Leafs rumours 2

07 Mar 2026 15:23:58
I am not trying to defend Tre.
But honestly guys, take a look at the returns for players this year. Weegar didn't even get a 1st in the return. Panarin didn't. There were only about a handful of 1sts handed out and many are conditional.
Like it or not, the returns the Leafs got were on par to the higher end of returns for comparables.

07 Mar 2026 14:35:50
Mr. Positivity. Defend him all you want. He is the reason we’re in this. And it started from getting Maccelli last off season. If you couldn’t get a 1st for Bobby then why not resign him?? Missing that guy is gonna be huge next year. This team is slow and heartless. He built that. Where is the toughness? He promised a change in identity but we didn’t know it was gonna mean softer and slower.

Let’s call this what it is RLF, he is good at making team friendly financial deals for sure. But he is not a hockey mind. He doesn’t know what it takes to make a team well rounded and whole. He is like my wife, if it’s a good enough sale he buys it, doesn’t matter what the product looks like. Berube and Tre need to go as fast as possible. 0% creativity in any of his moves.

07 Mar 2026 15:13:21
Roy did right, got a 1st for him. No excuse why we didn’t for McMann — absolutely ridiculous. Why not sign him at that point and trade him later. Honestly, can’t remember a GM who’s set a team back more in my lifetime and I was born in the 70’s.

07 Mar 2026 16:27:36
@RLF,
I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree.

Roy deal was great (even better than what he paid for Laughton last year).

OEL strategy was perfectly fine. Tre sets a price and sticks to it till the end of TDL day. And this works because OEL has term, so not desperate to trade him.

McMann & Laughton (both UFA's).
Again, perfectly fine to set a price for them. But, you don't wait till end of TDL. He became desperate at that point and took whatever he could get ffs.
He had to set his own deadline way before 3 p.m., especially seeing the way the day was going.

Set a 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. deadline and take your best offer at that time.
McCarron (a pure 4th liner) gets a 2nd. You trying to tell me Laughton couldn't have gotten a 2nd minimum (without condition)?

IMO Tre backed himself into a corner and got what he could at that point.
He traded what he had to trade, which I will give him some credit for (but he definitely lost out on possibly another 2nd or even 3rd for McMann and a definite 2nd with I believe a 4th for Laughton).
Unfortunately, the retention angle for contracts just wasn't out there this year, even though we had ample cap space.

07 Mar 2026 16:32:09
Clarky. I started with "not defending" him, so saying "defend him all you want" and taking your little shots is ridiculous.
I don't care if you blame Tre 100%.
My point was strictly on the returns he got. You say McMann was easily worth a 1st. Then Tre would have taken that offer. Obviously no one was willing to give one.

07 Mar 2026 16:49:28
People might disagree with me and I am sure some will and some won't. Considering Weegar had control over where he would be traded, I think the Flames did extremely well with the trade. Castagna is playing quite well for Cornell and has good size.

Maatta was a good strategic pick up as he has had great career analytics as a true defensefive defenseman and wirth the Flames have Parekh looking to play fulltime with the team I can see Maatta being his partner and Parekh forgets what "Defense" part of Defenceman man means the majority of the time.

Now.... the 3 2nd round picks they got were awesome especially the Rangers 2nd that Utah possessed. If the season ended today that is the number 35 overall pick and the Flames also have the number 34 pick that is like having 2 late first rounders almost. So with the 3 2nd round picks and already having their own along with 2 1st round picks. The Flames now have 8 of the first 66 picks in this years draft. To put into perspective. Right now our first pick is #75 right now.

07 Mar 2026 17:35:10
The problem with the returns are they were all next year. My issue really was Laughton; he’s worth more than a 3rd, plus he hung onto guy in this blueline. Why Kampf got a pick, Jarnkrok couldn’t fetch that. When it comes down to it, Tre should of made the moves at Christmas, not at 255.

