He has a great offensive instinct and a quick release wrister. His offensive totals are honest with a fair amount of PPPs. He tends to get caught flat-footed if he is the last defender back. I don't understand why he is a Defenseman, he could be a 80 pt/year playmaking Wing on a 2nd line.

I'm not sure why everyone is saying this is a steal for Toronto. The only area Toronto did better is Kerfoot over Rosen. I would much rather have a two-way second line center in Kadri than a defensively-poor offensive d-man in Barrie, and I hate Kadri. Plus Kadri has 3 more years BELOW $5m which is great value for what he brings, and Barrie only has one year remaining. Perhaps if Barrie signs an extension, it could swing more in Toronto's favor, but I'm calling this a win for Colorado.

Kadri (2C, 3 more years at $4.5m) > Barrie (offensive d-man, 1 year left)
Rosen (yound d-man w/ possible upside) < Kerfoot (40 point 2nd line winger)
2020 3rd > 2020 6th

Rielly-Barrie
Muzzin-Ceci
Dermott-whoever he plays with

D is much better than it was. Maybe Muzzin plays with Dermott, idk.

Im so sorry but why are you comparing Marner to Aho, Marner plays in Toronto and Dubas just dealt Matthews at 11.6M so Marner is obviously gonna use this contract in his negociations.

Because aho is an extremely comparable player to marner?
Just because Matthews is on the same team doesn't automatically make him a comparable, and their play certainly doesn't either

The longer I think about this the more I like it. My initial thoughts was that this is terrible for Colorado, but now I don't think so. Sure I would've liked to get a better pick than a 3rd rounder (especially since we retained salary), but we still filled a need and got a very friendly contract for 3 years whereas Barrie will make 8M+ starting next year and kerfoot will make only about 1M less than Kadri. If Kadri can return to a 60ish point player (which I think he will on the 2nd line) then this isn't a bad return for someone who would've left after a year and someone who doesn't really fit on our roster.

The only part I'm confused about is why Sakic wanted Rosen as a sweetener. Why do we need another LHD fringe NHLer? We already have Girard, Cole, Zadorov, Graves, Byram, Connauton, Barberio, etc. We would've been better off asking for Bracco or a better pick instead of Rosen

So you are saying Matthews is more valuable than Marner by 2.1M per year ?
Btw I know you cant compare Matthews and Marner, but you cant compare him to Aho either. The fact is the Canes are broke and wouldnt give him a decent contract. Montreal didnt overpay at all they gave him a decent contract and he accepted, imo most likely the only call he received from another team.

.

When they retain FIDDY perCENT on a 60+ point d-man ... and throw in a 24 year old center ...

Who only got 2 points less than Kadri last year ... and will sign for a lower cap-hit than Kadri ...

I HAVE A SERIOUS QUESTION ABOUT KERFOOT:

He's 24 years old, he can (usually does) play center and he only had 2 points less than Kadri last year (I would assume he's got some upside too).
But so many Colorado fans seem to despise him, even though he's only been in the NHL for 2 seasons. I haven't watched him play so I'm wondering:

- What's all the hate about?
- What's wrong with this kids game?
- Why don't people think he'll improve with experience?
- Is he improperly deployed by the coach or is there a bigger issue?

Also, Sakic probably did ask for Bracco ... but Dubas probably said no (he's our best FWD prospect).
Sakic probably got to choose between like 5-10 prospects: Rosen, Borgman, Petan, Timashov, Brooks, etc.
Rosen is a good choice. I think he'll be a solid 4-5 defensemen soon (he's already 25 but he drastically improved at 23 and then lit up the AHL as our #1D last year).

Oh I don't doubt Rosen will be good, but we have a surplus of LHD and offensive D men. Just not a good fit.

As for Kerfoot: he can play center (one of our best faceoff specialists) but plays LW a lot too. He is a very good passer but drives some fans crazy by forcing extra passes when there is a very low chance that the puck gets through. He's a good skater but isn't very physical at all and is absolutely terrified of shooting the puck. He is surprisingly good defensively for a non-physical forward and doesn't get much credit for it since he doesn't play on the PK. Honestly if he shot the puck more and generated a bit more offense he could be a solid 2C on most teams

I've always felt the same way about Gardiner (that he should be a playmaking LW).

I wouldn't project Gards at 80 points though ... but 60-75 points always seemed very doable for him on the wing.
I also feel like Gardiner's (and Barrie's) defensive experience would make them immediate two-way (almost Selke caliber) players.
And it can't be that hard to switch from D to wing (defense is significantly harder to learn + significantly more punishing when you make mistakes).

Thanks!

TBH I expected a much grimmer evaluation ... over passing is definitely something that can be fixed.

Damn. Bruins sign a retired Rask to a minimum wage contracts for the next 50 years just to screw the Leafs.

