The Official 2011/2012 Armchair GM thread

[Corn Flake]

edit: in other words from a cap perspective, if signing Suter or not means burying Komisarek and Armstrong in the minors, I say.. "flusssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhh".

I think Komisarek has a no move clause so he can't be waived to the minors - just bought out (or traded but that's almost insane to expect).

For silly cap fun/perspective, I gave Frattin & Franson modest raises and signed Komarov for $900,000 and budgets $600,000 for a 14th forward.

I waived Connolly, Lombardi & Armstrong to the minors and bought out Komisarek.

I then tried to add Luongo (no key roster player), Staal (Kulemin/Colborne) & UFA Suter (for $7 mil).

Couldn't. Ran into cap trouble and that's if it remains the same for next season (I think it will go down).

I think the most one could possibly hope for is two higher priced impact players and that would involve some crazy waiving/dumping of contracts - so that's a fairly big stretch. Realistically, Burke could probably add one high priced UFA and then the other would have to come via trades/waivers making cap room. And as we pretty much know, one has to be a goalie.

Hmmm, well if you are bringing Luongo here, you can for sure send at least one bad contract we need to unload back the other way.  I would be stunned if that deal was taken on here without some bad money going back the other way. 

 

[Zee]

I was hoping for Komisarek to be moved somehow (trade), but I suspect the Leafs will make him a reclamation project under Carlyle now.  Overall tighter team defense and we'll be saying "hey Komisarek isn't so bad after all".  The options are pretty few with Komisarek right now.

 

[cw]

Hmmm, well if you are bringing Luongo here, you can for sure send at least one bad contract we need to unload back the other way.  I would be stunned if that deal was taken on here without some bad money going back the other way.

I think it's one thing to not give Vancouver much for him (a 2nd tier prospect/pick) - which would be my very rough assumption and that might not be enough. But to ask the Canucks to eat a lot of bad dough is probably asking for too much. I think some other team (a good goalie away) would bid more than that. He's not been great this year but he's not a bum yet. He's very probably got a few good years left in him.

Having said that, as I've said before, I'm not keen on getting him because of his contract. So rather than another Luongo debate, I'd just say we have limitations on how much Burke can do because he's more boxed in for cap space than he's been since he came to Toronto.

 

[bustaheims]

I was hoping for Komisarek to be moved somehow (trade), but I suspect the Leafs will make him a reclamation project under Carlyle now.  Overall tighter team defense and we'll be saying "hey Komisarek isn't so bad after all".  The options are pretty few with Komisarek right now.

I agree. I don't imagine we'll see much in terms of changes to the blueline this summer.

 

[Zee]

Hmmm, well if you are bringing Luongo here, you can for sure send at least one bad contract we need to unload back the other way.  I would be stunned if that deal was taken on here without some bad money going back the other way.

I think it's one thing to not give Vancouver much for him (a 2nd tier prospect/pick) - which would be my very rough assumption and that might not be enough. But to ask the Canucks to eat a lot of bad dough is probably asking for too much. I think some other team (a good goalie away) would bid more than that. He's not been great this year but he's not a bum yet. He's very probably got a few good years left in him.

Having said that, as I've said before, I'm not keen on getting him because of his contract. So rather than another Luongo debate, I'd just say we have limitations on how much Burke can do because he's more boxed in for cap space than he's been since he came to Toronto.

The only other option I thought about with Komisarek was the Islanders.  Since he's from NY I think he might have a willingness to go there.  He'd be seen as a veteran presence on their team blah blah.  Still i'd be shocked to see the Leafs able to trade him.

 

[cw]

Hmmm, well if you are bringing Luongo here, you can for sure send at least one bad contract we need to unload back the other way.  I would be stunned if that deal was taken on here without some bad money going back the other way.

I think it's one thing to not give Vancouver much for him (a 2nd tier prospect/pick) - which would be my very rough assumption and that might not be enough. But to ask the Canucks to eat a lot of bad dough is probably asking for too much. I think some other team (a good goalie away) would bid more than that. He's not been great this year but he's not a bum yet. He's very probably got a few good years left in him.

Having said that, as I've said before, I'm not keen on getting him because of his contract. So rather than another Luongo debate, I'd just say we have limitations on how much Burke can do because he's more boxed in for cap space than he's been since he came to Toronto.

The only other option I thought about with Komisarek was the Islanders.  Since he's from NY I think he might have a willingness to go there.  He'd be seen as a veteran presence on their team blah blah.  Still i'd be shocked to see the Leafs able to trade him.

Me too. His one redeeming feature is that his true salary is now $3.5 mil/yr so he gobbles $1 mil/yr for a team trying to hit the cap floor with his $4.5 mil cap hit. But the question I'd ask as a GM of another team: "is Mike Komisarek the best value I can find for $3.5 mil?" I have real trouble convincing myself he is. In part, I think he's damaged goods with his shoulder.

 

[Britishbulldog]

Hmmm, well if you are bringing Luongo here, you can for sure send at least one bad contract we need to unload back the other way.  I would be stunned if that deal was taken on here without some bad money going back the other way.

