Dappleganger said:
I am perturbed. Looking at the contracts signed today, I would have given more money to add Brett Pesce or Sean Walker instead of OEL.
Pesce seemed headed to the Devils weeks ago.
Of the RH Dmen, these guys re-signed with their teams:
Jalen Chatfield (4/5)
Tyler Myers (4/5)
Dylan DeMelo
Alexandre Carrier
Leafs traded for and signed Tanev
These were the only 4 RH Dmen of note to become UFAs
Brett Pesce - an American, was linked with New Jersey for weeks
Matt Roy, an American wanted to remain in the US
Brandon Montour - was out of their price range
Sean Walker (who is really a 4/5) apparently didn't have the Leafs on his list as a possible destination
Leafs got 1 of the five most of the 32 teams would have liked which is not bad under the circumstances.
I also wasn't keen on OEL. He is a puck mover who should do well with our forwards offensively but he may be a defensive liability. He played for Treliving for years in Az. He knows him well. Treliving maintained he's still got his legs - he still thinks he can play. He'd know better than the few times I saw him play this year.
OEL might make Liljegren, a 4/5 RH dman on a reasonable $3 mil x 2 yr deal, expendable so they can flip him for assets to get a 3rd line center or some forward help. Liljegren is a UFA in 2 years.
So I've cooled off to a wait and see position.
184 players (25% of the league) signed contracts for $1.2 billion today. A big hunk was done in the first 30-60 minutes of free agency (or just before). All that craziness considered, I think the Leafs handled it pretty well. The dmen were older than we would have liked but I didn't feel like there were a lot of the "ones that got away". They have four more shots with Matthews and they can't wait until next year.
