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

So this was low hanging fruit #1. Team has improved by ~7 points overnight imo.

#2 is to trade Carlo + dump Benoit and Myers and immediately their D is more mobile and improved even with using some of the Marlies guys to replace them. But obviously they can and will do better than just Marlies guys.. Another ~5+ point improvement should come from a D overhaul even if they don't hit any home runs.

#3 is to trade Joshua

#4 is to trade Domi

But I think there's some potential that Joshua and Domi can recoup some trade value under a new coach, so I wouldn't be in a rush to trade them if a partner isn't there. So #3 and 4 aren't as mandatory as the d overhaul stuff. I think any data driven GM will eventually look to move both of those players though (Chayka already traded Max once!), just doesn't have to happen all in one summer.
 
If Max can get back to being the 45 point player that he was pre-berube, 3.75m ain't crazy for a team looking for an offensive jolt.

Joshua might be a little more challenging tho. He's just a straight up 4th liner, there's no reason to take on that contract. But there are some old GMs out there that value size so who knows.

Chayka is gonna eventually erase all the unforced Tre errors. I beChayka.
 
Feyd said:
I know there's a recency bias here but (safely) assuming Chayka is just getting started... I can't remember the last Leafs GM to have so many of their moves undone so quickly as Treliving. Like even he himself got the the ball rolling when he got fleeced at the trade deadline.
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Remnants of Tre (other than league min guys):

Domi (31) $3.75 x 2yrs
Joshua (30) $3.25 x 2yrs
Lorentz (30) $1.35 x 2yrs

Tanev (37) $4.50 x 4yrs
OEL (35) $3.50 x 2yrs
Carlo (30) $3.49 x 1yrs
Benoit (28) $1.35 x 1yrs

Stolarz (32) $3.75 x 4yrs


That's Tre's entire legacy from his three years here, without the new GM even making one move.

Won't take long to complete the purge.

Though for the record, imo Tanev, OEL, Stolarz are still definite positives on the roster, for now.
 
Preston said:
If Max can get back to being the 45 point player that he was pre-berube, 3.75m ain't crazy for a team looking for an offensive jolt.

Joshua might be a little more challenging tho. He's just a straight up 4th liner, there's no reason to take on that contract. But there are some old GMs out there that value size so who knows.

Chayka is gonna eventually erase all the unforced Tre errors. I beChayka.
Click to expand...

funny enough, ignoring contracts completely, i feel like there's actually more of a place on this team for Joshua than Domi.

Yes, it's as a 4th line winger, but probably a decent one.

Domi tho - we don't want him at C, and we don't want him playing the wing ahead of any of Nylander McKenna Knies Cowan Robertson Maccelli....so the fit is tough. Then again, we don't have any other candidate at all for 3C at the moment.
 
zeke said:
length of time = exactly 10 days after Chayka was hired
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took 10 days to fire this guy

zcGRqmo.jpeg


I get it though, it's a good idea for a new Gm to come in and interview everybody first, learn what they can about the situation from the inside. But the nerdies are just as bad as the eye test was, so an easy decision in the end.
 
zeke said:
funny enough, ignoring contracts completely, i feel like there's actually more of a place on this team for Joshua than Domi.

Yes, it's as a 4th line winger, but probably a decent one.

Domi tho - we don't want him at C, and we don't want him playing the wing ahead of any of Nylander McKenna Knies Cowan Robertson Maccelli....so the fit is tough. Then again, we don't have any other candidate at all for 3C at the moment.
Click to expand...
This is the thing with Joshua. The contract is terrible, but it's likely sunk cost. Of course it's the reason why no sane GM would have ever acquired him in the first place, but he's here now. How would we evaluate him if he was making $1.5m? There's nothing wrong with having a physical energy guy on the 4th line. What do the nerdies say, can he play on the 4th line, occasionally 3rd when he's doing well? Of course you dangle him to see if any other teams are interested.

I'd love to trade Domi, but with his connections to management, I think he probably ends up sticking around.
 
zeke said:
funny enough, ignoring contracts completely, i feel like there's actually more of a place on this team for Joshua than Domi.

Yes, it's as a 4th line winger, but probably a decent one.

Domi tho - we don't want him at C, and we don't want him playing the wing ahead of any of Nylander McKenna Knies Cowan Robertson Maccelli....so the fit is tough. Then again, we don't have any other candidate at all for 3C at the moment.
Click to expand...


Domi is another very good test for Chayka—and for Mats too.

It seems pretty clear Domi would like to stay here, and he has a long history and/or a close personal relationship with both Mats and Chayka.

But he is obviously not a fit here. So do they pull the trigger and move him? And I know Chayka has traded Domi before. But giving him a ticket out of one of the least desirable teams to play for in the NHL is different than dumping Max from his hometown team.

Will be interesting to see.
 
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