Leafs 2014-15 Season Thread

[whysoserious]

Shanny was hired in April but you are right that the extensions were given out prior to his hiring. I wish Shanny had the guts to stand up to ownership right from the beginning though, it's reflection of this organization's simple poor planning.

"Well if you hire me Tim, my first recommendation is to scrap everything you signed off on last year, because you're clearly an idiot. And Rogers, I know you just spent billions on hockey rights, but I'd like to take your biggest ratings earner off the table for a 20% at a local boy."

That's great and all but clearly ratings are down for the leafs, over the past several years they've been moved off Saturday nights more than I can ever recall and aren't even the national game at times for CBC whereas years ago that would never happen.

I get your point and Tim came in and thought this team was ready after that playoff appearance, gave Dave his extension but last years performance before Shanny was hired should have raised enough red flags and that's why they were hiring someone like Shanny to take over. So it's not that much of a stretch for whoever to come in and stand up to the board and Tim and say this team other than one playoff run is deeply flawed and had major collapses so let's start going in a different direction.

And obviously that doesn't guarantee us McDavid, but it at least puts us further on the path to rebuilding than having to have wasted this season to prove to the board this team wasn't good enough - we all saw it wasn't good enough for the last several years.

[ATLTimekeeper]

That's great and all but clearly ratings are down for the leafs, over the past several years they've been moved off Saturday nights more than I can ever recall and aren't even the national game at times for CBC whereas years ago that would never happen.

Down is still 1 million. You're not paying attention if you think that Rogers would be willing to kick off their contract with a Leafs team destined to finish last.

I get your point and Tim came in and thought this team was ready after that playoff appearance, gave Dave his extension but last years performance before Shanny was hired should have raised enough red flags and that's why they were hiring someone like Shanny to take over. So it's not that much of a stretch for whoever to come in and stand up to the board and Tim and say this team other than one playoff run is deeply flawed and had major collapses so let's start going in a different direction.

It's a stretch to believe anyone would be hired that said they had to undo all the damage that Tim had done in one year. You have to get the job first. Shanahan himself had no experience or even a grasp of what the flaws of the team were at the time, and he admitted that publicly. The bigger problem is that ownership sucks and Leweike sucked (for the Leafs).

[OAKLEY_2]

That's great and all but clearly ratings are down for the leafs, over the past several years they've been moved off Saturday nights more than I can ever recall and aren't even the national game at times for CBC whereas years ago that would never happen.

Down is still 1 million. You're not paying attention if you think that Rogers would be willing to kick off their contract with a Leafs team destined to finish last.

I get your point and Tim came in and thought this team was ready after that playoff appearance, gave Dave his extension but last years performance before Shanny was hired should have raised enough red flags and that's why they were hiring someone like Shanny to take over. So it's not that much of a stretch for whoever to come in and stand up to the board and Tim and say this team other than one playoff run is deeply flawed and had major collapses so let's start going in a different direction.

It's a stretch to believe anyone would be hired that said they had to undo all the damage that Tim had done in one year. You have to get the job first. Shanahan himself had no experience or even a grasp of what the flaws of the team were at the time, and he admitted that publicly. The bigger problem is that ownership sucks and Leweike sucked (for the Leafs).

Yes ownership sucks but everyone and their uncle thought Burke was a genius including Big Tim. Just so happens someone on high didn't like Burke's power especially relative to all the Colangelo type moves Burke made to accelerate progress. Burke was a lot closer to being competitive than those in the Leaf joke industry would let on. The really big mistake was framing the shortcomings around goaltending and to some extent the defence when clearly they had next to zero strength down the middle which is a fatal flaw for making the playoffs, fatal flaw for special teams let alone being even a 500 team. Kessel was a good trade but they needed some real talent at centre that they never ever got. Where Shanny comes in with the different set of eyes is assessing the character of the team. Pretty sure that is where he could say "nice try" but this crew does not have the fire in their gut. Hold the parade.

[BramptonYute]

Good return for a guy who you got for free.

I hope Lupul and Bozak are moved before the TDL, but I doubt it.

[bballsparkin]

You think there is any demand for Lupul? Good player but just can't stay healthy. Isn't his cap 5 million for three years? Not sure I'd want him at that price. Also, wondering what a good cap website is for hockey. Similar to shamsports.

[Brew666]

Wow is all I can say. Kudos whoever pulled this off. No salary retained.

Anyone know the deal w/ LTIR? Will any of Horton's salary count against the cap?

Columbus probably didn't like to pay a player who might not ever play again and the Leafs get cap space.

[Brew666]

You think there is any demand for Lupul? Good player but just can't stay healthy. Isn't his cap 5 million for three years? Not sure I'd want him at that price. Also, wondering what a good cap website is for hockey. Similar to shamsports.

