Leafs talk 2

02 Jul 2026 02:22:04
Saw that Porter Martone went to the Flyers Development camp. He was not required at all to go. He wanted to. That is the future Captain of the Flyers right there. Showing Leadership right away in the organization. Cole Beaudoin Utah said had those same kind of qualities in his Combine interviews. He is going to be a good addition to the Rangers in the future and could possibly end up as a captain there someday himself.

Those are the kind of players you want to draft and identify those qualities early. Coaches and players that have been around Ben Danford say the same thing regarding him. That is why I hope they don't trade him away. I really think he could be the new Leader of this team in a few years.

02 Jul 2026 00:17:57
So obviously the Team that totally dominated the Draft and the Free agent and early trade season has been San Jose. But man I'll tell you. Everyone thought the Rangers were done, but they have managed to sneak under the radar. The only roster asset of any note they gave up was Trochek and then they gave up draft picks but they have managed to Draft Smits, trade and sign as Free agents Marcus Petterson, Sean Durzi, Bjorkstand, Veleno, Dorofeyev, and Cole Beaudouin who is going to be a stud.

And managed to get a backup goalie with Korpisalo. Combined with their remaining Roster, they actually have a good looking team.

01 Jul 2026 21:51:17
Long post following as a semi analysis. Curious on others thoughts at the end of it.

So.... I am seeing I am not the only person underwhelmed with out returns today. We now have a Wealth of 3rd (Mostly 4th) liners. Sissons, Blueger are not exactly speed demons, Duhaime can fly, Roslovic in a straight line is fast but he is not exactly agile and won't make anyone lose a jockstrap.

Roslovic can be a 20 maybe 25 goal scorer with the right line, but is a total defensive liability so may need protecting on the right line. Sissons,Blueger and Duhaime between them last year got 19 goals in 193 games.

Nick Paul had a down year as he rebounded from off season Wrist Surgery so we will see how he bounces back and if he can get 40 points again he will be a positive add to the 3rd line. My son in law says when he was in Ottawa you could see he would eventually be a player that could put meaningful points up, but he said "When Nick Paul is on the Ice, everyone knows and they keep their head up. He can hit hard and hits clean and doesn't take bad penalties."

Bobrovsky might have 1 or 1 and a half years left in him, so the Term was good on that. And I think he will be comfortable with Stolarz there, but also we know with his age and Stolarz problems A.A will get probably 20 games in this year and Bob won't be a bad tutor to have. Just wish we could have got him at $5m but that would not have happened.

So out of all of those Paul might be the one hidden gem for us in that Trade for Hildeby and the picks. I don't like that he still has a 16 team no trade list but... his contract is not a huge one if he produces. The others.... well I think most of the signings today will either not be at training camp or could be waived or traded as the season starts. Not one has any movement or trade protection and none have contracts longer than 2 years other than Duhaime at 3 years.

My feeling is that we acquired all these players to have some spare parts tp trade some of them in package deals?

If trading some in packages is not the plan.....then looking at the players and looking at the length of contracts and the fact we are now maxed out on Cap.... are Matthews and Nylander looking and saying "You lied to us.... this team is not serious about contending, time to move me out" Is this the start of a rebuild and are these are just rental players while the rebuild begins?

01 Jul 2026 23:34:50
In my opinion the Leafs got better all round, but was it enough to make the playoffs?

02 Jul 2026 00:06:53
I respect your opinion but I don’t see how stocking up our 4 line to ridiculous extremes makes us stronger all around. To me the only very serviceable skater we got was Nick Paul. Roslovic is very unreliable. Bobby McMann could be streaky and go in spurts. Roslovic has a reputation of literally almost gone missing for months not games.

My point is one thing we have needed since last September and we still have not addressed is a high or soon to be e high calibre centreman.

We kept throwing out Knies name in trades for Werenski when we should have been concentrating on a bigger need and that is is get that Centre so we can have JT move to 3rd line to ease his minutes and to give us a stronger 3rd line. Right now we are a team that has a 1st line and a 2nd line and a 4a and a 4b line we are lacking a true productive 3rd line.

02 Jul 2026 00:15:09
Love your passion 👊

02 Jul 2026 00:56:09
I like that they got role players. Not like previous years where they put Maccelli on the 3rd line. I wanted Anders Lee real bad but they were happy getting these mid players, we didn’t really get much tougher either. McEwen probably won’t see any games with the big club so what’s the point of that? Guys will at least have a role next year.

02 Jul 2026 11:57:03
@clarky The league isn’t about toughness. It’s about building a 4 line team. Carolina just won the cup with literally no fighters; he was in the press box. You need guys that can play physical but also not be a total liability. I think the Leafs did ok here.

02 Jul 2026 14:41:17
I wish we offer sheeted Hayton.

02 Jul 2026 16:19:56
You don't see many offer sheets anymore but Sunny Mehta did it out of spite. Apparently Utah had a trade done with New Jersey for someone or some draft capital and backed out at the last minute. So Mehta decided to offer sheet and screw Utah over. If they don't match he gets Hayton, if Utah does match it hurts their cap but because Hayton would be entering his last year before becoming a UFA they can't trade him during that year after resigning him from an offer sheet match.

