Leafs Talk

17 Jul 2026 22:04:16
Ok, so guys help me out here if you buy out a player their contract becomes null and void including NTC, right? I’m just asking as it’s a slow week lol but here’s my thing: if we wanted Ferraro and or Bunting, if we kept those players in limbo and lost one of them to Winnipeg, yes I botched the spelling. Why didn’t we buy out Reilly? I really love Bunting but I don’t see room for him honestly but the latter went to Winnipeg and I don’t get how the Leafs didn’t say hey man we have your contract ready give us time to move Reilly and if we can’t a weak before camp we will buy him out and you can sign.

17 Jul 2026 22:41:37
The problem is his cap hit doesn't 100 percent disappear. 1/3 of it does and the other 2/3 gets spread out over twice the years of the remaining 4 years (8 years). So the next 4 years we would lose $2 of our cap paying him and then the following 4 years $4 millions.



We still are allowed to go over our $104 million cap by 10% but it has to be down to $104 by season opening day. So yes we could still sign someone and have 77 days to work with if we did sign another player.

Did that help?

17 Jul 2026 22:51:56
Actually the buyout for him would be $3.5 million on dead cap for first 4 years and then $2 for 4 years. As per Puckpedia

17 Jul 2026 23:28:45
Yes, just check Puckpedia. Click on Rielly and the buyout options are at the top.

When you buy a player out, some AAV remains on the team's record for double the remaining term. Rielly has 4 years' term remaining, so if Leafs buy him out, they will be paying some sort of penalty for 8 years.

Buyout amounts are different depending on a player's age, plus how the contract was set up. Rielly's contract was front loaded with the signing bonuses he received, so the buyout is higher.

Frank Vatrano's contract is back loaded, so the buyout will save Anaheim much more AAV.

As Suffering already said
Rielly $7.5M AAV (actually getting paid $6M actual dollars)
$3.5M against the cap (just over half savings)

Vatrano $4.571M AAV (actually getting paid $6M actual dollars).
$571 against the cap (almost 90% savings).

Sorry if it sounds confusing, I'm not the best at explaining things on paper 😆😂🤣.

17 Jul 2026 23:55:25
@Tags97 KingMatty would have been confused on this yesterday after his soccer outing the day before lol. Hope a little hair of the dog helped later in the day King.

18 Jul 2026 00:59:12
I’m back boys and thanks for the love 👊.

In my opinion, buyouts should only be used on the last year of a contract.

As a Leaf fan, buying out Rielly is not an option.

When it comes to Rielly I’m struggling?

1) Part of me wants him to stay and he has the best year of his career, plays 1000 games and Leaf Nation goes wild.



2) The other part of me says take anything you can get and run.

At the end of the day it’s Rielly’s decision and I’ve got his back.

🤷‍♂️

18 Jul 2026 01:29:07
Rielly is a Class individual and I wish him the best whether he plays with the Leafs or elsewhere.

Anyways, I agree KINGmatty, buyouts mostly with one year left. Although in Vatrano's case, I would have done it with 2 years left (unfortunately Verbeek didn't prepare himself for a potential OS, at least not one for $18M ridiculous)
Philly really screwed Anaheim.

Let's see what happens with Gauthier.

18 Jul 2026 01:38:03
Hockey is upside down right now. I’d hate to be a GM and reporting to the owner.

18 Jul 2026 01:41:04
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again...

I would have never matched that offer sheet... Never!

18 Jul 2026 14:00:20
You would have never matched the offer sheet King because there would not be enough money to do the $18M after you went through $8M of it on the Soccer Binge lol.

15 Jul 2026 18:12:25
So as look towards the upcoming season and look back at the final wildcard standings from last season. Which teams that make it in the East do you see falling out of the Playoffs and which teams replacing them and with the roster we have at the moment do you see us being one of those teams replacing anyone?

15 Jul 2026 17:55:17
Bruins don't end up at 100pts again and miss the playoffs.

Buffalo ends the season in a wild card spot. I think they take a step back without Tuch and Byram.

Eklund (who I really like) is better than Brady was and the Sens do better with a top 3 finish.

