Trade Deadline

[Kin]

Didn't one of the draft picks he traded for Kessel turn into Tyler Seguin?  I'm pretty sure it did.  Another one became Dougie Hamilton.  There was another pick also.

Yes, I am on record as not having liked the Kessel deal too.

  IIRC it was two firsts and a second for Kessel.  Essentially now we have Kapanen to show for all that.

The first round pick acquired from Pittsburgh went to Anaheim for Andersen so Kapanen and 60% of Andersen, roughly.

  Perhaps there were outside influences but I'm not a fan of what Brian Burke did in Toronto.  Yes, you can cherry pick the good things he did.  Overall he was slightly less of a disaster than John Ferguson, though, IMO.

I'm not advocating for Burke's time here, just saying you were exaggerating things. JVR, Bozak, Kadri, Gardiner, Brown and Rielly represent 30% of the active roster of the current team and pretty significant parts of it.

 

[sickbeast]

you were exaggerating things

I probably was.  That was a dark time to be a Leafs fan.  I did not enjoy it.  You are right, Burke did some good things and the remaining players on our roster are testament to that.

 

[Chris]

One could also argue that Burke, through his decisions to trade for and build the team around Kessel, and hire Carlyle as coach...laid the groundwork for the Leafs to descend to the NHL depths and eventually draft Matthews. So maybe he deserves even more credit.

 

[IJustLurkHere]

Do people really  expect this? When has a playoff team (even one on the bubble, which the leafs aren't) ever traded a 30 goal scorer out?

Last year the St. Louis Blues, a playoff team, traded a top pairing defenseman out.

Okay, good example, it CAN happen. Still seems unlikely.

My recollection is the Blues were in a position where they were really averse to letting yet annother big name walk away for nothing in a year where they weren't as competitive as in other recent seasons. He was a rumoured trade all season long... Where this is the most competitive Leafs team in 15 years. Maybe someone makes an offer to blow Lou's socks off, but I doubt he'd be working the phones himself on JVR.

 

[Kin]

Do people really  expect this? When has a playoff team (even one on the bubble, which the leafs aren't) ever traded a 30 goal scorer out?

Last year the St. Louis Blues, a playoff team, traded a top pairing defenseman out.

Okay, good example, it CAN happen. Still seems unlikely.

My recollection is the Blues were in a position where they were really averse to letting yet annother big name walk away for nothing in a year where they weren't as competitive as in other recent seasons. He was a rumoured trade all season long... Where this is the most competitive Leafs team in 15 years. Maybe someone makes an offer to blow Lou's socks off, but I doubt he'd be working the phones himself on JVR.

Well, regardless of whether I think he will I definitely think he should. Because if the choice comes down to trading JVR for the best return or keeping him for a potential playoff run then when the team makes that decision I think they should make that choice knowing what that best return would be. If it's something like Fabbro, a first and a conditional pick that's one decision, if it's a low first/high second and a 3rd then that's a different consideration.

But to your point I think most of us would acknowledge that trading JVR right now would be a unconventional and risky move and most NHL GM's tend to avoid unconventional moves and are risk-averse. That said I think a lot of us feel as though unconventional moves can still be good moves and the risk here is actually somewhat in a hockey sense( if the Leafs struggle to score in the playoffs the criticism from fans/media might be intense but JVR seems unlikely to make that big of a difference himself). Trading JVR instead of letting him walk seems kind of smart, to some of us, with a limited downside.

Also, I think you're again making an assumption that trading JVR would necessarily leave the team worse off competitively in an immediate sense and while that's an option the Leafs could take, trading JVR for futures, it's only one option. Another, as has been discussed, would be taking a good haul of prospects/picks for JVR and then flipping that haul to someone like the Rangers for McDonagh. Then you can put McDonagh on the blueline and try to replace JVR's production up front with a bigger role for Kapanen and maybe calling up Johnsson. Indirectly trading a top line LW for a top pairing D would again be unusual at this point in the season but it wouldn't necessarily hurt the team.

