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

hockeylover said:
You’re probably not looking at any of these dmen to contribute at all next season yeah? Not that it’s a deciding factor im just asking
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I mean…it’s kind of a deciding factor for us, no? At least a bit?

We’re not the prototypical 1st overall team where it doesn’t really matter if our pick is ready to step in right away or in 2-3 years.
 
LeafGm said:
I mean…it’s kind of a deciding factor for us, no? At least a bit?

We’re not the prototypical 1st overall team where it doesn’t really matter if our pick is ready to step in right away or in 2-3 years.
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Sorry should say maybe not THE deciding factor but yeah I do think if we draft McKenna he can probably step in right away, we can get NHL ready D another way, and Matthews is more likely to stay. If we get a stud D but lose Matthews then we’re just looking for a Matthews again with no top picks.
 
It's the "can't -miss" aspect that makes it a no brainer. Yes there is a world where one of the d becomes a fucking stud and overall more valuable than McKenna at the end of the day. But none of them have can't-miss guaranteed #1 profiles so you're gonna need either elite scouting and/or elite luck to find the guy.

Take the sure thing. They can't afford to miss.
 
Preston said:
Yeah so from what I've seen, only Pronman has a D in contention for #1. And it's the guy with the numbers that don't really justify it. And he says it's the only D that has a chance to be a #1.

And everyone else has McKenna-Stenberg as 1-2, though the Stenberg hype died down significantly since December. It's not McDavid-level consensus, but it's pretty firm that McKenna is the #1 prospect this year from what I've seen. Going with a lower upside guy like Stenberg would make Presto sad.
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I think the sharks will take a dman. I know they should not go for need but with Smith, misa, celebrini I think they go D if it's close.

So the leafs would probably have to have two dmen above McKenna to trade down.
 
worm said:
I think the sharks will take a dman. I know they should not go for need but with Smith, misa, celebrini I think they go D if it's close.

So the leafs would probably have to have two dmen above McKenna to trade down.
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Yeah if the Leafs really want to take a D, probably best to just pick him #1 and hope and pray. Most of the guys project as 2nd pair D, but a few of them have top pair upside for sure.

But yeah, just take the guy that you know is gonna be a PPG winger. More uncertainty with the D, and none of them really have can't-miss allstar profiles like Gavin.
 
Preston said:
Gotta make Matthews happy too. No one will make Matthews happier in the next 12 months than Gavin.
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Yeah, this is a huge factor. Both with him only being under contract for only two more years and with him allegedly getting cold feet about the team’s chances and his willingness to stay.

Is burger boy really going to try and hype Auston up on the team passing on a potential Mitch replacement that can step in on Auston’s wing right away so that he can grab a defenseman that might play here and be good 2-3 years from now?
 
I think McKenna is damn good. He really does remind of Mitch stylewise, but his numbers are significantly better than Mitch's were. And we also know McKenna has more grit. Though maybe not the same defensive player as Mitch but lol defense amirite.

So i definitely see the Kucherov comparison.

But also the positivity around the 3 top dmen in the draft really does remind me of that Makar/Heiskanen/etc class so i wouldn't be at all surprised to see a legit franchise dman out of this group.

At least tho McKenna is a far better prospect than Hischier and Patrick who were unfathomably selected ahead of all those dmen
 
For the record Makar could almost certainly have stepped into the nhl right away and definitely his 2nd ncaa year was overkill.
 
for funsies

I don't think the Sharks would be into trading up, but assuming you know SJ won't take the dman you want, what would it take from vancouver?

the 3 and ...?
 
zeke said:
I think McKenna is damn good. He really does remind of Mitch stylewise, but his numbers are significantly better than Mitch's were. And we also know McKenna has more grit. Though maybe not the same defensive player as Mitch but lol defense amirite.

So i definitely see the Kucherov comparison.

But also the positivity around the 3 top dmen in the draft really does remind me of that Makar/Heiskanen/etc class so i wouldn't be at all surprised to see a legit franchise dman out of this group.

At least tho McKenna is a far better prospect than Hischier and Patrick who were unfathomably selected ahead of all those dmen
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Another definite worry about taking one of the defensemen is that none of them seem to be clearly head and shoulders above the others.

If this was a Tavares/Hedman draft where it’s crystal clear who the best defense prospect is, it’d be easier to consider. But the idea of passing on a non-pussy version of Mitch to select a defenseman that turns out to be a Timmy Liljegren would be one of those moments that haunts the dreams of Leaf fans for the rest of time.
 
LeafGm said:
Another definite worry about taking one of the defensemen is that none of them seem to be clearly head and shoulders above the others.

If this was a Tavares/Hedman draft where it’s crystal clear who the best defense prospect is, it’d be easier to consider. But the idea of passing on a non-pussy version of Mitch to select a defenseman that turns out to be a Timmy Liljegren would be one of those moments that haunts the dreams of Leaf fans for the rest of time.
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Would have loved to pick one of the leftover D at #5. Loved it. Would have been a blessing after this season. But it was always gonna be a crapshoot. There is not much that separates those D, and none of them are clearly surefire future stars.

#1 pick makes this shit much easier. They got their Mitchy back. A much younger, cheaper version!

Though, I'd caution that he may be softer and as much of a bitch as Mitch stylistically, and worse defensively. I would assume and hope he's tougher mentally tho.
 
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