Other draft day targets

[Frank E]

PPP had a thing on moving down in the draft, its statistical advantages, the blah blah blah we already know about...

Anyways, what they fail to mention is that there can only be 50 guys under contract, and at some point, you're paring down these dozens of draft picks. 

So my question is, how long do you have to sign a drafted property before they are free-agents/draft eligible?  And secondly, can you trade a drafted property that is unsigned? 

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Do any of the above make sense and who would you target, if any? I think Frederick Andersson gets resigned by Anaheim and the Leafs don't go down the Reimer road again.

Fleury and Howard have too much left on their deals for me to be too interested. So unless Pittsburgh/Detroit would be willing to eat close to half of their cap hits in the deal I'd pass. Even if they were I wouldn't be giving up a 1st rounder to get the deal done. And if they were eating salary I imagine that wouldn't fly for Fleury.

Elliott's an interesting option since St. Louis could be forced to choose one of him or Allen. I'd be significantly more interested in acquiring Allen, but for those same reasons I'm sure St. Louis would want to hang onto him more as well. Elliott's put up some very, very good stats but I don't know how he'd fare outside of St. Louis. Hitchcock's been known to get a lot out of goalies. And if St. Louis does look to move him I think we'd see a few teams interested so that's a bidding war I wouldn't be too keen to get involved in.

Halak would be someone I would think about. Only 2 years left on his deal. Decent goalie. Could be flippable later on. But again a veteran goalie isn't someone I'd want to move decent assets for, so that's only something I would look at if the Islanders felt comfortable with Greiss and just needed to move his contract to re-sign some other guys.

I'd consider Ward on a 1-year, show-me type deal. The goalie market on July 1st is pretty bare though, he'd probably the best guy out there. Might mean he'll have some suitors. Worst case scenario any one of Anton Khudobin/Al Montoya/Jhonas Enroth/Chad Johnson would suffice on a cheap 1-year deal.

 

[bustaheims]

So my question is, how long do you have to sign a drafted property before they are free-agents/draft eligible?  And secondly, can you trade a drafted property that is unsigned?

Signing period differs based on where the player is drafted from, but, in general, it's two years. And, yes, unsigned prospects can be traded at any point within that two year period (for instance, that's how the Leafs added Hyman last summer).

 

[Kin]

Reimer, Scrivens, and Gustavsson are all available. 

Honestly, why not bring Reimer back? He'd probably be the best bang-for-the-buck. It probably doesn't matter a tonne, but Ward would cost quite a bit more, no?

Tough to say. Ward's 32 and hasn't really had a statistically impressive season in about 5 years. Reimer's 28 and put up pretty good numbers this year. If I were a team really looking to invest some money in a guy who could play 45-55 games I'm not really sure I'd consider Ward all that more valuable an option.

 

[louisstamos]

Is Justin Peters available?

 

[Tigger]

Do any of the above make sense and who would you target, if any? I think Frederick Andersson gets resigned by Anaheim and the Leafs don't go down the Reimer road again.

Fleury and Howard have too much left on their deals for me to be too interested. So unless Pittsburgh/Detroit would be willing to eat close to half of their cap hits in the deal I'd pass. Even if they were I wouldn't be giving up a 1st rounder to get the deal done. And if they were eating salary I imagine that wouldn't fly for Fleury.

Elliott's an interesting option since St. Louis could be forced to choose one of him or Allen. I'd be significantly more interested in acquiring Allen, but for those same reasons I'm sure St. Louis would want to hang onto him more as well. Elliott's put up some very, very good stats but I don't know how he'd fare outside of St. Louis. Hitchcock's been known to get a lot out of goalies. And if St. Louis does look to move him I think we'd see a few teams interested so that's a bidding war I wouldn't be too keen to get involved in.

Halak would be someone I would think about. Only 2 years left on his deal. Decent goalie. Could be flippable later on. But again a veteran goalie isn't someone I'd want to move decent assets for, so that's only something I would look at if the Islanders felt comfortable with Greiss and just needed to move his contract to re-sign some other guys.

I'd consider Ward on a 1-year, show-me type deal. The goalie market on July 1st is pretty bare though, he'd probably the best guy out there. Might mean he'll have some suitors. Worst case scenario any one of Anton Khudobin/Al Montoya/Jhonas Enroth/Chad Johnson would suffice on a cheap 1-year deal.

Might be the worst case, also seems like the best/most probable move right now, though I imagine I'm underestimating Lou's perspective.

 

[Highlander]

what about Peters, looked damn good in this series?  Could give Bibeau and Sparks another year with the Marlies to get better.  Are we resigning with Orlando again? 

 

[herman]

what about Peters, looked damn good in this series?  Could give Bibeau and Sparks another year with the Marlies to get better.  Are we resigning with Orlando again?

Solar Bears have been reupped to 2017.

http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2016/5/5/11605012/echl-solar-bears-renew-affiliation-with-maple-leafs-system-through

I would hesitate to latch onto any small sample sizes of stellar goaltender performances, especially from an older journeyman who has no growth curve left.

 

[Highlander]

sort of like Mac a few years back for the Marlies. More or less was talking about a cheap back up for Bernie
Good for Solar Bears.

 

[herman]

sort of like Mac a few years back for the Marlies. More or less was talking about a cheap back up for Bernie
Good for Solar Bears.

