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Going into next season currently have 12 players signed for 45M. http://capgeek.com/mapleleafs

Notable and some what notable Free agents that are in discussion for being around in my opinion. But clearly not all.

MacArthur, Clarke L UFA
Kadri, Nazem C RFA
Bozak, Tyler C UFA
Gunnarsson, Carl D RFA
Komarov, Leo C RFA
Franson, Cody D RFA
Colborne, Joe C RFA
Orr, Colton R UFA
McLaren, Frazer L UFA VI
Kostka, Michael D UFA
Fraser, Mark D RFA
Hamilton, Ryan L UFA

Would think Grabo at 5.4m @ 4 years and Komi with another year at 4.5m are buyout option depending on how free with the wallets owner ship wants to be.

Couple of thoughts for now,

-I really don't see the Leafs landing a big time center via trade or signing so if a decent deal can be had for Bozak may as well stick with him and hope Kadri can become a capable top two guy. In fact maybe if Bozak and Kessel are indeed the BFF's they are made out to be maybe work out a small bit of value signing Bozak and extending Kessel this off season. If Bozak is wanting to get paid big time then add the Ribeiro, Roy, and Weiss types to the hunt.

-Need to find another legit top two D-man. Gunner is okay, but not a top pairing guy and while Phaneuf is a decent enough top two guy he is not that guy that on his own can carry a top pairing.

Lupul and Liles should be considered for buyouts before Grabovski. Nonis probably needs to do what he is probably loathe to do, take a page from Gillis's book and get an solid 3rd line center who can take shutdown duties away from Grabo and allow him to be used properly.

I'm guessing Kulemin will be traded before his deal expires. The big question will be what happens to Kessel. It'll be the final year of his deal as well.

Bozak will be seeking--and will likely get--a big raise on the open market. Hope the Leafs aren't stupid enough to bite. Saku Koivu would likely be a cheaper and better option.

Is it too much to think Morgan Rielly might be able to jump straight into the NHL?

Really? I thought the only reason anybody has heard of Bozak is because he plays in the TO market. What is it about him that teams will pay up for?

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Koivu on the Leafs would break my heart.

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I'm guessing his supposed chemistry with Kessel will make him appealing to others. He may not get a raise, but I think he'll get an inflated contract that isn't in line with what he brings. I think Hounsy called him "Matt Stajan 2.0." I'm not sure he's even that good. The Leafs can easily replace him with a trade or signing. Hell, they can move JVR to center or promote Colborne if they absolutely had to. No reason whatsoever to re-sign Bozak, and this is coming from one of his DU fans.

I understand this completely.

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Bíonn macalla ag an bheatha sa tsíoraíocht. Liverpool FC: 2019 and 6-time Champions of Europe. 2020 and 19 time English Premier League Champions YNWA. JFT 97

Bozak is good, but he has inflated numbers playing more ice and with better players than he should be slotted with. But I'd rather go with the chemistry I know works than bring in someone new if the talent increase is not significant.

Forgot about Liles, maybe buyout him and Grabo if you can't give em away. Komi I think only has a year left so maybe ride him out.

This Kadri thing is turning into a Soap Opera with him now calling out Bob Mackenzie via twitter about contract negotiations. Almost needs its own thread.

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Kadri is still immature & frankly, is being quite a pain in the ass. I'm sure he inks a 1 or 2 year deal.

Really hope Franson is in the mix however too. Given what was accomplished last season, I would like to see these guys back.

Wow the TSN radio guys where ripping him bad. I'm not sure I share their degree of outrage that he would deny a tweeted salary demand rumour via a tweet, but I guess in a way he is attacking one of their own. Sadly starting to suspect the kid will sign a bridge and get traded before it is over as he just is to easy a target for the T.O. market and clearly is not the type to ignore what people are saying.

Hope I am wrong... so skilled, you just don't get many guys come through the Leafs with his kind of ceiling.

How does a team that wins 3 playoff games in 7 years, then buys out two contracts worth nearly 10m total for no cap penalty, run into cap problems like this anyways. Best of all, they did it by signing a second line winger, adding a 3rd to 4th line centre, a career backup goalie, and re-signing the second best centre they had left. They made two neccessary re-signs in Lupul and Gunnarson but also let MacArthur go so that's where part of that money came from.

This is absolutely insane. I mean, I get they are still paying $1m to Darcy Tucker and another $1m to Colby Armstrong so their cap is $2m lower than most, but holy crap do they chase a lot of bad money.

Even on nice bridge deals I'm not sure you can squeeze both Kadri and Franson in, and both those guys play a huge role in building your team going forward as two guys who can reasonably be expected to assume more responsibilities.

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Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

You completely put into words everything that I was thinking about this Sask. I don't get it. How could a team like this be so poorly managed that they would be in this situation with two of their building blocks?

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Is Mike Milbury on the advisory board? What a clusterfuck. Sorry Leafs fans. I feel for you.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

They traded good assets for Bernier, then signed him to a two year 2.9 million dollar deal and retained 500,000 in salary. Yet where Kadri is concerned Nonis is saying "based on full body of work" as far as what he offered.

Well shit guys; I don't know ....

I'm going back to my ESPN baseball!

Boy, I think everyone knew that Clarkson's deal was not going to end well but I don't think many envisioned it starting this badly. Holy hell is his stat line awful. His deployment certainly doesn't help at 36% O/D starts. He's got an awful shooting % right now, but a 10% shooting would still only give him 8 or 9 goals on the year which would put him at a 14-15 goal pace.
I really think that 10-game suspension was awful for him.

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

Shhhhhhh...it is all Reimer's fault

Clearly they're both not getting Carlyle's message.

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

Seriously though Clarkson should not be this bad no matter how bad his deal was that is true.

This pretty much sums up why he's been so bad.

http://www.mc79hockey.com/?p=6818

The team as a whole is not as bad as their fancy stats #s would suggest. It clearly looks like they have a coach who's actively working against them. That's not to say they'd be contenders with Babcock or anything, but if there's anyone who should be a "scapegoat," it's him.