I can't see us drafting 2 goalies before the 3rd round.
- Garnie

I agree my friend. Doesn't mean I have to like it, however I do have faith in Hunter.

Anaheim won't be trading Lindholm. He's more important to them than Vatanen. That would be like Toronto trading Reilly.
- BetterCallSaul

I know it's a long shot, hence why I said kick the tires on him and see what it would actually cost. We didn't do too bad with the Beauchemin trade dealing with Murray

oh please

Bernier happened to the Leafs.

were the defense to blame when he let the puck into his own net from shots from the opposition blue-line or on an icing?
- BorjeFan4Ever

Yep..way to many bad goals that completely deflated the team. I think Babs would sooner poke his eyes out than deal with another season of Bernier..

Which goalie does Spatso think we should take?
- Atomic Wedgie

Not sure if you mean the goalie you should draft or trade to obtain. Not a fan of drafting goalies in the first round. I think a first round pick (30th) would be better spent on acquiring the rights to a known goaltender (e.g. Crawford) than on taking an unproven goalie out of junior. There are always exceptions (Price, Luongo) where the young goaltender looks elite but so many of the first rounders bomb. There is nothing in the first round that I would take this year.

On the other hand, two of the great signings in the modern history of the Leafs were Curtis Joseph and Eddie B. Both were veterans that very comfortable with the pressure and handling a lot of shots.

Drafting goalies is tough. Can't see them using two 2nd rounders on goalies.
- ClarksonDavid

Agree. Most top NHL goalie prospects are three and four years away from their first NHL game (usuallly as a back up) on the day they are drafted. Far more will never see an NHL crease. Drafting 17 and 18 year old kids is tough proposition for any player beyond the first round. Other than for the exceptional goalies, it is even a bigger crapshoot.

I know it's a long shot, hence why I said kick the tires on him and see what it would actually cost. We didn't do too bad with the Beauchemin trade dealing with Murray
- PhilMcCracken

CAP logic would say that the Ducks need to allocate a bit of their D-Cap to forward help.

someone, probably Fowler becomes available, but I believe the trick with Anaheim in this situation is a package deal, which helps them with their D-CAP to Forward-CAP balance, and which gets them value for one of their goalies


just spit-balling here... so don't tear me apart...

Andersen, Lindholm or Vatanen + Bieksa + Theodore
for
Bernier JVR Hunwick Corrado
they take Bernier's 1yr CAP hit, JVR as instant upgrade 1st left winger, Corrado back-fill for defensive loss; Hunwick cheap reliable guy

leafs get goalie who likely will be less expensive than Bernier, a top 4 dman, take Bieksa's cap hit and prospect D-man

or
Andersen Fowler
for
Kapanen Percy 31st Pick

Agree. Most top NHL goalie prospects are three and four years away from their first NHL game (usuallly as a back up) on the day they are drafted. Far more will never see an NHL crease. Drafting 17 and 18 year old kids is tough proposition for any player beyond the first round. Other than for the exceptional goalies, it is even a bigger crapshoot.
- spatso

so with that said - which one would YOU draft?

Yep..way to many bad goals that completely deflated the team. I think Babs would sooner poke his eyes out than deal with another season of Bernier..
- PhilMcCracken

here's hoping that Babcock just rolls his eyes every time he's asked about Bernier.

maybe Uncle Lou can buy Jonathan "call me Nelson" Bernier a nice new tux, a drink tray and one way ticket to Robidas (now known as Fantasy) Island... he'd do nicely as the new-age "tatoo"

serving up drinks to Stephane and Joffrey

CAP logic would say that the Ducks need to allocate a bit of their D-Cap to forward help.

someone, probably Fowler becomes available, but I believe the trick with Anaheim in this situation is a package deal, which helps them with their D-CAP to Forward-CAP balance, and which gets them value for one of their goalies


just spit-balling here... so don't tear me apart...

Andersen, Lindholm or Vatanen + Bieksa + Theodore
for
Bernier JVR Hunwick Corrado
they take Bernier's 1yr CAP hit, JVR as instant upgrade 1st left winger, Corrado back-fill for defensive loss; Hunwick cheap reliable guy

leafs get goalie who likely will be less expensive than Bernier, a top 4 dman, take Bieksa's cap hit and prospect D-man

or
Andersen Fowler
for
Kapanen Percy 31st Pick
- BorjeFan4Ever

Andersen, Vatanen/Lindholm as well as Theodore? Not gonna happen. Not even remotely close. That's two top 4 D and a starting G for JVR basically. Murray can make the odd bad trade, but that is ridiculous. We would at least have to add a top prospect like Nylander, as well as a pick/B prospect to get the discussion going.... and even that could be a stretch.

