TO won't be doing the Islanders a favor and give them a 1st to boot

don’t think that’s enough for debrincat

Can't see that deal happening considering the time restraint on the 2022 1st round pick. I don't think Dubas is going to be rushing into a decision today.

Not enough for Debrincat.

Isles won't retain salary on Varly (maybe 500k, but def not half the value...Isles would need a 1B and that cost would match or exceed the 'cap savings'

1st round pick for Varlamov is just not even close especially from the Leafs.

Jack Campbell the last 2 seasons: .916 SV%, 2.49 GAA, 17.7 GSAA in 71 GP; .915, 2.45, -0.3, 6-8 in 14 playoff GP. Will probably sign for a $5M AAV this summer.

Semyon Varlamov the last 2 seasons: .920 SV%, 2.44 GAA, 26.2 GSAA in 68 GP; .922, 2.56, +1.5, 7-7 in 14 playoff GP. Costing you $2.5M AAV for next year and not much more in 2023-24 if you resign him.

But sure, he's not worth a late 1st rounder at that cost.

Keep him, TO can get cheaper and better options than a 35 year old backup making 5 million on a defence first team that inflated his numbers.

Like Matt Murray?

He has 2 more cups than Varlamov has and likely will cost very little to get even at 50% retained salary

He’s also been awful for the last 3 years while Varly has been above average to very good for the last 2-3 years. But by all means I hope leafs go after Murray and roll into next season banking on him figuring out how to be even an average starter in the league again.

Like who? Obviously you're not keeping Campbell, Kuemper easily signs for more than $5M AAV, MAF is older and coming off a slightly worse season (.908 SV%, 2.90 GAA, 2.1 GSAA in 56 GP), and do you really want to hand the car keys to Ville Husso and his 53 career starts? Braden Holtby was washed in 2019-20 & 20-21 before putting up basically the same numbers as Varlamov in less GP, and he's the last UFA goalie I'd even *think* about looking at unless you're looking to tank for Bedard.

Trade wise, you're giving up more than just a 1st to take on John Gibson and his $6.4M AAV (oh and he's also put up worse numbers the last 3 seasons than Varlamov: .904/3.07/-19.1 vs .918/2.51/32.1). You could trade for Matt Murry if you want, I guess? (last 3 years: .899/3.04/-22.4) Maybe Montreal makes Jake Allen (L3: .911/2.78/7.5) available for a 2nd? The only player I could consider TML trading for that would be comparable to Varlamov is Cam Talbot (L3: .914/2.69/20.1) but you run into the facts that A: he's older than Varly (just turned 35; Varly turned 34 in April); B: he costs more than Varly ($3.667M with no retention coming from Minny while Varly can be retained down to $2.5M), and C: he'll probably cost at least a 2nd & a prospect on his own! (who else is playing goal for the Wild unless you send one back?)

Ottawa is terrible defensively and as the got better so did Murray but he did have some bad luck with injuries. He's also a great guy and awesome in the dressing room.

Yeah betting on a 35 year old backup is definitely the way to go. Islander fans want to see the Leafs get ripped more than you want your team to succeed lol

don't care what TML does or doesn't do, just care about getting fair value for the Islanders in a trade. If Darcy Kuemper on a $3.5M cap hit brought back a 1st, a 3rd, and a fringe-y prospect the summer after he put up a .907 SV%, I don't see why the Isles couldn't ask for a late 1st for Varlamov on a $2.5M hit when he's coming off a better season.

This still feels like you’re putting everything inside of hoping that Murray magically recovers his ability that he’s proven he’s lost - you can use excuses like injuries, bad teams, whatever else but the only factual thing that we know has occurred is he has been below average to flat out terrible over the last three years. Why would you want to risk the leafs being blasted bc of him when there are other options out there even if they might actually cost something to acquire. The reason they cost something and he doesn’t is because they’re valuable. The leafs are a true contender - they lost an extremely tight series and if they win who knows what happens but I like their chances of getting to the finals. You put all your chips in Matt Murray’s basket and that’s a hell of a risk.

Also - I’ve never met Murray but from Sens insiders I read that the team doesn’t want his cap hit or his personality in the room so I’m not sure where him being a great guy came from. Again, no horse in this race and maybe he is a good dude but if team sources are saying that’s not the case I’d probably take their opinion more seriously than somebody on here (no offense to you I just assume you don’t have any inside info on him or if he’s a good or bad person / teammate).

You don't care what they do but every Islander fan on here keeps dreaming of sticking it to TO by getting a 1st for your 35 year old 5 million dollar backup you are desperate to move because your cap situation is a joke. Gotta get back at JT somehow eh?