Playoffs in order;

Tampa
Leafs
Sens
Habs
Panthers
Sabres
Bruins
Red Wings

Wings are a dumpster fire and it gets no better.



Bruins will need a total rebuild soon. They are another middling team that doesn't have much.

No change in the Metro. That division is a mess. Free ride for Canes.

I know everyone is crowning the Cats as cup champions because they picked up Brady, but Markstrom is not a good goalie in my estimation. That was the worst move that organization has made in awhile.

15 Jul 2026 19:39:10
Don't rule out those Bruins. They are sneaky in how they keep filling holes. They could actually have a couple rookie of the year candidates on their roster this year with James Hagens and Will Zellers.

15 Jul 2026 20:31:54
@Suffering What's your list?

You didn't give your prediction.

15 Jul 2026 21:06:37
😂 @Eklund Better than Brady Tkachuk?
My list:

Habs
TB
Bruins
FLA - wild card but wins the Cup again.

Out of playoffs:
Leafs
Sabres
Sens
Red Wings

15 Jul 2026 21:20:35
I think Pittsburgh and the Flyers are out (Flyers are good but are still missing that Centreman). Get passed by Washingto and the Panthers. The Panthers no because of Brady but because of just getting the injuries behind them and full compliment. I agree with the Senators actually maybe having a better team now. They are loaded on left wing and might have one of the best group of young defensemen in the league. Boston I think hangs in there because they kind of have that Carolina makeup. They just keep throwing players over the boards that you really don't want to play against. line after line.

Just balanced. I think though the team that makes the most improvement will be Washington. That is one very deep and big team. I think Bob might steal us a extra 10-12 points this year but I just don't see us making up enough points with the lineup we have to springboard back up and make us a 100 point team. Which is basically what we need to hit wildcard. We shall see. Sadly if we miss again then the massive rebuild we probably start next year. Its all subjective right? Any of these teams could run into massive injuries like Florida. We could be in a world of hurt if we only have one major injury.

15 Jul 2026 21:26:09
Clarky... Even Ottawa fans are looking forward to a team without Chucky. His act had worn thin. In and out of the dressing room.

15 Jul 2026 23:33:31
Love this!!!!!

• Carolina
• Tampa
• Washington
• Florida
• Montreal
• Ottawa
• Buffalo
• Toronto

15 Jul 2026 23:56:59
KINGmatty
You can't have 6 teams from the Atlantic, 5 teams max from either division.

Tampa
Toronto
Montreal
Florida
Buffalo
Ottawa
Boston
Detroit

Toronto vs Montreal Round 1.

16 Jul 2026 00:06:16
Carolina
Washington
New Jersey
Pittsburgh
NYI
Philadelphia
Columbus
NYR

16 Jul 2026 01:06:06
@Suffering, you can say what you want about fans/teammates not liking him but the reality is, he was the heart of that team, he tried to drag people in the fight with him, but most of that Sens team didn’t want that side of the game. Actually a lot like the Leafs.

Didn’t know we were doing the whole eastern conference:
Washington
Carolina
NYI
Jersey
NYR
Pitts
Columbus
Philly
For the other side of the East.

16 Jul 2026 02:03:11
Liking thr lists from everyone. See a few I didn't expect.

@Clarky I have been the biggest Brady Tkathcuk fan since he entered the league. I advocated for a trade to get him to Toronto for years.

After the crap he pulled in Ott, good riddance.

They should be happy he's gone. They got Eklund and a bunch of draft capital which will be good picks.

Ott was a fantastic team that lacked goaltending. They still just neeed the same.

16 Jul 2026 09:07:14
Atlantic
Florida
Tampa
Montreal

Metro
Caps
Hurricanes
Blue Jackets

Wildcard
Leafs
Buffalo

Two teams I don’t fully believe in are Buffalo and Montreal they are young teams that haven’t won consistently yet, the Leafs will benefit from the weak Metro and also from some of the Atlantic teams having lost big pieces… Side note I really like what the Capitals have built I think they are President's Trophy winners.

16 Jul 2026 09:55:21
@Tags97

🤣😂🤣😂

I had waaaay to much to drink last night.

🍺🤪

Went to the bar for the soccer game. I do remember go’n out, pretty cloudy after that 🤣😂.

