Are The Toronto Maple Leafs Worse After Free Agency?

On Episode 150 of the Gluttons For Punishment Podcast, Michael Lepore and Anthony Bruno discuss whether the Toronto Maple Leafs are better or worse after free agency. They give their thoughts on the signings of Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Anthony Stolarz, Max Domi, and Timothy Liljegren. They also discuss free agents they wished the Leafs signed, the best team in the NHL post-free agency, and whether the Leafs should strip John Tavares of the captaincy.

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Show Index
0:00 Intro
2:34 Chris Tanev
10:03 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
22:42 Max Domi and Timothy Liljegren
30:32 Who do you wish the Leafs signed?
35:30 Who’s the best team in the NHL post-free agency?
42:32 Should John Tavares be stripped of the captaincy?
53:04 Episode 150 final thoughts

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[Applause] welcome to episode 150 of the glutton for punishment podcast or gfp a Toronto map beliefs and NHL podcast hosted by Michael leapor and Anthony Bruno he’s leore I’m Bruno thank you so much for listening and watching us on YouTube as well massive milestone for the boys episode one 150 and what an episode we have in store for you because the NHL draft is over we are through the busy days of free agency so the landscape is set now moving forward into next season so we are going to give you our thoughts and opinions on everything the Leafs did in free agency what we think of all their signings there’s also been some Rumblings that the Leafs are considering stripping John far as of the captaincy so we’ll give our takes on that as well and then we’ll also discuss who we think is now the best team in the NHL post free agency so I promise you want to stay tuned until the very end because as always this is going to be a juicy juicy episode but before we get into all that it is officially time to welcome in my partner in crime Mr Michael leore how you doing today man Anthony Bruno of course I’m absolutely ecstatic to be here but I’m a little uncomfortable man uh your boy leor had to pay a visit to the dentist yesterday and uh I to have like this little mini surgery and uh it wasn’t fun they had to like jam me with all these needles they took tissue from one place put it in another place 30 minutes uh tough 30 minutes in my life but it’s funny you see that bill the bill comes through when your Wheels start turning of like yeah this guy gets paid what for 30 minutes of work I need to I need to have another talk with my high school guidance counselor on the Direction I should have taken professionally but little swollen in the inside you know blood here and there so if leor starts spewing blood all over the screen I apologize but I’ll do my best to prevent that well poor I thought we might have to put you on ltir for a second [ __ ] yeah I’m glad that you actually F found a way and you dug deep to do this podcast episode 150 man yeah cue the Leafs ltir jokes with that one we’re going to send you to robit Island man is we see if you can get through this episode but you sound pretty good so far so uh let let’s Dive Right into this man obviously a lot has happened since we last recorded as I mentioned the draft is complete um like I said the start of free agency is complete I mean technically like free agency is still ongoing but obviously all the major signings have gone down and the Leafs made some pretty big splashes so unless you’ve been living under a rock I’m sure you know exactly what this team has done just going through the list here they resigned Max doy resigned Timothy lilligren gave Joseph wall a contract extension the big signing locking up Chris tanv to a six-year deal Jesus we will talk about that Oliver Ekman Larson Anthony Stars Matt Murray is back and Yanni Haw andpa even though they’re still some mystery behind this because at the time of recording the Leafs still haven’t officially announced this y hawen PA signing and Steve Simmons reported that apparently he’s dealing with a major knee issue so we’ll see what happens with that but laor I want to start with Chris TANF because obviously that was the biggest signing this team made locking him up to a six-year deal for 4 and a half million per season he is 34 years old will be turning 35 during the season what are your thoughts on this signing man because I’ll leave my opinion until after after you give your thoughts here but Jesus this is a long ass contract for a guy who’s turning 35 years old you’re right you’re already giggling Bruno it’s not a good sign but I I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about this deal and all these numbers come out of how good he is defensively I saw one that said over the last five years combined he is the best expected goals against P 60 in the National Hockey League so it just doesn’t get scored on and that may be the case but the fact of the matter is like you said this guy’s 34 turning 35 so I don’t expect him to completely and utterly fall off a cliff and just be terrible but how many good years are we gonna get and there’s no secret in this deal he’s signed until he’s gonna be what 41 years old so at