Unofficial 2013-2014 Armchair GM Thread

[Andy007]

I'd let McClement walk.. He has regressed big time

But then who is going to take the offensive-zone draws when the team is trailing?

 

[L K]

I'd let McClement walk.. He has regressed big time

It's funny, I was thinking the same thing about him lately, until I saw him play live last night. He had an impressive game and was noticeable, for all the right reasons.

I think that was more of a statement on how the rest of the team played.  I have been very lucky to see 4 games this year.  McClement was invisible in all four of them and his line was getting hemmed in their own zone.  I see a lot of that on TV watching the other games.  He had a good game last night but those aren't the standard in his game.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I'd let McClement walk.. He has regressed big time

It's funny, I was thinking the same thing about him lately, until I saw him play live last night. He had an impressive game and was noticeable, for all the right reasons.

I think that was more of a statement on how the rest of the team played.  I have been very lucky to see 4 games this year.  McClement was invisible in all four of them and his line was getting hemmed in their own zone.  I see a lot of that on TV watching the other games.  He had a good game last night but those aren't the standard in his game.

And "good" is still the other team dominating his line for most of the night.

 

[louisstamos]

Considering how bad the UFA pool is this year, I wonder which D-Men might be available via trade during the off-season...

If Vancouver is considering re-tooling/re-building, I wonder what it would take to get Dan Hamhuis out of there...

 

[Rebel_1812]

Considering how bad the UFA pool is this year, I wonder which D-Men might be available via trade during the off-season...

If Vancouver is considering re-tooling/re-building, I wonder what it would take to get Dan Hamhuis out of there...

Thats another offensive guy.  We need Elder if Vancouver was the trading partner.

 

[louisstamos]

Considering how bad the UFA pool is this year, I wonder which D-Men might be available via trade during the off-season...

If Vancouver is considering re-tooling/re-building, I wonder what it would take to get Dan Hamhuis out of there...

Thats another offensive guy.  We need Elder if Vancouver was the trading partner.

Is he really an offensive D-man?  I do know he had 38 points one year with the Predators, but I always thought of him as more of an all-purpose D-man, kinda like Brent Seabrook.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Is he really an offensive D-man?  I do know he had 38 points one year with the Predators, but I always thought of him as more of an all-purpose D-man, kinda like Brent Seabrook.

Edler's a more offensive guy than Hamhuis, but Hamhuis isn't going anywhere. He signed a very good deal with them that includes a no-trade clause because he wanted to play there. Edler might be available though, he and Byfuglien are really the only top-4 guys that are rumoured to be on the trade block. Like I've said before, I'd go hard after either of them.

And the free agent pool isn't really that bad. There's no big name guy but a lot of 4's or 5's that could help the team. A conversation here last week reminded me of Stralman and it seems like he's really stepped up his defensive game in New York. I've mentioned Robidas would be a great fit before, but that all depends on if he can recover from his injury. I wanted Hainsey last summer and would still go after him in this one. Any one of those guys could be signed to replace Franson's spot in the top-4 I think. Ideally we would trade for one of the two names that I mentioned, sign a free agent, and move Gleason to another team. That would give us:

Gunnarsson-Phaneuf
Gardiner-Edler
Rielly-Stralman
Holzer/MacWilliam/Ranger

 

[Britishbulldog]

I could see a few changes, but seriously...Nonis isn't going to have a fire sale here. Not a chance. And, without trading some future pieces, he's not going to get any real upgrades to the core of this team in one summer.

Carlyle probably gets replaced...but with whom?

Franson and Reimer get dealt, but what is out there that will improve this club without sacrificing a piece of the future?

And let's be realistic, what players do the Leafs have, besides a few untouchables like Reilly and Gardiner, that other teams are clamoring over?

So, while it's easy to say if they miss out then big changes are coming, it's a lot harder to actually implement them and improve the club at the same time.

I think they need to look no further than the farm system for most of our needs.

D'Amigo, Holland, Ashton, Leivo, MacWilliam should all be up with the big club playing legitimate roles - ie: no 3 minutes per night 4th line BS.  They're all good enough to play a full 4 lines with the more effective line(s) getting the most playing time on any given night.

A couple others could probably come too (Hartikainen, Holzer, Smithson, Abbot, Granberg, Brennen, Gauthier, Devane, others?).

Using these cheaper, young players better affords us the ability to make meaningful signings/trades as required, as well as keep the players important to us (Kulemin?).

Throw in a relatively cheap Komarov (say, 2M).  Remove useless (Clarkson) - I'm perfectly willing to take the buyout penalties - this is addition by subtraction.

Change the coach (and, thus, the systems).


Kessel - Bozak - JvR
Leivo - Kadri - Kulemin
Ashton - Holland - D'Amigo
Bodie - Smith? - Komarov
Hartikainen

Phaneuf - Gunnarsson
Reilly - Gleason
Gardiner - MacWilliam
Holzer


*In a perfect world, we'd find a way to upgrade our defense here, too.  Gleason is probably too hard to move, and getting an actual upgrade is difficult - free agency hasn't been nice to us and trades cost important assets...  To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what can be done here and I'm not as familiar with our defensive prospects...

