Luke Schenn: Back with the Maple Leafs or gone in 2023-24?

The Maple Leafs made headlines at the trade deadline this year by acquiring a whopping six players. While Ryan O’Reilly and Jake McCabe stole most of the attention, there’s not a doubt in my mind that the coolest story was the re-acquisition of defenseman Luke Schenn. 
If you were watching the team pre-2010, you’ll remember the early days of Schenn and how he was supposed to be the saviour of the Maple Leafs’ defensive corps. Well, if there’s one way to ensure that your top defensive prospect doesn’t pan out, it’s by handling his development the way the Leafs did with Schenn’s. 
Drafted fifth overall in 2008, he made the Maple Leafs lineup out of training camp two months later when he probably should have been returned to the WHL for further development. He was thrust into a bad situation and relied on far too much to help a disastrous Leafs defense that needed way more than the services of an 18 year-old rookie. 
His over-usage early on in his career contributed to his inability to find his footing with the team, and he was eventually traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for James van Riemsdyk. Schenn’s career from that point featured stints with the Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks, two Cup runs with the Tampa Bay Lightning, a season and a half with the Vancouver Canucks, and of course, the trade that eventually brought him back to where it all beg …

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Author: Alex Hobson / The Leafs Nation

Leafs Rumours: Last call for trades

Leafs Rumours: Last call for trades

It’s deadline day. Rumours are somewhat pointless at this stage as everything will go down in a matter of hours, but nevertheless, we’ve got to start somewhere and here’s what is out there in the grand scheme of Leafs rumours…

Connecting dots on #Leafs cap after McCabe/Lafferty trade:
1. Either Toronto is not planning to activate Matt Murray until the playoffs.2. Or Toronto is now moving one of Kerfoot / Engvall / Holl before the deadline.
Seems to be some smoke recently with Kerfoot and #Canucks.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 27, 2023

Kerfoot remains one of the most likely Leafs to be on the move, especially if the Leafs are looking to do something big. Frank’s rumour predates the Schenn trade, so maybe the smoke around the Canucks wasn’t related to Kerfoot at all.
There still could be something around the Canucks, if they’d rather have Kerfoot’s one year cap hit of $3.5M and are willing to eat a bit of Garland’s contract to make a swap there.
As for Kerfoot, he’s not a completely undesirable option for playoff bound teams, his prorated $775k salary is easy for sellers to take on if there is a worry about actual dollars being paid, but there is a complication when it comes to Alex having a 10 team no trade list.
I continue to believe it is far more likely that David Kampf would be the odd man out as Kerfoot is a more versatile option for the Leafs.
Justin Holl lands on Chris Johnston’s trade bo …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Raptors rumors: Toronto not interested in trading Chris Boucher

Raptors rumors: Toronto not interested in trading Chris Boucher

The Toronto Raptors’ relative inactivity at the trade deadline has set them up for what promises to be a very busy offseason. Players like OG Anunoby and Chris Boucher could be on the move if the team believes they can get a haul of assets for them in a hypothetical trade. Boucher may not have […]
Raptors rumors: Toronto not interested in trading Chris Boucher – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Avoiding Patrick Kane seems like the best route forward for the Leafs

Avoiding Patrick Kane seems like the best route forward for the Leafs

Sometimes the trade deadline really sucks. One of those instances is when the team you follow is connected to a player you truly despise. If it was just a matter of the Leafs being interested in an overachieving, overpriced shutdown defenseman who is a crapshoot to mirror his success with a new partner in a new system, that would be one thing. Instead, we’re talking about Patrick Kane who has given people plenty of reasons to dislike him.
I feel like we’ve moved past the obvious reasons for not wanting Patrick Kane on the Leafs and now can focus a bit more on hockey-related ones. I say that the myriad of questions that come along with bringing Kane into the Leafs’ locker room would create a three-ring circus environment that typically doesn’t work out so well for the Leafs. If the Leafs think they need a chaotic element to a potential playoff run, I guess you can ignore the fact that the Toronto media will be very interested in reliving the questionable moments of Patrick Kane’s career through questions and in print from before he even gets on the plane to Toronto.

