RedLeaf said:
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...