I'd agree with you that the top line remains intact.

I think the rest of the forward lines have too many inexperienced players.

The defense is hard to upgrade realistically but I would put most of the trade assets to upgrade the defense.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Gunnarsson-Phaneuf
Gardiner-Edler
Rielly-Stralman
Holzer/MacWilliam/Ranger

I'd actually even amend that. Put trade target with free agent guy (or Edler-Stralman in this case) together. That gives us a slightly stronger 2nd pairing that should hopefully take the pressure of the top pairing, and it allows the Rielly-Gardiner pairing to feast on the oppositions weaker competition.

 

[Redleaf]

Gunnarsson-Phaneuf
Gardiner-Edler
Rielly-Stralman
Holzer/MacWilliam/Ranger

I'd actually even amend that. Put trade target with free agent guy (or Edler-Stralman in this case) together. That gives us a slightly stronger 2nd pairing that should hopefully take the pressure of the top pairing, and it allows the Rielly-Gardiner pairing to feast on the oppositions weaker competition.

If only Nonis would have seriously addressed the issue on defense instead of signing Clarkson, this team would be a helluva a lot more competitive, and probably been sitting higher in the standings because of it. Does anyone else think Clarkson sucks?

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Bored at work, so I thought I'd plug some of my thoughts into capgeek. I tried to be as reasonable as I could, which is why Orr and McClement are still on the team. I'd love to move Gleason too but right now his salary still fits so we're not in a rush there. My only trade was moving Lupul to Vancouver for Edler. I think that one might make sense for both teams. Vancouver desperately needs some scoring support outside of the Sedins. Here's what I came up with:



FORWARDS
James Van Riemsdyk ($4.250m) / Tyler Bozak ($4.200m) / Phil Kessel ($8.000m)
Nikolai Kulemin ($3.500m) / Nazem Kadri ($2.900m) / Ales Hemsky ($4.000m)
Carter Ashton ($0.851m) / Peter Holland ($1.000m) / David Clarkson ($5.250m)
Jerry D'Amigo ($0.851m) / Jay McClement ($1.800m) / Leo Komarov ($1.800m)
Troy Bodie ($0.925m) / Colton Orr ($0.925m)

DEFENSEMEN
Carl Gunnarsson ($3.150m) / Dion Phaneuf ($7.000m)
Alexander Edler ($5.000m) / Anton Stralman ($2.500m)
Jake Gardiner ($2.000m) / Morgan Rielly ($0.894m)
Tim Gleason ($4.000m) /

GOALTENDERS
Jonathan Bernier ($2.900m)
Thomas Greiss ($1.000m)

BUYOUTS
Mike Komisarek ($0.000m)
Mikhail Grabovski ($0.000m)

------

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2014-15)
SALARY CAP: $71,100,000; CAP PAYROLL: $68,695,167; BONUSES: $850,000
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $2,404,833

 

[Britishbulldog]

Here is my assessment on what to keep or change going forward.

Goal - Bernier will involve into a top notch number 1 like Rask has in Boston. We need a quality back-up.

Defence - Rielly and Gardiner should be the centerpieces moving forward, with a couple of tough D-men to compliment them.

Phaneuf is supposed be be a tough d-men, but I can't get over his dumb mental mistakes for someone with his experience. Second pairing guy at best. We are probably stuck with him, so he go with one of the kids. I would sooner his concentrate on solid, tough defence, with the occassional hard hit like he used to (when it makes sense), then worry about offense from him as much. That will come from the kids.

So we need a top stud d-man, not easy to find. The 5-6 guys need to be physical as well.

Forwards:
- I would keep the top line,
- Lupul and Kadri (at least for a while longer...he needs to up his compete consistently though).
- Bolland also if healthy (we need some vets). Although some say Raymond is one-dimensional. I think he plays decently for his size, offers speed, is smart with puck and has scored and set up a lot of timely goals. Surrounded by bigger players, I'd keep him if the price is right.
- Bodie and McClement are find on the fourth line, but need a quality 4th liner with them.

Tradeable or changeable parts.
Gunner, Franson, Gleason, Ranger
Kulimen, Clarkson (unless he improves next year, and if his contract could be moved)
Reimer

That's not a lot of trading power. It's going to trade some luck in the draft or some impactful free agent signings to make a difference, and anything that happens in the draft will take years to bear fruit. I don't see a whole lot on the Marlies that would have any significant impact. The growth really has to come from within from the core (Kessel, JVR and Bozak have all improved...now we need the same from Gardiner, Rielly and Kadri to take the next step...). I think Nonis will rethink the trade deadline next year given how easily some of these piece were picked up. I really thought the Leafs should have gone after a guy like Matt Moulson, a Toronto boy, who probably would have fit in nicely. They have to do something to shake things up soon. I also would not be opposed to calling up a couple of Marlies to light a fire under some players who I think have gotten a little too comfortable.

