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What Will Tim L Do?

Leafin' said:
You think they'll can Nonis?
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I hope so. And based on how Leiweke's described Masai Ujiri and Tim Bezbatchenko and why they're his kind of guys, Nonis doesn't exactly seem to be cast from the same mold. But we'll have to see. Carlyle, at least, has to be gone for sure.

MindzEye said:
Long before. Like, 4-5 months before. Burke being fired has everything to do with the telecomm duopoly ownership group being uncomfortable with him as the public face of their flagship brand and nothing to do with Timmy not liking Burke.

In fact, I wouldn't be stunned if TL wanted Burke back as GM. I don't think it would play with the board, but Burke is the exact type of executive that TL loves.
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FYI, in that TL/Strombo interview posted on the last page, Leiweke mentioned that he considers Brian Burke to be a close personal friend, and still goes to him at least once a month to bounce ideas off him and ask for advice.

Interestingly enough, he also pretty much took credit for what has been Nonis's best move this year---bringing in Bernier.
 
Lieweke will be all in on Stamkos in 2016... if not earlier, by offering a trade before his UFA year.
 
I'm excited to see what TL does. No doubt he really shakes things up. I still maintain that this team has a lot of good pieces. The attitude needs to really change. The core needs to change but there are really some great pieces. There needs to be a change in direction and i know TL will take care of that.
 
Corky27 said:
I'm excited to see what TL does. No doubt he really shakes things up. I still maintain that this team has a lot of good pieces. The attitude needs to really change. The core needs to change but there are really some great pieces. There needs to be a change in direction and i know TL will take care of that.
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Every team in this league has some good pieces, it goes without saying that Leafs have them as well. I found it interesting tonight that Randy said in the pregame conference that "we freeze out there, take a breath and breathe", the question I'm wondering is why do they freeze? To me it boils down to a lack of leadership on this team, we don't have any veterans to help settle the boys down out there, it's almost as if when 1-2 players start panicking it trickles down and effects the rest of the team.

You say the core needs to change, and I agree to a point that it does but I'm not sure it's entirely feasible that it does, if you look at our core right now its Kessel/JVR/Phaneuf/Bernier/Kadri(to a lesser extent)... that is our core the question is does managment have the balls to actually trade one or more of those guys? If so they have to realize that they while they will get significant assets back it won't be equal value for one of those mentioned players.

Looking at this team I feel we need:
1. A top pairing blueliner to play with Phaneuf
2. An upgrade on our mid pairing blueline, someone who can upgrade Franson
3. A 2nd line winger- Prefably a vet (30-34) who is big, who can chip in 20-25 goals/50ish points a season. When I say 2nd line winger, I mean someone who can play in Clarkson's spot, because he's just god awful in that role currently. Lupul is OK for now, he puts up adequate 2nd line point totals and while I'd dangle him as trade bait I wouldn't just rush him out the door either


To me those are our biggest needs that I feel Nonis needs to work on addressing THIS offseason, key in on that is what I think should be done. As for options for
1. Meyers is worth looking at in Buffalo, young guy who badly needs a change of scenery and wouldn't cost more then picks and a prospect. He's got the size, skating, strength, physicallity and offensive output to be a top pairing guy to play along side Phaneuf
2. A guy like Edler or even Robidas may be an option for the 2nd unit. If not, then do nothing and just slide Gunnarsson down to the mid pairing, he is a very steady eddie guy who can play with Rielly
3. Iginla wouldn't be a bad option to try out at the 2nd line wing. Yes he's 37, but he has shown he still has alot of gas left in the tank (he's got 60 points this season), he's strong along the boards, brings some fiestiness and can put up 50-60 points playing along side Kadri and Lupul (or whoever replaces him)
 
Leafin' said:
All in on John Tavares!
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I heard a rumour that Kessel would be going the other way for him. If so, while it's a fair value deal for both sides it doesn't make sense for the Leafs to pull the trigger on it, if you think about it for a few minutes. The Leafs have NO problems putting pucks in the net, and both Kessel/Tavares are 80-90 point guys so really your just trading one guy for another, and the problems on this teams don't get fixed.... sideways trade at best.

I'm not opposed to getting Tavares, but lets fix the needs of this team first before adding another scorer.
 
Of course you trade Kessel for Tavares if the islanders are stupid enough to do that. Tavares is a franchise center.

They aren't trading him though. Forget about guys like Stamkos and Tavares. Those guys are never getting traded.
 
Carolina is going to be interesting to watch.

I do believe they have to shed salary, but i'm curious what salary they look to move ( Ward, Semin) if they can actually move it, and if they can't that they move on to guys they might not want to move ( Staal, Staal, Skinner)
 
UWHabs said:
If it cost you Reilly, Kadri, and a first, that would likely be a wrong move
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Would it though?

I would never trade Reilly, but its not like getting a 30 year old 6'4 number 1 center for that package would be bad for a team.

Not much in hockey that is harder to find than a big, elite front line center.
 
JackBurton said:
Staal won't cost that.
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Do we even want to give that much for Staal? Going to be 30 in October and coming off a down season. Hmmm, on the other hand he's signed for only two more years and Staal-Bozak-Kadri-McClement is much, much better. Unfortunately kid has NTC so he would need to be convinced to come to Toronto. Hearing Lieweke on the radio he's pretty confident in management, but could just be a vote of confidence.
 
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