07 Mar 2026 23:39:37
Sherwood went for 2 2nds. Foegele who scored over 20 the two previous years went for a 2nd. McMann a 2nd and 4th.
Sherwood hits more and also pk's and having a career year so got a bit more. Foegele having a down year, so he got less. If Sherwood didn't get a 1st we'll before the deadline, why was McMann a guaranteed 1st?
I'm not defending Tre, and I fully expect him and Berube to be fired.


What makes me laugh is all the guys pretending this isn't the kind of team they wanted and when the season went bad, acting like this isn't what they wanted.

07 Mar 2026 14:22:06
OK Crew! The deadline has passed... Where do we go from here??? We still do not have a 1st or 2nd round pick for this year. Grading Treliving on this deadline from Aphabetical scale A B C etc. I give him a ZZZZZZ for sleeping at the switch. For the 2026 draft the only draft he should be exposed to is the draft of the Door closing behind him. Hopefully within the next week. That way we can get someone in place that might be able to pull off a few trade deals shortly after the playoffs end and on draft day to get us at least 1 or two picks in those rounds.

So who should be look at realistically moving that could recoup some of those for this years draft day. Then the full rebuild could start during the summer once free agency and draft day have passed.

07 Mar 2026 14:25:48
If you compare the Leaf returns to around the League, what the Leafs got was on par to slightly better than what many teams got for their guys. In general, the returns this year were nowhere near what they have been in the past.

07 Mar 2026 14:40:13
Absolutely 1st move in the off season has to be Reilly. Don’t think you will get much back but he needs to go. 2nd move is Nylander, get a nice young package for him. 3rd is Matthews, he is not resigning here. Trade him now while he still has term and maximize those profits.

FYI ^^^ I 100% disagree with RLF. Guy is terrible. Tre and his procrastination and lackadaisical effort can beat it. We kept waiting all year for some sort of move and this is what we get?? 👏 way to stay patient Tre, it really paid off.

07 Mar 2026 23:23:37
Clarky. Wow, I'm terrible now because I don't agree with you. Lol
As for the returns. Show me where this year was as equal to the past and I will concede on values. (Not talking about 4th liners, I mean impact players.)

07 Mar 2026 01:12:24
Well, that was a disappointing (depressing) trade deadline.
A late 2027 - 1st (Roy)
A 2027 - 2nd (McMann)
A 2026 - 3rd (Laughton)

Hopefully Treliving won’t survive this mess he has created.
Berube isn't a youth/development coach and must be replaced.
I think Leafs fans are in for a long rebuild.
Hopefully MLSE pick the right man for the job this time.

07 Mar 2026 10:31:17
So my buddy and his kid who played in the show said they were watching the scenario over the last few weeks and he was talking to his agent getting his opinion on how things went. Interesting take on it actually.

He said Colorado pretty much had a deal in place with Calgary with Kadri but it was a constant back and forth on what the pieces would be, so in case it fell apart they jumped on Nicolas Roy to ensure they had a hard forechecker and good faceoff guy for the stretch and the playoffs. Then if the Kadri deal came together they were set down the middle even if they had an injury.

The McMann one is the frustrating one. His feedback from his group of sources was the Leafs had 4 to 5 offers of a 1st round pick right after the Calgary, Edmonton games when McMann had a goal in each. Then the next day was Roster Freeze. Apparently Leafs wanted a prospect as well. They decided to hold out, and then McMann went 4 games after the Olympics with no goals and the offers by the third game for a 1st were off the table.

McMann was not dressed for the last 2 games for fear of injury leading to trade deadline, that was one part of the reasoning the other fear was if he had gone another 2 games with no goals he may not have even been in play for a trade at all.

Not as much insight into the Laughton deal but word was they had an early offer of a 2nd and a 3rd but held off and trying for a better deal. They waited too long and got backed into a corner. Hence all we got was a 3rd rounder.

So in essence the only good deal we really got was the Roy one and that was because Colorado really wanted a backup plan for Kadri.

