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Leafs sign Nick Ritchie - 2 years x 2.5M

Highlander said:
Where is Robertson in all this?
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Come October Robertson will be 20 years old and have played in a grand total of 31 meaningful hockey games over the previous 19 months (4 in the bubble, 6 in the NHL, 21 in the AHL). And even adjusting for competition/expectation I don't think he really excelled in any of those. I don't think that means he's a bad prospect or anything, but Covid and injuries have stalled his development a little bit so throwing him into the NHL right away this season would be mistake. Maybe he spends half a season in the AHL and if he's dominating and one of the bets we've made haven't worked out he can get a shot then. But in an ideal world I think the plan for him would be to spend 21/22 in the AHL and then in 2022 he's ready to take Kerfoot's spot in the top-6 after we deal him for cap relief.
 
How about this if you want to give herman's lad a chance to drive his own line?

Ritchie-Matthews-Marner                   
Kerfoot-Tavares-Robertson
Bunting-Spezza-Nylander
Mikheyev-Kampf-Simmonds

or flip Marner & Robertson
 
CarltonTheBear said:
wnc096 said:
that bottom 6 looks terrible...maybe get 35 goals out of all 6 of them?
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Mikheyev, Spezza, and Simmonds alone scored a combined 40 goals at an 82-game pace last season.
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Yeah but I don't expect Simmonds and Spezza (especially) to improve or even maintain going forward
 
Yeah, it feels like any real offense from that bottom 6 is depending heavily on Spezza continuing to be able to fight off Father Time.
 
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
How about this if you want to give herman's lad a chance to drive his own line?

Ritchie-Matthews-Marner                   
Kerfoot-Tavares-Robertson
Bunting-Spezza-Nylander
Mikheyev-Kampf-Simmonds

or flip Marner & Robertson
Click to expand...
   


I like that lineup. Could be very interesting to start the season with.
 
Lost Zach Hyman to UFA

Dubas signed:
His defensive role replacement in Kampf
His agitator garbage goal role replacement in Bunting
His big body penalty taking role replacement in Ritchie
 
herman said:
Lost Zach Hyman to UFA

Dubas signed:
His defensive role replacement in Kampf
His agitator garbage goal role replacement in Bunting
His big body penalty taking role replacement in Ritchie
Click to expand...

He just tripled Hyman's ice time!
 
Ritchie and Kase taking the forest tour together, starting as Ducks, then bears, and now Leafs.
 
Liking the Kase and Ritchie signings for depth and the risk/reward that could come with it.

Not convinced though that all these signings will mitigate the loss of Hyman.
 
Nik said:
CarltonTheBear said:
Ritchie-Matthews-Marner                   
Kerfoot-Tavares-Nylander
Mikheyev-Kampf-Kase
Bunting-Spezza-Simmonds
Click to expand...

Woof. I'm really not sure about that bottom 6. The fact that this team seemingly doesn't have any 22 or 23 year old guys from in-house beating down the door to be on that third line is a real weak spot.
Click to expand...

Agreed on the shortage of 22-23 year olds being the root of the depth issue, and my preferred stop-gap solution (shop among the BluRays rather than the DVDs in the UFA bargain bin) is out given the flat cap. I wonder if maybe giving Nylander a sheltered scoring line and spreading out the offense wouldn?t be a thing they try. It?d reduce ice time for the core four, making the spending look a bit silly, but, if we choose to believe the most charitable explanation for the Montreal faceplant, balancing ice time might preserve these guys for the playoffs.

Ritchie-Matthews-Kase/Simmons/whatever = put AM in the Sundin spot
Kerfoot-Tavares-Marner = let Marner elevate a declining JT
Bunting-Nylander-Spezza = give Nylander a sheltered scoring line
Mikheyev-Kampf-Engvall = that match-up energy line
 
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