U did that?? Wow u have talent, now please change ur undies...


- Ur Not Me

who says he's wearing any

Nope. I'm gonna wear me all day in tribute to your post
- Jeropotato

Thanks appreciate that....


U had a nice convo with my buddies 2day

From a Canes perspective:

--#5 pick. Forget it. Francis might trade down 2-4 spots if he really likes someone like Rantanen, Provorov, etc. who are likely to be available later. But I will be shocked if he trades the #5 pick outright for players or some much later pick.

==> Canes need to cut salary a bit and build out a better team without spending more. So anything like Kessel for the #5 pick is going completely the wrong direction.

--Dion Phaneuf. He is the player that makes most sense for the Canes. With the departure of Sekera, the Canes are short at least 1 and really more like 2 top 4 defensemen. Again, it's not for the #5 pick, so that is a complicated deal to put together. In an ideal world from the Canes side, they send Semin the other way to net the $ and then have to actually make the trade worthwhile for Toronto in terms of players by including some combination of young players and picks.

==> Phaneuf fills a big need for the Canes, but I don't see Francis trading away the high-end of his futures which makes this deal real challenging to do.

If I had to take a wild guess for a Leafs/Canes deal, I would peg Phaneuf and Skinner as the principal pieces with more players and picks needed to make it work.
- CarolinaMatt63

You make a lot of sense there but I wouldn't automatically say that the 5th pick is completely off the table. I would want to do everything possible to make the playoffs next year if I were the Hurricanes. You don't want to have Eric Staal say "I think I should move on from here" because they are in a rebuild (unless of course they plan to trade the Staals now for a full rebuild).

If Toronto offers Kessel for Semin & the 5th overall pick I think they should take it. It is a guaranteed top line scorer for a pick that you will wish turns into a top line player in 3-5 years. With Semin's money coming off the books the deal works for them there too and now you do not have to worry about losing E.Staal.

Thanks appreciate that....


U had a nice convo with my buddies 2day
- Ur Not Me

I enjoyed it....and I wasn't bullpoopting about last summer....

I enjoyed it....and I wasn't bullpoopting about last summer....
- Jeropotato

Do u have any specific names u remembered? but in all honesty, the regulars haven't or wouldn't say anything like that unless just for banter purposes....

You make a lot of sense there but I wouldn't automatically say that the 5th pick is completely off the table. I would want to do everything possible to make the playoffs next year if I were the Hurricanes. You don't want to have Eric Staal say "I think I should move on from here" because they are in a rebuild (unless of course they plan to trade the Staals now for a full rebuild).

If Toronto offers Kessel for Semin & the 5th overall pick I think they should take it. It is a guaranteed top line scorer for a pick that you will wish turns into a top line player in 3-5 years. With Semin's money coming off the books the deal works for them there too and now you do not have to worry about losing E.Staal.
- Steven_Dean

Won't happen. Francis gets that the only path to make things work long-term is to leverage these high draft picks to build from within and also get the benefit of adding some good young players on entry level deals to the salary mix.

Canes would be paying a #5 pick (which maybe is more like a 2-3 most years) just to unload a fairly short bad contract (Semin has 3 more years) to get a longer bad contract. For a franchise where the $ matter, it makes no sense.

I don't get why u TOR fans & CAR fans even discuss these trade rumors which we all know have no legs, voice, face or anything. Are we forgetting where it came from??

Won't happen. Francis gets that the only path to make things work long-term is to leverage these high draft picks to build from within and also get the benefit of adding some good young players on entry level deals to the salary mix.

Canes would be paying a #5 pick (which maybe is more like a 2-3 most years) just to unload a fairly short bad contract (Semin has 3 more years) to get a longer bad contract. For a franchise where the $ matter, it makes no sense.
- CarolinaMatt63

Kessel's contract may be big, but it isn't bad.

From a Canes perspective:

--#5 pick. Forget it. Francis might trade down 2-4 spots if he really likes someone like Rantanen, Provorov, etc. who are likely to be available later. But I will be shocked if he trades the #5 pick outright for players or some much later pick.

==> Canes need to cut salary a bit and build out a better team without spending more. So anything like Kessel for the #5 pick is going completely the wrong direction.

--Dion Phaneuf. He is the player that makes most sense for the Canes. With the departure of Sekera, the Canes are short at least 1 and really more like 2 top 4 defensemen. Again, it's not for the #5 pick, so that is a complicated deal to put together. In an ideal world from the Canes side, they send Semin the other way to net the $ and then have to actually make the trade worthwhile for Toronto in terms of players by including some combination of young players and picks.

==> Phaneuf fills a big need for the Canes, but I don't see Francis trading away the high-end of his futures which makes this deal real challenging to do.

If I had to take a wild guess for a Leafs/Canes deal, I would peg Phaneuf and Skinner as the principal pieces with more players and picks needed to make it work.
- CarolinaMatt63

Would a deal of Phaneuf for Skinner and Fleury work

Do u have any specific names u remembered? but in all honesty, the regulars haven't or wouldn't say anything like that unless just for banter purposes....
- Ur Not Me

Yeah it was crazy....the arguement was that the forwards were set, and they weren't trading anyone...except maybe Bailey....and that all they needed was D and they were as good as any forwards corpse in the league.

