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Armchair GM Thread 2025/26

Frank E said:
Just to add to this, even if you pick in the first round of 2028 and 2029, those guys won't likely contribute to the big club until like 2030 - 2031...that's 5-6 years away.
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Which, of course, is when there's a very real chance the Leafs are going to be on the downswing. They'll need those players as either pieces they can move to bring in assets for a potential rebuild or as replacements for some of the other pieces they'll be moving out.

Not getting good price performance from their depth players has killed the Leafs for years. Trading away opportunities for that to add more expensive pieces that will continue the trend of not getting price performance for their depth is akin to "running it back" over and over again. The changes to the team need to come not only in the players on the roster but also the perspective and actions of management. The time for shipping out youth and picks needs to be over. It hasn't worked and it's left the team with few assets to work with.
 
L K said:
If the post Marner iteration of the Maple Leafs is the team overpaying Knies on a bridge deal (I think the 7+ million rumours on a 3 year deal are atrocious)
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For what it's worth Chris Johnston seems to be disputing the $7mil on a 3-5 year deals coming from The Fourth Period:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1928246978166542527

This feels a lot more likely. I agree that even with the cap rising getting only 3 years with a $7mil AAV would be a little nuts.
 
bustaheims said:
I wouldn't for Byfield (Knies already looks like the better player and I'm not moving Cowan for anything but a really big swing), but I agree on Celebrini.
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Cowan for Noah Dobson? I would do that from the Leafs side but I really want to see Cowan in the Leafs lineup for what he might be able to provide at a minimal cap hit.
 
dappleganger said:
Cowan for Noah Dobson? I would do that from the Leafs side but I really want to see Cowan in the Leafs lineup for what he might be able to provide at a minimal cap hit.
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That I'd be open to, as long as another D on a bigger contract was traded as well (in this case, probably OEL or Carlo).
 
bustaheims said:
I wouldn't. Full NMC/NTC, need more of his puckmoving skills, not just swapping him out for a single other puckmover. Ideally, he gets pushed down to more of a true 2nd pairing role.
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A Rielly/Dobson swap would look something like this to me:

McCabe - Tanev
OEL - Carlo
Benoit - Dobson

If you really want more puck moving from the back end I'd be moving on from Benoit cuz I'm not sure he can do it.
 
Fingers crossed Noah Chadwick just aces the first couple of months of the AHL this coming season and acquits himself well in an injury fill-in situation.
 
dappleganger said:
A Rielly/Dobson swap would look something like this to me:

McCabe - Tanev
OEL - Carlo
Benoit - Dobson

If you really want more puck moving from the back end I'd be moving on from Benoit cuz I'm not sure he can do it.
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I actually think Benoit has some underrated puck skills. He did some really good things with the puck in the playoffs. Some time with the skills team could help him gain confidence there as a 3rd pairing puckmover. That being said, I wouldn't pair him with Dobson, if the Leafs were to acquire him. You get a guy like Dobson to play big minutes, and you don't want Benoit doing that. I'd be looking at something more like:

McCabe-Dobson
Rielly-Tanev
Benoit-Carlo

You can swap Dobson and Tanev depending on situation.
 
Let's face it, Leafs have taken their swings and gotten nowhere in the playoffs. OTOH we enjoyed years of the most fun hockey we will ever ever see from our club.

I think we are sliding toward a post-SC Chicago-like fade and then plummet to oblivion, except of course no championships to savor in our old age.
 
ZBBM said:
Let's face it, Leafs have taken their swings and gotten nowhere in the playoffs. OTOH we enjoyed years of the most fun hockey we will ever ever see from our club.

I think we are sliding toward a post-SC Chicago-like fade and then plummet to oblivion, except of course no championships to savor in our old age.
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Shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic.
 
ZBBM said:
Let's face it, Leafs have taken their swings and gotten nowhere in the playoffs. OTOH we enjoyed years of the most fun hockey we will ever ever see from our club.

I think we are sliding toward a post-SC Chicago-like fade and then plummet to oblivion, except of course no championships to savor in our old age.
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I think the Leafs have a solid 4 years of contention left. The problem of this years team was the Leafs had 2 lines that were among the best in the league. the other two lines were a jumbled mess that gave you basically nothing. The defence was fine (better than most Leafs squad in recent years) and the goaltending was fine.

Get some production out of the bottom two lines and we're talking.
 
dappleganger said:
I think the Leafs have a solid 4 years of contention left. The problem of this years team was the Leafs had 2 lines that were among the best in the league. the other two lines were a jumbled mess that gave you basically nothing. The defence was fine (better than most Leafs squad in recent years) and the goaltending was fine.

Get some production out of the bottom two lines and we're talking.
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Yeah, I understand they want young guys to "earn it" by displacing a veteran, but they really need to move on from the dead weight in the bottom six.

Sure there will be growing pains for young players, but their ceilings are higher than a lot of the guys we've had in the bottom six.

Cowan should be nailed on to start on the wing next season, give him the 1st half of the season to really take a shot at transitioning with good players, if he really isn't up to it yet, he can finish the year with the Marlies.

The key to extending their window will be finding one or two guys a year on ELC's that perform well above their salary cost, Knies being a prime example.

The bottom six should be guys with potential to score 50+ points or huge violent psychopaths that can skate.
 
Last edited:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1928517268243136545
An extension for Tavares is much more likely than one with Marner at this point in time. All indications are Marner is heading to free agency. He hasn’t closed the door on a return to Toronto, but he wants to evaluate his options.

It has been widely reported which teams will come knocking on Marner’s door if/when he becomes available. I don’t subscribe to the sign-and-trade theory – it just won’t play out that way. Now, could the Leafs trade his rights for a draft pick to give a team a headstart in contract negotiations? That seems more plausible.

Just about every team will poke around, but I believe Marner has a list of seven or eight teams he prefers to go to if the offers are in place. Los Angeles and Vegas are two of those clubs. Teams with a boatload of cap space may be willing to go above and beyond financially, like Anaheim, Columbus and San Jose, but would Marner prefer to sign with a club closer to contention?
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