I think it's one thing to not give Vancouver much for him (a 2nd tier prospect/pick) - which would be my very rough assumption and that might not be enough. But to ask the Canucks to eat a lot of bad dough is probably asking for too much. I think some other team (a good goalie away) would bid more than that. He's not been great this year but he's not a bum yet. He's very probably got a few good years left in him.

Having said that, as I've said before, I'm not keen on getting him because of his contract. So rather than another Luongo debate, I'd just say we have limitations on how much Burke can do because he's more boxed in for cap space than he's been since he came to Toronto.

The only other option I thought about with Komisarek was the Islanders.  Since he's from NY I think he might have a willingness to go there.  He'd be seen as a veteran presence on their team blah blah.  Still i'd be shocked to see the Leafs able to trade him.

Me too. His one redeeming feature is that his true salary is now $3.5 mil/yr so he gobbles $1 mil/yr for a team trying to hit the cap floor with his $4.5 mil cap hit. But the question I'd ask as a GM of another team: "is Mike Komisarek the best value I can find for $3.5 mil?" I have real trouble convincing myself he is. In part, I think he's damaged goods with his shoulder.

That was why I was looking at RFA Matt Martin instead of a bunch of other tough guys who can score 5-10 goals a year.  Hoping that NYI might be in a "Rolston" or cap floor issue.

Something like Komisarek for Martin and NYI 4th.

 

[Britishbulldog]

edit: in other words from a cap perspective, if signing Suter or not means burying Komisarek and Armstrong in the minors, I say.. "flusssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhh".

I think Komisarek has a no move clause so he can't be waived to the minors - just bought out (or traded but that's almost insane to expect).

For silly cap fun/perspective, I gave Frattin & Franson modest raises and signed Komarov for $900,000 and budgets $600,000 for a 14th forward.

I waived Connolly, Lombardi & Armstrong to the minors and bought out Komisarek.

I then tried to add Luongo (no key roster player), Staal (Kulemin/Colborne) & UFA Suter (for $7 mil).

Couldn't. Ran into cap trouble and that's if it remains the same for next season (I think it will go down).

I think the most one could possibly hope for is two higher priced impact players and that would involve some crazy waiving/dumping of contracts - so that's a fairly big stretch. Realistically, Burke could probably add one high priced UFA and then the other would have to come via trades/waivers making cap room. And as we pretty much know, one has to be a goalie.

Hmmm, well if you are bringing Luongo here, you can for sure send at least one bad contract we need to unload back the other way.  I would be stunned if that deal was taken on here without some bad money going back the other way.

I am finally taking a break with my wife and ended up in North Carolina for a week.  While she is out this morning I have been looking at the EXACT same problem with bringing in players and not doing the "Chicago" thing and having to tear it apart the summer following the 1st year in decades that the team was successful.

It doesn't look good.  Hence my post a few pages back about only having around $2.5 MIL to sign a UFA without massive (and probably unrealistic) salary dumping.

MLSE (is that still their name??) has huge profits to bury contracts and needs to.

I also don't understand Burke's priorities in signing/trading for players.  So many are similar in style:  Komisarek after Schenn, Liles to 4 years after Gardiner breaks through, Connolly is hind sight but predictable.  Big contracts though.

 

[Corn Flake]

Hmmm, well if you are bringing Luongo here, you can for sure send at least one bad contract we need to unload back the other way.  I would be stunned if that deal was taken on here without some bad money going back the other way.

I think it's one thing to not give Vancouver much for him (a 2nd tier prospect/pick) - which would be my very rough assumption and that might not be enough. But to ask the Canucks to eat a lot of bad dough is probably asking for too much. I think some other team (a good goalie away) would bid more than that. He's not been great this year but he's not a bum yet. He's very probably got a few good years left in him.

Having said that, as I've said before, I'm not keen on getting him because of his contract. So rather than another Luongo debate, I'd just say we have limitations on how much Burke can do because he's more boxed in for cap space than he's been since he came to Toronto.

But I think the sell to Van is, "sure we will take your $60 mil / 10 year cap problem off your hands but you need to take back our tiny little $10 mil 2/year d-man problem for us to agree to it"

I think given how extreme the term is and how few teams Luongo is going to agree to go to or would want him, they won't be in a position to not take something lousy back.

One of Komi, Lombardi or Connolly I think go back in that trade.  Heck, Gillis could sell either of the latter two as depth forwards with speed.

 

[cw]

Hmmm, well if you are bringing Luongo here, you can for sure send at least one bad contract we need to unload back the other way.  I would be stunned if that deal was taken on here without some bad money going back the other way.

I think it's one thing to not give Vancouver much for him (a 2nd tier prospect/pick) - which would be my very rough assumption and that might not be enough. But to ask the Canucks to eat a lot of bad dough is probably asking for too much. I think some other team (a good goalie away) would bid more than that. He's not been great this year but he's not a bum yet. He's very probably got a few good years left in him.

Having said that, as I've said before, I'm not keen on getting him because of his contract. So rather than another Luongo debate, I'd just say we have limitations on how much Burke can do because he's more boxed in for cap space than he's been since he came to Toronto.

