Jimmy was here for a little bit as Aquaman
- AdamFrench

I thought that was his roomate

That is a scenario that can play out with any star players.
- faceto27

No, players' level of play dropping off is a scenario that WILL play out with ALL players.

Hence the nervousness over acquiring Bobby Lu. At least most players aren't signed until age 44 with a 5.2 million dollar cap hit.

So you wouldn't draft Marko Dano first overall?
- AdamFrench

common frenchie, thats a given, any gm would

Sam Gagner on the leafs is a dream scenario
40 point smallish Sam Gagner as a #1 Center??

Might as well keep Conolol
and give up Kulemin for him

bring back jimmy_tea, at least he was entertaining
- senstroll

Gagner > Bozak imo, so I dont see why anyone would chirp me.

Maybe Kadri will finally step up and earn his spot, but im doubtful. We need Luongo and Franson has no desire to be mistreated again. That is why he will not report to camp and will stay in Europe. Right now Kulemin's stock is at an all time high. Pittsburgh and Edmonton are both interested, and he no longer fits into our top 6 (Kessel, Bozak, Lupul, JVR, Grabo, MacArthur).

I dont know about anyone else, but Kulemin/Franson/a prospect in exchange for a #1 goalie and possibly a Bozak replacement would make me happy.

Should be fun watching him flop on his belly in another teams jersey.

How many pres trohpies and appearances in the cup finals did vancouver have before Lou?
The florida teams he was on were absolutely horrible.
- Fakepartofme

This Leaf team has been in the lottery range for years and hasnt made the playoffs since 2003-2004. If that is not the sports definition of horrible then you're just lying to yourself.

The other aspect of this is looking at why the above has happened. The main reason would be because this team used to try trading picks and prospects to get mid 30 year olds in an effort to win now. Well the prospect cupboard went bare, the draft was a joke for this team and irrelavent, and when the new CBA came along they just imploded. They still havent recovered, but finally are on the right path.

Taking on Luongo at 34, along with that contract, while trading young assets is just repeating that whole process over. Is that really the direction this team should be taking?

Should we not try to be modeling ourselves with teams like the Pens, Ducks, Hawks, Canes, Kings etc who have all won Cups on the backs of elite level talent they drafted and developed?

When is Ek going to hire a resident Hockeybuzz capologist?

Should be fun watching him flop on his belly in another teams jersey.
- vancity787

I guess when you havent won a Cup, you'll take what you can get, eh?

I think Friedman's explanation was a little off if it works out the way you're explaining it. Because the numbers get pretty wacky when you use his formula.
- Leeman4Gilmour

Yeah...it can't be right. I don't get why you'd punish teams more the closer the player retires to the end of the contract. I thought the rules were to punish the contracts where the players had no intention of honouring the additional years, i.e. further away from the end of the contract.

I couldn't care less about his salary. But as a fan, I'd prefer not to have a 40 year old back up goalie with a cap hit of 5.2 million dollars and 4 years left on it.
- Leeman4Gilmour

do you really believe that Luongo, in the summer of 2019, having just turned 40 and slated to earn 1.6 million, and being faced with playing backup to Mark indapark Owuya is going to keep playing?

I'm not advocating to go get him but lets make sure we're all debating from the same boat.

He's 33 today ...he's got 5.5 yrs left at his big salary. He'll be 39 when drops to 3.3 and 40 when it drops to 1.6.

Thomas is 38 (5 yrs older), Kipper is 36 ..3 years older, Brodeur is 40 (7 yrs older). Can Luongo be very good until 39? I don't know ....but I'd be willing to bet, given everything I've ever read and heard about him, that he'll hang it up before coming back and earning peanuts playing backup to Owuya.

*Owuya is a fictional character I made up.

David Pollak ‏@PollakOnSharks

We all make 'em, but this one's a doozy via Toronto Star: Sharks GM Dean Lombardi is looking at hard decisions on Thornton, Marleau
- faceto27

Sign me up for either one of these two over Luongo.

Like him or hate him, Burke looks like a FKing genius right now. This could be the most active off-season we've seen in decades, and several teams are simply screwed.

Leaf fans should send Donald Fehr a thank you card. No roll-backs of existing salaries is the most advantageous thing to come out of this lockout for us.

You guys want Miller?

Contract is up after 2013/14 season.
- BuffaloHardHat

I'd sooner sign Miller in 2014 than trade for Luongo unless a Trade for Luongo is for some other pieces or a good prospect of some sort.

5 Years after acquiring Luongo, they won the President's trophy. See, that's not what you'd call a rapid/drastic improvement. And it probably had more to do with two of their top players becoming 100+ point guys.
- Feeling Glucky?

And the west wasn't exactly an easy conference...he was up against some really great teams.
Also, Lou plays better when he sees more shots...which is perfect with our D.

There is, my friend.

By trading away aging vets to the Leafs for prospects and draft picks.

And I'm sick of it.

Wait, that's not what you meant?
- Atomic Wedgie

Gagner > Bozak imo, so I dont see why anyone would chirp me.

Maybe Kadri will finally step up and earn his spot, but im doubtful. We need Luongo and Franson has no desire to be mistreated again. That is why he will not report to camp and will stay in Europe. Right now Kulemin's stock is at an all time high. Pittsburgh and Edmonton are both interested, and he no longer fits into our top 6 (Kessel, Bozak, Lupul, JVR, Grabo, MacArthur).