Colorado is going to be a rough team to match up against down the middle. (Like they weren't already lol) Now it's McKinnon, Kadri, Nelson (Could flip those either way as number 2 or number 3 center) Roy as the 4th line center, with either Parker Kelly or Jack Drury drawing in on the 4th line as a winger in case another centre goes down with injury.

07 Mar 2026 14:21:00
You have conveniently also left out the 5th for Roy, the 4th for McMann and that if LA makes the playoffs Laughton pick becomes a 2nd.
I'm not saying this was a great trade deadline by any means.

Honestly, what did we expect for Laughton? Berube played him as a 4th liner. A 2nd or 3rd for a 4th liner is a decent return.

McMann, sure I would have loved a 1st. But there wasn't alot of 1sts handed out in general.
Roy - 2027, Chicago only got one (2027) because they took on Mangi, otherwise they weren't getting one for both Dickinson and Dach.

Wash got a 1st and 3rd for Carlson, one of the best D in the League. Blues got a conditional 1st for Schenn and a 1st for Faulk. Flames got a conditional 1st for Kadri in 28.
That's it. And people think McMann should easily have been a 1st+? So what Carlson got? Not likely.
The 1st and 5th for Roy was a great return based on what other players returns were. Even Panarin, an over point a game player, didn't get a 1st.
Can't only look at what the Leafs got as returns, have to look at the whole picture.

07 Mar 2026 14:42:15
What you mean Panarin didn’t get a 1st? They got Greentree, which is even better then a 1st.

07 Mar 2026 16:10:55
Panarin is over a point per game player. Last year even, that would have been Greentree and a 1st. Weegar easily would have been a 1st+

07 Mar 2026 16:59:34
Didn't conveniently leave them out as that was not the gist of the post. Was just relaying what I was given for background on how the getting greedy and not pulling the trigger took away from the initial offerings. Tre does not read the market that well. It's how he funbled the Huberdeau signing. He was so desperate to show the world Calgary could keep and sign players after losing Tkachuk and Gaudreau.

He offered $2 million more than what Huberdeau's camp was hoping to get. I have yet to hear of a agent that says...." No you guys are offering to much" lol

Anyway deadline is done. Let's move on to our Spring Meetings of the Leaf GM's at large and find a way to fix this mess.

07 Mar 2026 23:19:58
I wasn't referring to you, L1967. It was WB49 who left out the picks. Not sure why you assumed that was for you, as you weren't the original poster.

08 Mar 2026 01:34:02
@ RLF No offense taken. Guess because you posted right after my post.It gets confusing some on some of the more active posts. Thats why I try to tag posters now.

08 Mar 2026 21:19:57
The reason Panarin didn’t get more is because he’s an older forward, had no term and will cost too much to resign.
LAK want him for this year only and paid accordingly.
Weegar got a haul IMO, a serviceable veteran, a prospect and three 2nds!
We got nothing like that.
Treliving at the TDL was categorically overmatched and out-negotiated.
He cannot remain in his current position!

08 Mar 2026 23:47:46
LA actually signed him for 2 more years at $11 Million each year the day they traded for him, Randy.

06 Mar 2026 13:29:34
Tor: Knies, Danford, 3rd

STL: Thomas

This is an upgrade we need vs the upgrade we want. I love Knies, but we need a legit 2C to move JT to 3C. We can then tinker better on the wings in the off season.

06 Mar 2026 14:31:15
Knies and a second. Keep Danford.

Rather do Knies and Robertson to NJ for Nemec (extension in place).

06 Mar 2026 15:59:07
Hrenkin, still holding title for worst trades on the site. Are we going back to the soft, heartless team or are we changing our identity?

06 Mar 2026 18:16:15
Clarky, still think the Leafs are gonna get a #2 center by trading Benoit and a 3rd.

06 Mar 2026 12:59:42
After last night's game against New York it’s clear we are several players away from a legitimate playoff run. Auston has been good for us but it’s time to let him go to start the rebuild. Auston looks like he wants out. He is the only player that we can trade that can keep this rebuild under 5 years.