Matthews has played 3 seasons in the NHL ... He started at 18 and now he's 21 ... Here are two stats from this time period (all 3 seasons combined).

Goals Per 60 Minutes (NHL Leaders)

1 = Matthews (1.74)
2 = Ovechkin (1.65)
3 = Laine (1.62)
4 = Pastrnak (1.60)
5 = Kucherov (1.55)

Goals Per Game (NHL Leaders)

1 = Ovechkin (0.55)
2 = Matthews (0.52)
3 = Kucherov (0.50)
4 = Marchand (0.48)
5 = Pastrnak (0.48)

Goals are extremely valuable ... and if Matthews had Ovechkin's ice-time / PP ice-time ... his goals per game would be miles above everyone.

Marner is no where near the Top-10 in any per-game or per-60 statistic (not even assists or primary assists).

Plus he's a RW not a Center which makes him a bit less valuable in a vacuum ... and he's a year older ... a $2,100,000 difference in value is pretty fair.

Yeah, Mitch is a great player but he only broke out last season. Before that he was a star in the making, a really good prospect you could say.
Going forward though, Marner may very well rank up in the assists category, but the point is Matthews has been filling the net since his arrival, there was never a doubt of his capabilities. And he's just added more elements to his game (and I hope continues to do so).

People seem to be up in arms about his cap hit and I don't quite get it. It's a slight overpayment, sure. But for his potential upside, he IS worth the money! Just like people are mad that William got perhaps 500K more than he deserved! C'mon! These guys are on the verge of doing something great! And the landscape has changed in the NHL as young stars are getting paid for their best years instead of waiting to get paid based on past performance. It's just the way things are and quite frankly it's the right move. It happens in other sports so I wonder if hockey people are dinosaurs or overly rigid in their thinking.

I think Leafs fans are going to be severely disappointed with Kerfoot.

I don't think we're going to ask a lot of him. But God, hope you're wrong.

I'm so sad about my handle though, Naznolongeraleaf

Kadri is gonna shine in COL. There was def. no room for him in the Leafs lineup. I'm thinking 25 goals and 45 points next season. Pretty good numbers based on his cap hit.

Matthews = 1st in the NHL in goals per 60 minutes over the past 3 seasons (just ahead of Ovechkin).
Matthews = 2nd in the NHL in goals per game over the past 3 seasons (just behind of Ovechkin).

If Matthews got anything near Ovechkin's ATOI and Power Play TOI ... he would be significantly ahead of everyone in both categories.

Marner is not close to the NHL's top 10 in any related category (goals, points, assists, primary assists, per-game, per 60 minutes, etc).

He's also a winger, he's a year older than Matthews, and his career points per game isn't close to Matthews.

So Marner can use Matthews as a comparable if he wants but he's never going to get his contract.

He'll get a contract that's similar to his performance comparable's over the last 2-3 years (Rantanen, Point, Aho, etc).

This is exactly what I was saying yesterday. Had COL not retained half of Barrie's cap hit it would've been a fair deal. Kadri would probably be worth at least $6M had he been a UFA this summer.

Kerfoot had 2 less points and 1 less goal than Kadri last year ... Kerfoot also played 2 minutes less per game.

He's also 24 instead of 28 ... and likely to have a lower cap hit than Kadri for a similar term.

It's clear that there are issues with Kerfoot's game ... but after 2 NHL seasons he can still improve ... while Kadri's production has dropped in 2 straight years.

And Leafs fans won't expect him to play a top-6 role (he's behind Matthews, Tavares, Marner, Nylander, Johnson and Kapanen for depth ... maybe Hyman too).

I hear Tyson Barrie is pretty good too.

I no longer consider Colorado a favorite in West to win after this horrible idiotic move even retaining money ? Maple Leafs really smart ditching trash for cash w/ Kadri a cancer getting moved... HE would always get some stupid penalty or get suspended, he is not a top center in my book either... Its like trash Reaves on Vegas or Blues would cause the refs to call more penalties on them cuz of their reputation etc... Also they infect or rub off on entire team, Colorado should just sign Raffi Torress get it over with... Maybe call Wideman that D-man who shot right that never got back in NHL for that incident w/ Ref getting in his way .

Wow I would be so mad if I was fan of Colorado, Stars fans should be jumping up and down ... They are the favorite now in the west I would think since Predators got a gaping hole in net ...