Forwards:
I look at the top line and would like to leave it intact (as I agreed above).
- 2nd line
  Lupul (on left side, I have noticed Carlyle putting him on the right side again with Raymond on the left. Unbelievable!!),
  Kadri (who hits like Kesler, is younger and will only get better)
  Kulemin (hits like a freight train, underrated skater and above average shot, defensively responsible) Re-sign 5 years @ $3.5 ( 3.0, 3.25, 3.75, 4.0. 3.5)
- 3rd Line
  young, cheap Leaf/Marlie (Leivo, Holland, etc)
  Bolland (smallish veteran presence who does what it takes to win) Re-sign 5 years @ $4.2 ( 3.5, 4.0, 5.0, 4.5. 4.0)
  Physical forward $4.15 - $5.25

- 4th Line
  Komarov - 3 years @ $2.25 ($2.0, 2.5, 2.25)
  McClement 2 years @ $1.5
  Bodie 2 years @ $0.8

Press Box
  Smith $0.6 (love his game with the Marlies AND the Leafs)
  McLaren $0.7 (small cap hit and can sit 1 year without hurting his progression)


Goal - Bernier and I would love to keep Reimer but I can't see it.

Defense is tough to settle for me.

 

[Jalili]

I actually like Anton Stralman and as far as UFA D-men go, he'd be my first pick when taking age/salary into account.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I actually like Anton Stralman and as far as UFA D-men go, he'd be my first pick when taking age/salary into account.

He has the type of skill set that flies under the radar and isn't typically overpaid. The more I think about it though I realize I probably went a little low on my guess for him. He'll likely fall in the $3-3.75mil range.

 

[Jalili]

I actually like Anton Stralman and as far as UFA D-men go, he'd be my first pick when taking age/salary into account.

He has the type of skill set that flies under the radar and isn't typically overpaid. The more I think about it though I realize I probably went a little low on my guess for him. He'll likely fall in the $3-3.75mil range.

Yeah I'm with you on that. I haven't followed Stralman closely but have heard relatively good things about him, and if we decide to move Franson I think he could be a good replacement as a right-handed D-man.

 

[Bullfrog]

I'd be very happy to get Stralman back. Was always a fan. He's impressed in the Rangers games I've seen.

 

[Highlander]

we never should have let him go. I like the game I see with the Rangers. Again we have some very good young defensemen in our system and some of them need a chance very soon.

 

[Tigger]

Any idea what sort of deal Fiddler might get for his next contract?

 

[Rebel_1812]

Is he really an offensive D-man?  I do know he had 38 points one year with the Predators, but I always thought of him as more of an all-purpose D-man, kinda like Brent Seabrook.

Edler's a more offensive guy than Hamhuis, but Hamhuis isn't going anywhere. He signed a very good deal with them that includes a no-trade clause because he wanted to play there. Edler might be available though, he and Byfuglien are really the only top-4 guys that are rumoured to be on the trade block. Like I've said before, I'd go hard after either of them.

And the free agent pool isn't really that bad. There's no big name guy but a lot of 4's or 5's that could help the team. A conversation here last week reminded me of Stralman and it seems like he's really stepped up his defensive game in New York. I've mentioned Robidas would be a great fit before, but that all depends on if he can recover from his injury. I wanted Hainsey last summer and would still go after him in this one. Any one of those guys could be signed to replace Franson's spot in the top-4 I think. Ideally we would trade for one of the two names that I mentioned, sign a free agent, and move Gleason to another team. That would give us:

Gunnarsson-Phaneuf
Gardiner-Edler
Rielly-Stralman
Holzer/MacWilliam/Ranger

The funny thing is Byfuglien could have been had from Chicago too.  We gave up way more forVersteeg that season that Atlanta traded for him.

 

[Andy007]

Is he really an offensive D-man?  I do know he had 38 points one year with the Predators, but I always thought of him as more of an all-purpose D-man, kinda like Brent Seabrook.

Edler's a more offensive guy than Hamhuis, but Hamhuis isn't going anywhere. He signed a very good deal with them that includes a no-trade clause because he wanted to play there. Edler might be available though, he and Byfuglien are really the only top-4 guys that are rumoured to be on the trade block. Like I've said before, I'd go hard after either of them.

And the free agent pool isn't really that bad. There's no big name guy but a lot of 4's or 5's that could help the team. A conversation here last week reminded me of Stralman and it seems like he's really stepped up his defensive game in New York. I've mentioned Robidas would be a great fit before, but that all depends on if he can recover from his injury. I wanted Hainsey last summer and would still go after him in this one. Any one of those guys could be signed to replace Franson's spot in the top-4 I think. Ideally we would trade for one of the two names that I mentioned, sign a free agent, and move Gleason to another team. That would give us:

Gunnarsson-Phaneuf
Gardiner-Edler
Rielly-Stralman
Holzer/MacWilliam/Ranger

The funny thing is Byfuglien could have been had from Chicago too.  We gave up way more forVersteeg that season that Atlanta traded for him.

Toronto gave up Stalberg and some below average prospects for Versteeg. Other than an exchange of some lower depth players, Atlanta essentially gave up a 1st and a 2nd for Byfuglien. Not sure how Toronto gave up "way more."