Weekly Takes - Monday, May June 22nd Edition
I like the Maple Leafs trade with the Flyers.
Yes, I understand how Joseph Woll is perceived in Toronto, but perception is different from reality. The reality is, he is an injury prone goalie who, even when healthy, never performed consistently enough to be considered a true number one.
The same can be said for Anthony Stolarz, but Woll had more value on the market and between the two of them, Stolarz is better off mentoring Dennis Hildeby next season.
So you may as well trade Woll and collect a third round pick and an intriguing puck-moving defenceman for him.
The other two realities are: The Leafs freed up over five million dollars in salary cap space by making this trade and goalies in general do not go for much.
Tidy business by John Chayka.
I also like the Leafs hiring Jim Hillier as their head coach.
He knows the market, knows the star players on the team, the stars like him, and the Leafs power play was at its best with him running it.
That, combined with strong defensive results while the head coach in LA, makes him an intriguing choice.
Far from a sexy name, but I prefer results over sexiness. Chayka’s “we did not hire to satisfy a narrative” quote was great.
My free agent wish list, in order for the Leafs…
Left Wing…
There is no need
Centre…
Boone Jenner (if the Leafs can not trade for a third line centre)
Scott Laughton (as a 4C)
Right Wing…
Alex Tuch (1RW)
Viktor Arvidsson (2RW)
Eeli Tolvanen (3RW if the Leafs trade Nick Robertson)
Kasperi Kapanen (4RW)
Left Defence…
There is no need (there is for a top pairing LHD, but you are not finding that in free agency)
Right Defence…
Darren Raddysh (1RD) (by far and away my top priority if I am Chayka)
John Carlson (2RD)
Barring trades, not coming away with one of Tuch or Raddysh would be disappointing given the amount of cap space.
I wrote the above point before Chayka pulled the early trigger for Raddysh.
A massive signing. A top pairing (more of a #2 than a #1) right-handed defencemen who owns the best slap shot in the league and can move the puck. He is also everything the power play has lacked in this era.
The term is not great, but who cares? You are trying to win in the Auston Matthews-William Nylander era and this move helps the chances of that greatly.
It is not even draft week yet and the Leafs are going into it with Oliver Ekman-Larsson-Raddysh, Jake McCabe-Brandon Carlo, and Emil Andre-Chris Tanev as their D core.
I would like to get a bit younger by swapping out one of Ekman-Larsson or Carlo. May as well get greedy at this point.
The Senators are a better organization today, now that their loudmouth captain who had one foot out the door since the Olympics is gone.
But they are not a better team. A massive setback for a team that was on the rise. Steve Staios has to replace him with the draft picks used in the Brady Tkachuk trade.
The term “Hall of Very Good” definitely applies after the Hockey Hall of Fame’s most recent announcement.
Keith Tkachuk and Pekka Rinne are Hall of Famers? Really? I always thought of them as very good players.
Comments