the end of the day 40 41 so at the end of the day he’s not going to finish the deal whether it’s it will be because of an ltir thing um or retirement and as far as the ltir thing goes he hasn’t been healthy I think he averages he misses like 17 games a year I don’t know how long back that stat goes but he does miss a lot of games and he does have some injuries so even for for his own sake it’s kind of like an insurance because he knows he’s got a lot of miles on his legs for what he brings and the type of player he is I’m happy with it I just hope and pray that there was a lot of evaluating as far as the term of the contract goes and how they’re going to approach this I mean if he stays good he stays good and it’s fine and the fact of the matter is 4.5 million 4.5 million again it’s like an average player in the NHL so even if he Teeters a bit who knows how we get more years than we think out of it and I don’t expect him to do the whole deal but maybe things work out so shortterm ecstatic longer term I’m a little I’m not fully on edge I’m not teetering but I’m on edge Bruno I think that’s a that’s the correct take this is a good player but my goodness this contract is gonna age horribly just look at Mark jordano yeah we have a case study right in front of us this guy won the norish trophy as a 35-year-old and now he’s completely fallen off a cliff and we saw it over the last two years jordano was a liability for the last two years he he really was not that that’s a perfect comparison but again I’m comparing tanif to a guy who at the age of 35 won a norrish trophy was considered the best defenseman in the NHL and soon after fell off a cliff now I agree with what you said about Chris tanv being you know one of the best shutdown defenseman in the NHL if you look at any of the underlying numbers any of the advanced stats that’s what it tell you this guy is one of the best shutdown dmen in the league so I do believe that he’s going to have at least a couple of really good Seasons left in him I don’t think there’s any doubt about that now you did make a good point about how he misses time um this is not a very durable guy he blocks a ton of shots he puts his body on the line and when you play that type of style you’re going to be very susceptible to injuries the last time he played a full 82 Game season was in 212 22 for the Calgary Flames so chances are he’s probably not going to play all 82 games but I think the reason that the contract looks the way it does is is because of what he’s going to provide in the playoffs we saw how good he was for Dallas in the playoffs this past season and that’s where this guy’s money is made right he’s going to play on the top pair with Morgan Riley he’s going to play against the toughest competition every single night he’s going to put his body on the line and and if his numbers hold up there’s no reason why he can’t be one of the best shutdown defenseman in the NHL at least for the next one to two years um so I’m I’m happy about that but clearly this is not going to age well so he’s either going to go on LTI at some point maybe he’s going to retire that would obviously alleviate things for the leaf salary cap wise but just looking at the deal and seeing that term it’s like my goodness this is not going to age well but again in the short term I’m very happy to add him to the Leafs and I think he’s going to have a very positive impact on this team over the next couple of years being reasonable Bruno what what would you say would have been the ideal contract for tanov because if let’s say it was shorter term it would have been more money so would you have rather say three years at six million a year yeah like a three-year deal or even a four-year deal a four-year deal at five million a year something like that four at five yeah you know what and there’s probably people already saying leor like ah it’s the same thing because if this guy goes on ltir or retires like really it’s like we’re kind of maybe we’re being yeah like you know maybe we’re being a little bit too concerned about this given that there are ways that the leaps can get out of this but it’s like you just don’t give a six-year deal to a guy who’s about to turn 35 years old you just shouldn’t be doing this stuff is it a is it a first time I’d like to look that up if it got at that age got that kind of someone signed to 41 good question probably not I would guess I don’t have the you know I don’t have that information right in front of me but yeah and listen I mean he was a very sought-after player there were a lot of teams that wanted his Services you know Dallas tried to resign him as well so TR living obviously identified him as as the main guy that he wanted and that’s why he traded for his rights before free agency even opened so listen I think he’s going to have a positive impact on the team but who knows how long this is going to last but you know it’s it’s the same thing kind of with Oliver emman lson I actually really like this signing he’s a little bit younger than tanv I thought he was excellent for Florida in the playoffs especially the Stanley Cup Final he ended up taking over the first Power Play unit um he took over Brandon montour’s job because that power