Quoting: bg77
Thank you for the feedback! I think the fact that Tanev is from Toronto and familiar with Treliving makes this a great fit. I'm more bullish on him than you seem to be, and that's fine. In terms of Ristolainen, I don't know how Toronto could make the salary cap work, a big part of acquiring a player on an expiring deal is it is much more realistic to get salary retention, and then the Leafs could extend Tanev beyond this season on a 2 year bridge deal.
I do agree however that it would be enticing to keep the first and sign Tanev in July, I just think the Leafs need to keep going for it. Do you have any concerns heading into the playoffs with the roster?
I never argued the fit of Tanev in Toronto, in fact I agree that he’d be a good fit. I just know that Treliving highly values the 24’ 1st rounder due to the lack of prospects in the system that he likes and the lack of high draft picks over the next 3 years. He knows that because of the cap situation that good drafted players are going to be even more vital to the Leafs so he’s hesitant to move them. It would take a lot to get him to move pieces like that right now.
Ristolainen is possible. It would just take a bit of extra cap management and probably moving a guy like Timmins out as well - the problem is getting likely costs the 24’ 1st + Minten as the starting package, which again is a high ask for Treliving cause he’s stressing from building within.
As for the roster, it highly concerns me. Lack of depth production, lack of capable defenders, and inconsistent goalies doesn’t exactly give confidence to a championship hopeful team. Treliving is trying to add to reward the core, they’ve been great but the rest of the roster is lacking. The problem is that Toronto doesn’t have many valuable assets that other teams want outside of the 24’ 1st rounder, Minten, or Cowan and they’re generally not available unless something makes perfect sense and that would only be a right handed shot defender with term. Treliving is usually a guy that builds more in the off-season and I’d expect the same to continue but more depth moves made at the deadline this year