Jarrett: Before you get upset at me, in a blog today (I don't know who it was), I called you very reasonable. That being said, as a Leafian I don't want Eriksson and Helm signed to long term deals blocking the way for others coming up.
Just wondering if it's better to keep Hunwick (instead of Lovejoy) Hopefully one or two Dmen can make the jump next year from the Marlies. IMO it's not Harrington.
If Sparks is the Leafs goalie of the future, and it would be nice if it was he and Bibeau, I wonder if a more substantial contract would be better to keep him longer might be best. Say, 4 years at 1.6m a year. Also right or wrong, I think Kadri gets a bigger salary IF he signs this summer. More like 5.7 m a year for 6 years. Maybe Polak resigns with the Leaf again. Just my thoughts. Hal

It'll be really interesting to see what they do over the next 6-8 months. I can definitely see your point but my concern is they bring Nylander and Marner up to the big club next year into a losing situation. I think the key thing is to find the right mix of veterans, established players in the their mid 20s(Kadri, Gardiner, JVR) and young players on entry-level deals, whatever that looks like.

I personally don't see anybody beyond the 15 forwards above and you can probably add Percy and Loov to the list of D-men that will possibly be ready by next season. I like the idea of those guys having to beat somebody out for a spot and I'm not that optimistic that more than a couple of the 21-23 year old prospects will ever really make it. My main concern is surrounding the young future core (Rielly, Nylander, Marner, next years top 5 pick(I hope)) with the right players over the next few years, and I really like Helm and Eriksson. That being said, you might be right that leaving more spots for the youngsters is a smarter way to build. I'm sure the Leafs management are having similar conversations.

Also, I agree that Kadri will likely get more than 4.75m. Probably me being optimistic! And I'm personally not a huge Polak fan but that's just me.

Hi Jarrett. Regarding Marner. He is not eligible AHL next year. Do the Leafs try him for 9 NHL games and then decide if he NHL ready (semi ready) or back to junior? Thought Pittsburg kinda messed up Sproul...18 games, 2 goals, 2 points. Instead of Eriksson, maybe we try a player on 1 year deal similar to Parenteau this year. Maybe Parenteau is our "Winnick" this year. Traded at deadline for a nice pick, then resigned here.
Interesting group of AHL Dmen next year. Neilson, Desrouches, (some say Dermott, but I think he still a junior), Valiev, Captain Campbell, is Brennan brought back?, maybe Percy & Harrington (who I don't think are NHLers). Next year will be interesting and in 3 years....WOW, almost a whole turnover on the Leafs, though many of the players that will be on the big club are now in the Marlies or junior,
I'm sure Shanny, Lou, Mike and other Leaf paid executives are reading what we say, so they can get guidance in making the right decisions.

Tough call on Marner. I don't think he's quite ready for the NHL but I also don't see the value in having him play junior again last year. I look at Claude Giroux as a reasonable comparable and he played junior as a 19 year old and it didn't seem to hurt him much.

I don't mind Parenteau and wouldn't be upset if they brought him back. For me the question is, when do they turn the corner to start trying to ice the most competitive team possible? As long as there's a chance for 1-2 rookies (beyond the elite prospects) to crack the lineup every year and they continue to focus on development, I'm happy. In spite of the excellent job obtaining prospects the Leafs are doing, I still don't think we can expect more than 3-4 current prospects (beyond Marner and Nylander) will ever be significant contributors at the NHL level, with even the one's that do being a long way away. I am interested to see what Leivo does though. I feel like he could become a solid 3rd or 4th line player. Really like his game.

I find their pipeline of young D-men to be a bit of a crap shoot. Hopefully one or two of them can turn into something down the road. I'm interested to see how the junior level D prospects develop once they get to the Marlies. And I agree with you, I don't see Percy or Harrington ever being meaningful NHL players.