2026-27 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion | Official: Sundin & Chayka to lead front office
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Guru Tugginmypuddah
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Probably like a meat locker in there.
herman
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![s]](https://media.tenor.com/Gk5HpTZWrKoAAAAM/give-it-to-me-elsa.gif[/s])
Bender
Well-known member
On one hand I like what they've done in that they don't want Matthews to be playing hard defensive matchups but looking at teams like Florida and Colorado it's hard not to think only the first two lines will be scoring and even the second line with Tavares will be a question mark. Did we need a $7M Bob if we put that into a $4M goaltender and prioritized trading for a 2C?
He's decided to stay in Columbus
Maybe you can sell it to Werenski
I won't buy it because after his statement, I doubt he is going anywhere else any time soon.
I would also wonder, after the UFAs Toronto signed today, even if Werenski changed his mind about going somewhere else, whether he would continue to consider Toronto as a destination where he could win compared to other alternatives.
mr grieves
Well-known member
Probably none of the teams below 28th moved ahead of them. I have not checked though.
Washington may be improved. Ottawa probably has fallen.
They moved out 10 players from that 28th place team:
Woll & Hildeby
Carlo & Benoit
McMann, Laughton, Roy, Maccelli, Robertson & Jarnkrok
So that is largely probably good ?
Is Bobrovsky after his worst season better than Woll or Hildeby? I hope so but I'm not sure.
The top 5 D with Raddysh & a healthy Tanev is better than 2026
I'm not so sure about Andrae & Stecher being better than Carlo & Benoit
Overall, the D is or should be better
The forwards I worry about
Age & health issues with Matthews & Tavares
Maturity concerns with Cowan (had some issues defensively in AHL playoffs) & McKenna
Knies should be fine if all the trade chatter hasn't got to him
Nylander will continue his one way play
Mirtle expresses some of my concerns with the bottom six
We talked about the Leafs lack of depth.
Now the top 6 isn't as good because the kids have not come of age and the vets are getting creaky
The bottom six is flirting with being two 4th lines.
As weak as the UFA market was, I wasn't expecting uncertainty.
I looked at the 2025-26 team as an underachiever that with some UFA adjustments could bounce back to the playoffs.
But right now, I'm not sure if they're a playoff team.
I haven't had time to digest the changes so I may be off base.
I hope I'm wrong.
Supposedly, a focus of this retooling effort was to show Auston Matthews there was a reason for him to re-sign here.
That they were intent on contending for some time to come so he would get cracks at winning a Cup. I'm having trouble seeing that.
Puckpedia says this new roster is the oldest team in the league.
That is not the end of the world maybe as many contenders are on the older side but it raises some eyebrows for a claim of longer-term contention to retain Matthews who is looking to extend 8 years ...
Then I reviewed the new contract terms. Aside from Raddysh, it is all 2-3 yr terms with little to no trade protection for all the players Chayka added. No other deals that will age badly for years. (EDIT: Puckpedia added NMC to Bobrovsky) That's not a bad thing. But it does make me wonder ... It is something a GM might do if rebuild is a year or two away.
3 years from today, this is what is left on the roster: Nylander 33, Knies 26, Cowan 24, McKenna 21, Raddysh 33, McCabe 35, Rielly 35, Tanev 29, Stolarz 35
The 2026 draft seemed pretty good. But most of those guys won't show up as significant NHLers for 5-6 years or more.
If I were a GM who knew Matthews was unlikely to extend, I might wind up with what Chayka did.
If players around the league knew Matthews was unlikely to extend, I might wind up with what Chayka did because the better UFAs found more stable and longer-term competitive options elsewhere.
I preferred a rebuild. But when ownership set the retool direction, I have tried to get on board with that. I was not down on the Raddysh signing because of it for example. I reviewed all the UFAs particularly looking for players that could help the retool. We seemed to get sloppy seconds though maybe some of that relates to the poor depth in the UFA market. I'm not sure about that and I also wonder.