New sober list:

• Tampa
• Florida
• Montreal
• Ottawa
• Toronto

• Washington
• Carolina
• Pittsburg.

16 Jul 2026 11:22:29
Hope your team won KINGmatty 🍻.

16 Jul 2026 12:14:37
@Tags97

Honestly, not a soccer guy like my buddies are (but try’n). I’m very patriotic so having Canada in and hold their own was good enough for me.

And thanks, buddy 👊

🍺🤕🔨 (hurting today) 😂🤣.

16 Jul 2026 13:00:39
@KINGmatty

I've had more than my share of these hangover days 😫 🤕
Hope you feel better soon!

I'm not much of a soccer guy either, but I do enjoy watching the World Cup and am a proud Canadian as well.

Hats off to the Canada 🇨🇦 🇨🇦🇨🇦

Cheers, but no drinking for you today 😆 😂🤣

16 Jul 2026 14:05:30
@goat2.0 I totally agree about the Washington Capitals.

Those 4 lines are just sick!

Tuch Strome Kyrou
Protas (The Older) Dubois Wilson
Ovechkin Jenner Leonard
Protas (The Younger) Sourdif Beauvillier

And Andrew Crisall is still not even factored in on those lines.



The Defence is very balanced.

Thompson in Net.

That is a team that is capable of swapping lines one and two and lines three and four at any point and time.

12 Jul 2026 02:34:04
Well I had a interesting dinner with my Buddy his kid and his agent who I have also become pretty good friends with. Sorry, no juicy gossip to share. All quiet on the western front, so to speak. But what came up was Salaries. He was saying how everyone is freaking out at the money top players are earning etc. He pointed out something I had never thought about that much to be honest. He pulled it up on his phone and said in 2003, if you took the Bottom level of the top 50 Salaries, which was $5,000,000 and converted to 2026 currently it would convert to being worth $9,000,000 give or take a few dollars.

This year the top 50 Salaries bottome level is $8,625,000. Top Salary 2003 was Forsberg and Jagr at $11,000,000, which coverts to $20,000,000 in 2026. So everything is not that far off. Kind of put a little different perspective in a way on things and I have to admit I left dinner feeling more educated.

12 Jul 2026 12:14:11
It is interesting to do that exercise; it puts a new perspective on today’s salaries.

It’s even more revealing when you consider Forsberg’s $11m was almost 30% of the $39m cap in back 2005/6 compared to Carlsson’s 18% today!

12 Jul 2026 13:13:25
The salaries jumping so high and so fast definitely caught me off guard but you do have a valid point. 👊

12 Jul 2026 14:42:39
Wasn't my point, I just passed it on from someone much more educated in the game and it's finances as it relates to players than I am.

12 Jul 2026 15:49:52
It is interesting, but I see one major flaw in looking at 2003 and someone saying look how it compares. The salary cap didn't exist. Top spending teams in 03 were spending more than what the cap was in 18/19 under the salary cap. It took 15/16 years to get to what the Wings were spending prior to the salary cap ($78M). Yet there were teams only spending $22M back in 03 and weren't competitive.
What would be a more interesting comparison to me is - what is the values compared to the first year of the salary cap (05/06), since currently we are in a salary cap era? Because if the bottom level of the top 50 then was say $3.8M with the 24% rollback (I believe that was the 50th highest salary) and that equates to say $6.5-7M in 2026, then the players have benefitted greatly with much larger salaries.

In 05/06, all existing players' salaries took the 24% rollback to get teams under the $39M cap. I think you have to include the rollback as no new contract could be worth more than about $7.8M with the cap at $39M. So $7.8M would be top salary in the League and as you have shown, that equates to a lot less than $20M (about $13.5M) in 2026.

12 Jul 2026 16:51:09
You are correct for sure on that. He only used the 2003 numbers as reference because that was the year he started as an agent.

He also said that as much as Danny Briere fired that contract at Anaheim to put them in a bit of a bind. It did not come close to the bitterness that in 1998 that Peter Karmanos who owned Carolina caused with Mike Illitch of Detroit with the Fedorov poison pill offer sheet.