So I’m proposing the following:

To St. Louis
Auston Matthews
3rd round pick 2027

To Toronto
Robert Thomas
Logan Mailloux
2026 First Round Pick (Top 5 protected)

Keep Nylander and Knies. Try to resign Laughton. Give the “C” back to Tavares.
Trade Reilly in the offseason for a D prospect and pick.

06 Mar 2026 12:07:20
Trade Nylander before anyone else. If you want a change in identity, that’s where you start.

06 Mar 2026 12:31:00
Trade both Nylander and Mathews!
One to LA, the other to Utah.
Players coming back…
Byfield, Clarke, Guenther, Crouse, Iginla
1st, 2nd plus.
Then flip the picks and one or two players to St Louis for Thomas!
We will be competitive next year!

06 Mar 2026 13:11:56
Matthews alone gets more.

06 Mar 2026 00:09:14
Ducks
McMann
Leafs
Luneau

Carolina
Laughton
Leafs
Nadeau

Blues
Knies
Robertson
Holinka

Leafs
Thomas

05 Mar 2026 23:29:51
Ist trade. Good one for the Leafs
2nd trade great one for the Leafs.
3 Trade extraordinary good one. For the Blues.

Love Robert Thomas but Knies has to be part of any rebuild here as a conerstone and I think Holinka is one of those picks that got picked lower because he had not filled out quite yet physically has turned into a force.

06 Mar 2026 00:04:10
If Knies is shipped out I want to see A+ prospect or a lot of picks. It would signal a massive 5-7 year rebuild.

06 Mar 2026 00:18:04
I know this statement will be met by a storm of criticism but I’ll make it and try and weather the venom sent my way.

I’ve been disappointed in him after last year’s growth. I am aware he was dealing with an injury. This is not new in the NHL; it happens all the time.

He’s a big boy who doesn’t use his body enough. That is an important feature of his game and it’s not happening.

His shot, stick-handing and hockey sense could certainly be described as a little above average. His skating is also decent.

He’s a 60-65 point player in my eyes right now and certainly not a line driver.

He gets lots of PP time and PK time.

He’s a valuable mid-6 forward not someone you build around.

He can be on my team but he’s not untouchable.

06 Mar 2026 11:38:13
@Randy Interesting.

I would never say a player is untouchable no matter the player either, but I would say Knies is as close as it gets.

Knies is not having a good year, but as a young guy this is not an easy season to stay motivated. He's been injured off and on and nobody around him looks like they give a s***.

06 Mar 2026 12:10:24
Exactly LL. You guys willing to trade Knies because of this season? In T.O, the give a 💩 meter is so low and you expect this year being injured all year to be a lone stand out player?

06 Mar 2026 12:39:31
With Knies, the injury has affected his speed, I believe. Not that I think he is fast, but even a step slower can really throw the effectiveness of your game off. Unless the deal is overwhelming, keep Knies. He has no trade protection for years, so there is no rush to move him now.

06 Mar 2026 12:53:47
@randysears I like Knies as well and know he has been hurt but he is definitely the most immediate bang for their buck in a trade because of the fact is has no restrictions for being traded anywhere. That opens up every team in the league rather than a list of teams the player selects.

As far as taking heat I will take heat again for standing somewhat in Nylanders corner. Push comes to shove. You keep him and let Matthews go. If Willy was not hurt with the missed games because of the groin injury, he would at the pace he has put up all year be 6th in the league in scoring.

If Matthews was the player who everyone said would be a lock to score 60 and maybe challenge Ovechkin down the road then thats a different story. But his in not that anymore and he will still regardless want a hike on his contract in 2 years. Willy's contract in 2 years will be a bargain in this league. You know salaries are going nuts when Sherwood gets a contract worth $5.75 million a year.