I came into July 1 more optimistic than how I ended the day.
It is only one day and when they reflect, hopefully, they have more moves up their sleeve or I've misread it.
That they were intent on contending for some time to come so he would get cracks at winning a Cup. I'm having trouble seeing that.
Puckpedia says this new roster is the oldest team in the league.
That is not the end of the world maybe as many contenders are on the older side but it raises some eyebrows for a claim of longer-term contention to retain Matthews who is looking to extend 8 years ...
Then I reviewed the new contract terms. Aside from Raddysh, it is all 2-3 yr terms with little to no trade protection for all the players Chayka added. No other deals that will age badly for years. (EDIT: Puckpedia added NMC to Bobrovsky) That's not a bad thing. But it does make me wonder ... It is something a GM might do if rebuild is a year or two away.
3 years from today, this is what is left on the roster: Nylander 33, Knies 26, Cowan 24, McKenna 21, Raddysh 33, McCabe 35, Rielly 35, Tanev 29, Stolarz 35
The 2026 draft seemed pretty good. But most of those guys won't show up as significant NHLers for 5-6 years or more.
If I were a GM who knew Matthews was unlikely to extend, I might wind up with what Chayka did.
If players around the league knew Matthews was unlikely to extend, I might wind up with what Chayka did because the better UFAs found more stable and longer-term competitive options elsewhere.
I preferred a rebuild. But when ownership set the retool direction, I have tried to get on board with that. I was not down on the Raddysh signing because of it for example. I reviewed all the UFAs particularly looking for players that could help the retool. We seemed to get sloppy seconds though maybe some of that relates to the poor depth in the UFA market. I'm not sure about that and I also wonder.
I came into July 1 more optimistic than how I ended the day.
It is only one day and when they reflect, hopefully, they have more moves up their sleeve or I've misread it.
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herman
Well-known member
On the face of it, it’s a lot of money for mostly grinders.
But:
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.
But:
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.
Bender
Well-known member
This is damage control and as we've seen with public statements from hockey players lately who behind the scenes have been unhappy with their team that front facing talk is extremely cheap. He might stay for now, but I doubt he stays there all year and I can't see how he extends after all this. This oozes a revisit at least by the trade deadline.
Guru Tugginmypuddah
Well-known member
I don't know if the Leafs are fixed, but they sure are different.
dappleganger
Well-known member
This is what I would do.
herman
Well-known member
Where it really struggled under Treliving/Berube was they both wanted different ways to do presumably the same thing.
Treliving got players for a Top-9 deployment (all them mushy middle zippy LWs) to spread offense out. But there was no puck movement from the backend in both personnel and playstyle which took the puck out of the hands of those less than star players who needed that kind of support to leverage their skill sets.
I can see it working out better this year (coach that wants scoring lol) because of the more mobile and capable of passing defense, even with the diminished scoring skill of the bottom six. Lean into the dump and chase and grind for these lines, cycle low to high for playoff style point shots into legs and sticks and tips for rebounds. You only need gumption and some reasonable timing to crash the net to pop in rebounds on semi-open nets.
Treliving got players for a Top-9 deployment (all them mushy middle zippy LWs) to spread offense out. But there was no puck movement from the backend in both personnel and playstyle which took the puck out of the hands of those less than star players who needed that kind of support to leverage their skill sets.
I can see it working out better this year (coach that wants scoring lol) because of the more mobile and capable of passing defense, even with the diminished scoring skill of the bottom six. Lean into the dump and chase and grind for these lines, cycle low to high for playoff style point shots into legs and sticks and tips for rebounds. You only need gumption and some reasonable timing to crash the net to pop in rebounds on semi-open nets.
Someone pointed out that next year Werenski's no trade clause drops to a 10 team no trade list. This year is the year he gets to pick his spot. So if he really wants out, and he really wants to pick his spot, it has to happen this year, otherwise he could be going to one of 21 teams.