But I think the sell to Van is, "sure we will take your $60 mil / 10 year cap problem off your hands but you need to take back our tiny little $10 mil 2/year d-man problem for us to agree to it"

I think given how extreme the term is and how few teams Luongo is going to agree to go to or would want him, they won't be in a position to not take something lousy back.

One of Komi, Lombardi or Connolly I think go back in that trade.  Heck, Gillis could sell either of the latter two as depth forwards with speed.

I doubt they would take Komi but I could see Lombardi or Connolly because they're more useful and it's just a year left on their deals and they could trade or waive them.

 

[maplesyrup]

I just read his name again and thought about is some more... I'd easily flip the #5 pick (and my arm wouldn't need a ton of twisting to include something else) for Duchene.

 

[bustaheims]

I just read his name again and thought about is some more... I'd easily flip the #5 pick (and my arm wouldn't need a ton of twisting to include something else) for Duchene.

The way he completely fell off the map this season is a major concern to me. His lack of production this year combined with injury issues late in the season = serious red flags.

 

[maplesyrup]

I just read his name again and thought about is some more... I'd easily flip the #5 pick (and my arm wouldn't need a ton of twisting to include something else) for Duchene.

The way he completely fell off the map this season is a major concern to me. His lack of production this year combined with injury issues late in the season = serious red flags.

I hear ya... and believe me, I've considered that.

 

[bustaheims]

I hear ya... and believe me, I've considered that.

To me, they're deal-breakers. I don't trade that pick for anyone with serious red flags like that, unless we're talking about a young, established superstar, which Duchene is not.

 

[maplesyrup]

I hear ya... and believe me, I've considered that.

To me, they're deal-breakers. I don't trade that pick for anyone with serious red flags like that, unless we're talking about a young, established superstar, which Duchene is not.

To each their own. It would be  something of a gamble, I know.

 

[Corn Flake]

I hear ya... and believe me, I've considered that.

To me, they're deal-breakers. I don't trade that pick for anyone with serious red flags like that, unless we're talking about a young, established superstar, which Duchene is not.

We would be better to use the pick + something to get that star level player than to just use the pick and get a question mark.  Go big and reduce the risk of going home with nothing.

But I do like Duchene, just not at that price.

 

[Erndog]

Is there really THAT much separting Ryan Suter and Matt Carle?

Strictly looking at numbers they are pretty much on par.  One played/plays with Shea Weber and the other Chris Pronger (when healthy obviously) so not much difference in quality of partner either.

One will like get a $7M contract for 6-8 years.  The other will probably get a $4.5-5M contract for 4-5 years.

I get that Suter's probably better but could Carle be the smarter buy?

 

[Etiam Vultus]

As has already been mentioned, the Leafs could (under the current collective agreement), bury Connelly, Armstrong and Lombardi in the minors but are stuck with Komisarek because of his NMC.

I really dislike buying out a contract like Komisarek's, because you are just putting a bad purchase on a credit card and paying it out over four years with nothing to show for it.  The Leafs are going to need all of the cap space they can get if they are going to compete.

One possibility to explore is flipping Komisarek to Vancouver for Ballard.  I confess that I have not see enough of Ballard to comment on his skills, but he appears to be in a similar situation to Komisarek.  Both signed lucrative free agent contracts and have ended up as healthy scratches much of the time. 

The possible advantage for both teams is that they may revert to the form they had earlier in their careers with a change of scenery.  Also, Ballard is a natural left defenseman who was asked to play the right side in Vancouver and struggled mightily.  Leafs have too many right defenseman, including Komisarek, so the switch evens things out for both teams. 

The cap hit for Komi is $4.5 million and for Ballard $4.25 million.  The downside of the trade is that Komi has two more years and Ballard has three.  However, Ballard does not have a NTC or NMC (according to Capgeek), so he could be sent to the Marlies if things did not work out with the Leafs.

 

[Etiam Vultus]

Is there really THAT much separting Ryan Suter and Matt Carle?

Strictly looking at numbers they are pretty much on par.  One played/plays with Shea Weber and the other Chris Pronger (when healthy obviously) so not much difference in quality of partner either.

One will like get a $7M contract for 6-8 years.  The other will probably get a $4.5-5M contract for 4-5 years.

I get that Suter's probably better but could Carle be the smarter buy?

On the Philadelphia Fan Forum, many of the Flyers fans would be happy to drive Carle to the airport.  Not sure why the hate for him, since on paper he looks pretty good.

 

[Tigger]

Is there really THAT much separting Ryan Suter and Matt Carle?

If I have it right Carle is a right side d where Suter is a left side d, so that's sort of important given the makeup of the Leafs d right now and Suter is putting up points with a relatively anemic offense. Granted he led the team with 25 pp points on the leagues number one pp. Carle had better es point production which is understandable given the kind of team they have.

Suter and Carle led their teams in both aggregate toi as well as per game but the difference was about 3 min toi/g in Suters favour.

I think Suter is more physical and more capable with his defensive assignments too.