leafman101
Well-known member
I will start off by saying that if you can acquire a guy like Staal, or Spezza do it. For these purposes I am assuming no blockbuster steal is available.
Goaltending
Free Agents
Tomas Griess - 1-2 years @ $975k. He is a proven backup with a career .915 starting 20ish games a year. He is the only good established backup on the free agent market and the best option to backup Bernier.
Defense
Buyout
Tim Gleason. Gleason is solid but he just makes too much money. His buyout only costs $833k this year, it goes up to $1.8 million the next year and then two more years at $1.3 million. Not ideal, but manageable with the cap jumping back up in the next few years. If he had one year left maybe you let him play it out, but with two more years that is a total of over $5 mill in savings over the two seasons. Its worth it.
Trade
Beiksa for Franson and Remier. The Leafs just need a solid, reliable defensemen (or two). That is Bieksa. He is just solid and can be counted on in all situations. Plus he is a righty. He would solidify the second pair and allow us to free up Phaneuf and give him more winable situations. Vancouver is looking to rebuild, and they don't have a goalie.
Promotions
Between Granberg, Brennan, Percy, MacWilliams and Holzer they have enough bodies to fill the 6 and 7 slots. I know these are all young, inexpereinced guys. But they aren't high risk Rielly/Gardiner type prospects. Aside from Brennan they are all reliable, safe defenders. Granberg looks like the best of the bunch. He did break up a 3 on 1 and 4 on 1 the other day.
Forwards
Free Agents
Paul Stastny - 5-7 years @ $6 million per. He isn't the ideal addition, but they need center help and he is a legit top 30 center in the NHL. He can solidify the first line without losing offensive ability and allow Bozak to drop down to the third line where he is a better fit. Stastny can win draws (career 52%, this year 54%). He was matched up against other teams top lines this year (1.545 Corsi rel Qual Comp is the 3rd highest among centers this year), and was very effective (2.40 GaOn/60, 10.9 Corsi Rel). He is a very good two way center and would give us a legit #1 if not a great one.
Jaromir Jagr - 1 year @ $4-5. Jagr is two things the Leafs need, a forward that is strong on the puck down low and a gritty vet to show the young guys how its done. To be a 70 point guy in the NHL at 40 takes a ridiculous about of work and dedication. Just having that guy around is a huge benefit to the team. Plus he is Jaromir ****ing Jagr. He adds secondary scoring. He is a beast. Are you still not convinced?
Steve Downie - 1-3 years @ $2.5 mill. Here just sign a bargain winger. Downie could be a good option coming off of a couple of down years. He is mental and aggressive, two things the team lacked this year. He also has a little bit of skill and would be like a Komarov with some scoring ability.
Promotions
Holland, Ashton and D'Amigo all earned spots this year. They are also getting to the age where playing a ton of minutes in the AHL is no longer beneficial. It would give us a solid 4th line that can actually play, and all 3 could move up the lineup easily if there are injuries.