When all the San Jose crap went down I thought Thornton would be a great add and some guys said they didn't need Thornton, and that Brock was gonna be as good as Joe anyway.

I get it, you guys like your team, but it almost seemed like there was no room for improvement after the Grabo/Kulemin signings.

Yeah it was crazy....the arguement was that the forwards were set, and they weren't trading anyone...except maybe Bailey....and that all they needed was D and they were as good as any forwards corpse in the league.

When all the San Jose crap went down I thought Thornton would be a great add and some guys said they didn't need Thornton, and that Brock was gonna be as good as Joe anyway.

I get it, you guys like your team, but it almost seemed like there was no room for improvement after the Grabo/Kulemin signings.
- Jeropotato

LOL @ Grabo/Kulemin signings.

LOL @ Grabo/Kulemin signings.
- djamon

I think those were nice adds...

Won't happen. Francis gets that the only path to make things work long-term is to leverage these high draft picks to build from within and also get the benefit of adding some good young players on entry level deals to the salary mix.

Canes would be paying a #5 pick (which maybe is more like a 2-3 most years) just to unload a fairly short bad contract (Semin has 3 more years) to get a longer bad contract. For a franchise where the $ matter, it makes no sense.
- CarolinaMatt63

If you think Kessel is a bad contract then you have issues. Kessel is paid a lot but elite players are. Eric Staal has a stupid contract for what he did last year but he doesn't have a bad contract he is just paid top dollar for an elite player.

I can understand valuing the 5th overall pick the way you are but you do have to realize that it could turn into a 2nd/3rd line player. It happens all the time, not all top 10 picks are top line players (see Skinner or Kadri).

If the deal is Kessel for Semin + 5th then Carolina would be dumb not to take it. Heck I would want more considering we are taking back a truly toxic contract (by the way the definition of a bad contract is much much less would that player sign for if the contract was re-signed today. Semin gets $3-4M, Kessel gets $7-8M).

I think those were nice adds...
- Jeropotato

Yikes.

Yikes.
- djamon

Sorry dude, you can spin it any way u want, but those players helped the isles and in all seriousness, Kuli was a great PK for the team. Plus those contracts are only for 3 more yrs... Not bad huh??

That's nuts, essentially Kessel and Kadri for 5th overall!!? No way. Semin is a liability so no gain there...........just cap space for someone who shows up every now and then.

Yikes.
- djamon

almost as scary as buying out Grabo and letting Kule walk? those guys would have helped, the /leafs were much worse without them.

Sorry dude, you can spin it any way u want, but those players helped the isles and in all seriousness, Kuli was a great PK for the team. Plus those contracts are only for 3 more yrs... Not bad huh??
- Ur Not Me

I'll admit Kulemin played better than I thought he would, but when will the world realize Grabs is complete garbage? And he's old now. Your season was turned around when you got Leddy and Boychuk...getting Grabs and Kuli had nothing to do with it, IMO.

Yikes.
- djamon

almost as scary as buying out Grabo and letting Kule walk? those guys would have helped, the /leafs were much worse without them.

Three way deal.

Edmonton
4th Overall
5th Overall

Toronto
1st Overall

Carolina
Kessel
Bozak


- KesselRules

Edm: 4th overall, 5th overall, Gardiner, Rielly
Tor: McDavid, Semin
Carolina: Kessel, Bozak

that's honestly more like it

almost as scary as buying out Grabo and letting Kule walk? those guys would have helped, the /leafs were much worse without them.
- Jeropotato

Causation and correlation.

The Grabs buyout has been debated ad nauseum by Leaf fans. Personally, I thought he was vastly over-paid by Burke but can see the logic behind keeping him another year and seeing if could turn it around. (he obviously wouldn't have, since he has sucked since then). But there's no argument to be made that Kuli deserved the money he got. None.

I'll admit Kulemin played better than I thought he would, but when will the world realize Grabs is complete garbage? And he's old now. Your season was turned around when you got Leddy and Boychuk...getting Grabs and Kuli had nothing to do with it, IMO.
- djamon

If there's an expansion draft, u could bet that the isles will expose them and most likely be chosen bc of contract status, so for another few years left, those players have done a decent/good job so far.....
Grabs & Kuli added NHL depth to the roster instead of the waiver wire scrubs to plug in.

Edm: 4th overall, 5th overall, Gardiner, Rielly
Tor: McDavid, Semin
Carolina: Kessel, Bozak

that's honestly more like it
- AlfieisKing

what the (frank)?

If there's an expansion draft, u could bet that the isles will expose them and most likely be chosen bc of contract status, so for another few years left, those players have done a decent/good job so far.....
Grabs & Kuli added NHL depth to the roster instead of the waiver wire scrubs to plug in.
- Ur Not Me

You guys have great forward depth...these guys were just Garth spending money he had to spend. The Leafs went out and got Winnik and Santorelli who were cheaper and better. And available.

Causation and correlation.

The Grabs buyout has been debated ad nauseum by Leaf fans. Personally, I thought he was vastly over-paid by Burke but can see the logic behind keeping him another year and seeing if could turn it around. (he obviously wouldn't have, since he has sucked since then). But there's no argument to be made that Kuli deserved the money he got. None.
- djamon

the sad part about the Grabo buy is where the extra cap space went, more than anything.