TSN and Sportsnet both reported that Shaw has chosen to opt out of the play-in/playoffs.

Good luck to him and hope to see him on the ice next season.

Leafs say no thanks on Murphy deal as no need as Toronto defence is much better than most people on CapFriendly realize and Kapanan is going nowhere.

Toronto defense on paper is good, but they suck in real life. Why ?

You are talking to one of the most loyal and diehard Leafs fans in Canada. Now first of all, you should come clean and publicly admit you are a Montreal Canadiens fan so I can understand your jealously and passion in your comment.

They actually do not suck in real life. What you do not realize is that they had huge injury problems this year to Rielly, Muzzen and Dermott and a poor coaching job by Babcock prior to him being fired. There will be no future problems with the defence as it is solid with Rielly, Muzzen, Holl, Dermott, Sandin, Lehtonen and Lilgren going forward into the future and with Barrie and Ceci for the rest of this year.

I am going on record right here and now on CapFriendly to say that the Leafs are going to do some damage in this years playoffs.

A weird way to say you’re a homer, but ok.

I will take that a personal compliment to be called a homer as have been cheering for the Leafs since i was 6 years old and live along way from Toronto on the westcoast of B.C. I just retired last year so you can understand how much pain and jokes I have absorbed over the years. Just want to say that I have especially enjoyed you and @ChiHawk as you guys are very knowledgeable and die hard Hawks fans.

Nothing wrong with being called a homer, good on you to realize and accept that.

Enjoy retirement. Don't spend It all on cap friendly though.

Great news for warrior Shaw but he's one nasty play away from retirement, give OR take!

Nooope. That's not enough bribery for us to take on Smith's contract - he's not adding to the team in any useful way, so he's basically just dead cap for the Jackets. Higher picks, please.

Right, but he's also tweeted he expects to be back next season which is what this AGM is for

I mean their defense really didn't improve. It went from 24th to 17th which isn't a big jump

Statistically the Leafs defense is just not good and that is after Babock as well despite some improvement. Plenty of analysts agree with that. Maybe as Lilgren, Holl, Sandin and Dermott continue to develop but this past season they were not good. It's unfair to put that all on the defense as the forwards did little to help play 200ft of ice, but there should be no argument, Murphy on the right side automatically becomes the 1st liner or at worst 2nd liner on the Leafs...he's a big upgrade on the right to what the Leafs have.

I think you are correct but its not all the defenseman's fault as correctly pointed out by @ChiHawk that it needs to be a total team commitment to defense which takes time for the young Leafs forwards to understand , learn and buy in. The Leafs remind me of the great Oilers teams that had tremendous firepower but eventually learned how to play defence and backfilled their roster with some good defensive players as well.

ChiHawk

I trust your judgement and you seem really high on this Murphy which I admit have not been really following him. As a result, this could be a fit if Leafs could make the numbers work under the cap. I really think that this covid situation and flat cap and the financial uncertainty is going to result in some great free agent defenseman floating around and the Leafs are going to be able to take advance and just sign a good quality UFA defenceman on the cheap on a 1 year deal. Not sure Leafs will need to surrender a guy like Kapanan yet. The Leafs just need to buy a bit more time for Holl, Dermott, Sandin and Liljegren to continue to develope.

I have to tell you that I also follow the Canucks and I am going to tell you that Quinn Hughes is probably the most exciting young defenseman i have watched for years. He reminds me of Bobby Orr the way he jumps up into the play and takes calculated chances as so fun to watch and worth the price of admission by himself. Really hope he wins rookie of year award

Murphy is Chicago best defensive D guy, physical in his own zone, good shut down guy, shot blocker and will jump up into the O zone as needed. The only reason we would move him is given the high expectations of your guys (Boqvist and Mitchell) and the fact that Seabrook isn't going anywhere. Murphy at a $3.8m cap hit is a big advantage and one of the best bargains in the league on defense. Murphy is worth a 1st round plus which I'd argue Kap isn't worth much more then a 1st so the trade value is there for both sides IMO. That said, the Hawks just got Pius Suter this morning from the Swiss league to not sure they'd be interested in a 3rd line winger anymore so that probably negates any potential interest in Kap.

On the right side, I don't think Holl or Liljegren are ever going to be better then Murphy but they certainly have upside to be. I also wouldn't consider either player to be the type of player Murphy is, not that it's a good or bad thing, but the Leafs IMO are in need of a shut down, physical and shot blocking D man so Murphy would be a great pickup at a affordable cost. That said, the Hawks could easily move De haan and Maatta and push Murphy to the left side (he played left a couple seasons ago) and keep him. He's definitely better then De Haan or Maatta.

Quinn Hughes is awesome, the Nucks got a great asset for years to come.

I agree totally with your take on what the Leafs really need on defence. The two players on my list to target are Josh Manson and Chris Tanev and I keep feeling Manson is the perfect fit if Leafs could ever get him.