Leafs offseason discussion

Post #81 » by **darth_federer** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 3:32 am

Flames offered 64 mil over 9 years. Rangers offered similar money. I really like Richards but 7.5 over 9 years is dicey. Then again MLSE could afford to dump his contract in the minors but its horrible PR because he ll probably still be a useful player but nowhere near worth his money in a few years.

Relentless88 · Post #82 » by **Relentless88** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 5:11 am

Richards will make his decision Saturday morning. He's down to 4 teams (Kings, Flames, Leafs, Rangers).

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6732114

The NHL world will have to wait at least a few more hours to find out where this offseason's most-coveted free agent will land.

Brad Richards is expected to make his decision Saturday, as Calgary, Los Angeles, the New York Rangers and Toronto are the final teams in the running, sources tell ESPN.com's Scott Burnside.

A handful of teams made their pitches to the Richards camp throughout Friday's first day of free agency, including the Flyers and Lightning.

According to the Tampa Tribune, Richards called Lightning GM Steve Yzerman to say he wouldn't return to the team where he won a Stanley Cup in 2004.

Richards, 31, was on his way to a top-five finish in the NHL scoring race this past season before a concussion shelved him in February. He had 28 goals and 49 assists in 72 games with the Dallas Stars.

TR50 · Post #83 » by **TR50** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 3:54 pm

I heard Richards to the Rangers...don't know how credible it is (because it was my cousin who texted me).

Relentless88 · Post #84 » by **Relentless88** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 4:26 pm

He's working out a deal with the Rangers now.

EDIT: Deal is 9 years, 60 million.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=370694

I wonder what plan B is now.

TR50 · Post #85 » by **TR50** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 4:43 pm

Relentless88 wrote:He's working out a deal with the Rangers now.

EDIT: Deal is 9 years, 60 million.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=370694

I wonder what plan B is now.

If it ain't Stamkos....then it better be Yakupov.

DreamTeam09 · Post #86 » by **DreamTeam09** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 5:52 pm

I would much rather stamkos than richards. I'd give stamkos any kind of contracts he wants to come play here. He should be plan A

KingstonRaptors · Post #87 » by **KingstonRaptors** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 6:07 pm

TR50 wrote:
Relentless88 wrote:He's working out a deal with the Rangers now.

EDIT: Deal is 9 years, 60 million.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=370694

I wonder what plan B is now.

If it ain't Stamkos....then it better be Yakupov.

Stamkos should be Plan A.

rarefind · Post #88 » by **rarefind** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 6:35 pm

it makes so much sense for the leafs to just offer a king's ransom for stamkos... just get him, the contract... the picks to tb... just do it.

your not gonna ever have a chance to add a top 3 player of this generation and the next. if tb matches, so be it... you go out swinging here, i simply don't care. if richards can get 9.5, stamkos can get the 12.8.

let's collectively watch burke **** the bed on this one though. he keeps spewing that this team is one player away and doesn't add the player when they are staring them in the face. however, i do believe we dodged a bullet with richards.

Post #89 » by **bryant08** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 6:59 pm

Leafs are working on a deal with Connolly, 2 years, $4.75 per year. Go get Gagne now please and it'll ease the pain for me.

rarefind · Post #90 » by **rarefind** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 7:10 pm

way too much for conolly, not a good move at all.... at least the term isn't too long.

Post #91 » by **bryant08** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 7:13 pm

With what others were getting what did you expect him to settle for? We needed help down the middle and he was the only option capable of playing in the top 6. Yeah I'll agree it's a slight overpayment but he's a great stop-gap while we wait on Colborne/Kadri. If he stays healthy and finds some chemistry with Kessel, great, if he doesn't, well at least he isn't here for 3 more seasons.

Edit: And in all honesty I don't see us signing Gagne or any other wingers for that matter, I think we're pretty set with some variation of this heading into next season unless Burke finds a trade that gets us a a true #1 center:

Lupul - Connolly - Kessel
MacArthur - Grabovski - Kulemin
Kadri/Frattin - Bozak - Armstrong
Rosehill/Orr - ???? - Brown

Phaneuf - Aulie
Schenn - Liles
Gunnarson - Komisarek

Reimer
Gustavsson

I guess a guy we'd be looking at for the 4th line C job would be Zenon Konopka (seen his name thrown around a bit). Plays extremely physical and is great on draws.

rarefind · Post #92 » by **rarefind** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 7:38 pm

tim conolly is not a first line center. better than anything we have sure but i really hope something is in the works. even trading for weiss would have made more sense in my opinion.

Relentless88 · Post #93 » by **Relentless88** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 7:48 pm

Connolly agrees to 2 year, 9.5 million deal with the Leafs.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=370708

rarefind · Post #94 » by **rarefind** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 8:04 pm

kings get gagne at 3.5 per on a 2 year deal, that is a GOOD move.

rarefind · Post #95 » by **rarefind** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 8:06 pm

and i hope you realize what the conolly deal does to macarthur's value. he is probably just as happy as conolly at this point.

Post #96 » by **bryant08** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 8:14 pm

rarefind wrote:and i hope you realize what the conolly deal does to macarthur's value. he is probably just as happy as conolly at this point.

MacArthur's value was already dictated by many of the signings yesterday. Connolly does little to change that.

Relentless88 · Post #97 » by **Relentless88** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 8:17 pm

I don't know what the big deal is. Connolly's deal is in line with all the signings yesterday. Probably much better since it's just a 2 year deal. When he's healthy he's one of the better play makers in the league.

I wish we got Gagne at that price, it looks good.

Post #98 » by **bryant08** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 8:17 pm

rarefind wrote:tim conolly is not a first line center. better than anything we have sure but i really hope something is in the works. even trading for weiss would have made more sense in my opinion.

In my opinion I don't see how trading for Weiss is a better option. Why give up a significant asset in a trade for Weiss when Connolly is available on the open market? We have the cap space and this doesn't hinder us in any way.

Gagne is a big time signing for LA and how about Anthony Stewart? The kid goes to the Canes on a 2 year deal with an average of $900K a season. 39 points last year and kid plays physical too.

rarefind · Post #99 » by **rarefind** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 8:24 pm

of course the conolly deal drives the value of clarkey... burke just paid 4.75 per for a guy who didn't have as good of a season as macarthur. as a rfa, it really can help from a bidding perspective as far as macarthur is concerned; if he was a ufa then obviously not so much.

Post #100 » by **bryant08** » Sat Jul 2, 2011 8:48 pm

rarefind wrote:of course the conolly deal drives the value of clarkey... burke just paid 4.75 per for a guy who didn't have as good of a season as macarthur. as a rfa, it really can help from a bidding perspective as far as macarthur is concerned; if he was a ufa then obviously not so much.

MacArthur's likely value in arbitration is obviously dictated by what similar producers got in the marketplace, but as I mentioned, that price was already set by guys signed yesterday (ie. Leino, Fleischmann, Cole, Ryder, etc.).

Just because Connolly has signed doesn't change what MacArthur's going to get in arbitration. Even moreso because they're players at different stages of their careers, different experience and play different positions.