To start, I wanted to try and be as realistic as possible in these moves. As such, for the sake of this team I've created, I am obviously assuming that (A) James Van Riemsdyk will sign a contract extension as part of any trade he's involved in and (B) that all pieces to any trade with a NTC, by list or agreement, will be agreeable to being part of the deal they are involved in.
As a side note, and based on what Chicago did earlier - selling on players who they did not believe they could resign in a year or 2 when their current deal was up - it is that JVR, based only on rumors of his contract demands and Jake Gardiner, who will probably be looking for Shattenkirk-type money (whatever that ends up being) on his new contract. These players may have priced themselves out of the Leafs long-term plan.
The Leafs are still rebuilding, which is why I think they'd be willing to make this deal with the Flyers, even though they are in the same conference and even though there is a fairly good chance they will be battling one another for the wild card playoff spots. The Flyers got super lucky in landing Nolan Patrick and I think their team looks to turn things around quickly. They have a lot of intriguing defensive prospects but I think they'd prefer adding a top-4 offensive type defenseman, like Gardiner on their back end, instead of patiently waiting a season, or more, for Sanheim or Myers to work their way through NHL growing pains. This deal also adds young forward pieces in NHL-ready and prospect top-6 forward Kasperi Kapanen, who I think has a better chance of breaking in with the Flyers than Leafs, considering Toronto's logjam on the right side. The Flyers also acquire top rookie forward Jeremy Bracco. In this deal, without exchanging any draft picks, the Leafs agree to take back the awful contract of Andrew MacDonald, to use as a veteran 6-7 defenseman to even-out this deal.
A lot of hockey fans, and specifically Flyer fans, seem to believe that Wayne Simmonds is SO much better than JVR. Judging solely from the numbers, that's not really true.
They are the same age and actually, judging from the stats, compare to one another quite evenly. Simmonds offers more of an edge and toughness, which I think the Leafs like and perhaps why, to so many people, he is considered the better of the two.
I have not had the chance to watch Sanheim or Myers play much, but I am predicating this deal on the fact that both could slide onto the Leafs roster this coming season and at least hold their own. Obviously, there will be growing to do.
Considering how tough it seems to be to land an established top-4 defenseman, I think it would be wise of the Leafs to try and acquire them while they are still prospects and allow them to develop into that role while the rest of this young team develops along with them.
I am sure I will be getting a mouth-full from Flyers fan and Leafs fans, which is fine. I would only ask that you at least take the opportunity to read that comments a head of time. I've also made a Flyers team to see what the deal looks like for the other side. Thanks.
On the other deals, I am not sure anyone will have an issue with them, but if you do, let me know.
My 3 extra players are Josh Leivo, Andrew MacDonald/Dermott (platoon sort of situation) and Christian Folin. I think that's fairly reasonable depth as far as subs go.
Demers apparently really faded last year. Myers is coming out of junior, hardly NHL ready. Sanheim and Dermott may ?may not be NHL ready. Should be able to fill the 4th line centre cheaper position without trading NHL Dman Carrick. Doubt if Flyers can afford 6.5m long term for JVR. Incorporating players to play together takes time and having a such huge turnover on. defence, gee, the one year run in the playoffs was fun.
I don't know why Leaf fans especially are so anxious to trade upcoming UFAs. Sometimes you need these players (JVR) to make your team better. Same with Gardiner who is two years away. Leafs traded a second rounder for Boyle at TDL to make their team better and certainly didn't worry about losing Boyle to UFA a few months later.
Always nice to hear from you @Palhal. Let's talk Jake Gardiner for a second. Arguably, Jake Gardiner is a legitimate top-4 offensive defenseman and power play specialist. When I think comparables, I immediately think of Kevin Shattenkirk, both in their games and defensive inefficiencies. This summer will be very telling for the Leafs because they will see what a player of that mold will demand on the open market, and I expect Shattenkirk to receive no less than $6.5 million AAV over a long-term deal. When Morgan Reilly was signed to his long-term deal, it basically signified that at least with the crop of D that we have, no one will be getting paid more than him. Similar to the mentality in Tampa Bay. So, I cannot see any situation by which the Leafs willingly pay Gardiner an extention of over $6 million AAV. So, the Leafs will need to do something. Sure, they could eventually trade Gardiner down the line, perhaps as rental, similar to Shattenkirk, but why not examine the possibility of packaging him up to acquire defensive prospects that are at the very least on the cusp of being NHL-ready? Both of Chicago's recent deals tell me that teams are now being more future-conscious in their dealings and I am sure that trend will continue.
MG1986. I agree with you that if Gardiner continues his growth he will be too expensive for the Leafs to keep in the summer of 2019. Plus he just might want to go elsewhere as UFA.
But I don't understand the logic, "the Leafs have to do something. " Let's says the Leafs are in contention in February 2019 and look like they have a shot at the Conference Finals, do you trade Gardiner for futures? I just don't understand the thinking of "Leaf panic" of losing UFAs when you need those players to be successful in the current season
You mention the Shattenkirk deal. Well the Blues did it to get futures.....I'm not sure it was that wise for a Cup run, but Shattenkirk was their third best Dman. The loss wasn't that significant, especially if you saw he play in the playoffs. You can't really compare the Leafs to the Hawks. The Hawks have won three Cups with their core, and now because of cap reasons have to diverse themselves of some of their players. Although I the Saad/Panarin deal does nothing to help the Hawks cap wise. The big mistake the Hawks made was to to extend a declining Seabrook.
As I have wrote before about trading futures. Before the season starts in October all 31 GMs get together and decide which team is going to win the Cup. The 30 teams that aren't going to win the Cup trade their upcoming UFAs to the Stanley Cup winners of the following spring, cause 30 losing teams teams" have to do something." And so it goes.
I made comments on the other post from the flyers perspective, so I wont re-write them here... but as a flyers fan, there is no way this deal is fair or even considered by the flyers
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