“I just don’t know if that’s going to fit.”@FriedgeHNIC joined @JeffMarek to share his view on Toronto as a potential destination f …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Leafs Rumours: Goaltenders, a Garland and Schenn “who says no?” and who is in on who

Leafs Rumours: Goaltenders, a Garland and Schenn “who says no?” and who is in on who

We are at the three week to the deadline mark and Kyle Dubas is still doing Kyle Dubas things like making sure that no one knows what he is up to. We’ve recently seen how that can work to a team’s advantage as Lou Lamoriello came out of nowhere to grab Bo Horvat without having to suffer through the media weighing in on what would be a fair package for him to give up for Horvat. Did he overpay on the trade, maybe? Did he overpay on the contract, probably? Still he got his guy and everyone on Long Island seems happier for it. The Canucks probably aren’t upset either if the Islanders land in that sweet spot of narrowly missing the playoffs and getting the best possible version of a first round pick in 2023 for Bo Horvat.
Since Kyle Dubas is silent, we’ve been left with two things we can do with this post and that’s dive into the Leafs/Canucks trade proposal from The Athletic and check in on who is connected to some of the trade targets that Leafs fans like talking about.
First, we’ll start with a small tidbit from Elliotte Friedman’s 32 Thoughts…
10. I don’t think Toronto trades for a goalie unless the Leafs are convinced it’s a better option than what they have in the NHL or even the AHL. The Maple Leafs have limite …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Raptors trading multiple picks for Jakob Poeltl would be a big mistake

Raptors trading multiple picks for Jakob Poeltl would be a big mistake

The NBA trade deadline is a couple of weeks away, and the Toronto Raptors are one of the teams who have been in the rumor mill regularly. The Raptors must make a decision to either go all in to make the playoffs or tank the season to get Scoot Henderson or Victor Wembanyama, potentially. Toronto […]
Raptors trading multiple picks for Jakob Poeltl would be a big mistake – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Pirasanth Gunasekaram / Raptors HQ

Toronto Blue Jays Arbitration Tracker (11 of 12 arb-eligible players have reached deals, only Bo Bichette remains)

Friday is the deadline for Major League teams and arbitration-eligible players to exchange their desired salary figures for the 2023 season, so we’re going to see a handful of deals reached in the next little while.

According to Ben Nicholson-Smith, the Blue Jays have come to terms with eleven players thus far…

Per source, #BlueJays & Danny Jansen avoided arb with a $3.5 million deal for 2023
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

Per source, #BlueJays & Trevor Richards avoid arb with one-year, $1.5 million deal
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

#BlueJays, Tim Mayza avoid arb with $2.1 million deal for 2023 per source
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

#BlueJays, Trent Thornton avoid arb per source
$1 million
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

#BlueJays, Santiago Espinal avoid arb per source
$2.1 million for 2023
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

#BlueJays avoid arb with Jordan Romano per source
$4.5375 million
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

As @JonHeyman said, #BlueJays avoided arb with Daulton Varsho ($3.05 million)
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

#BlueJays avoid arb with Cavan Biggio per source
$2.8 million
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

#BlueJays, Adam Cimber avoid arb per sources
$3.15 million
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 13, 2023

Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., agree at $14.5m to avoid arbitration, per source.
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) January 14, 2023

Below are the salaries that MLB Trade Rumours projected each arb-eligible Blue Jay would earn for the 2023 season and beside that is the deal they’ve reached…
Vladimir Guerrero Jr: $14.8 million – Reached a $14.5 million deal 
Bo Bichette: $6.1 million
Jordan Romano: $4.4 million – Reached a $4.5375 million deal
Danny Jansen: $3.7 million – Reached a $3.5 million deal 
Adam Cimber: $3.2 million – Reached a $3.15 million deal 
Daulton Varsho: $2.8 million – Reached a $3.05 million deal
Cavan Biggio: $2.6 million – Reached a $2.8 million deal 
Santiago Espinal: $2.1 million – Reached a $2.1 million deal 
Tim Mayza: $1.9 million – Reached a $2.1 million deal 
Trevor Richards: $1.5 million – Reached a $1.5 million deal
Erik Swanson: $1.4 million – Reached a $1.25 million deal 
Trent Thornton: $1.1 million – Reached a $1 million deal
As it stands on Saturday morning, the only player left without a deal is Bo Bichette, so the Blue Jays and their start shortstop might be headed to arbitration. According to Mark Feinsand, the Blue Jays submitted a $5 million salary figure, while Bichette’s camp has asked for $7.5 million. MLBTR, as noted above, projected $6.1 million.
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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

The Blue Jays’ 2022 Trade Deadline — One Month Later

To say the very least, the Blue Jays had an interesting deadline this year.

The overwhelming seller’s market convinced the team to take a ‘raise the floor’ approach, adding Whit Merrifield, Mitch White, Zach Pop, and Anthony Bass, all at a low acquisition cost. Much was made of the Blue Jays’ decision to not pursue more significant additions at the time.
One month later, does the deadline look better or worse? Well…
For all intents and purposes, it’s hard to view the deadline as anything but the front office choosing to punt on a high variance season. At times, the Jays looked unstoppable, at times, dreadful. Punting was an interesting move considering that this was a team full of players expecting more.