Yeah. The veteran goalie is valuable at times, but knowing what we have in Bibeau and Sparks is also valuable. The coming close and losing experience is also valuable, no matter how much it sucks (see Pens 08).

 

[TBLeafer]

One of Hart or Parsons please.

 

[Bender]

Where is he ranked?

 

[Tigger]

Where is he ranked?

Magazines, internet sites...

 

[TBLeafer]

Where is he ranked?

Hart I believe is ranked 2nd for all available goalies and Parsons in the top five in most scouting sources I believe.

 

[rdowdall]

Where is he ranked?

Magazines, internet sites...

Well done sir (,or maybe...mam, shouldn't make assumptions on the internet).

 

[Al14]

Where is he ranked?

Magazines, internet sites...

Well done sir (,or maybe...mam, shouldn't make assumptions on the internet).

Sir is good for both sexes these days. 

 

[mr grieves]

Just read that last year, this year, and next year the Leafs will have around 30 draft picks, and that their 12 this year is almost a historical high for the league.

Did a quick check of Chicago and saw they had 17 in 2004 (in 9 rounds). Anyone know what the actual record is?

 

[slapshot]

Do you think they go into camp with a Bernier and a Sparks backup, or Bibeau rather than Sparks?

I have a hard time believing they don't make some kind of temporary move this summer.

It won't surprise me if they bring in a goalie. I just don't see them moving quality assets for one who is already on the wrong side of 30. If there's a trade, it will either be a situation where they get an asset for taking a contract, pick up a veteran on the cheap, or add a young goalie that can be part of the future. Otherwise, if they add a goalie, it'll be in the free agent market.

I am not seeing anything in the free agent market in terms of top flight goalies. All the best ones are pretty much locked up for years to come, so even if the Leafs are in a position to start contending in 2-3 years, there's not much available. I don't see teams trading potential #1 top flight young goalies, so like Nik said maybe a guy like Ward might be worth taking a flyer on. But a deal for Fleury would not entirely surprise me, maybe a late first rounder is too much, maybe Pittsburgh would take less just to shed the contract. But I think it is important, and the Leafs would want, quality netminding to insulate these young developing players from an on-going losing mentality, guys like Kadri, JVR, Gardiner and Rielly have been suffering from losing for a while now and no doubt want things going in an upward trajectory. Florida deal for then 35 year old Luongo to help his team take a step towards winning. Lou dealt for then 28-year-old Cory Schneider for a Devils team that was no where near competing for anything significant, so he obviously places a high importance on goaltending. I think the Leafs have to be feeling a little more suspect about Bibeau and Sparks after their inconsistent playoff performances at the AHL level. I do think that if Bernier sucks next year, or if he walks as a UFA, the Leafs need something solid in nets so the team continue to improve. I don't think we need to walk down the same path as the Edmonton Oilers.

 

[slapshot]

To be fair to Herm I think he was trying to get at the fairly soft market for goaltending creating a situation where pretty good goalies get moved with some frequency. 3 of the 4 teams left in the playoffs didn't draft their starter.

Edit: Or, I guess, two and a half of the four teams left didn't draft their starter because of the St. Louis tandem.

Still need something more than serviceable, though. The guys the Leafs need to be targeting are the handful that he notes are not cheap.

I wouldn't describe those guys as only serviceable though. And while Jones was certainly expensive, you can't say the same for Bishop and Elliot.

That said, I agree they should be drafting goalies I just think there's a broader parameter for adding good ones than there is at other positions.

So by saying "broader parameter," what do think is the best route to adding a quality 1 netminder, and is that within the next year or two, or farther down the road than that?

If you think free agency, when would you make your move to get such a goalie, and what goalies fit that description as coming UFAs?

If you think via trade, what goalie(s) would you target? And, what would the Leafs offer to swing such a deal?

If you are thinking via draft and development, how far down the road before you think the Leafs can seriously compete? And, what are the goaltending solutions in the short term?

Just wondering?

 

[Kin]

Florida deal for then 35 year old Luongo to help his team take a step towards winning. Lou dealt for then 28-year-old Cory Schneider for a Devils team that was no where near competing for anything significant, so he obviously places a high importance on goaltending.

Except those are also two perfect examples of other things entirely. Florida was in a very different situation from the Leafs. They were at the end of a stretch of five years where they'd made four picks inside the top 3. Barkov was in the middle of a promising rookie year, Huberdeau had won the Calder the year before. The Leafs are about to make their first top 3 pick in 26 years. Adding Luongo was done at the end of their process and even then I think it's fair to say that given how poorly he was playing in Vancouver his resurgence in Florida came as a bit of a surprise.

New Jersey, far from being an example, should be a cautionary tale. When they traded for Schneider they were a bad team, drafting in the top 10. They traded for Schneider, have gotten three years of terrific goaltending and...are still a bad team drafting in the top 10. They're caught in a no man's land of not being good enough to compete but not bad enough to add the upper tier prospects. They might have the worst combination of NHL roster/prospects in the entire league. Even more so than Edmonton, I'd do everything I could to make sure the team doesn't end up like the Devils.

I think a team's mentality comes from a coach. There's a danger in losing becoming complacency but that doesn't happen one year into things and it won't happen if Babcock is the coach he's being paid to be.