Worse, Nylander is 5 years younger and Ellis has 7 more years of contract that pays for what he did in his prime.

Spot on

perfect good to hear my dude

Kerfoot is way better than Bonino. I’d rather keep the better, cheaper, and younger player

It never fails to astound me to see how still at least half of fans learn nothing from past mistakes GM's have made. Give anyone over 30, or about to turn 30 long term and a high cap for what they did in their mid 20's and its almost a certainty that is going to look bad. And then every year Benning in Vancouver will give some 29 year old 6 years and then immediately regret it. Its incredible.

Only reason I say Bonino over Kerfoot is the defensive game. Bonino is an excellent face-off guy and his defensive game is miles ahead of Kerfoots. That being said he is younger, cheaper and could be transformed into a defensive centre.

Being younger and having more term left makes Kerfoot the more valuable asset, but Bonino is still a better player than Kerfoot.

this is what happens when you have an open market though. RFA period lasts too long. they becomes unrestricted free agents too late in their playing careers. They do extremely well through their 20s then at 28/29 they hit free agency. The players would be dumb to take any lowball offers someone wants the top talent for at least 3-4 more years. if they get anything beyond that its gravy.

I don't mind a variation of Nylander for Ellis but replacing Kerfoot with a more expensive Bonino is a big mistake.

That is the players fault not the markets. The reality is, players should make the most for when they are at their best. Not after they are at their best. If I am a young player leaving my ELC, I am going to want short term deals. That way I can capitalize more on how I am playing rather than keep hoping for a big pay day in the future when my best days are behind me. From a GM's perspective, short term works for them as well because it provides more flexibility. The only time I'd even go long term now is if its an elite player leaving his ELC, get him signed long term to provide cost certainty. Everyone else will have a 3-4 year limit on term. To be honest, I think its the future of the league. Everyone wanting 6-8 year deals just won't happen often. If you can convince a player to sign long term on a cheap deal thinking they could pan out to be much better than their contract that is always an option but its risky. Look at Girard in Colorado, if he turns into a above average top 4 defenceman, that deal is going to be terrific, if he stalls and fits in more as a bottom 6 guy then it really can be a problem. Or if injuries scuttle his career.

I think short term is something that will become the norm. Especially after the Pandemic, long term uncertainty will be a new normal for a while.

Ellis is going to have a bad contract before his deal is up.

I like Kerfoot... But weren't leafs fans complaining about him as the 3C.... (Bonino is a high end 2C lol)

Ellis should have been a Norris finalist this year

He is a good player no doubt but he's injury prone, has played over 70 games 4 of the past 7 seasons, and he's turning 30 soon with 7 years of term at just over 6 million dollars. Two things you can generally assume will happen in a players 30's with a great degree of certainty is a player will become more injury prone and decline. This deal is just a short term fix that may not even make TO better right now since it creates a huge hole upfront.

Today that trade makes you a more well rounded team but in a year or 2 you'd regret it.