Lindholm with salary coming back alone would be worth JVR +.

here's hoping that Babcock just rolls his eyes every time he's asked about Bernier.

maybe Uncle Lou can buy Jonathan "call me Nelson" Bernier a nice new tux, a drink tray and one way ticket to Robidas (now known as Fantasy) Island... he'd do nicely as the new-age "tatoo"

serving up drinks to Stephane and Joffrey


- BorjeFan4Ever

I see him riding the pine this year and they will let him walk in FA if they trade for a stop gap, which I hope they do. I think Andersen will cost too much.

To Montreal:

1st overall pick, Bernier, Lupul, JVR, 31st overall pick (Tor 2nd rounder), Percy, 2017 Ott 2nd rounder.


To Toronto (conditional on Stamkos signing; hence Toronto would need to trade for Stamkos rights before draft):

Price, PK Subban (1.5mln retained), 9th overall pick.

Finally somebody giving the Cat some love. He was a big part of the Leafs turning things around in the early 90's. I always believed the Leafs never really needed to sign Joseph, they would have been just as well off if the stuck with Potvin but he had a history of letting in bad goals, he could make crazy saves nobody had any business making, but also bad goals. Looking back Joseph also let in a lot of stinker and never took the Leafs any further then Potvin did.

Andersen, Vatanen/Lindholm as well as Theodore? Not gonna happen. Not even remotely close. That's two top 4 D and a starting G for JVR basically. Murray can make the odd bad trade, but that is ridiculous. We would at least have to add a top prospect like Nylander, as well as a pick/B prospect to get the discussion going.... and even that could be a stretch.

Lindholm with salary coming back alone would be worth JVR +.
- PhilMcCracken

ya.... but but but....... we're taking left over Canucklehead junk!

Draft both Gustavsson & Hart & Parsons.....

The C position should be shored up nicely when we add Stamkos & Matthews to Kadri, Bozak & Nylander. We can afford to take all 3 G's

Finally somebody giving the Cat some love. He was a big part of the Leafs turning things around in the early 90's. I always believed the Leafs never really needed to sign Joseph, they would have been just as well off if the stuck with Potvin but he had a history of letting in bad goals, he could make crazy saves nobody had any business making, but also bad goals. Looking back Joseph also let in a lot of stinker and never took the Leafs any further then Potvin did.
- ISRLabradorLeaf

Felix was great in big games... he certainly didn't wilt under the pressure. He was amazing in those playoff series during 93 and 94.

I always wondered why he fell out of favor.. which he seemed to - I think he was a victim of playing behind Larry Murphy.... who despite have a good career in LA and in Detroit - sucked huge while in Toronto.

To Montreal:

1st overall pick, Bernier, Lupul, JVR, 31st overall pick (Tor 2nd rounder), Percy, 2017 Ott 2nd rounder.


To Toronto (conditional on Stamkos signing; hence Toronto would need to trade for Stamkos rights before draft):

Price, PK Subban (1.5mln retained), 9th overall pick.
- MaximusAurelius

including Ott 2nd rounder is an overpayment

Yep..way to many bad goals that completely deflated the team. I think Babs would sooner poke his eyes out than deal with another season of Bernier..
- PhilMcCracken

First shot of the season, 2 seasons in a row found the back of the net, that's everything you need to know right there. I still believe Riemer will be back, don't know why but that's what I'm expecting.

Andersen, Vatanen/Lindholm as well as Theodore? Not gonna happen. Not even remotely close. That's two top 4 D and a starting G for JVR basically. Murray can make the odd bad trade, but that is ridiculous. We would at least have to add a top prospect like Nylander, as well as a pick/B prospect to get the discussion going.... and even that could be a stretch.

Lindholm with salary coming back alone would be worth JVR +.
- PhilMcCracken

This is entirely correct. Any team that offers up a good young Dman will get a very serious response from a bunch of teams. Top Dmen are scarce and will be very expensive. Lindholm is not coming on the market, never was. Vatanen was never coming on the market. I think Fowler may be available. So, need to ask, what do Edmonton and other teams need to offer up for good young Dman? The early rumour that Taylor Hall was being made available probably does not apply for Fowler. But, I would do Taylor Hall if it could get me Ryan Murray and Hartnell from Columbus. I think Columbus is in a unique set of circumstances. They have a few elite Dmen, a hopeless cap crunch and some really bad no move contracts.

