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[Speculation] Cox: Becoming difficult to imagine a scenario in which Kessel remains a Leaf.


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If I'm Nonis, I see 2 options. I either get my team a goalie now, and compete now, so hopefully Kessel will re-sign.

Or, I trade both Kessel and Phaneuf, and tank this short season. There are three reasons this can pay off:

1) High picks this year in a DEEP draft, shot at MacKinnon or Jones, plus...

2) Bevy of decent young players and picks in return for Kessel and Phaneuf, plus...

3) Lots of cap room with a ton of UFA's and less league-wide cap room to sign them (s/b some bargains)

In this way, Nonis can accomplish more for the long-term good of the franchise in 6 months than Burke did in his whole term.

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Wow Toronto is a mess. Where are all you Burke butt buddies now? The organization which he has constructed the last 4 years has accomplished nothing and is looking at losing the All-star they paid their future for.

So Kessel, after receiving criticism for not scoring 5 games in is now looking like he could be dealt ... the guy they paid Seguin and Hamilton for. If he's not dealt he might not re-sign next year, meaning they get nothing for him. Right now 2/3 of their highest paid forwards are Lupul and Grabovski, both making over 5.2m. Even if they attempt a rebuild I can't see either of these contracts being moved for that kind of cap hit.

So the best they could do is possibly deal Kessel for a lesser return than what they paid for him, then wait out the contracts of Grabovski and Lupul to expire, giving them cap space to sign some FAs which almost always fail in the Toronto market (think Blake, Connolly), and once all that is done THEN they can start tanking for a rebuild. I love the mess that is the Toronto organization, as it blatantly shows you cannot run a business with loud mouth truculence.

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If I'm Nonis, I see 2 options. I either get my team a goalie now, and compete now, so hopefully Kessel will re-sign.

Or, I trade both Kessel and Phaneuf, and tank this short season. There are three reasons this can pay off:

1) High picks this year in a DEEP draft, shot at MacKinnon or Jones, plus...

2) Bevy of decent young players and picks in return for Kessel and Phaneuf, plus...

3) Lots of cap room with a ton of UFA's and less league-wide cap room to sign them (s/b some bargains)

In this way, Nonis can accomplish more for the long-term good of the franchise in 6 months than Burke did in his whole term.

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If Nonis clears enough cap room, he'll be one of the only GMs in the league with enough cap room (and budget) to sign both Getzlaf and Perry at full market value. Most teams will have trouble getting under the falling cap. And a lot of small market teams will be taking advantage of the lower cap floor. So this may be one of the only years where free agent supply exceeds demand.

Toronto has 16 million of cap room now. Clearing Kessel and Phaneuf's contracts gives them room to do pretty much whatever they want. This will definetly be a unique opportunity, should they take advantage of it.

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The draft isn't the same. If you tank the season there is no guaranteed lottery pick anymore. In other words, what the Oilers did won't likely ever happen again.

Like Detroit GM Holland said 'if you make the playoffs, you have a chance'. The Leafs are not far off competing for a bottom spot. IMO a Lu trade would push them in.

Lu, Raymond, Sauve, Ebbett, 2nd

For

Kessel, Bozak

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If I'm Nonis, I see 2 options. I either get my team a goalie now, and compete now, so hopefully Kessel will re-sign.

Or, I trade both Kessel and Phaneuf, and tank this short season. There are three reasons this can pay off:

1) High picks this year in a DEEP draft, shot at MacKinnon or Jones, plus...

2) Bevy of decent young players and picks in return for Kessel and Phaneuf, plus...

3) Lots of cap room with a ton of UFA's and less league-wide cap room to sign them (s/b some bargains)

In this way, Nonis can accomplish more for the long-term good of the franchise in 6 months than Burke did in his whole term.

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Think about what you're suggesting. Toronto wants to go for the playoffs, acquires Luongo, and...trades away their franchise scorer and their top 2-way center?

How does that improve their team overall? How is that anything but a sideways move, at best? All it does is make them an older and more boring non-playoff team.

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If Nonis clears enough cap room, he'll be one of the only GMs in the league with enough cap room (and budget) to sign both Getzlaf and Perry at full market value. Most teams will have trouble getting under the falling cap. And a lot of small market teams will be taking advantage of the lower cap floor. So this may be one of the only years where free agent supply exceeds demand.

Toronto has 16 million of cap room now. Clearing Kessel and Phaneuf's contracts gives them room to do pretty much whatever they want. This will definetly be a unique opportunity, should they take advantage of it.

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Avs already gave up their first last year. Hard to believe they would do so again in a much deeper draft. Also Phaneuf's contract would mess up their salary structure significantly more than what O'Reilly is asking for. While Phaneuf would finally give them a legit top pairing guy to play with Johnson he is overpaid and if they seem to be refusing to give O'Reilly between 3 and 4 why on earth would they be alright paying 6.5 for Phaneuf? In the end a top 6 center who will likely become a selke candidate for years to come and a first in a very deep draft is a huge overpayment for Phaneuf who will most likely walk when his contract ends next year.

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I definitely thought of that. The only problem I see is Stastny is only something like 8 or 9 months younger than Phaneuf. Can't see Toronto giving up Phaneuf unless they're going to do an all out rebuild and in that case I'm inclined to think they'll want someone younger unless they're getting a first or blue chipper to go with him. I think Colorado will have a really hard time parting with that first especially after last years turned into Forsberg. Now if Toronto is interested in Siemens and Colorado is willing to give him up there might be something there.

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I'd look at it as partly a strength-for-strength trade. Colorado has 3 very good centers, to the point where they can't afford to pay them all. At the same time, their D ain't getting it done. Whereas Toronto has needed a top center since Sundin bailed. Liles and Gunnarsson can hold the fort for this "tanking year", and going forward the D will be built around Gardiner and Reilly.

Also, if you want to change the culture in TO, trading the captain is a good place to start. And when your captain's personality is as questionable as Phaneuf, then you may have some addition by subtraction there. (I have nothing against Phaneuf personally, he's just the last guy I would put the C on.)

Lastly, Colorado would have to offer more than Stastny, so it would depend on the value of the other piece(s).

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O'Reilly wouldn't be the best fit in Toronto unless they don't plan to retain Bozak. From what I understand, O'Reilly is a two-way centre and thus better suited for a second rather than top line role. Both Grabovski and Bozak are two-way centres. The Leafs need an elite point-producer to play on their top line.

If given the chance, I'm sure Nonis will offer the Sun and stars to Getzlaf. If that fails, he may target Roy and Ribeiro.

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