boston for Rask.

 

[Bullfrog]

The Fourth Period has the Leafs listed a few times as an interested team in a few players on their top available players list.  Hardly a great source, but the rumours are slow, so if anyone's interested in the speculation:

http://www.thefourthperiod.com/trade_deadline/top25/index.html

Bascially they have the Leafs as 'interested' in:  Bobby Ryan, Ales Hemsky, Paul Stastny, Sam Gagner, Alexander Semin(???), and Derick Brassard.  They also list Luke Schenn as available, and have Philly, Edmonton and Anaheim as interested.  Oddly enough though, there's an article on the site where they say sources have Philly as not so interested in Schenn after all.  Anyway, speculate away.

I agree with Kypreos and think Gagner will be a good 2nd line center, but he doesn't make a lot of sense on Toronto unless they get rid of Grabovski. And Grabovski brings a lot more than just scoring to the board.

 

[Britishbulldog]

I am not too worried about Connolly or even the Lombardi deals.  If cap space is needed in the event we trade for or sign a big name, one or both of the players can be sent to the Marlies.....    So that is a good chunk of change available to resign Grabs or make other moves.

Taking it a bit further the same can be said for Mac and Armstrong. ....., if Schenn were dealt for a top 6 forward I could certainly live with keeping Komi for next year at least. 

I am trying to grasp who are the real blue chips for the Leafs and who are stop gaps.

One of the blue chips that I am not sure of is Phaneuf. He is supposed to be the stud and, like Calgary, I am not convinced that he is. Statistically Dion's offensive contribution is a bit better than Shea Weber but is Dion as good as Shea as a building block?

***I started this post this this afternoon and got tied up until now.  I just got in to see the over time loss so I have no idea how the Leafs did besides Gus putting the puck in the Leafs net to lose.

 

[ZBBM]

I am not too worried about Connolly or even the Lombardi deals.  If cap space is needed in the event we trade for or sign a big name, one or both of the players can be sent to the Marlies.....    So that is a good chunk of change available to resign Grabs or make other moves.

Taking it a bit further the same can be said for Mac and Armstrong. ....., if Schenn were dealt for a top 6 forward I could certainly live with keeping Komi for next year at least. 

I am trying to grasp who are the real blue chips for the Leafs and who are stop gaps.

One of the blue chips that I am not sure of is Phaneuf. He is supposed to be the stud and, like Calgary, I am not convinced that he is. Statistically Dion's offensive contribution is a bit better than Shea Weber but is Dion as good as Shea as a building block?

***I started this post this this afternoon and got tied up until now.  I just got in to see the over time loss so I have no idea how the Leafs did besides Gus putting the puck in the Leafs net to lose.

Phaneuf made some decent plays, and a couple of real stinkers -- one probably costing a goal.  In other words, his usual mixed bag.

There is no comparison between Phaneuf and Weber IMO.  Weber is what we need, Phaneuf is what we are stuck with.  As captain no less.  What an epic mistake that was.

 

[Tigger]

So I'm reading Lyle Richardson's article where he points to Lebrun saying the cap could go up to 68-69 mil in the offseason (after talking with some gm's ) but that it would be a temporary cap with changes to the CBA pending.

Now, for arguments sake, if his tuned speculation is in the ballpark, that the ceiling could fall back to as low as 61 mil, would that include a general rollback with player share of revenue falling too, ie, would there be a ratio of cap space available similar to what teams would have had before the cap ceiling fell? Does that even make sense as a question?

If that's the case then the Leafs could have a lot of wiggle room under the cap to bring in high priced players, if there was another 'free' buyout period ( which I'm really not sure about now ) it would also allow the Leafs to get out from under Komi's deal ( maybe some others too if necessary ).

Some weird waters to navigate if you're a GM.

 

[Britishbulldog]

I am trying to grasp who are the real blue chips for the Leafs and who are stop gaps.

One of the blue chips that I am not sure of is Phaneuf. He is supposed to be the stud and, like Calgary, I am not convinced that he is. Statistically Dion's offensive contribution is a bit better than Shea Weber but is Dion as good as Shea as a building block?

***I started this post this this afternoon and got tied up until now.  I just got in to see the over time loss so I have no idea how the Leafs did besides Gus putting the puck in the Leafs net to lose.

Phaneuf made some decent plays, and a couple of real stinkers -- one probably costing a goal.  In other words, his usual mixed bag.

There is no comparison between Phaneuf and Weber IMO.  Weber is what we need, Phaneuf is what we are stuck with.  As captain no less.  What an epic mistake that was.

How bad does Weber want to stay in Nashville?  I read that the 11 players that went to arbitration before Weber only 1 (!?!) stay with the team after the following season was done.

Get the dreamer hat on again, I was trying to figure if the Leafs could exchange the 2 2003 draftees for each other with a top Leaf prospect?