So if they match they have him for another year and he can walk at the end of it. It will be interesting to watch what happens.

01 Jul 2026 21:50:29
Woah Chayka has cooked boys.

01 Jul 2026 19:43:41
Chayka is still making it hard for me to like him after the Bobrovsky deal.
He hopefully knows something we don’t!
Got some scoring with Roslovic and two blue-collar PK experts with grit and compete skill sets but limited offence.
Too much money for Sissons especially when you see Mikheyev’s deal with TBL.

01 Jul 2026 20:18:27
Agree. Bob is about to be 38, and had a poor season, not a fan.

Sissons is fine, but too much money for sure.

Roslovic is also fine.

Hildeby trade looks like one that haunts us for years.

01 Jul 2026 15:02:26
Just stop writing KINGmatty!

01 Jul 2026 20:05:19
Dude!!!! You’re miss reading post or mixing up post and making a fool out of yourself 🤐.
Please read again when you sober up 🍺🤪.

Happy Canada my friend 🇨🇦🍺🤪.

01 Jul 2026 00:19:31
Just ran into a guy I haven't seen in a couple of years that lives in Owen Sound. We got talking hockey (Of course lol). He said one prospect we have that flys uner the radar is Harry Nansi. He has watched him for the last 3 years in Owen Sound. He said when he first got there he was like 6' and 160 lbs and now he is 6' 3" almost 190. His development this year he said was insane.

He was dominant on his shifts. I didn't realie until he told me that Nansi was drafted 5th last year but he was pretty much the youngest player drafted. If he had been born 5 dsys later he would not have even been in last years draft, he would be in this years. Just nice to know again that we may have a hidden nugget in the system.

01 Jul 2026 00:08:39
Nice Suffering. He has looked good the times I seen him, plays more mature then his age. Problem with Toronto at least up until now, the players on the brink never really get a fair shake.

01 Jul 2026 20:37:31
I love feel good stories. Hope the kid pans out 🤞.

30 Jun 2026 00:57:34
We badly need to pick 2-3 wingers out of this group of UFA’s:
Marchment, Lee, Benn, Greer, E. Kane, Viel, Lomberg, Malott, Beecher, Douglas, Duhaime before get bullied all season. Pick up Oleksiak, Stanley or Lauzon to round out the D. Doesn’t sound like Marchment wants to play here, and Greer just had his rights traded to the Ducks, so Anders Lee is my first pick because he can play up and down the lineup.

I like Malott, Viel, Lomberg, Duhaime to fill out a couple spots on the 4th line.

30 Jun 2026 08:13:56
I don’t think the Leafs “badly” need to grab one of these guys, but I understand what you’re eluding to. I would say Marchment is a top target, and if they move one of Lorentz/Joshua they could target one of the fourth liners.

But I’ve circled Marchment, Jenner, Benn and possibly Laughton as my targets. The issue is they all shoot left, so chances are they may have to play off wing side. Also, no one knows what is to come of Domi.

30 Jun 2026 11:04:48
Like Beecher, Paul Cotter and Philipp Kurashev were both non-qualified by NJD and SJS.

Cotter is a big winger who has great wheels and plays a hard game while Kurashev is a very speedy C why hasn’t yet put it together but might.

I could have interest in them as well.

But I’m still hoping for a big fish or two! Mantha and Andersson or Ferraro.

29 Jun 2026 21:06:29
For the record, and I do know others disagree, I’m not a fan of resigning Troy Stecher.

He’s a 32yo 5.10 184 RD who is playing on his 8th team!

He’s played on 8 teams for a reason, teams used him as fill-ins and then sought better adds to their blueline.

I’m sure there are several better ways to spend $1.35m.

It possibly takes a D spot from William Villeneuve.

It makes signing Emil Andrae at 5.9 194 redundant!

Adding $1.35 to Reilly’s $7.5 probably gets you Rasmus Andersson but for sure Mario Ferraro.

Heck it gets you a younger and much larger Nick Desimone who skates as well and handles the puck equally well. It would pay for half of Andrew Peeke’s next contract.

Said my piece and I know others liked his play for the Leafs last year.

But let’s not forget our team missed the playoffs.

29 Jun 2026 22:25:56
Randy, they signed him as insurance depending on what other trades they may do and who they may throw in on those trades as pieces. On the other hand, he is not trade protected or movement protected so he can be sent to the minors if he clears waivers. So it is a minor amount of money to worry about if he is sent down.

Only $200,000 of that would be on the salary cap books. He is not an ideal player but he is serviceable if there were injuries and they needed him, and if he was on the minors he would be a good team leader.

29 Jun 2026 22:51:04
He might be considered insurance, and yes it’s a small amount, but it definitely complicates giving Villeneuve his chance and signing Andrae, who I have interest in seeing.