Completely agree about this trade for Colorado. Kerfoot and Kadri aren't that uneven anyway ... then think about the fact that Toronto also gets Barrie. Rosen sounds like he'll be nothing more than a 3rd pairing D most likely. And the difference between the picks isn't very big. Toronto gets a steal of a trade here. The other way to look at it is Barrie>>>Kadri and then Kerfoot is also in the deal. I think Barrie is a better player, the only problem is the expiring contract. That could change things. And Colorado has Byram and Makar now, as well as also Johnson, Girard, and the other guys they already had. I'm still not too sure about depth scoring with Kerfoot now gone. Burakovsky is good but it may have been a bit too high a price for them to get him. Kadri makes their forwards better and right now is an upgrade over Kerfoot, but idk about in the future. They've also traded Soderberg which makes their depth scoring worse. Their defence is looking pretty good though. This trade makes it a bit worse but think about it ... Makar, Byram, Girard, Johnson, Zadorov, and Cole most likely as your top 6. Cole is out for the start of the season, but then you can have Counnauton playing. When Cole comes back Connauton is most likely your 7th D. That is, if Byram plays. This defence is looking pretty good. I also feel like Grubauer is a starter. So, forwards after the 1st line are the problem IMO. We'll see though.

That's a joke about Wideman, right? The linesman didn't get in his way ... okay, well, yes, he kinda did, but he didn't know Wideman was there. Idk if that's the reason he's not in the league. It could be, but we really don't know. I think it had to do with it, but i don't think that was everything. I'd have to say, though, he obviously shoved the linesman. The guy was just standing there and he couldn't see Wideman, then he gets shoved. And it wasn't accidental. He tried to do it, no question. I'm not saying he tried to hurt the linesman or anything. He just wasn't thinking. But i mean "wasn't thinking" as in he made a stupid decision without thinking much about it. He didn't just do it, something told him to do it, and he probably noticed soon after how stupid a decision that was. Really, he was no more than a bottom pairing d-man at the end of his career, so maybe that had nothing to do with teams not signing him. Like i said, i think it was partly that, but that wasn't the only reason. If McDavid did that and was on an expiring contract, he'd probably still get signed. Not that him doing it would make it okay, but teams would think, "well, we're getting a really good player." Wideman was a good player but teams maybe just didn't have a need for him. Hard to know.

LOL i love how people keep talking about Rinne like he's not that good. He's been consistently good every year, and people act like Saros is going to replace him. He's turning 37 soon, so you might be right, but i still think he's a starter. Every year, people seem to say "Saros will replace Rinne as the starter this year". I just think people are underrating Rinne. If the Preds make the playoffs, i could really see him bouncing back from the last few playoffs. Idk if he'll get back to where he was in 2017, but maybe close. Really hard to know. I wouldn't be surprised at all though. It was really fun watching him that year, that's for sure. It's like what people are doing with Lundqvist. Hank's numbers haven't been as good as Rinne's, but they've been pretty good. He had a bit of a down year this past year, but that was playing behind a below average defence for the NHL. Now we have Trouba and Fox. That'll help us out a lot. Unfortunately, we'll still need to move out some cap, but we got Breadman so i'm happy lol. Will be interesting to see what we do for our cap. We still need to sign Trouba and Buchnevich. We're looking a lot better though. We have Panarin, Trouba, Fox, and Kakko. I think i heard Kravtsov is also coming over, right? We're looking like a pretty good team!

Well yeah its a joke since Colorado made such a bad trade they might as well sign him to replace Barrie . I figured Barrie or Kerfoot are the best player in the deal only to both end up with same team making it pretty lopsided... Its hard to find a QB on PP like a Barrie who can put up double digits without being a total liability... I remember people laughed at me when I wanted Kings to trade for Schultz telling me he is 1 sided offensive D-man or laughing about other BS... Kings would trade for SEkera/Phaneuf to get a RD when needed a right shot RD passing on Petry and Schultz... Among others which we saw how well that worked out for them .

Saros is too small to replace Rinne like those who think Dell can play as starter for Sharks... Kings had some short backup goalie who used to play on Buffalo but can't remember name... I think Avalanche w/ Barrie had a blue line that could win a cup... Now adding Kadri/moving Kerfoot I think it hurts the team chemistry along w/ blue line/talent... Rinne has injury issues too if recall all the goalies that played for them like Hutton among others... He just don't have it when it comes to SCF, he usually chokes badly in playoffs too... Halak among many other goalies like Budaj would struggle or choke in playoffs even if did great in regular season. Byram I expect to play right out of the gate no doubt for Avalanche... Erik Johnson is kinda old so would have rather moved him over Barrier personally ...

Rangers will make playoffs unless their play in net is totally horrible... How far they get really depends on the luck of draw... Devils I think will be pretty good, remember they were nearly winning division for a long time before recently flubs . Trouba is the man if he can stay healthy it will pan out better than Shattenkirk signing by far . Nice to see american in major market where he might get enough attention for some Norris Trophy consideration... I don't think he will be the second coming of BRian Leetch but he should be better than what the had for a long time .