Why would he sign that though? I am sure he sees himself as more than a depth forward and signing that term for that much is admitting you are only ever going to be a secondary player. I bet 8 years would have to come in above 6.5 for him to even consider it. And right now, he's not a 6.5 million dollar player.

At the start of the year Keefe was safe as the coaching market stunk

But now with Berube and Woodcraft available yea that man's on very thin ice... dont think we see a VGK change but hey summer could be fun

For reference VGK fired Gallant in January despite a winning record




Hes not lost the room or the team is playing to get him fired but these late starts for this team seem to be becoming a habit

Or heck if the opposing team adjusts no response, its basically if they lose go to the media and broken record talk like Babcock before he got yeeted

Now if he punishes Gio for a similar play that Kampf did to get a HS were getting at least somewhere as hey hes enforcing those standards

But would not surprise me if 40 year old Gio still in for Saturday as he gonna go I got rules...next time it happens...what rules?

Berube and Woodcroft aren't any better. Woodcroft sucks, Berube is just an old school guy. I don't know who we need but it's not those two.

Berube is oldschool sure but its not Babcock lvl bad.

Hes more in the middle of new and old and thats what this team needs rn

Cause yea Berube did help the Blues go on an incredible run for a cup and if Binnington didnt forget how to stop pucks the year after may have done the same the year after

But yea for him I dont blame him for the Blues afterwards I blame their GM as he didnt build a great team

Worst notable thing he did trade and extend Faulk which = Pietrangelo walking

But you can hold out until he goes and negotiate

Just to play devil's advocate here...but there's an approach where Treliving bets on himself instead of just Marner betting on himself.

If you don't get marner on the terms you like....immediately allocate those dollars to the blueline and play out the year as a more balanced team. If the team does well...maybe you don't need Marner as much as he thinks the team does. Gotta see how this year's playoff run goes...if it's just more of the same...gotta pump resources for help on D in the off-season more than using up another huge slice of the pie on Marner.

Look where that got us with Nylander

1-1.5m more than he should be making cause of negotiations falling off early


When it comes to younger guys out of ELC's Brad prefers 6 year deals

Lindholm, Hanafin, Andersson all examples



Now when it comes to bigger vets thats when the 8 years come in (if possible)

Hubderdeau, and Nylander are examples with Marner soon to follow




For me Knies should be a bridge deal as we still dont know his full capabilities.

Vegas made their coaching switch mid-season because DeBoer was fired in San Jose and he was a guy they really wanted.

I guess Treliving would make a similar move if he felt that strongly about Berube or Woodcroft but I just see those two as change for the sake of change...not necessarily bringing in somebody better.

If he wanted Keefe gone...they'd probably just give Boucher the interim title until they hired the guy they want.

Except that's not a negotiation. You basically want to give him an ultimatum....sign for 8 years or sit out.

Doesn't sound like the best way to start a long term relationship

As MJ said on the broadcast got to get that puck out. Dangle even said it. Gio was not great on both Pk's and that was an easy out he had no excuse for that. Zita put it best there be standards Keefe prompted and said in his interview after the 6-5 OT loss to CBJ and it resulted in Kampf sitting. Same got to apply for that kind of play by Gio as look at the space.

And for a 40 year old thats not a bad thing is it? Its a blessing in disguise as were on pace to once again run him into the ground

Cause yea the age be starting to show and idk if that man should even be in the playoff lineup as Boston or Florida may eat him alive

In general 0 idea what MLSE is thinking but got to think they considering as the records are pretty close when Gallant was fired in Jan.

Its not lose room bad but Keefe starting to sound like a broken record. Shanahan I believe is up this summer and rather than flip everything around to where PP coach become HC and all that they would probs bring a guy still under Salary in. As I believe Berube owed another year of Salary after STL

To me u wait to the 49 game mark like Gallant then decide as considering who they may get in the playoffs we may need a bit of old school lul

BOS or FLA be the guess

Based on Tree's track record u either get a long 6 year deal or bridge. For Knies bridge may be best as we still dont have a full picture of him

JT is gonna get a deal in the 5.5-7m range based on comparable so is that really low?

Defense agree and based on Brad's comments I see that being the big focus next offseason

Woll is tough. Goalies are voodo but at the same time if he plays his heart out we go from a potential 4m deal to 8m

My bad, in Toronto, you can walk all over us bc we are scared all the time...

