Leafs waive Hutchison

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Nov 12, 2019 2:26:30 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

Hutch was bad. Now what, Dubas? No cap space, no legit backup. Oh, and now that Cherry is gone, is Andersen still the best in the world? Just askin’

I'm kind of disappointed that Michael Hutchinson is no longer in Toronto ... he was doing the rest of the division huge favours ... interesting that the Leafs are still paying $1.2 million for Phil Kessel ... they have Mitch Marner's $10,893,000 AAV on the LTIR and they have "0" projected cap space ... "the best (goalie) in the league" is in Buffalo, methinks ... keep Frederick Anderson seeing more rubber than a dead skunk on the 401 ... like Carey Price in Montreal, I don't know where Toronto would be without Anderson ...

Cheers.

[GNick99]

Nov 14, 2019 10:24:20 GMT -5 BadCompany said:

Would you do Cayden Primeau and Karl Alzner for William Nylander?

Pros for Toronto:

* Clear ups their cap problem
* Gives them a guy who could probably play 20+ games in the NHL this season, and who will be the logical heir-apparent to Andersen, whose contract expires after next season. Perfect timing for them.

Pros for Montreal:

* Gets rid of the Alzner contract, which could be a big deal in the summer of 2021, when we face cap-ageddon. Tatar, Gallagher, Danault, Armia, and Petry are all potential UFAs that summer, and while we'll actually be ADDING salary in this deal, at least we will be adding it with an NHL player. Alzner's cap hit while in the minors is $3.55 million, and we are getting nothing from it. Swapping him for Nylander could be viewed as getting Nylander for about $3.5 million (Nylander's contract minus Alzner's).
* While you don't want to help out a divisional rival, eventually somebody will. Why not us? Isn't this what all this extra cap space is supposed to be used for? To take advantage of somebody in cap trouble?
* Gives us a legitimate top 6 winger. While Nylander's stats would suggest he is more of a playmaker than a goal-scorer he does shoot a lot. In the neighborhood of 200 a season, which would place behind him Gallagher on our team, but in the same neighborhood as Domi and Tatar. Not a pure sniper mind you, but still.
* Nylander just turned 23, and is signed long term.

Cons for Montreal:

* It gives a divisional rival much needed cap space, and as Napoleon said, never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake.
* I believe Primeau will be a very good, if not elite, #1 goalie in the NHL.
* Nylander may not be a perfect fit. For all the praise coming from the center of the universe his career highs are 22 goals and 61 points. Solid second line numbers, but not elite.
* While 200 shots a season is nothing to sneeze at, the ideal player on our team of playmakers would be somebody north of 250. If you got an elite asset to trade you might want to wait for a perfect fit, and not a "good enough" fit.
* William Nylander at $6.9 million means Max Domi gets $7.5 million.

What say you?

I vote no. Chance Primeau is something good. Caproom not an issue in Montreal. THey generally under the cap. Well under. Just not be spent. Nylander a soft 60 point winger. Not what we need. If Primeau goes it has to be for a core piece we need coming back. A Werenski or Hall.

[folatre]

Interesting proposal, BC. Nylander is certainly a young top six winger and he is under contract for four more seasons. Matthews has been his centre in probably 75 percent of the games he has played in the NHL so one could argue it is a little surprising that he has not put up bigger numbers. But there is no doubt that of his offensive creativity, skating and skill and I would assume he will be something like a 75 point (25-50) player in his prime years.

Primeau's trajectory as a goalie prospect has been astounding. Goalies are always harder to project but it certainly looks as though he has all of the qualities to be a very good NHL goalie and Price is not going to be a top ten guy at his craft forever.

Montreal needs strength through the middle of the ice for the core of the future to become regular contenders -- a goalie, a #1 d-man with a couple other really good d-men, centre depth with at least two among them being studs. I would probably have to say no to this trade. There are wings in the league worth giving up a prospect like Primeau for, but for me Nylander is just a little short of being impactful enough to take that chance.