I dont know about anyone else, but Kulemin/Franson/a prospect in exchange for a #1 goalie and possibly a Bozak replacement would make me happy.
- Grabovski

Because all other #1 Centers in the NHL > Bozak, Gagner

All I will say is ...why not aim higher if you are dreaming? Getz, Mackinnon

I thought at least one guy ..Visnovsky? ...had already "defected". If that were to happen I just wonder if there would be any cap consequences.

The second part about Kovy ...take a look at his contract ...if (when) he retires early the Devils will be tortured. He has about 5 obvious retirement years that would work out to almost 5 milly per year in cap recapture penalty.
- The Law

The Seattle or Kansas City fans will be SOOO p*ssed.

So you wouldn't draft Marko Dano first overall?
- AdamFrench

and apparently now Trouba >>> every other defensemen in the draft

do you really believe that Luongo, in the summer of 2019, having just turned 40 and slated to earn 1.6 million, and being faced with playing backup to Mark indapark Owuya is going to keep playing?

I'm not advocating to go get him but lets make sure we're all debating from the same boat.

He's 33 today ...he's got 5.5 yrs left at his big salary. He'll be 39 when drops to 3.3 and 40 when it drops to 1.6.

Thomas is 38 (5 yrs older), Kipper is 36 ..3 years older, Brodeur is 40 (7 yrs older). Can Luongo be very good until 39? I don't know ....but I'd be willing to bet, given everything I've ever read and heard about him, that he'll hang it up before coming back and earning peanuts playing backup to Owuya.

*Owuya is a fictional character I made up.
- The Law

Let's look at it from the other angle: Is a guy who has played very well at age 38 likely to retire?

What is actually the best case scenario, anyway? I've outlined the worst case scenario, but what would be best (within the realms of reality)?

Is the best case scenario that he gives us 5 very good years, then retires? Well, that sucks because he sticks us with 5 years of penalties.

Is it that he stays 10 years, or close to it, to minimize the penalties? If so, what kind of production do we expect in the last 3-4 years?

Is it that he gives us 5 good years, one so-so year, one outright poopty year (convincing himself that it's time to retire), then sticks us with three years of penalties?

For the life of me, I can't conceive in my mind a realistic scenario where Luongo doesn't end up hurting us in the long run. I suppose if you get him for a song and he gives you elite level goaltending for 5 years, that's the best it gets. But you still get burned, even in that scenario.

Won a gold medal at the Olympics, had some shuts in the Cup finals.
If its not Lou it has to be someone else, Reimer will not get you to the playoffs.
- Fakepartofme

I am not convinced of that.

The other 22 guys is what will not get us into the playoffs.

(not that the Leafs goalies are any good)

and apparently now Trouba >>> every other defensemen in the draft
- peddy-93

He might be dude. If you want your Stevens, he's a candidate. 6'2, hits like a truck, great in his own end, massive slap shot, ok passing skills. Kid is a monster. Imagine...he's eligible for the WJC again next year

Ok, that's fair.

However, those 2 shutouts were kinda overshadowed by the 23 goals he let in in the other 5 games.
- Feeling Glucky?

on 19 shots

Fans would Boo-Hoo about him till he was out of the league.

He gets the Lucic treatment. Hate him on the other team, but would gargle his knob if he was on your team.
- Leafland

How does one "gargle a knob" exactly?

This is what I dream of happening:

To Toronto
Roberto Luongo
1st Round Pick

To Vancouver
Tyler Bozak
Nazem Kadri

---

To Edmonton
Nikolai Kulemin
Cody Franson's RFA Rights

To Toronto
Sam Gangner

---

Kessel - Gagner - Lupul
JVR - Grabovski - MacArthur
Frattin - McClemment - Connolly
Brown - Steckel - Komarov

Lombardi

Phanuef - Gunnarsson
Liles - Komisarek
Gardiner - Holzer

Fraser

Luongo
Reimer
- Grabovski

The first one, Vancouver isn't throwing in a 1st, LOL.

The second one, I wouldn't trade Kulemin for Gagner ever. Take away Gagner's one monster week and his stats are pretty below average.

This Leaf team has been in the lottery range for years and hasnt made the playoffs since 2003-2004. If that is not the sports definition of horrible then you're just lying to yourself.

The other aspect of this is looking at why the above has happened. The main reason would be because this team used to try trading picks and prospects to get mid 30 year olds in an effort to win now. Well the prospect cupboard went bare, the draft was a joke for this team and irrelavent, and when the new CBA came along they just imploded. They still havent recovered, but finally are on the right path.

Taking on Luongo at 34, along with that contract, while trading young assets is just repeating that whole process over. Is that really the direction this team should be taking?

Should we not try to be modeling ourselves with teams like the Pens, Ducks, Hawks, Canes, Kings etc who have all won Cups on the backs of elite level talent they drafted and developed?
- systemtool

The team needs to start winning now....not 4 years from now. Modelling ourselves after the above teams? Pens got high draft picks for years and then LUCKED out (or Bettman out) with Crosby. Only the Hawks were bottom feeders for years to get high end draft and even then they had to acquire or sign vet players to help them win a cup.

Get this through your head and anyone else who is reading this....the Leafs will never bottom feed on purpose to rebuild...that will never happen in this market....NEVER. They will never pull a pens, Isles, Oil, hawks, Thrashers.
Specially after being out of the playoffs for so long.
Never!

Let's look at it from the other angle: Is a guy who has played very well at age 38 likely to retire?

- Leeman4Gilmour

Hmmm, fries guy, or a measly million per?
...
Fries guy, or a measly million per?
...
Fries guy, or a measly million per?

Tough decision there.