I may be wrong, but I don’t see other teams having an interest in Stecher, so why not just put him on a 1-year deal at league minimum.



I want to like Chayka, but he’s making it difficult for me with this deal, especially if he doesn’t sign Andrae.

Bringing Stecher back isn’t consistent with his goal to overhaul the D corps.

29 Jun 2026 23:20:47
Because under the collective bargaining agreement you can't do a RFA. At qualifying offer to a player to sign him for less than he is already making. At no point does this contract affect Villeneuve or Andrae or Danford or Chadwicks chances. Money of this level won't make a difference in training camp and exhibition games.

They all have as good a shot as the next at being on bottom 6 and being the 7th man on the roster. You have to remember we still need to ice a team for the Marlies and a lot of that team who were not real prospects will be moving on.

30 Jun 2026 08:18:34
Stretcher won’t be an everyday player. I think there’s more going out still, plus I’d rather have Stetcher as my 6/7 over Myers. The Marlies players will have to prove their game can translate to the NHL. Truthfully, I think Danford makes the jump before Villenuve does.

30 Jun 2026 10:54:24
I for one think Villeneuve is overrated on here. Guy is scared, see how fast he throws the puck away when he has pressure on him. That’s the A, imagine how nervous/scared he would be playing Tb, MTL or Fla. No thanks on Villeneuve. He would be my last option to call up.

30 Jun 2026 11:11:22
Okay, then let’s add Villeneuve to our trade list while he has value.
He had a great playoff!

29 Jun 2026 19:41:44
With the history with the coach, do you think 1 year of Doughty at full cost could be something Toronto looks at? Not sure Doughty would waive to come to Toronto but if there was a chance would you take a chance on it?

My 2 ideal candidates for this team at this point would be Doughty and Hayton. Then hopefully resign McMann in free agency.

A D pairings of

Oel Doughty
McCabe Raddysh
Reilly Tanev

Sounds insane.

Bit older but that is a deap blue line. And we have lots of marlies to fill in for injuries.

Not sure what cost for these 2 would be. I thought Hayton wouldn't be very much until I saw what McTavish went for.

Doughty I think eating all 11 million makes it quite a bit cheaper.

30 Jun 2026 10:59:38
I’m so mad we lost McMann for a 2nd. That’s the type of player we need. Boston Pizza is over here trading him just to say he did something but he just didn’t have a clue.

He is resigned in Seattle for 5.5M for 6 years. Gone for good. One of the few who developed in our minors system and came out to a solid role player.

28 Jun 2026 06:54:22
I don’t see any trades between now and July 1

So free agency

Jenner 3 years 4 million per
Mikheyev 3 years 4 million per
Ferraro 3 years 4 million per

Saves some cap space for the trade deadline

Those are my thoughts
My thoughts only

But Now I changed my handle from Doug93 to Luke Fox so champishere knows who I truly am!!

28 Jun 2026 12:44:37
I don’t mind any of the signings but I think you’re low on each by $1m.

28 Jun 2026 20:35:21
I agree with Randy. Although I think Ferraro being only 28 might get $5.5 and possibly pushing 6 with a longer term.

28 Jun 2026 21:57:58
I think the Leafs should target Ryan Shea in FA... $4.1M/4yrs.
He's a late bloomer, but did very well this past season.

28 Jun 2026 23:07:18
I also like Shea but would rather pay the xtra Suffering is saying on Ferraro.

More of a sure thing in my mind.

If I could entice Shea at $3.5 I would jump at it.

29 Jun 2026 00:12:33
How come nobody wants to get a tough guy or even willing to drop the mitts for the team? The pick ups are fine but our division is nasty. Who do we have to answer to that? Someone cheap shots one of our stars, who is stepping in?

29 Jun 2026 00:23:41
@RandySears
It looks like Chayka us targeting defencemen who can handle and distribute the puck much faster and more efficiently. Ferraro, although better than Csrlo, is not really a puck moving defenceman. Shea can distribute the puck better and will cost less on his AAV.

@Clarky17
I'm definitely not opposed to getting a tougher Dman, but I really don’t see anyone worth while in FA. Stanley is a no go for me.
Maybe Chayka can trade for someone who is physical and can handle & distribute the puck efficiently.
Personally, I would may a play on Ristolainen. I do like him, but realize many don't. I think he's competent enough to handle and distribute the puck and also plays physical. Hopefully the Carlo trade lowered Risto's trade value.

29 Jun 2026 11:41:30
Tags
You’re right that Ferraro’s skill set is different than Shea’s and that he will be more expensive than Shea.

My concern is that Shea, who I do like, has had only one decent season and I’m finding $4.1 is a bit high.

But I wouldn’t fall on my sword if he’s signed.

I would also have interest in Ritsolainen who seems to have become more dependable, has some offence and lots of physicality.

29 Jun 2026 14:00:43
RandySears
I understand your concerns, it would be a bit of a gamble for sure and especially since Chayka has already invested in Andrae who is pretty much in the same boat.
Hopefully Leafs do make a play for Werenski or Harley, if these rumours are true.