So do I expect JVR to be traded...no, not really. But I think they should all the same. Especially if the return is high and the potential for a move like that with the Rangers exists.

 

[Bill_Berg]

It's true that JVR would be a playoff asset,  but it's a hard road to the ECF. If JVR is worth a bag of gold, they should move him. I like the idea of flipping the return for a guy like McDonagh. The Leafs need to gain in the long term and losing JVR to free agency is losing in the long term.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

They actually have a somewhat decent chance of going to the cup this year. 

I think that's the point of contention. Right now they're probably underdogs to make it out of the first round.

The Leafs path to the Cup will definitely go through Boston and Tampa through the first two rounds and probably Pittsburgh in the 3rd round. At this point those are the clear cut top-3 teams in the East right now. Maybe even the top-3 teams in the entire league. But yeah I mean if they get through those guys I like our chances!

 

[Andy007]

It's true that JVR would be a playoff asset,  but it's a hard road to the ECF. If JVR is worth a bag of gold, they should move him. I like the idea of flipping the return for a guy like McDonagh. The Leafs need to gain in the long term and losing JVR to free agency is losing in the long term.

And the thing is, Toronto can still potentially re-sign JVR. I think it's a no brainer to move him, particularly if the return is more than enough to cover the cost of McDonagh, but I also don't think there's a lick of a chance it will happen.

 

[Highlander]

Brassard to the Penguins is going to make them very tough to beat. Wonder why we didn't take a big stab at him.  He is a real goud pro.
always liked his game. 

 

[Kin]

Brassard to the Penguins is going to make them very tough to beat. Wonder why we didn't take a big stab at him.  He is a real goud pro.
always liked his game.

Ok, so, just to be clear...the Leafs aren't going to get a good deal on players from Ottawa and even if they were it'd be a lot to spend on a guy who is maybe an upgrade on Bozak.

 

[Guilt Trip]

Brassard to the Penguins is going to make them very tough to beat. Wonder why we didn't take a big stab at him.  He is a real goud pro.
always liked his game. 

I'm glad they didn't give up 6 assets to get him. I sure wouldn't be giving up a 1st rounder for him. He's not really an upgrade over Bozak.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/967445170059972611

Probably doesn't happen... but... if the Leafs were looking for a cheap centre to have round just in case while Matthews is out Holland wouldn't be the worst option.

 

[Zee]

https://twitter.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/967445170059972611

Probably doesn't happen... but... if the Leafs were looking for a cheap centre to have round just in case while Matthews is out Holland wouldn't be the worst option.

Sure why not, it's costs nothing.

 

[Joe S.]

https://twitter.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/967445170059972611

Probably doesn't happen... but... if the Leafs were looking for a cheap centre to have round just in case while Matthews is out Holland wouldn't be the worst option.

Sure why not, it's costs nothing.

Except a roster and contract spot.

 

[Frank E]

https://twitter.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/967445170059972611

Probably doesn't happen... but... if the Leafs were looking for a cheap centre to have round just in case while Matthews is out Holland wouldn't be the worst option.

Sure why not, it's costs nothing.

Except a roster and contract spot.

Yeah, I think Carlton might be drunk.

 

[Bender]

The trade deadline suspense is killing me

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Sure why not, it's costs nothing.

Except a roster and contract spot.

Throw Matthews on the IR and you've got a roster spot. The rosters expand post-deadline so after that it won't be a problem.

He has a contract for next season too though which isn't exactly the most ideal thing, but we'll likely need a new 'Leivo' to sit in the press box for every game. He'd be perfect for that.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Yeah, I think Carlton might be drunk.

Beats going after Glendening.

 

[ZBBM]

So, who do you all think will no longer be a Leaf come Monday night's game in TB?

I say Connor Brown and Johnsson (+ a 1st) for McDonagh.  And that's it.  I don't think they'll trade any of the the UFAs.

 

[Bullfrog]

With the Nash trade, the Leafs have to pull the trigger on JvR. He's more valuable than Nash and even more valuable if the Leafs retain max salary on him.