Ofcourse if Weber wants to stay then it won't matter but if he was disgruntled....

...the Leafs defense could be set for the next 10 years (besides Liles who would be replaced by Gardiner eventually anyway):

Weber 6-4 232 rh, 26 years old
Gardiner 6-1 175 lh, 21 years old
Schenn 6-2 230 rh, 22 years old
Franson 6-5 220 rh, 24 years old
Gunnarsson 6-2 196 lh, 25 years old

Liles 5-10 185 lh, 31 years old

I just don't know if Phaneuf has hit his ceiling yet.  If he is going to get better and more settled in the next few years then the Leafs should have patience. Alot of players start hitting their prime at 28.  H Dion is still only 26, 6-3 213 lh.

 

[Britishbulldog]

Do the Leafs make some big moves for the future?

St Louis has been looking for a top lh shot dman:
Phaneuf for Stewart, St Louis 1st pick 2013 and 2nd pick 2012

Connolly back to NYI for Nabokov and Matt Martin

Armstrong to LA for a 2nd pick 2012

Komisarek to Minnesota for a 3rd pick 2012

I would see these forwards kept another year:
Grabovski (@$5 MIL or less x 5 years)
Kulemin (3x years @ his current salary)
Frattin (3x years @ $1.1 MIL)

Franson (3x years @ $1.8 MIL)

Kessel (Is great offensively but he isn't an elite player and should be getting $4.3 MIL like Lupul but we'll see what happens in 2 years)

CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR

FORWARDS
Joffrey Lupul / Tyler Bozak / Phil Kessel
Clarke MacArthur / Mikhail Grabovski / Chris Stewart
Nikolai Kulemin / Matthew Lombardi / Matt Frattin
Matt Martin / David Steckel / Mike Brown
Joey Crabb

DEFENSEMEN
John-Michael Liles / Cody Franson 
Jake Gardiner / Luke Schenn
Keith Aulie / Carl Gunnarsson
Juraj Mikus

GOALTENDERS
James Reimer / Jonas Gustavsson / Evgeni Nabokov

BUYOUTS: Darcy Tucker ($1.000m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $50,297,500; BONUSES: $212,500
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $14,002,500

Lots of Cap space,....... Kadri and Colborne are still in the system,......  lots of draft picks....... and forwards to trade if the chance arises.

 

[Corn Flake]

Burke should go nuts at the deadline and completely retool the forwards.... apparently there are offers on the table for all 3 guys on the 2nd line... should move them all, get Nash and call up Colborne, Kadri and Frattin to fill the gaps. 

I've had too much coffee this morning....

 

[Britishbulldog]

Burke should go nuts at the deadline and completely retool the forwards.... apparently there are offers on the table for all 3 guys on the 2nd line... should move them all, get Nash and call up Colborne, Kadri and Frattin to fill the gaps. 

I've had too much coffee this morning....

I remember you had an inspiring morning coffee in 2009 trading a bunch of players for a rebuild.  I had to head out so I copied it into Word so that I could read it later when I had no internet.  I just found it on my hard drive.

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

I've been mulling over the roster lately and looking at some of the changes that have to be made for cost cutting reasons. I think most of us have identified that Komisarek, Lombardi, Connolly and Armstrong, or a combination of a few of them, are prime candidates to be moved, if possible.

Obviously, this is no easy task, but it was always shaping up to be a tall task for Burke to make things work this summer, due to lack of options in the free agency market and available players via trade that would help our club. Also, with the new contract for Grabovski, money will have to come off the roster some place else. We need to get a bit bigger as well on the forward lines.

I've identified two players that may be available this summer, either via free agency or trade.

Brandon Prust and James van Reimsdyk are two payers that I think could help us out a lot with our deficiencies. I think Prust will become available in the summer, but there may be competition for him, so I was thinking....

Do others think it may be possible to make a trade at the draft with the Rangers to acquire his rights with a trade centered around Komisarek and Prust? The Rangers may be looking for defensive help, only having Del Zotto to sign that is a main part of their back end, but need to fill things out and a more experienced guy might look more appealing to them. Komisarek might fit in there better with their more defensive system also. Being from the NY area, it could work out for everyone. We might have to add something in the deal, but I think there is some promise with that.

James van Reimsdyk is obviously a different animal. Philly has made it no secret that he would likely be available in the right deal, so we would definitely have to give up some assets to acquire him, but it would be way less than the cost of Nash and would stick with the trend of getting bigger, more skilled and younger overall.

I'd like the team to look as close to this as possible, with some promotions and other moves, that set us up to pounce on a top line center, when that elusive player finally becomes attainable, hopefully...

Lupul/ Bozak/ Kessel
van Reimsdyk/ Grabovski/ Frattin
Kadri/ Colborne/ Kulemin
Brown/ Steckel/ Prust

Gunnarsson/ Phaneuf
Liles/ Franson
Gardiner/ Schenn (if he's still here after the JVR trade)
Holzer

Reimer
Gustavsson

I don't know if we get big enough with these potential moves, but I'm also not sure what can be expected, given the situation we're in with contract and players that are not cutting the mustard currently.