play was abysmal and you know what the power play in The Cup Final for the Panthers was not good either but I thought Oliver emman Larson overall was pretty darn solid for the Panthers so I like that he’s coming on board as well now again would it be nice to get Oliver Ean Larson like six to seven years ago and maybe Chris tanov same thing six to seven years ago when they were younger sure but uh I I think they’re both still quality players and they’re obviously going to provide an upgrade on the blue line but again leor the main issue of this team is scoring goals of the playoffs and I don’t know how these guys really help that um you know Oliver Oliver Ekman Larson’s a good Puck mover um I think he’s going to provide a little bit more offense from the back end but in total I still think that this team has some issues to deal with up front yeah e Larson’s had a weird career because I remember like he played for Arizona so anyone saying they spent all this time watching Arizona Coyotes games while Ean Larson was there is lying but he had this reputation like I remember a lot of people saying he’s the best defensive defenseman in the National Hockey League full stop this guy’s incredible but nobody sees him because he plays where he plays and then he kind he went from that to being essentially like what the [ __ ] happened like totally trash his underlying numbers were bad um and I’ll say it when he got traded to Vancouver I was very critical of Vancouver to do that deal because like they got rid of those contracts that were almost up to take him on and he had a lot of term like why would you do that for this guy who’s watching up and things kind of turned around from him there and like you said he won a cup with Florida um but at that number again 3.5 million these numbers now like as long as he’s not an outright liability 3.5 million if he just brings average play consistent play he’s a vet like he’s on the power play once in a while you’re getting your value and and you made the point four years he signed to least 36 who knows right I’m not going to be stereotypical but swedes usually take care of their bodies pretty well um but yeah that one that that one lowkey H I think it’s a talk Bruno is that a better signing in your eyes than the tanv signing or is that one of those ones everyone now’s excited about tanv because of the brand but in like two years could we be like no no no no emman Larson was the better signing that’s a really good question like I I’m a big fan of egman Larsson as I said I thought he was excellent for the Panthers um during the season in the Stanley Cup Playoffs because even you know during the season Brandon Montour it took him a while to come back into the lineup because he had offseason shoulder surgery and Ean Larson took on a bigger role at least at the start of the year and then obviously as the playoffs progressed like you saw how much confidence Paul Maurice had in him you know to have him run the first Power Play unit play all the minutes that he did honestly I I think both signings it’s almost like a 5050 coin toss to me because as you said everyone’s talking about tanv he’s a the Toronto guy the brand I think both just like in a vacuum were were very good signings and both are going to provide an upgrade for the team and yeah I think there’s a real possibility that in a couple years the the Oliver emman Larson signing actually ends up being a better signing than the tanif signing based on the money at least it’s time for a quick break for a word about mancate are you ready to enjoy the summer just like the Leafs because if you are you are in luck because our friends over at manscaped have you covered from head to toe this summer season with the performance package 5.0 Ultra this ultimate all-in-one grooming kit is set to have you looking and feeling your absolute best trust manscaped and unlock the confidence you need to turn heads this summer join the 10 million men worldwide who trust manscaped for 20% off and free shipping at manscape.com use our exclusive code gfp2 leapor manscape never disappoints unlike the Toronto Maple Leaves they always disappoint Anthony Bruno gentlemen if you are like Anthony Bruno and you have a villa on Lake Como and you rock your speedo on the beach next to George Clooney’s uh Villa make sure you look the part make sure you’re silky smooth and use products from manscape like Bruno said promo code gfp2 for 20% off in free sh shipping you heard him head to manscape.com for 20% off in free shipping using our exclusive code gf20 that is code gfp2 at manscape.com for 20% off and free shipping I promise you will not be disappointed it’s time for an important message from better help a sponsor of today’s episode sometimes in life we go through difficult times whether that’s personally whether that’s in a relationship and you’re mental health cannot be ignored and a lot of times you can’t tackle these situations by yourself you need help and that’s where better help comes in they make therapy easier and much less intimidating for a lot of people better help lets you have therapy sessions as a phone call video chat or even messaging whatever is most comfortable for you better help will connect you with one