The Official 2026 Off-Season Thread: Revenge of the Nerds

[leafman101]

The one thing Chayka said yesterday that sour good was they didn’t want to trade any picks/prospects because they wanted to stay flexible for if an impact player becomes available (the question was about Werenski).

So given they are clearly all in, I expect a futures for stud forward/d trade at some point before the deadline.

 

[Preston]

McKenna > McMann

According to the nerdies

Roslovic = Maccelli
Paul = Robby

And then the other junk >>> Domi and Jarnkrok.

And also Hiller > Berube

 

[Volcanologist]

I just think the lineup suffers from the same problems as in past years where there is a ton of pressure on the top 6 to produce and if they don't, you're not winning.

Which I suppose could work in the regular season but makes us quite easy to shut down in the playoffs, IMO.

this is true but I really doubt this lineup is the opening night lineup

there will be more significant change to come, as per Chayka

I'm pretty underwhelmed by yesterday but perhaps further moves to come will make it make more sense

 

[leafman101]

And then the other junk >>> Domi and Jarnkrok.

And also Hiller > Berube

Yeah they are better. They just could have easily been BEEETTTEEEERRR.

 

[hockeylover]

Yeah, I mean, we're better.

Some puzzling decisions though, and the potential to have improved a lot more, IMO.

 

[Preston]

Although we are forgetting about Laughton and Roy, but those guys sucked on the Leafs despite being pretty good players. More of a Berube thing with those guys.

 

[Volcanologist]

Although we are forgetting about Laughton and Roy, but those guys sucked on the Leafs despite being pretty good players. More of a Berube thing with those guys.

after watching them I think Roy kinda sucks but Berube did not like Laughton for some reason and frankly I don't get it because he digs in and should totally be his kind of player

 

[MyNameIsJonas]

One of the appealing things i imagine is really intriguing about a Paul bounce back, is the cap hit is fantastic.

 

[worm]

If you wanna play LA kings hockey you need LA kings players...

 

[hockeylover]

View: https://x.com/Arunthings/status/2072427089727307778?s=20

still curious (and slightly scared) about this line from chayka.

 

[Preston]

after watching them I think Roy kinda sucks but Berube did not like Laughton for some reason and frankly I don't get it because he digs in and should totally be his kind of player

Agree, Roy does suck I think.

 

[hockeylover]

sissons got a 10 team no trade
duhaime got a full no trade this year and a 10 team ntc the next two years
paul brings his 16 team no trade

 

[MyNameIsJonas]

View: https://x.com/Arunthings/status/2072427089727307778?s=20

still curious (and slightly scared) about this line from chayka.

It's the sort of line you hear before trading for a Brandon Tanev.

 

[MyNameIsJonas]

sissons got a 10 team no trade
duhaime got a full no trade this year and a 10 team ntc the next two years
paul brings his 16 team no trade

10 team NTC are perfectly manageable for cheap-ish bottom 6ers i would think and the term is fine on all of them, just the choices is weird.

 

[Volcanologist]

View: https://x.com/Arunthings/status/2072427089727307778?s=20

still curious (and slightly scared) about this line from chayka.

at this point, it can mean only one thing.

they will be trading bigger names that are not Matthews

sissons got a 10 team no trade
duhaime got a full no trade this year and a 10 team ntc the next two years
paul brings his 16 team no trade

while these are silly, I think the low terms we gave kind of makes them moot.. I mean I guess if we decided we had to trade one of them this season..but probably not likely

 

[leafman101]

View: https://x.com/Arunthings/status/2072427089727307778?s=20

still curious (and slightly scared) about this line from chayka.

Think he was talking about adding centers and D.

 

[hockeylover]

View: https://x.com/koshtorontosun/status/2072696029384724520?s=20

dev camp first skater out, mckenna.

 

[leafman101]

View: https://x.com/koshtorontosun/status/2072696029384724520?s=20

dev camp first skater out, mckenna.

sorry Bob.

 

[mbow30]

Paul had a bad injury plagued year this year but also really bad luck stats (a very low on ice shooting and save %).

Overall though the puck moved in the right direction when he was on the ice.

The year before he had extreme defensive and matchup usage and still popped 20 goals. I’m not ready to write that guy off yet.

 

[hockeylover]

while these are silly, I think the low terms we gave kind of makes them moot.. I mean I guess if we decided we had to trade one of them this season..but probably not likely

yeah, i don't think any of these bottom 6 signings are disastrous on their own, just overall feel like a waste of cap space for little impact.

was mostly just posting ntcs as fyi.