05 Mar 2026 23:56:28
How about Stolaz, Domi, McMann and our new 1st for
Thomas.

05 Mar 2026 23:42:03
I’m pretty sure St. Louis will want a center coming back in any trade they make that includes Thomas.

06 Mar 2026 09:15:10
How bout we don't need Thomas?

06 Mar 2026 10:22:34
Suddenly Robert Thomas is a superstar? He’s a good player, not a great player. Deadline hype. Having said that, St. Louis has zero interest in that offer. Domi has zero value at best. McMann is UFA. They have Binnington and not taking Stolarz.

05 Mar 2026 22:34:15
Solid deal for Roy. Very surprised.

05 Mar 2026 23:37:40
There was also a side deal that the Avalanche get to eat and drink as a team at any Boston Pizza for free on Canadian Game Road Trips. Works out to $8 million a year non salary cap, those boys can put them down lol lol.

05 Mar 2026 19:19:43
Domi, Benoit and Jarnkrok to Ducks for '26 3rd and Mintyukov

Maccelli to Pens for Dumba '26 3rd

Carlo to Buffalo or Detroit for a '26 1st. (settle for a 2nd)

Resign McMann 5x5, Laughton 3x3.

Strip the "A" from Reilly, put him in the press box until he wants to move, then send him and Stolarz to San Jose for Smith and '26 1st.

05 Mar 2026 19:24:23
Sharks hang up the phone quickly

05 Mar 2026 23:47:40
Can’t see the Sharks having any interest in that proposal.

Carlo or OEL seem like a good fit for Detroit.

Mintyukov is an excellent target for the Leafs.
I don’t think that Jarnkrok’s expiring contract, Benoit, whom the Ducks let go previously and the square peg in a round hole, Max Domi are going to generate much interest on the part of the Ducks.Ducks.

05 Mar 2026 18:34:10
There has to be a deal possible with either Ducks or Sharks. Some say Sharks won't add. Why not? They are just a couple points out with games in hand.

Anaheim bleeds in goals against. They could use an experienced RD that is steady defensively and a vet defensive forward would not hurt.

Ana
Carlo $3.485M
Laughton $1.5M

Tor
Strome $5M
Luneau ELC
Gaucher ELC
2026 1st

Leafs get extra value for taking on Strome at full cap hit.

05 Mar 2026 19:49:47
After what we just got for Roy from the Avs I don’t think we need to take anything to get back value. It just goes to show how ppl here are undervaluing Leaf players. I like the package but don’t have to take back Strong to get it.

05 Mar 2026 23:49:51
Good deal for both parties.
Taking back Strome is just part of doing business.

06 Mar 2026 09:17:37
Business we don't need. Look at these trades happening Carlson straight up for a two picks.

06 Mar 2026 12:42:55
Unfortunately picking up Carlson means this has no chance - like it ever did anyway. lol
Carlson got what he did because he still plays 22 mins a night and puts up almost a point per game. Can't really compare him to Carlo.

06 Mar 2026 19:27:13
Most people always talk about Karlson's offensive talent. Other thing that John Karlson brings to the table that a lot of people don't realize is that once he blocks 4 more shots, he will be all-time career NHL leader in blocked shots.

Great shooter, great passer and skater and one durable dude to play as long as he has at the level and still is blocking shots 13 in his last 5 games. Great pickup by Anaheim.

05 Mar 2026 17:39:14
Good return for Roy, but if that’s the price for him, the three that were held out should fetch something similar? I think Toronto should take advantage of the Buffalo Parayko thing. Send Carlo for the same package; they will be scrambling.

05 Mar 2026 16:50:59
I’m with you on that idea Goat.

05 Mar 2026 17:16:34
Good idea, except Carlo could nix it as well if they are on his list 8 team list. Can hope, though.

05 Mar 2026 19:50:56
Yes I believe these 3 will fetch a 1st rd plus prospect on their own to different teams.