of 30,000 therapists in their Network and in most cases you’ll be connected with a therapist within 48 hours so go to betterhelp.com slgfp for 10% off your first month of therapy leapor this service is incredible it is incredible Anthony Bruno uh mental health is something that’s very serious and be aware if you’re going through a dark time you do not have to try to beat this thing alone there are Services out there they can provide you with some great help better help is number one when it comes to that as Bruno mentioned there are different ways you can get in touch with people different ways you can contact people it’s all up to you go to betterhelp.com gfp join 4 million people who have used better help to live healthier and happier lives so go to better help.com gfp for 10% off your first month of therapy to connect with a therapist and see if better health is right for you what are your thoughts on stallers Anthony stallers 6’6 goalie he was the backup to Sergey babski last year had incredible Advanced stats like he was one of the top guys in the league in terms of goals saved above expected but you know was it the result of playing on a Panthers team that was the best defensive team in the NHL maybe but you know he’s going to be here to push Joseph wall as the backup he’s probably going to play like 30ish games and who knows wall has a terrible history of staying healthy so stallers might actually be the starter at some point so what are your thoughts on stallers as the uh as the backup I’m actually kind of confused by that signing on his end because I look at us and why wouldn’t we do that I mean we all knew we were going to try to get that we weren’t going to get an a goalie like this number one starting guy so everyone’s like hey something similar to what Samy made and a deal that’s not complete and utter hope because that’s how I always that’s what I always say when we talk about deals I say okay you signed this guy for that amount of money and that amount of term how much hope is in what you see are you just hoping that this player plays to that level because if you are that’s not a good thing but there’s always that little bit of Hope right a little bit of optimism so from our eyes getting him at that price for two years for the type of guy we were going to look for to me it’s 10 out of 10 like why wouldn’t why wouldn’t the leaves do that this guy well more do you want this guy had good numbers he’s not that old it’s only a two-year deal it’s not that much money so who cares really like why wouldn’t we do that on his end I don’t get it because Joseph wall signed that four-year deal okay and with the year stolar had last year I thought he was going to get a lot of attention in free agency I thought there a lot of teams were going to go chasing a few of my buddies here s fans were talking about him during the season I already circled him and say hey he’s a free agent like this guy we should make a play for this guy obviously they got all Mark but I don’t know like I can’t really see the opportunity he sees maybe he points to like okay there Wall’s still a kid and he’s injury-prone so I may get the spotlight and if this kid gets hurt he’s ltir so it’s my crease and we’ll go from there so I’m happy with it I’m a Leafs fan so so I’m happy with it I’m just just on his end I don’t know why he didn’t I don’t know why he did choose Toronto because I’m pretty surprised no one came forward and offered him a starting job would say not like no one was going to go crazy and give this guy s eight million but even more money in more term maybe like hey this is your net to lose so I don’t know what your your take on the whole thing is I think this was more of a long-term play for Anthony stolar because I would imagine he probably could have got a bigger contract from sub else but you said it man Joseph wall can’t stay healthy he’s going to be in the spotlight look at Jack Campbell when he took over the starting job in Toronto he had a really good stretch was an Allstar then fell off a cliff and then signed a 5 by five with the Oilers so stolar can can be thinking you know what this is an amazing opportunity this is a good team it’s gonna make the playoffs I might end up playing the majority of the games here I could easily steal the starting job and then next thing you know he signed a 5-year contract for 25 million either as the leaf starter or he goes somewhere else so I I think it’s just a it’s a really good opportunity for him so maybe he he didn’t take as much right now but he put himself in a pretty darn good situation to to get the bag down the road yeah he’s hoping for the uh the post Toronto M beliefs talkx on when he hits free agency in two years and we all know it’s a real thing you’re lying I say all the time if I was a mid to below average National Hockey League player on the wrong side of 30 or approaching 30 Toronto is where I would want to play I mean you go over guys like Luke Shen you mentioned Jack Campbell these these guys get these deals lbushkin see the contract he got like where am I it’s crazy like the Toronto thing is real and I’m not pumping the tires of my team I I I don’t know don’t know what it is it could just be like an intention thing