I had forgot about that until it was brought up last night. You probably remember it RLF but for those that don't just google it up. They say people thought Illitch was going to have a heart attack he was so furious. He and Karmanos disliked each other to begin with but this one really took it to another level. The NHL during the Wild Wild West days lol.

11 Jul 2026 10:58:21
Other thing is, this isn’t about me being a huge Knies fan. I’m a passionate Leafs fan. I want this team to do well and win in playoffs. If Knies played more like Nylander, I’d be putting him in all my trades too.

I want passion, guys that want to win here. So it’s not about the player, it’s about what he brings and how bad this team needs more of that, not less.

11 Jul 2026 11:10:20
Not sure this ended up here, this was part of the chat on the other side. Weird.

11 Jul 2026 11:57:04
Great debate!!!!!

👍

The sooner you guys realize I’m right and you’re wrong the better (jokes).

😂🤣😂🤣

11 Jul 2026 13:19:17
Truthfully I don't understand the Knies trade debate. He's a unicorn type player, tbh I would like to see the forward group stay intact to start. No team is perfect and I think the Leafs have a nice blend of young and old. The only move I look for now is if they can move Reilly and maybe look for an upgrade ex. Stanley.

11 Jul 2026 13:40:37
🚨🚨 Breaking news 🚨🚨

The Times of India 🇮🇳 (very reliable source 😂🤣😂) is reporting that “Canucks are urged to raid Maple Leafs for the $46.5M winger (Knies) who could change everything”.

Not even making this up, Swear!!!

11 Jul 2026 14:20:16
Yeah I read the article. No information whatsoever about what would offer etc. Most likely generated AI for click bait.

11 Jul 2026 14:29:13
Ya, I just posted it for comic relief.

😂🤣😂

11 Jul 2026 15:16:20
I will give the Times of India props though. They are the 2nd largest selling English newspaper in the world. Sadly. What used to be our Bible when younger was The Hockey News and was a reliable source when Bob McKenzie was in charge.

Now it’s a shadow of its former self and no more informative than The Times of India. I've said it before that some people on here actually have better sources.

10 Jul 2026 01:11:14
Honestly, this roster is starting to grow on me. But the big disappointment for me (not Chayka's fault) is trading McMann for a 2nd. Can you imagine a 3rd line next year of McMann, Paul Sissons? Then we wouldn’t have picked up Roslovic (bad pick up IMO) and we move off Lorentz and cap is good. I’m kind of looking forward to seeing MacEwen play too. He didn’t play much last year at all but if he is healthy he can create some energy with some big hits and even though not a great fighter, he will take on anyone.

He was a sniper in the O so he has decent hands but I don’t think he ever really gets much ice time anywhere he plays.
At the start of this summer I was all for moving Reilly, but maybe with a lot of pressure taken off him with Raddysh here, he becomes that 60 point Reilly again at least get some confidence back. Tanev being healthy is gonna be the make or break for the back end, guy has no fear but hopefully in a couple years Danford can fill that void. Looking forward to the start of the season.

10 Jul 2026 04:01:11
I imagine McMann's regression is fairly severe in the coming years.

I really liked the player, but he is not a 30g scorer and that's what Utah paid him to be.

Let them have him at that price as a 30yo.

The one that got away will always be Marchment for Malgin.

I don't remember a single Leafs fan that though Dubas made a good decision with that trade. That was as asinine a move as I have ever seen a GM make.

Would loved to have signed Marchment this off season.

10 Jul 2026 19:47:50
I thought Bobby re-signed with Seattle?

12 Jul 2026 21:50:48
5.5M is what a 30 goal scorer gets? Maybe a few seasons ago. I’d take Bobby at 5.5M all day.

02 Jul 2026 03:34:41
I feel ill!
Could it possibly be have been any worse?
What a waste of $20 million in cap space.

02 Jul 2026 11:51:52
@wb49 Pretty early to be down on a roster that hasn’t taken the ice. Did they overpay a few guys? Sure, but with such a weak free agency class that’s was always gonna happen. I guess we wait and see because this roster is clearly not finalized.

02 Jul 2026 16:15:01
@waterbuffalo49 You and I are in the minority on the site on grading it, I think. Maybe I am wrong on things. I just see everyone slotting Roslovic right onto the 1st line. I think if people look deep they will see his whole career he has played 3rd line minutes.

