I would make three of the four trades you've suggested -- Pesce for Liljegren, or Pesce for Lindholm, or Pesce for Johnsson. But I think Pesce for Borgman is very poor for Carolina. We should send a second back to the Hurricanes in that one.

By the way, Pesce is a better complement to Gardiner, not Rielly.

You don't get out of the NZ contract that easy!
I actually don't mind him but your going to give up a nice shiny piece I think for that one!

Somehow Hainsey still remains after a second acquisition.

Haha...I know you hate Hainey....let's give him another look when he's playing 5 less minutes a night taking on less responsibility...I think we'll be better off with him vs going after another depth d-man like a Jensen or something

I think it's an overpayment for Pesce even though Lindholm and Borgman don't carry much trade value.

I think it's an underpayment for Boyle....likely need to add a prospect or pick with that one because Z is mostly neutral value, if that. Let's see how he looks with the D-reshuffle now.

Hainsey served his purpose. My concern is that Babcock will continue to play him out of his depth regardless of who is acquired.
Jensen actually moved the needle a little a would be an improvement if the price was right.

I don't think the Leafs have enough yet to go deep.

If they're smart, they play Zaitsev with Muzzin or Dermott and give him some time to find the spark that they gave him 7 years for.

I'd throw in Holl then. How about remove Johnsson from the trade and add St. Louis's 4th and San Jose's 7th?

TBH you're talking about pieces that carry close to 0 value. Holl, 4th rounders and above...they are fillers at best.

Piecing information together I'm hearing from different hockey analysts...it sounds like the Leafs were very much in on a Carolina d-man...obvious options being Hamilton or Pesce...but it sounds like Sandin and/or Kapanen were both targets for Carolina which is why Dubas balked. If Carolina wants Kapanen I would try and package him with salary..namely Zaitsev...for Pesce.

I like Pesce as a shut down d-man with potential...but he's a 20pt d-man...straight up for Kapanen sounds reasonable to me but I'd like to expand it so we can offset cap

Boyle would be a solid add. I can't stand Gauthier and would like to see a cheaper vet take his minutes. If Jersey liked Zaitsev at $4.5m then sure...pull the trigger...but most on here seem to agree Zaitsev is about $1m overpaid...so you likely either need to retain or add a pick/prospect with him to land a Boyle.

just my opinion tho

Hopefully those aren’t the same people that think Dubas will get Marner to sign for less than 9 million and Matthews for less than 11 million. ?

I haven't heard anyone in the media thinking Marner would get less than 10 or Matthews under 12 until this week....now that rumours are coming out they'd be looking for 5yr deals.

A couple hours ago, Dreger was on Leafs Lunch saying he thought $11m would be the high end for Matthews on a 5 year deal

When I commented on “the same people” I was talking about the Cap Friendly people. I am sure that you realize when Dreger talks about 11 million being the ceiling he is talking about a 11 million cap hit on a 5 year deal. That isn’t the money that Matthews will receive.

Yup...I don't think the Leafs organization (or me for that matter) cares one lick about actual salary. It's all about the AAV baby. Tell him he has $55m and a 5 year deal and him and his agent can decide how he wants it split up. I believe you need at least $700k in the salary column for any given year but anything outside of that can be up to him

CAR will want a top 6F in return not quantity.