Why are you paying Bunting so much?

Loading up on multi year UFA contracts the year before half the team needs new deals is a choice

Auston Matthews > Sebastian Aho+Teuvo Teravainen+2023 Carolina 1st 30th overall pick.

He probably gets more than that and 5 years, but as you suggest I don't think CAR will be the ones to sign him north of 4M. The reasoning behind signing him for this ACGM is in the description though.

Yes, but bad trades happen. Im assuming there would be a B-prospect in there as well. Also, was the 2024 1st but maybe that ends up being 32nd OV.

If Matthews does end up wanting out though that would be a good "look at what I salvaged from the wrekage" trade since Aho is at least a top 15 C if he's no longer in the top 10. The silver lining would be that the Leafs won't be scrambling to find a 1C or waiting for a guy like Byfield to develop into one. In other words, they will still be competitive.

Bunting is an unlikely signing. Andersen might be too but either way they are going to sign a goalie for their tandem, probably someone cheaper. I just resigned him since he was good for CAR but more importantly his relationship with Matthews. Graves will just replace Skjei the following year. Staal is probably brought back, since he's the captain, but maybe at a lower cap hit like 2.5M.

There's still 9M in cap space available for this season, so with a significant rise in cap the following season they should be fine.

You're right, but coming from a Leaf fan he is not worth that much. He cannot create any plays for himself or carry the puck. Good finishing is about it so if he is not with elite teammates he will not be useful

Canes pass on all of this.

No to paying Graves that much, having bunting as his boneheaded-ness, the trade or playing Puljujarvi at 3RW

I agree, but in this scenario he will still be with superstars still. Considering Noesen could probably do the same thing, I don't think they would sign him at all, but I needed to fill a hole on LW since I dealt Teuvo. Don't know the Canes prospect pool to put a guy on the cusp of making the roster there. Maybe I should have just went with Pacioretty.

Maybe what would be Waddell's biggest ufa signing in Graves would put them over the top. Considering Skjei 's 5.25M is coming off the books the following year it seems like a natural fit. Who would you rather see though take that 2/3LD spot? Maybe Soucy or an internal option?

Puljujarvi as a 3RW isnt a bad idea, he's still fairly new to the team and if it doesn't work out, they would have the whole year and 9M+ to find a replacement.

As for the trade, if you can have Matthews at <3M more than Aho then why not? The assumption is Aho wants 10M+x8 and Matthews can be had for 13Mx5-8)

Aho>Matthews in the playoffs.

But Aho performs in the playoffs ..

Not sure if you are being serious but I'm sure that some will have that take. My response to that is Aho > Tkachuk if we are looking at playoff history but that didn't matter this year.

Also worth noting that Matthews has one less career playoff goal and 13 less points than Aho in 14 less career playoff games. Considering that the Leafs only one a series, that's not too bad.

The reality is that CAR is better than TOR in the playoffs, not that Aho is better than Mathews in the playoffs since Aho doesn't even have the better production and still has the same amount of rings as Matthews.

Aho's better than Matthews in the playoffs. You need to look beyond production for this. Carolina don't score a ton because it is a roster built on defensive stability. Aho does that better. Aho's goal scoring ability gets so underrated. The pandemic cut short what could have been a 45 goal season. Aho sits at a point per game in the playoffs and seems to find an extra gear whenever the team need it. He also comes through at more opportune times and seems to become a diamond under the pressure.

Somebody is going to take this as me saying Aho is better than Matthews and prove they have 2 brain cells and both are fighting for 3rd place, but if you're asking me if I want Matthews or Aho to be my 1C in game 7 of a Stanley Cup playoff game, I don't think there's much thinking before I say Aho. Regular season? Matthews not close. But the post season is almost a different sport

I think Graves should be in $4.5m x 4 year range. He kind of is what he is…not going to hurt you much, not going to knock your socks off.

For arguments sake, let's say Aho has been better in the playoffs than Maththews. The bottom line is Aho hasn't gotten it done it Carolina, and while Matthews hasn't done anything in Toronto, that doesn't mean he can't get it done in Carolina. So, the fact that Matthews is the better overall player makes this easy if they can retain him. In terms of fitting in the defensive system that shouldn't be an issue for Matthews who is a 200ft center. Not losing anything in the faceoff circle either. Pretty much swapping playmaking for more scoring.

Back to Aho being better than Mathews in the playoffs, in which aspect has he been better?

You can't just ignore playoff production and say Aho has been better. You mentioned that Aho is nearly a PPG in playoffs, so is Matthews, Aho is just 1 pt closer which is a marginal difference. In terms of GWG Matthews edges Aho out by one. Matthews takes FO %, Blocks and hits by a margin. +/- goes to Aho by a margin. Maybe you can produce some advanced stats where Aho is better by a landslide, but so far it doesn’t seem like you are right.

Aho probably does have better game 7 results but considering he doesn't have a clear edge over Matthews in the playoffs as a whole while his team has had much more success than Matthews' team (CAR has 7 series win vs the Leafs 1 since Matthews & Aho started playing in the NHL). Perhaps he's better in game 7s, I don't know or care to look, but I don't see how Aho is the better playoff performer. In the end, no one is trading Aho or Matthews for Palat because Palat is the better playoff performer.