It was a captive audience of #Bluejays players in front of the TVs in the visitor’s clubhouse at the Trop this afternoon. Have to believe they were expecting more than what they’ve seen thus far.
— Rob Longley (@longleysunsport) August 2, 2022

Regardless of whether or not the team took that perceived disinterest from the front office as personal, they’ve really not shown any signs of improvement post-deadline. A month of August that ended 13-14 has been followed up by a hot start to September, a month in which the Blue Jays haven’t lost a game thus far, but it remains to be seen how long the latest hot streak lasts. Even though the team hasn’t been performing to expectations, how have the additions themselves performed?
In some ways, it’s really tough to say. Zach Pop got “caught in a numbers game” (as Dan, Buck, and Pat have put it on Sportsnet), a game that resulted in his demotion to AAA on August 23rd. He’s only pitched 7 2/3 innings as a Jay. Whit Mer …

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Author: Tate Kispech / Blue Jays Nation

The qualifying offer remains, which is a good thing for the Blue Jays

Monday was the deadline for the MLB and MLBPA to work out a deal with the international draft.

As you could tell by the title, there wasn’t a deal reached before the deadline. This means that the qualifying offer will remain and that there’ll be no international draft.
How the Jays have used the qualifying offer to their advantage:
Last season, the Blue Jays extended a qualifying offer to Cy Young winner Robbie Ray and MVP nominee Marcus Semien. Both declined and signed with AL West teams, giving the Jays two compensation picks.
With these picks, they drafted Tucker Toman, a projected first-rounder, and Cade Doughty, someone who easily could’ve been drafted in the middle of round two. 
While losing all-star calibre players sounds like a losing strategy, the Jays were able to sign Kevin Gausman (who didn’t have a qualifying offer) and trade for Matt Chapman, filling the holes left by Ray and Semien.
I’d argue that the Jays also could have extended a qualifying offer to pitcher Steven Matz because in the worst-case scenario, he’d of made $18 million or so over one season if he accepted. Had Matz declined it and signed with St. Louis, the Jays would’ve received another pick.
Internal Ramifications:
Fast-forward a year, and the Jays are in a situation where a pitcher is pitching his ass off. Ross Stripling has a 3.10 ERA and a 3.12 FIP in 78.1 innings pitched this season. He has a K/9 of 7.12 and a BB/9 of 1.72, along with a …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

Pierre Engvall has signed a one-year extension with the Leafs

Mere moments before the salary arbitration deadline, Pierre Engvall has signed an extension with the Leafs.

We’ve signed forward Pierre Engvall to a one-year contract extension.#LeafsForever
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 17, 2022

The new contract pays him $2.25 million for the 2022-23 season, a nice pay raise given he is coming off a two-year deal that had a $1.25 million AAV.
Today was the deadline for RFAs with the option to file for arbitration could apply for one. Had Engvall decided to go this route, it would have established a hearing date for when he and the Leafs would debate over what the player should be paid and have that decided by a third-party arbitrator.
Avoiding this route entirely rids the team and Engvall of the pressure, meaning now the Leafs only have to worry about getting Rasmus Sandin’s contract sorted out since he is the last RFA they need to sign.
Engvall is coming off his breakout season where he set career highs all across the board with 15 goals, 20 assists, and 35 points, good enough for eighth on the team in scoring. He also added on three assists in seven playoff games, although all of them came in Game 3 against the Lightning. In addition, he posted some impressive underlying metrics all across the board at 5v5.
PLAYER
CF%
FF%
SF%
GF%
XGF%
SCF%
HDCF%
HDGF%
PDO
PIERRE ENGVALL
54.44
53.70
54.03
56.90
54.92
56.03
53.66
45.95
1.007
It was an impressive season that catapulted him to become one of the Leafs’ most important secondary scoring options and an integral part of the team’s future. Given that two-thirds of what made up a dominant third line made their departure in free agency, (Ilya Mikheyev and Ondrej Kase) getting Engvall to an extension was of the utmost importance and getting it done right at the deadline was a close call. Now the question remains who will be joining him and David Kampf to make up for the revamped third line.
As a result of Engvall’s contract, the Leafs are now $1.5 million over the salary cap heading into the 2022-23 season with 13 forwards, seven defencemen, and two goalies. A trade is almost certainly going to come in the weeks ahead that will clear up the necessary cap space to get Sandin’s contract done and add a top-six forward to the mix since improving the John Tavares line remains a top priority. (perhaps Nino Niederreiter or Sonny Milano)
Related:
Best of what’s left: pooper scooping free agency for the Leafs
Kyle Dubas’ summer is far from over, but he got a key piece under contract for next season. Now the focus shifts to their 2018 first-round pick and his new extension.
Stats from Hockey-Reference.com and Natural Stat Trick.
Salary information from PuckPe …

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Author: Michael Mazzei / The Leafs Nation