Kerfoot??

what's the point of punting? Leafs have a great team. All punting accomplishes is burning a year of JT's prime.

As the title of this ACGM asks, is it a punt year for the Leafs after these moves so far?

This is a topic that a few us have been discussing over the last month and half or so.
Keep in mind that if Marner decides to go the Nylander route coupled with the current injuries I could see this happening.
I am okay with it too.

@Jamiepo, @Jangle29, @Trickster, @blowing_the_zone, @OldNYIfan, @SammyT_51, @Laudan, @LoganOllivier what do you guys think?

Would love some neutral opinions here as well @TanSor, @BurgerBoss

If we are giving marner close to Aho he damn well better not be only for two years

Well we can discuss that too (sorry about not adding Kerfoot) but I was interested in hearing where you guys stand after these moves.

It depends on a lot of things: can Barrie do well defensively? Can Marner repeat or best last season? Can the Leafs handle losing Brown, Zaitsev, and Kadri? How does Kerfoot mesh with Kapanen and his LW'er? Do Johnsson and Kapanen regress? Does Marner even re-sign? Can Freddy perform with the D in front of him? Does Nylander prove his worth?

It's a tough situation for Toronto. If I were Dubas, Barrie would have been the last D I went after, but Pittsburgh has certainly proven that offensive D corps can win cups. I do like Toronto's roster a lot, but if the answer is negative to a lot of those questions then get ready for another 1st round exit.

3 days ago I would have said Toronto was worse than last year. Now after the changes, Toronto will at least compete for home ice advantage in the first round. If you are able to do that, you should reasonably expect to be able to compete for the cup. Marner is going to sign this year at some point, whatever the term and AVV. I would say don't piss away a year of being a contender.

No.

Budget up to $9M for Marner and $3.5M for Kerfoot and we're still under the cap, at least for the first half of the year while Hyman recovers. (If Aho is worth $8.5 x 5, surely Marner isn't worth more than $9 x 6.) Rielly-Barrie, Muzzin-Ceci and Harpur-Liljegren is an entirely acceptable defense, and quite a contrast with what we were all looking at a week ago. (I'm still a believer in Liljegren over Borgman.)

Also not trying to make a big deal of it but I was one of the very few people giving Marner 8 million on 2 year deal a few months ago and took alot of heat.

There's still people who believe he gets a double digit deal but really...what leverage does Marner's camp have?

I am okay with this.

However the 2 trades have changed the story, no longer punt year.

Marner > Aho, and that Offer Sheet was laughed at by Waddell, it's a low ball number which he probably would have signed him for higher, the kick in the balls for the Canes owner is that the Offer Sheet has 23 million handed out in a 12 month span.

If Aho is lower than Draisaistl than Marner is slightly lower than Kucherov, I've been suggesting 9.3 for months (an Offer Sheet would have to be in the 10.5 million range to scare the Leafs), because that's his OHL jersey # .

Kerfoot is under 3 million, that %50 retain on Barrie's contract goes to pay Kerfoot, he's played 2 seasons, he compares with Hyman and Brown, with inflation he get's 2.5-2.8 million.

It depends much on the next Marner contract. If it's relatively cheap, TOR might be able to further strengthen the team. Then there's absolutely no reason to have an off year. I'd go all in.

If he gets too expensive, then it might be worth reconsidering, because it makes it harder to further strengthen the team.

The defense is over-offensive at this point. Something should be done to it. If there's money left, it's much easier.

Any chance Kerfoot signs real cheap for 1 year only?
Similar to Johnsson last season

Actually no Aho is a center and put up similar points to Marner without Tavares, was 10th in MVP voting while Marner was not even on the list, and was 12th for the selke when Marner was 14th.
In no way is Marner more valuable than Aho unless someone is trying to push the "f*** the leafs" narrative

Word is 3.25 mil x 3 is a likely number, but thats not my opinion, I dont him enough

Aho is a winger forced to play center. Marner can play center too if it was truly needed. Marner got Kadri his best goal totals when they played together, J.T. got his best goal output playing with Marner, I hate people believing it's the other way around. The playmaker improves any and all players around him, the goal scorer only improves himself.

Another question for you all: some of you did not want Spurgeon because he would be too expensive to re-sign after this season.
Well...Barrie won't come cheap either and is being compared to Gardiner defensively.

I'm not sure the players going to Colorado were enough for Minnesota, but...well Spurgeon over Barrie? Hmm..

I don't think those are comparable at all. Both Hyman and Brown signed their second deals after only one full NHL year, in which Hyman recorded 28 points and Brown 36. Kerfoot now has two full NHL seasons under his belt, with 43 and 42 points (on a lesser team, I might add). I think his situation is comparable to Andreas Johnsson, who also had only one full year's experience and signed for $3.4M. Moreover, all three of those "comparables" played wing, not center.

My sentiments exactly. I've been posting constructions since last August getting Spurgeon to Toronto.

lol Marner cannot play centre, I have watched him for 6 years now, he is average at best defensively. The overrating of him is hysterical. Here I will break it down for you:
-
Marner 94 pts with Tavares vs Aho 83 pts with Taravainen
Marner 26 goals vs Aho 30 goals
Marner career 51.8% corsi vs Aho 55.4% career corsi
Marner not on list of MVP votes vs Aho #10 in NHL MVP votes
Marner 14th in Selke votes vs Aho 12th in Selke votes
Marner 0.0% relative corsi to leafs vs Aho 3.4% relative corsi to Canes

That's exactly what I thought

Corsi numbers are a joke science, did the corsi numbers predict a Blues Vs. Bruins Cup Finals.

Never ever bring that garbage up again in an agrument.

Incorrect

Yeah, the leafs aren't punting after what was accomplished yesterday. Things might not be perfect, but it would seem this is a work in progress with an eye towards competing despite the challenges that existed/exist.

I'm actually really impressed with how each move seems to push them forward but doesn't over commit i.e. all the deals that needed to get done are done(minus Marner but cap room exists now) the only real damage is the loss of a 1st and a sad farwell to Naz, and mid to long term development hasn't been sacrificed.

My only beef with things as they stand right now is that leaf nation is STILL angsty... we need to learn how to be happy with nice things...