Louis Varland the man that you are

Please not again Hoffman

It's a tough spot to say they didn't win series so why invest like they were Cup contenders, when at the same time they were going 7 games against Cup finalists. In a sense it's a no win situation. The only way any deadline deal is justified is with hindsight so you're always in a bind at that time

Which is fair enough. Guys like Boyle and Plekanec and Foligno weren't going to put them over the top. Ditto for the depth defenders. And all those deals cut into the future cheap depth pool and kicked off a cycle of UFA fliers on depth guys when the cap froze.

Trading Kadri was certainly a mistake, just the reasons for doing so were not cost cutting so much as a clear decision that the team could not afford his affinity for playoff suspensions

Part of the appeal of Tavares though is that it gave the Leafs Matthews/Tavares/Kadri down the middle, reminiscent of the Crosby/Malkin/Staal Penguins team that won a Cup. Strength at C remains a highly prized (and highly priced) part of building a contender

Basically, Matthews was able to set the terms on any contract because of his unique talent and the market forces that clearly positioned him as the potential savior of a long suffering franchise.

Nylander and Marner had high end comparables but Marner's contract blew all the comparables out of the water, I think motivated in large part by fear of a repeat of the Nylander holdout.
Matthews was flashing perennial 40 goal scoring since starting in the NHL, comparables don't really exist there

As for the timing, perhaps Tavares was a factor in raising those values, but there were a number of other factors as well. Part of the value in a July 1 deal is that there is less sample size behind the players so the comparisons are not as concrete. It can blow up on a team and also be a home run

Part of it is playing in the wrong market. They've consistently targeted Schenn/Lyubushkin types along with defensively responsible depth. To your point of targeting skill and playmaking they avoided those at all costs at the deadline (talents that are valuable both up front and the back end)

But I think your summaries of the causes of those effects is incorrect. Kadri was not a luxury they couldn't afford (like Hyman was) but rather was deemed detrimental to the team after consecutive playoff suspensions. Marner's RFA deal is a result of a team terrified of a prolonged holdout after 88

To put it another way, I don't disagree with the takeaways: the Leafs were punished for a combination of poor RFA negotiations, overreliance (or overspending) on deadline deals, the unlucky frozen cap, and a general poor focus on roster archetypes

I think I agree almost entirely with your conclusions and disagree with large parts of your summaries for how they got here. Pedantically, this is the 2nd time they've missed the playoffs. But beyond that I don't think the Tavares contract pushed the RFA deals or negated arguments against those $'s

Also maybe it's just delusion but I get the feeling that the next game in Pittsburgh will be with the series tied.
Nothing normal ever happens in a Pens Flyers series so why start now

If you told me Calgary Flames draft pick Mark Jankowski was scoring OT playoff winners I would have just laughed in your face. It's lowkey the most unbelievable recent development

Do we have faith in Frank's Leafs sourcing? I thought he had been on the outs with the org for a couple years now.

That aside, not sure I want anyone associated with the current Rangers elevated. But hiring someone from the team that fleeced your last guy is amusing

Brady Tkachuk with a performative fight and a playoff loss is very on brand, I'll give him that

So it doesn't surprise me Mehta went to his favourite team instead of the Leafs

The downstream of the Leafs reporting this week is it makes the available jobs quite unattractive

Yeah it doesn't escape my notice that the one guy Berube gave up on coaching is the guy that found prolonged success in the system

Maybe the most trustworthy Leaf of this era and somehow also one of the only ones who hasn't seen his production drop with Berube behind the bench

In a season where everything that could go wrong did, Nylander quietly put together another excellent season

Normally I'd complain about getting outshot by the Belleville Sens 27-11 in two periods but tonight that's the gameplan so way to execute

I could do without seeing Lukes in the lineup for a couple weeks

You know the Leafs are winning this game. Begging and praying won't help, it never does

Years long rebuild will bleed money I'd imagine. But you get what you deserve if you bring back Berube

Actually last hockey thing. I wish NHL jerseys weren't done by Fanatics cause I never scooped a Sharks jersey and I think I'm going to need one

That's enough Leafs for the day I'm going to play TFT for the rest of the day

Guess I'm going to have to fall back on old habits and cheer for the Sharks while the Leafs suck ass

Here's the article with a gift link bsky.app/profile/mirt...