Steve Stamkos?

[Highlander]

Would like to see Reimer back and have seen Yandle play quite a few games as a Yote, he would be a great addition.

 

[Bill_Berg]

Would like to see Reimer back and have seen Yandle play quite a few games as a Yote, he would be a great addition.

Lots of guys would be great additions on 1 year, 2 million dollar contracts, but these guys will be too expensive and want terms that are too long.

 

[TBLeafer]

I know its been mentioned in this thread already, but why isn't this a main arguing point for bringing in Stamkos...

It allows the Leafs to trade a young and very talented player or prospect like a Nylander, Kadri, Marner, in order to shore up weaknesses at other positions on this team. That in itself is a fantastic reason to sign Stamkos for nothing but cap space and dollars. Suddenly your not only strong at center, but you have considerable options to improve your defense as well.

This sounds like a very Blue Jays thing to do, and could very well be similar to something the Leafs do later in the build when we have a better idea of who fits and who does not. Right now? Just to justify purchasing Stamkos? Of whom I've yet to see a compelling argument that he fulfills a legitimate requirement for the team? Such a move and justification does not fit in my interpretation of a patient rebuild through drafting and development.

What RL is saying though wouldn't be close to happening right away though.  It would happen with Stamkos on the team only when the team is ready to compete for the cup.

If Stamkos was still 21-23 and for some reason hit free agency? I'll be right with you, begging the team to sign him.

Moves that accelerate builds the way Stamkos would beget further moves that continue the acceleration. See 2013-15 Blue Jays. See 1990s-2000s Leafs. So many examples...

Now we watch from afar as Syndergaard puts the fear of God into his catcher every time he misses a catch, and Steen suit up for a perennial contender, and Rask hoist the Stanley Cup a few years ago, etc.

Signing Stamkos wouldn't trigger any such thing.  He just fits with the timeline that will maximise players like Kadri and JVR and Gardiner already on the team and the (26 and younger) core according to Babcock.

 

[TBLeafer]

Okposo would probably look as good with Matthews as he does with Tavares.  Reimer is legit, whether Leafs fans want to admit it or not.  We all saw what he could do playing for a good team down the stretch.  He put up much better numbers than Jones, during that time.  He also squeaked into the top 30 in GP, making him a top 30 goalie in the league and is still young enough by goalie shelf life standards to be a benefit to the team that signs him for years to come.

That is for another debate though.

Yandle is better than at least half of the Leafs D presently.

So a second pairing blueliner even on this crappy defense, a winger who only looks particularly good if you play him with a terrific C and a goalie we saw for four years of inconsistent play?

Yeah, I'll stick with not that great a group.

Yeah with such a pessimistic viewpoint when it comes to the state of our team in general, I'm not surprised at all that you hold these players in such low regard.

How's life?  You happy about how everything's going with you and yours?

 

[Highlander]

down, not across?life is beautiful

 

[Kin]

 
Yeah with such a pessimistic viewpoint when it comes to the state of our team in general, I'm not surprised at all that you hold these players in such low regard.

How's life?  You happy about how everything's going with you and yours?

See, typically, when making an affirmative claim the way you are like "This is an exceptional UFA class" people tend to respond better to facts than just saying "Yes it is!" over and over and over.

So you might want to try, I don't know, actually holding up other free agent classes and comparing them to this one. I know fact-based arguments are going to be a new thing to try out but man, they're fun once you get the hang of them.

 

[TBLeafer]

 
Yeah with such a pessimistic viewpoint when it comes to the state of our team in general, I'm not surprised at all that you hold these players in such low regard.

How's life?  You happy about how everything's going with you and yours?

See, typically, when making an affirmative claim the way you are like "This is an exceptional UFA class" people tend to respond better to facts than just saying "Yes it is!" over and over and over.

So you might want to try, I don't know, actually holding up other free agent classes and comparing them to this one. I know fact-based arguments are going to be a new thing to try out but man, they're fun once you get the hang of them.

Here's a fact.  It's been touted on as strong since last summer.

NHL free agent class of 2016 strong

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl-free-agent-class-of-2016-strong-1.350699

 

[Kin]

Here's a fact.  It's been touted on as strong since last summer.

NHL free agent class of 2016 strong

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl-free-agent-class-of-2016-strong-1.350699

Fair point. I'm definitely pulling for the Leafs to sign Byfuglien or Kopitar.

 

[Tigger]

 
Yeah with such a pessimistic viewpoint when it comes to the state of our team in general, I'm not surprised at all that you hold these players in such low regard.

How's life?  You happy about how everything's going with you and yours?

See, typically, when making an affirmative claim the way you are like "This is an exceptional UFA class" people tend to respond better to facts than just saying "Yes it is!" over and over and over.

So you might want to try, I don't know, actually holding up other free agent classes and comparing them to this one. I know fact-based arguments are going to be a new thing to try out but man, they're fun once you get the hang of them.

Here's a fact.  It's been touted on as strong since last summer.

NHL free agent class of 2016 strong

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl-free-agent-class-of-2016-strong-1.350699

Good grief, from last summer? Check that ufa list, there's a few players signed now.

 

[TBLeafer]

Here's a fact.  It's been touted on as strong since last summer.

NHL free agent class of 2016 strong

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl-free-agent-class-of-2016-strong-1.350699

Fair point. I'm definitely pulling for the Leafs to sign Byfuglien or Kopitar.

Figured something like that would be the comeback.

Besides Plekanec, Big Buff, Seabrook or Kopitar, how many other of those top names still remain avaliable?

