I mean I look at the D group that's there:

LD
Rielly
Giordano
Gustafsson

RD
Holl
Liljegren
Schenn
Timmins

LD/RD
Brodie
McCabe

. . .and then play mix'n'match in my head, and I like pairings like:

Rielly - McCabe
Brodie / Holl or Schenn / Brodie or Timmins / Brodie or Gustafsson / Brodie
Giordano - Liljegren

I'd like to see Rielly work with McCabe because I think he needs both a defensive conscience and a physical presence. Obviously we know Gio/Lilly works.

In that 2nd line spot though, I mean geez. It's almost like a match for your opposition. Need physicality? Put in Schenn. Need puck movement? Put in a Gustafsson or a Timmins. Do they prefer Brodie on the left? Because if they do, Gustafsson is the superfluous D. Even accounting for injuries, I'm not sure that he's bringing what we need to the table - he's more of what we have, even though he is having an excellent season.

I'd like to see a couple of these guys draw in tonight to give us that sense of who, if any of them, would get moved out tomorrow.

In my mind they extended Timmins for a reason. They acquired Schenn for a reason. Holl hasn't been extended, and Gustafsson appears to be more of an add-in with the Sandin trade - so it's probably one of those two who moves out. If I'm building for the playoffs, I probably keep Holl because he knows our system, knows the players, knows the goalies, and is well liked in the room.
- Monkeypunk

Thats what I have come to terms with.

You are right they did not trade Engvall and then trade for Schenn for him to eat popcorn.

Gost receieved a 3rd at a 5M cap hit

Gustafsson should bring in a 2nd at his 800K cap

EDM makes a lot of sense after trading Barrie

Zweihander
- AdamFrench

is this a diablo 2 reference?

is this a diablo 2 reference?
- TheMussel

Dark Souls, but I'll accept it as well.

They've always had a "full" lineup.

ZAR can be upgraded and so could Kerfoot, or at least be slid down.

9 NHL D...

Would be silly for Dubas to trade Engvall so he can have 9 NHL D and Benn as his 10th defensemen.

But hey people keep saying he is done after each trade so maybe we should just chill out and see what happens ?
- Santo_44

Trading Engvall was about moving his 2.25M ....had to be him or Kerfoot. Lafferty and Acciari replaced him ...2 for the price of 1.

I think they're good with calling up someone on Saturday (Simmonds or Holmberg) and then maybe adding Knies on April 10th.

Now that Bertuzzi is gone, the Leafs need to trade for Domi to play 2nd line LW. Apparently the Hawks are only asking for a future 2nd round pick.

One would assume if they got Domi he would play LW in the top-6 and move O'Reilly to 3rd centre with Jarnkrok/Kerfoot/Laffertytand then you get a defensive line of Kampf/Acciari/Lafferty/ZAR etc.
- AdamFrench

Max-Jt-Willie .....would scare the poop out of me if they were on against the other teams top line(s).

Now that Bertuzzi is gone, the Leafs need to trade for Domi to play 2nd line LW. Apparently the Hawks are only asking for a future 2nd round pick.
- Mr.President

He sucks, hard pass.

Trading Engvall was about moving his 2.25M ....had to be him or Kerfoot. Lafferty and Acciari replaced him ...2 for the price of 1.

I think they're good with calling up someone on Saturday (Simmonds or Holmberg) and then maybe adding Knies on April 10th.
- The Law

I refuse to believe it at this point.

Doesnt make sense to lose Engvall just to add another 9 when they already had 8 and Benn

Stupid move if they do not add another winger

Sure, but its harder to move them as seperate pieces opposed to in the deal for the player you are trying to obtain. Who knows who is on their NTC, and if the other teams even want Kerfoot or Holl
- Archaic

Start from who Dubas wants to bring in and what it will cost. Find players that can be moved to pay for it without hurting the team in other ways. Kerfoot and Holl provide the upper limit of what space can be generated. If he needs them gone, he can make a few more calls. (He likely has some things in his back pocket.)

Yeah but it would force them to do this.

Domi would not fit in the bottom 6 at all.

Doesn't seem like a move Dubas would do...handcuffs them a bit.

Give me Perron...if not just give me Sheary and I will be content. He is basically the giraffe but is actually 5'9" and just doesnt play like it so at least he won't make me angry.

AM/Marner
JT/Willy
ROR/Perron

is pretty beastly, Dubas loves familiarity.
- Santo_44

I was in favour of getting Domi (not enough supporting data - just that feeling that he'd "rise to the occasion" here), but when I saw that Kapanen was waived I went and looked at his underlying numbers - average iCF, above average shots on net, way below average iHDCF, and a very low ixGF - it basically shows a guy who is not shooting from anywhere dangerous, not really getting into dangerous areas, and likely often just giving the puck away from distance - with weak shots. I draw some of those conclusions from being familiar with his game as well.

