I really want Peter but that contract will hurt the future for sure

peter?

Blues say no to Zaitsev

The first week back could define the Blues season

@ Columbus
@ Florida
@ Lightening
vs Nashville
@ Nashville

***IF*** The organization decides to move Pietrangelo, and he agrees to waive his NTC, there’s no way the Blues would take back a cap dump like Zaitsev. Toronto’s cap issues are of no concern to St. Louis, and the above deal isn’t enough incentive to take a long term contract like Zaitsev.

Ya....but I was looking it from the following point of view...

If the cap goes up to, say, $85m for the 2020-21 season....that bump covers off Pietrangelo's raise (hopefully, anyway).

Then you have Marleau's $6.25m off the books....$4m of that probably goes to re-signing Dermott...and then the Leafs have a core of Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Kadri, Tavares. Rielly, Pietrangelo, Dermott and Andersen all locked up for at least another 2 years...with maybe $2-3m in cap space to play with

That's cool if that's your opinion. Lots of Blues fans on here seem willing to take on Zaitsev if they get Kapanen, a 1st and a good prospect in return. I can see them pushing for Liljegren over Timashov which would be a valid demand..but otherwise they can't get those assets off the leafs without taking cap back

Pietrangelo they call him Petey or Peter in st louis

Nobody calls him that in St.Louis. Sometimes he’s referred to as Petro and there’s very few that refer to him as Pie.

Haha, my bad pie it is lol

Why dear lord did you want to resign Marincin?

I hate to bring up the Karlsson trade because Ottawa is a dumpster fire of an organization, but even they didn’t take anything like a Zaitsev. It’s not like Zaitsev has a year or two left. He has 5 more years @ 4.5 million which isn’t chump change.

Is it in the realm of possibility Pietrangelo is traded? Yes but it’s a very low %. It doesn’t make any sense for the organization to take a 5 year cap dump to trade a top 10-15 D in the league.

Is one year of Pietrangelo going to make that much difference to the Leafs? Has he that much of difference to playoff success for the Blues? Do the Leafs really want to get to paying a premium price for an UFA? Haven't the Leafs already paid premium enough fo one Tavares, and likely have pay premium for their 3 young RFAs.

I was baffled at his extension this past off season...I think he's earned Dubas' trust after the marlies' calder cup win last year...so will not be surprised to see him as the 7th d-man again and a 'Plan B' if anyone they trade for or call up doesn't materialize

I disagree. I think Pietrangelo could get traded since he may not re-sign, and they may want to upgrade their forwards, get another 1st, etc. Pietrangelo is a great defrenseman but the Blues need a core change right now. Zaitsev is not a bad player, he is just overpayed. With the cap going up every year, that is a contract we can handle. He immediately enters the lineup which is good because we are not rebuilding. Of course the blues would want Liljegren, but I dont think Dubas trades him. My guess is Zaitsev, Kapanen a 1st and a 2nd/prospect gets it done. Similar to the suggested trade

I don't mind you bringing it up...it's a valid point. Zaitsev, IMO, is overpaid by about $1m for what he provides on defense...but if you actually watch him play, he's not a cap dump...in this particular scenario...he's treated more as cap ballast needed to go the other way to facilitate St. Louis acquiring picks/prospects they desire. Again...leafs likely need to swap Liljegren for Timashov for them to be interested...but there's more than a few ACGM team's posted by or commented from your fellow St. Louis fans that seem ok to accept him in the deal.

I totally get it if other Blues' fans would rather walk away from the trade than take Zaitsev on

The idea is more that the Leafs make the trade when they can already have an extension in place....so it's not 1 year of Pietrangelo...it's 5+ potentially....and, in this scenario..they probably get him signed for less than if he hits UFA. Will he still be a legit #1 dman in his mid 30s? Possibly not...it's why I was hoping a deal for him could exclude a Liljegren or Sandin so that you can buy time for them to develop into key contributors...but I think the leafs have enough depth at RW to compensate for the loss of Kapanen and Pietrangelo, IMO, will far outperform Zaitsev over the course of his contract....so I'd do this deal.

IMO, St. Louis is a consistent playoff squad if they have #1 goaltending....so I don't give any allowance to the premise that Pietrangelo's worth is lessened by the team's lack of playoff experience (by that same token, I don't trade Pietrangelo until next TDL if I'm them and try and get a legit goalie for next year instead).

As a comparison, was Kessel able to help the leafs achieve any kind of playoff success? No. But when traded to a team that had all the other pieces already in place, he was able to excel and be a key contributor to back-to-back cup wins.

I saw your signing of Matthew and Marner at 11m. Plus Tavares at 11m, Nylander at 7m, Pietrangelo at 8.5m. 48.5m for five players in a slow rising cap league. Doesn't seem to be a way for the Leafs to be successful to me.

Worked for the Penguins who were paying Crosby (8.7), Malkin (9.5), Letang (7.2), Kessel (6.8), and Fleury (5.75) in the 2015-16 season when the cap hit was $71.4m. Assuming a cap ceiling of $85m in 2020-21, it's pretty similar.