Weekly Takes - Monday, June 16 Edition (Retroactive to June 2)

Weekly Takes - Monday, June 16 Edition (Retroactive to June 2)

1. The Maple Leafs should absolutely be players for Sam Bennett, even if the price tag reaches $10M + a season.

He is a player who is objectively better come playoff time. He would provide a dynamic that is absolutely lacking. 

It is not a great free agent class, while they do not have a lot of assets to ship away in trades.

They cannot simply do nothing and leave themselves cap space for a better class in 2026. You cannot waste a year of Auston Matthews’ prime.

2. The Stars had to fire Peter DeBoer, an excellent head coach who did something bad enough to cost himself his job.

But the main storyline coming out of Dallas should be their defence. How do you build a forward group that is amazing, to pair with an elite goalie, only to completely neglect your defence outside of your top pairing? 

3. With Hockey Canada naming its first six players to their Olympic roster on Monday, here is what my lineup would be…

Forward…

Macklin Celebrini - Connor McDavid - Nathan MacKinnon

Brad Marchand - Sidney Crosby - Sam Reinhart

Sam Bennett - Brayden Point - Mitch Marner

Brandon Hagel - Anthony Cirelli - Mark Stone 

Extras: Nick Suzuki and Mark Scheifele 

Honourable Mentions: Wyatt Johnston, Robert Thomas, Seth Jarvis, Tom Wilson, and Travis Konecny 

Defence…

Devon Toews - Cale Makar 

Thomas Harley - Drew Doughty

Josh Morrissey - Chris Tanev 

Extras: Shea Theodore and Evan Bouchard 

Honourable Mentions: MacKenzie Weegar and Alex Pietrangelo

Goalies…

Jordan Binnington 

Logan Thompson 

Aidin Hill

Honourable Mention: Sam Montembeault 

4. For as good as the Tigers and Yankees are, they are beatable. Thus the Jays – with finally a prospect system talented enough to splurge from – should go out at the trade deadline and make a splash or two to compete for the American League pennant. 

They are a starting pitcher and outfielder away from being as good as anyone in the AL, more so if Vladimir Guerrero Jr. can go from being a good player to a great one.

5. The Red Sox trading of Rafael Devers has the chance to go down as an all-time bad trade.

An in-his-prime Silver Slugger being traded away without any prized prospects coming back in return?

A Red Sox tradition at this point.

Wild, given the trajectory they seemed to be on after signing Alex Bregman in the offseason.

6. The Raptors should absolutely be players for Giannis Antetokounmpo, even if it means trading Scottie Barnes.

Best case next season, without a star addition, is simply making the playoffs. “Playoffs for what?”

Go acquire a star player who can jolt you into championship contention. 

Masai Ujiri needs to deliver one way or another this summer, in an era where there is no super team stopping him from contending for a championship.

7. Aaron Rodgers signing in Pittsburgh is disappointing, because it shows that the team has no idea what they are doing.

On one hand, they are collecting draft picks ahead of the 2026 draft, a draft that is loaded at quarterback.

On the other hand, they are signing an over-the-hill quarterback (who is a bad person) all so they can do what? Compete for a playoff spot?

This was the season to be bad.