The Leafs might find a better trading partner in Columbus than Anaheim.

CAP logic would say that the Ducks need to allocate a bit of their D-Cap to forward help.

someone, probably Fowler becomes available, but I believe the trick with Anaheim in this situation is a package deal, which helps them with their D-CAP to Forward-CAP balance, and which gets them value for one of their goalies


just spit-balling here... so don't tear me apart...

Andersen, Lindholm or Vatanen + Bieksa + Theodore
for
Bernier JVR Hunwick Corrado
they take Bernier's 1yr CAP hit, JVR as instant upgrade 1st left winger, Corrado back-fill for defensive loss; Hunwick cheap reliable guy

leafs get goalie who likely will be less expensive than Bernier, a top 4 dman, take Bieksa's cap hit and prospect D-man

or
Andersen Fowler
for
Kapanen Percy 31st Pick
- BorjeFan4Ever

Oh dear

This is entirely correct. Any team that offers up a good young Dman will get a very serious response from a bunch of teams. Top Dmen are scarce and will be very expensive. Lindholm is not coming on the market, never was. Vatanen was never coming on the market. I think Fowler may be available. So, need to ask, what do Edmonton and other teams need to offer up for good young Dman? The early rumour that Taylor Hall was being made available probably does not apply for Fowler. But, I would do Taylor Hall if it could get me Ryan Murray and Hartnell from Columbus. I think Columbus is in a unique set of circumstances. They have a few elite Dmen, a hopeless cap crunch and some really bad no move contracts.

The Leafs might find a better trading partner in Columbus than Anaheim.
- spatso

On paper Edmonton and Anaheim seem like a good match...but would Edmonton actually movery Hall

Oh dear
- walshyleafsfan

Just messing around

Not sure if you mean the goalie you should draft or trade to obtain. Not a fan of drafting goalies in the first round. I think a first round pick (30th) would be better spent on acquiring the rights to a known goaltender (e.g. Crawford) than on taking an unproven goalie out of junior. There are always exceptions (Price, Luongo) where the young goaltender looks elite but so many of the first rounders bomb. There is nothing in the first round that I would take this year.

On the other hand, two of the great signings in the modern history of the Leafs were Curtis Joseph and Eddie B. Both were veterans that very comfortable with the pressure and handling a lot of shots.
- spatso

A 1st rounder for a salary dump? A 6mil goalie on the other side of 30, this isn't elite?

Felix was great in big games... he certainly didn't wilt under the pressure. He was amazing in those playoff series during 93 and 94.

I always wondered why he fell out of favor.. which he seemed to - I think he was a victim of playing behind Larry Murphy.... who despite have a good career in LA and in Detroit - sucked huge while in Toronto.
- BorjeFan4Ever

He was crazy good in 93, would have been rookie of the year if Teemu didn't score 70 odd goals. Being a die hard Leafs fan it always left a sour taste in my mouth how they treated him and showed him the door.

Down Goes Brown‏ @DownGoesBrown
Wow, signing with your hometown team as a free agent and breaking their championship drought sure seems fun.

[drums fingers]

Just saying.

This is entirely correct. Any team that offers up a good young Dman will get a very serious response from a bunch of teams. Top Dmen are scarce and will be very expensive. Lindholm is not coming on the market, never was. Vatanen was never coming on the market. I think Fowler may be available. So, need to ask, what do Edmonton and other teams need to offer up for good young Dman? The early rumour that Taylor Hall was being made available probably does not apply for Fowler. But, I would do Taylor Hall if it could get me Ryan Murray and Hartnell from Columbus. I think Columbus is in a unique set of circumstances. They have a few elite Dmen, a hopeless cap crunch and some really bad no move contracts.

The Leafs might find a better trading partner in Columbus than Anaheim.
- spatso

no disagreement about the value of good young D-men.... but here's the related question

i) how many of the Anaheim's defensemen who are signed for a multiple years at more than 4M+ are top 2? top 4?
.... I know I know ... they would all be top 2 on the Leafs
ii) where does Shea Theodore fit in the top 6 ... if he's even in the top 6?
iii) how much value would Anaheim attach to dumping Bieksa at this point?