The problem was that in those lists of guys who played like Kapanen? Domi's name was right there with him in low HDCF and low ixGF. Now he does defer to Kane a lot in his play which would explain some of that, but most of Domi's numbers suggest a perimeter player - which I think is what Dubas wants to avoid right now. We have enough of those. We need more guys who want to make life hard for the opposition D and opposition goalie.

Yeah but it would force them to do this.

Domi would not fit in the bottom 6 at all.

Doesn't seem like a move Dubas would do...handcuffs them a bit.

Give me Perron...if not just give me Sheary and I will be content. He is basically the giraffe but is actually 5'9" and just doesnt play like it so at least he won't make me angry.

AM/Marner
JT/Willy
ROR/Perron

is pretty beastly, Dubas loves familiarity.
- Santo_44

Yes to Perron .....he and RoR are tight and have had success. Perfect match if they prefer to move RoR away from JT.

Now that Bertuzzi is gone, the Leafs need to trade for Domi to play 2nd line LW. Apparently the Hawks are only asking for a future 2nd round pick.
- Mr.President

They actually don’t

Now that Bertuzzi is gone, the Leafs need to trade for Domi to play 2nd line LW. Apparently the Hawks are only asking for a future 2nd round pick.
- Mr.President

pass, just keep bothering Washington until they trade you Tom Wilson.

if you really want to make that playoff toughness statement

Dubas forced Boston into an arms race panic move that will end up disrupting their chemistry from the inside. Playing Jedi mind trick Jenga.

Yes to Perron .....he and RoR are tight and have had success. Perfect match if they prefer to move RoR away from JT.
- The Law

Retention is a MUST though. Not sure where Yzermans head is at but seems like he is looking at this team and knows its not enough right now and is retooling the rebuild a bit...which is smart on his part.

Maybe they are willing to retain so its 3.5M? He is 36 next May.

I refuse to believe it at this point.

Doesnt make sense to lose Engvall just to add another 9 when they already had 8 and Benn

Stupid move if they do not add another winger
- Santo_44

It was about the cap space though. They had to move someone north of 1.2M. They could have dumped Holl (instead of Engvall) but I still think they like him.

I was in favour of getting Domi (not enough supporting data - just that feeling that he'd "rise to the occasion" here), but when I saw that Kapanen was waived I went and looked at his underlying numbers - average iCF, above average shots on net, way below average iHDCF, and a very low ixGF - it basically shows a guy who is not shooting from anywhere dangerous, not really getting into dangerous areas, and likely often just giving the puck away from distance - with weak shots. I draw some of those conclusions from being familiar with his game as well.

The problem was that in those lists of guys who played like Kapanen? Domi's name was right there with him in low HDCF and low ixGF. Now he does defer to Kane a lot in his play which would explain some of that, but most of Domi's numbers suggest a perimeter player - which I think is what Dubas wants to avoid right now. We have enough of those. We need more guys who want to make life hard for the opposition D and opposition goalie.
- Monkeypunk

Yeah I think he is a panic add for some team...there is a chance he scores a couple big goals but Galchenyuk did that for us too but was a negative because how bad he was at everything else.

It was about the cap space though. They had to move someone north of 1.2M. They could have dumped Holl (instead of Engvall) but I still think they like him.
- The Law

Sure they had to get cap space but trading for Schenn didn't make sense right after if they have 9 D plus Benn.

They have a bit of a hole for scoring in the bottom 6 and Knies could fill that but I'd rather him earn the spot.

pass, just keep bothering Washington until they trade you Tom Wilson.

if you really want to make that playoff toughness statement
- senstroll

Wilson and sarod and call it a day.

It was about the cap space though. They had to move someone north of 1.2M. They could have dumped Holl (instead of Engvall) but I still think they like him.
- The Law

But he also brought in two additional defencemen which suggests moving one out

Trading Engvall was about moving his 2.25M ....had to be him or Kerfoot. Lafferty and Acciari replaced him ...2 for the price of 1.

I think they're good with calling up someone on Saturday (Simmonds or Holmberg) and then maybe adding Knies on April 10th.
- The Law

They're at 23 guys right now, and nobody can go down without waivers (except Woll).

They have to deal a defenceman.

Wilson and sarod and call it a day.
- bryant

interesting strategy, didnt know Dubas plays the sarod

Retention is a MUST though. Not sure where Yzermans head is at but seems like he is looking at this team and knows its not enough right now and is retooling the rebuild a bit...which is smart on his part.

Maybe they are willing to retain so its 3.5M? He is 36 next May.
- Santo_44

Oh poop right ....so they've got about 850k in space and Perron has got another year. poop, I don't think it works without Kerfoot being part of the deal. Holl would get you to 2.85 and I don't see Detroit eating that much retention without a big overpay.

Back to my drawing board.

But he also brought in two additional defencemen which suggests moving one out
- Canada Cup

Maybe. I just don't think that they think that Schenn is as good as Holl.

Maybe they simply try to flip Gustafsson for the best pick offered on Friday.

I think it's funny Dubas brings in THREE forwards, one being a top 2 center and people are still saying they will be pissed if he doesn't bring in another winger.