Stamkos? Lucic? Backes? Ladd? Staal? Yandle?

These are still good solid NHL'ers that can help build good teams.

 

[Kin]

Good grief, from last summer? Check that ufa list, there's a few players signed now.

Of the 14 players on that list 5 have signed already and 2 had dumpster fire seasons(Staal and Ward) so you have 7 guys there, one of which is 37 years old.

 

[bustaheims]

Figured something like that would be the comeback.

Besides Plekanec, Big Buff, Seabrook or Kopitar, how many other of those top names still remain avaliable?

Stamkos? Lucic? Backes? Ladd? Staal? Yandle?

These are still good solid NHL'ers that can help build good teams.

Well, zero of them are available today, and some that could be available will re-sign with their current team in the next 3 weeks - just like what happens every other summer. Of the players you ask again, the only ones that seem like they're a virtual guarantee to hit the market are Ladd, Staal, and Yandle - none of whom are overly appealing. Ladd's going to get overpaid, Staal looks like a shadow of his former self, and Yandle didn't exactly impress with the Rangers.

 

[Kin]

These are still good solid NHL'ers that can help build good teams.

Your claim wasn't whether or not there were good players available. It was that this year's UFA class was so super terrific awesome that the Maple Leafs couldn't possibly restrain themselves from signing one of the many options they had.

To actually make that case, again, you actually have to look at prior free agent classes and compare them and, no, that does not involve year old TSN articles written when they didn't actually have an idea of who would be available.

Good solid NHLers are available just about every year. You're the one who is making claims in relation of this class to other classes. You're actually going to have to put in the leg work on this one.

 

[Kin]

Although, it does have to be said that Backes is intriguing. You can probably sign him to a shorter term than Stamkos, he'll be significantly less expensive and he's not good enough by himself to really impact their place in the standings. Plus, if one of the big arguments for signing someone is leadership or whatever...there you go. If he were willing to take a fairly rich 3 year deal it'd be something to look at.

 

[bustaheims]

Although, it does have to be said that Backes is intriguing. You can probably sign him to a shorter term than Stamkos, he'll be significantly less expensive and he's not good enough by himself to really impact their place in the standings. Plus, if one of the big arguments for signing someone is leadership or whatever...there you go. If he were willing to take a fairly rich 3 year deal it'd be something to look at.

I get your thought process here, and Backes does come with a willingness to play on the wing. I just imagine, if he makes it to free agency, he'll be looking to sign on with a contender, and a couple will definitely return that interest.

 

[Kin]

I get your thought process here, and Backes does come with a willingness to play on the wing. I just imagine, if he makes it to free agency, he'll be looking to sign on with a contender, and a couple will definitely return that interest.

Yeah, that's not overly serious. It's something I'd look at if it fell into my lap but not something I'd doggedly pursue.

 

[nutman]

what is so wrong with our defense?????. you guys need to wake up.

We have the makings of a very good top four, its just that they are young, but wait aren't we in a rebuild? don't we have 3-5 years to to the promise land?. Yet you guys keep saying the d we have is not any good. I am lost as to what would make any of you guys (the one who do this I mean) think we are so bad all the time.

So step back, and look at the guys we have in our system, its just like before when we had the McCabe, Kab group. just not ready yet. However we do have the parts. I will say by the end of the up coming season you will see that we have had our top four for a bit now.

 

[Kin]

what is so wrong with our defense?????. you guys need to wake up.

We have the makings of a very good top four, its just that they are young, but wait aren't we in a rebuild? don't we have 3-5 years to to the promise land?. Yet you guys keep saying the d we have is not any good. I am lost as to what would make any of you guys (the one who do this I mean) think we are so bad all the time.

So step back, and look at the guys we have in our system, its just like before when we had the McCabe, Kab group. just not ready yet. However we do have the parts. I will say by the end of the up coming season you will see that we have had our top four for a bit now.

You know the board saves your posts, right? I can go back and quote your posts of you saying essentially the same thing year after year during times where the team finished embarassingly bad and had to be torn apart.

 

[bustaheims]

So step back, and look at the guys we have in our system, its just like before when we had the McCabe, Kab group. just not ready yet. However we do have the parts. I will say by the end of the up coming season you will see that we have had our top four for a bit now.

I am looking at the guys in the system, and I see one realistic top pairing candidate - Rielly. There's a number of potential 2nd pairing guys, and, yeah, maybe one of them will turn out better than expected, but, the odds are that's not going to happen - and, in fact, a significant number of them won't even end up as 2nd pairing guys, and may not turn into NHL players at all.

 

[TBLeafer]

These are still good solid NHL'ers that can help build good teams.

Your claim wasn't whether or not there were good players available. It was that this year's UFA class was so super terrific awesome that the Maple Leafs couldn't possibly restrain themselves from signing one of the many options they had.

To actually make that case, again, you actually have to look at prior free agent classes and compare them and, no, that does not involve year old TSN articles written when they didn't actually have an idea of who would be available.

Good solid NHLers are available just about every year. You're the one who is making claims in relation of this class to other classes. You're actually going to have to put in the leg work on this one.

No, I just said it was a deep UFA pool of top talent, compared to recent years, as per reported.  I didn't report it.  But why do I have reason to doubt it?

Why don't you believe it?  It looks to me like some pretty darn good NHL'ers are coming available compared to the two seasons prior at the very least.

Tlusty and Franson topping the list last year...

Clarkson the year before...

Yeah, this year's list is just a little better than the last two.