Now, I'd be open to some tinkering with the goalie situation, but only if we targeted a player that is also young and upcoming. Schneider would be at the top of my list, however, I think it would take more from the Leafs for Gillis to deal him here. But I would also look seriously at Harding and or Bernier as well. I'm not sold on bringing in a veteran goalie at this point, but it may need some more thought in the summer. I wouldn't rule out a veteran coming in, depending on how Burke feels about things moving forward.

Thoughts?

 

[L K]

I'm not sure what Prust would be let go by the Rangers, but if they do let him get to free agency, to me, he is exactly what you want on your 4th line.  He's one of those guys who isn't going to put up a lot of points because that isn't his job.  I think he would actually be able to put up a big offensive season if you had one of those terrible teams where he was playing on your first line to "protect" your star player, but in general, he belongs on your 3rd/4th line.  He hits hard, he plays responsible defensively, also he grew up on my street so that's always an important factor as it fulfills one of Don Cherry's requirements for what makes a good player.

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

I'm not sure what Prust would be let go by the Rangers, but if they do let him get to free agency, to me, he is exactly what you want on your 4th line.  He's one of those guys who isn't going to put up a lot of points because that isn't his job.  I think he would actually be able to put up a big offensive season if you had one of those terrible teams where he was playing on your first line to "protect" your star player, but in general, he belongs on your 3rd/4th line.  He hits hard, he plays responsible defensively, also he grew up on my street so that's always an important factor as it fulfills one of Don Cherry's requirements for what makes a good player.

Yeah, I suppose they could sign him, but my thinking was that he may want to test the market and they have made a commitment to a similar player in Rupp. I guess having both of them would only make them stronger, but I thought they may want more skill on their 3rd line is all.

 

[Corn Flake]

Burke should go nuts at the deadline and completely retool the forwards.... apparently there are offers on the table for all 3 guys on the 2nd line... should move them all, get Nash and call up Colborne, Kadri and Frattin to fill the gaps. 

I've had too much coffee this morning....

I remember you had an inspiring morning coffee in 2009 trading a bunch of players for a rebuild.  I had to head out so I copied it into Word so that I could read it later when I had no internet.  I just found it on my hard drive.

uh oh.. evidence.    I vaguely remember something like that. How bad was it?

EYEronically  I would just like to point out that Burke actually had the chance to do exactly what I suggested.. for 4 1st round picks no less... but he didn't.   

Part of me thinks/hopes he believes he can still get those picks for some of those guys if he wants to at the draft.

 

[Corn Flake]

I'm not sure what Prust would be let go by the Rangers, but if they do let him get to free agency, to me, he is exactly what you want on your 4th line.  He's one of those guys who isn't going to put up a lot of points because that isn't his job.  I think he would actually be able to put up a big offensive season if you had one of those terrible teams where he was playing on your first line to "protect" your star player, but in general, he belongs on your 3rd/4th line.  He hits hard, he plays responsible defensively, also he grew up on my street so that's always an important factor as it fulfills one of Don Cherry's requirements for what makes a good player.

But doesn't Prust = Mike Brown ???  Or at least they are in the same ballpark.  That said, Leafs need another another Mike Brown type in the lineup.  So yeah if Prust is out there he would be a great guy to bring on.  Can't see him moving though.

Bottom line to me is Burke HAS to get at least one guy in the top six who can play with as much jam as he can with at least some skill.  Rick Nash of course tops my list there, but a Scott Hartnell type is about the level I would hope he can find. 

 

[L K]

I'm not sure what Prust would be let go by the Rangers, but if they do let him get to free agency, to me, he is exactly what you want on your 4th line.  He's one of those guys who isn't going to put up a lot of points because that isn't his job.  I think he would actually be able to put up a big offensive season if you had one of those terrible teams where he was playing on your first line to "protect" your star player, but in general, he belongs on your 3rd/4th line.  He hits hard, he plays responsible defensively, also he grew up on my street so that's always an important factor as it fulfills one of Don Cherry's requirements for what makes a good player.

But doesn't Prust = Mike Brown ???  Or at least they are in the same ballpark.  That said, Leafs need another another Mike Brown type in the lineup.  So yeah if Prust is out there he would be a great guy to bring on.  Can't see him moving though.

Bottom line to me is Burke HAS to get at least one guy in the top six who can play with as much jam as he can with at least some skill.  Rick Nash of course tops my list there, but a Scott Hartnell type is about the level I would hope he can find.

Prust equals Mike Brown in as much as has a career high of 8 points and 6 goals while Prust is more of a 20 point player.  He struggled earlier on with the offensive side of the game in Calgary but since going to New York he has put up:  53 points in 173 GP