Nothing really great for NHL salary since capgeek is no longer but nhlnumbers.com is the best I've been able to find. Doesn't provide any of the details [i.e. no movement clause] but provides cap hit, length of contract, annual salary breakdown, and a few other things.

I think a lot of the Leafs have more value that we give including Lupul. He can't stay healthy but he's a good player when healthy. Plus I'm kinda surprised at the price teams are paying for rentals/players right now.

[Mohanad]

Whoever was the mastermind behind this needs a freaking statue built.



Wow, cap room achieved in the blink of an eye. Horton will never play another NHL game and his cap hit will sit on LTIR!

I would have given someone 100-1 odds that Clarkson's contract would ever have been traded.

MLSE finally came in handy.. unbelievable!

[GYBE]

AHAHAHAHAHAHA

I PLEDGE MY LOYALTY TO SHANAHAN AND DUBAS FOREVER

Holy ****. They just moved the worst contract in the league for PURE CAP SPACE. The Leafs have gone from one of the worst cap situations in the league to probably having a decent amount of space this summer.

Don't question them. They're smart. Rielly, Nylander, this year's draft pick and a healthier cap is a pretty damn good future.

[Mohanad]

Wow is all I can say. Kudos whoever pulled this off. No salary retained.

Anyone know the deal w/ LTIR? Will any of Horton's salary count against the cap?

Columbus probably didn't like to pay a player who might not ever play again and the Leafs get cap space.

We're basically paying Horton 26 million to have his salary not count against the cap. I am actually impressed for Nonis to use Toronto's advantage to their advantage

[BramptonYute]

Not bad Nonis, not bad at all.

Honestly, I really wanted Clarkson to work out here, shame it didnt. Glad we got out of that contract.

[GYBE]

LOL, Nonis is doing nothing. He made terrible moves all the time, now Shanahan comes in and suddenly the team is smart. Dubas and Hunter are running the show, and Nonis is lucky they somehow managed to clean up his mess.

[Mohanad]

I am buying a Nathan Horton jersey

[ATLTimekeeper]

I'm stunned. This is our Stanley Cup.

[BramptonYute]

LOL, Nonis is doing nothing. He made terrible moves all the time, now Shanahan comes in and suddenly the team is smart. Dubas and Hunter are running the show, and Nonis is lucky they somehow managed to clean up his mess.

If Nonis is doing "nothing", then why would they keep him around?

[GYBE]

Because they're going to pay him a lot of money anyways due to Leiweke's stupidity, might as keep him around to teach Dubas/Hunter how to deal with other GM's. They may be too young/inexperienced to handle every aspect of the job, but they're clearly making the big-picture moves as evidenced by the radical shift in decision-making since their arrival.

[OAKLEY_2]

Because they're going to pay him a lot of money anyways due to Leiweke's stupidity, might as keep him around to teach Dubas/Hunter how to deal with other GM's. They may be too young/inexperienced to handle every aspect of the job, but they're clearly making the big-picture moves as evidenced by the radical shift in decision-making since their arrival.

Love him or hate him Nonis is an experience NHL GM. Hunter and Dubas are not. Hunter should be involved with development to make sure we draft and develop well. He should be at Ricoh a lot more than at the ACC.

[whysoserious]

I love how people are suddenly giving Nonis credit. It's a good move but it's still costing MLSE $30 million and getting nothing for it. There's no excuse for that and he should and likely will be gone at the end of the season. The only reason he's around, IMO, is to make the moves Shanny wants without him actually having to make them himself without a GM in place.

[ATLTimekeeper]

I love how people are suddenly giving Nonis credit. It's a good move but it's still costing MLSE $30 million and getting nothing for it. There's no excuse for that and he should and likely will be gone at the end of the season. The only reason he's around, IMO, is to make the moves Shanny wants without him actually having to make them himself without a GM in place.

He deserves none of the credit. Columbus approached Toronto with this deal. Credit goes to the fans that make MLSE scads of money.

[Mohanad]

I love how people are suddenly giving Nonis credit. It's a good move but it's still costing MLSE $30 million and getting nothing for it. There's no excuse for that and he should and likely will be gone at the end of the season. The only reason he's around, IMO, is to make the moves Shanny wants without him actually having to make them himself without a GM in place.

Give whoever you want credit, but the Leafs just got rid of one of the worst contracts in the league from their salary cap.

Toronto’s capologist Brandon Pridham was apparently a significant help in getting this deal done in the sense he knows the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement and the LTIR ramifications better than almost anyone. He will also now be able get the Leafs to maximize their cap space with Horton on the books the next five years, as he has an intimate understanding how Boston and Philadelphia have navigated those waters with other players who have had career-ending injuries (Marc Savard and Chris Pronger).

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/h ... e23226962/

Yeah, but, but, MLSE pays for it... we get the best possible outcome for Clarkson at this point and this is what fans want to bitch about?