That is pretty much who he is; he is joining his 6th team since the start of the 2019 season. That should speak a bit. Who knows, maybe he will have a 40 goal season and then get a crazy extension contract and then fade away again.

02 Jul 2026 17:21:39
@Suffering No, I didn't like most moves.

Nic Paul is probably the highlight for me, but Hildebeast being traded really sucks. You goalie that was stellar with a horrible team in front of him so we can have Bob at 38yo for 7.

Roslovic has been talked about a lot since last year.

He reminds me of Nylander with less talent. He literally just gives up trying whenever he doesn't feel like it and it could be 4 months at times.

Other than Raddysh, I don't see anything coming in that is better than went out by a large margin.

02 Jul 2026 20:58:36
Not to mention his trades were awful. Woll trade was a joke. Robertson for a 4th? Why didn’t we just keep him?

03 Jul 2026 18:20:26
It looks a bit better than what it was, I guess, but a lot of that has to do with Cowan going into his 2nd year, drafting McKenna and getting Raddysh. I'm not a Roslovic fan. They basically decided to keep Stecher over Benoit. No real improvement there. Andrae is supposed to be a great puck mover and help offence, but his AHL game has not translated to the NHL. Not yet anyway. If Tanev is out all season again, is the D really any better? As a whole group, forwards, D, even goalies were pretty awful last year for big stretches. Start of last year, Leafs had McMann, Laughton and Roy.

Now it's Paul, Blueger and Roslovic. Duhaime adds some needed physicality and toughness, but none of this matters unless most guys have better years and the guys that have come have better seasons than the guys who left had last season. Which for some on last year's team, shouldn't be hard.
It reminds me of a couple years ago when Tre brought in Tanev, Lorentz, Patches, Hakanpaa, OEL, Dewar and Knies and Minten were the new young guys expected to take a bigger leap. It was all how a lot of holes were filled etc. Marner may be gone, but it's still the same other core 4. We'll see.

04 Jul 2026 15:55:27
Point shot on PP instead of 35 mph wrist shot.
Solid Dman and point producer.
👍

Added grit and PK for the bottom 6.
👍

Added solid goalie. 👍

More mobile defenders. 👍

Roslovic with Paul and Cowan is a solid 3rd Line. 👍

Such negativity.


What did you want?
Keep all that 🗑️ from last year?
Do nothing?
Or why didn’t we get McDavid in a trade?

Refreshing there is an obvious plan and it’s being executed.

Never saw an ounce of this from that deadbeat Treliving.

04 Jul 2026 18:29:48
It's all subjective LukeFox, but it really isn't that much different than what Treliving did 2 years ago imo. And they had Marner still. Gotta questions some of your 👍🏻
Solid goalie? He's 38 and coming off a down year. And he gave him 3 years at $7M. If he can't find his form, that will be a brutal contract as it is an over 35 contract.
You got Roslovic and Paul on the 3rd line, so who is the other 1st or 2nd line RW then? Nylander is one obviously, but no top 6 winger is a pretty big hole.
He got lucky by getting the number 1 pick and got to draft the other top 6 left winger. Otherwise, Leafs would still have two top 6 winger spots to fill.


Raddysh was a good move.
Andrae to date is a 3rd pair D and doesn't drive much offence.
Rielly is still here which is a cap issue atm.
Leafs are in cap trouble if they can't trade Rielly. Even with Domi's LTIR, if McKenna reaches all bonuses, they will be over the cap end of season. If Domi can play, they are massively over the cap as is. If he does move Rielly, which he needs to, Leafs 3rd pair is Stecher and Andrae. Pretty small 3rd pair.
$4.25M for what looks like the 4th line C (Scissons)

It's an ok off-season so far. Hardly a homerun.

04 Jul 2026 22:17:41
Get a grip.
Let’s keep all we had and run it back as in backwards.
Of course Rielly is going, I don’t think I needed to mention that.
It’s only July.
You all think puck drop is tomorrow night.
Seriously. 🙄

05 Jul 2026 16:12:54
I have a grip on reality. You?