Yup this nonsense eh? Varlamov was garbage for a few years and then the Islanders got him and he rebounded. Somehow Gibson is a top top goalie but has been bad for 3 years. The logic and reasoning on this site is ridiculous. Whatever makes your argument seem rational is all that matters eh?

Like I said, I have no horse in this race - I don’t really care who leafs go after but if I was a fan of the team or making decisions I’d want to go after a goalie that’s proven to be at least average or above average and not be the reason my team can’t advance in the playoffs when they’re generally regarded as a serious contender. I wouldn’t want to go after somebody who’s been bad for years but that’s just me personally.

You haven’t really given much logic and have relied on hoping somebody bounces back which I can see being the case for one year but when it’s the last 3 years I can’t see it happening. Varly’s last two years with COL were average to slightly above average based on his numbers so don’t really understand your argument there.

Don’t really get your last couple of sentences - where am I being irrational or making contradictory arguments / statements?

dude you could fill up an IMAX screen with the amount of projection here

OP offered Varlamov with full retention for #25. Kuemper got #32, a 3rd, and a prospect when he cost $1M more and was coming off a worse season. I honestly don't think the proposal is an insane overpay because you can go through the Toronto ACGMs made in the past week and once you get past the mountains of Bailey-for-Muzzin proposals you'll see quite a few offers for Varly that were a 2nd+ or 1st for him. It's a thin goalie market this summer and if you want a quality player on a reasonable deal, you'll have to pay fair value. Or you could take on Matt Murray at a $6M+ cap hit and hope that the fact that he's only had one season with a save percentage over .910 since 2017 is just a fluke!

Varlamov has at times been really good and at times awful. He's 35 and makes 5 million and the team he is on doesn't want him. Explain to me how that is worth a 1st and the only way TO can succeed?

Kuemper is also younger and has performed well on an awful Arizona team. Varlamov is all yours

.916/2.64 GAA/43.8 GSAA over the past 5 seasons. Only one season out of his last *9* with a SV% below .909 (.898 in 24 GP in 2016-17 on that historically bad Avs team). I'd argue that's pretty consistent.


We're picking nits here but he's 34 for the *entirety* of the 2022-23 season and will turn 35 next April 27th, sometime during the first round.



for the 4th time, OP has this trade with full retention, so he's only costing Toronto $2.5M against the cap.



From an article in the Athletic post-TDL this year: “There’s no question that Varly certainly got a lot of attention, but he’s very important to our team,” Lamoriello said. “In my opinion, he’s very important to the growth and maturity (of) Ilya Sorokin. Everybody is always looking for goaltenders. You don’t give up a goaltender to make another position better and make a bigger hole.”


If you want to sign Kuemper to a $6M AAV deal, go for it, because the Islanders aren't in a spot where they -need- to trade Varlamov. If seeing Louis Domingue & Pyotr Kotchetkov logging a ton of meaningful playoff minutes proved anything this year, it's that there's no such thing as too much goalie depth. So if another team wants Varlamov, especially with the Islanders eating $2.5M like they are in this ACGM, it's going to cost the buyer a premium.

Well in this situation he’s 2.5m and a solid option as a starter for one year which fits TOR current cap structure and could probably be extended at a similar reduced rate short term if the fit is good. I think with retention he’s probably worth a late first based on Kuemper deal since there numbers over the last few seasons are comparable. Kuemper is better and I don’t believe included retention and got a first and a third, Varly is not as good but includes a lot of retention and wouldn’t get the third. The deals seem similar to me and value is in the ballpark.

Where did I say he was the only option? I said he was a much better option than Murray. There’s plenty of other options that may or may not work for you guys - Kuemper (too expensive?), Fleury (probably best bet but again he’s old which you’ve pointed to repeatedly so maybe you don’t want him), Husso (not a bad bet, smaller sample size but could be a good fit if the contract is right), Campbell (seems like that ship has sailed), holtby (not promising the last few years but probably a better cheaper option than Murray), Gibson (hasn’t played well last few years, is expensive and would still probably require more assets than you’d want based on his recent play and cap hit), talbot (another good stop gap option and probably can be had at reasonable price but you don’t like old goalies again), maybe others?

Varly also hasn’t been awful in 4-5 years so not sure where you’re pulling that from. I think he had a rough year for COL in like 2017? I’d put more stock in the last 4-5 seasons than 2017 but that’s just me. Also not sure where isles have said they don’t want him. On the contrary I’ve read reports over the last season that Lou and the team like him because he’s good and a good mentor for their young Russian goalie but if they got a good offer to address an area of need they’d move him. Essentially he’s an unnecessary luxury for them as sorokin has taken the next step.

I don't care, keep your overpriced backup

I just don't care, the Leafs don't want to spend a 1st on a backup goalie who makes 5 million. End of story.