Bc that has workout well thus far

No, you don't have to make it a priority...

Ok, you're going to get 14 in CBJ, go there then...

Most teams either are bad landing spots for Marner or no cap space so, he'll come running back

And I thought we all learned with countless examples that locking your young studs to 8 year deal is worth it 99.999999% of the time, I'm willing to take that risk with Knies...

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Why do Leafs fans not get it... Knies is an RFA, not a UFA like Matthews or Nylander are, in RFA

Knies isn't a stud yet. And locking him up for 8 is going to cost minimum 7 million I would wager. And that's only if he doesn't have a major year next season. He may get 20 goals and 40 points this year so why would he jump at a long term deal after this season? Makes no sense for him too. He can wait till after the season bet on himself and see what's what.

Look where it got us with Marner! Dubas caved in bc he didn't want a player holding out and gave Marner exactly what he wanted: The AAV, the term and the NMC which now makes it impossible to trade the guy.

And that's the point, locking down Knies until he's 30 and betting on his development is a much safer gamble than arguing with 27 year old Knies with UFA expiry status...

The smart move is to lock Knies down and have it age well

And Nylander held out and got a big deal while an RFA....marner held out of half of training camp before leafs agreed to his number....matthews got a massive deal on a short term out of RFA.

Knies isn't in their talent tier so we likely don't see a massive deal...it's just your inflexible strategy shows a lack of life experience for how contract negotiations take place when both sides actually want to get a deal done

That's why leafs need to add on D come TDL...

But Camp's giveaway was brutal and unnecessary... Whereas Gio's hit a guy's stick by off chance and almost got out... Not scratching guys for being unlucky



Bc I'd rather pay Knies 4 mill AAV for 2 years and 8 mill for 6 years instead of 5.5-6.5 for 8 years 🙄

That's why you tell JT to take a discount... Look, you got 77 mill in one contract already and are the captain, go lead by example and take 4.5-5.5 for 3 years

But that's why you have to get him early...

That's why you lock him down...

It's so hypocritical to complain that Marner and Nylander got big deals bc their last ELC season, they finally made that jump then, when you're in a similar situation with Knies, not try to get the 8 year deal on a lower AAV...

And says who it's going to be 7 AAV?

What happened to Nylander though? His deal looked better and better but what was the one thing we all wanted on his deal? 8 years...

Dubas caved for Marner... Stupid decision but he learned his lesson and got some nice deals later but that's besides the point

Get the 8 years while keeping the number as low as possible and bet on Knies' development, do not let another Nylander or Marner situation happen

Since extensions seem to be the hot topic on here at the moment, I want to point out that Brad is not scared to take calculated risks when it comes to extending young players. Look at the Rasmus Andersson contract for example. Knies is the hot topic here at the moment, but I don't think he's going to be a candidate for a long term extension simply because it will be robbing him of money. His team isn't going to bite on that kind of a deal. I could see a 3 - 4 year contract that buys up his remaining RFA years before a long term deal is put into place. It is a much better scenario for the player (barring a gross overpay).

Now, the one player I could see getting a long extension this offseason is Timothy Liljegren. Watch for him to get a 6 - 7 year deal Rasmus Andersson style.

The difference here though is Andersson did show more than what we have seen out of Liligren.

Liligren's basically not even trusted enough to be full time playoffs nor is trusted in the top 4 this season being on the third pair with Gio rather than with McCabe whose on his offside with Benoit

I say bridge as to me hes not a guy yet to invest a 4m deal into. Cause if were not playing him top 4 now when we need a RD when will we?

This offseason is loaded with good Dman go spend on Roy + Demelo or something

Marner did get offersheeted and yes Marner did not agree to them but had leverage so Dubas had to strike as if not we may have lost him and sure 4 1sts would have been nice but losing him would have really been bad

You do realize who the Leafs would've had if they got 4 1sts from CBJ?
Lassi Thompson
Yegor Chinikov
Kent Johnson
David Jiriceck

And they could have retained Hyman and 4.5 mill in cap space...

And that's assuming the Leafs were interested in Chinakov/Thompson and could have instead drafted: Pelletier and Zary/Greig

Lines could have been:
Knies-Matthews-Hyman
Bert-JT-Nylander
Johnson-Greig-Pelletier
Domi-Kampf-McMann/Jarnkrok/Reaves

Rielly-Jiriceck
McCabe-Lilly
Brodie-Benoit
Gio