and a bias thing but I mean I’m happy about it and of the of all our free agent signings Bruno I’ll say it man I think the stolar deal may have the highest ceiling than than all those other deals because who knows like it’s a gamble it’s a goalie and I’m the first one to say save percentage is a team stat and the guy had like a 925 last year I think it was so who knows what’ll happen in Toronto with a team that’s not as buttoned up defensively or maybe now they will be we’ll see with these other guys they signed but I just think it’s got a lot of potential of this guy he shown that he can be very good and if he is very good that’s a hell of a deal at at that at that price point yeah it’s a pretty good take listen let’s you know even though I completely ripped the term for the tanv contract I think like you know in a vacuum just thinking about okay like who are the best players here tanov was the best signing at least I think it’ll be the case over the next one to two years but in terms of like total value you touched on it I think emman Larsson might end up being the best signing here just based on you know he’s still 32 years old he looked good last season he can play on the power play so I’m goingon to say shortterm the best signing was tanev and I’m gonna say over the next like three to four years Oliver emman Larson but before we move on leapor your thoughts on the guys that the Leafs resigned yeah DOI and lilligren because you know this this Max doy thing I think people are getting so carried away with it obviously it’s a thing his father you know has so much history as a member of this team DOI has an amazing social media game like he resigns and he makes that video from The Wolf of Wall Street and people are losing their [ __ ] but can we just take a step back and understand like this dude scored nine goals last year uh I get it he’s a good player really good playmaker like what’s what’s that number like his assist his assist per 60 at five on five was like one the best in the NHL I totally get it but I mean yeah it’s like other than that like it is what it is like people are I think are are too excited about this do coming back like he’s a fine player you know even lilligren like solid player right shot defenseman but I am not getting overly excited about either of these guys coming back I just I think they’re good players like I think they’re both good signings but I don’t think you know either of them is really moving the needle for this team yeah I think the doy deal I think it’s a fair deal for a guy that age and the career he’s had but you said it it’s brand people are excited we’re insecure leaves fans so when a guy actually does want to play here we’re like what the [ __ ] and we can we get all excited like the the pretty girl at school likes me what no way but uh I mean again it’s cool people like him social media we have a lot of robots on the team and what I do like about it and this comes into play not in not in many markets in the National Hockey League in different sports it does but in the National Hockey League I always picture the difference or try to think about the difference it is after a practice or after a game in the locker room when it comes to the media and like who they want out who they want to speak to that stuff and in some markets there’s like no one like the media is super small there’s nobody they really want to talk to then you have a market like Toronto where there’s a hard list of guy of guys they want to talk to and I think what a guy like DOI brings is he provides a distraction like he can stop like I’ll do the talking you can put the mic on me give Austin the night off and he’s good enough on the mic and he’s popular enough that it he’s not out of line or out of place doing that so that’s what I appreciate about DOI being around and again anything to distract from any possible negativity that can happen during the season right like even DOI last year he started out terribly he wasn’t having a good year we were hard on him but it wasn’t that bad because K really it’s DOI whereas like T Tavarez had that streak what do you go 10 11 games that a goal we wanted his [ __ ] head on a silver platter so DOI having him there the personality it helps I think I think it helps in a market like Toronto so I I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy about it I’ll sum it up that way I will say this I think it was a better decision to resign DOI at this number than resigned berzi for what he got which I believe was 5.5 million like d Do’s faster so he provides this team with more speed he’s more versatile than Tyler bruzi he actually wants to be here this is a this is a dude that has dreamed of winning a Stanley Cup in Toronto which you know as corny as that sounds I think it’s important because there’s not a lot of guys especially GTA guys that actually want to play here and he has committed to this team wants to be here so that’s exciting as well so listen he’s going to provide versatility wants to be here more speed checks a lot of boxes it’s just I’m not getting overly excited I think the key for this team and it’s really the key for any of these top teams like you need you need your young guys to take a leap you need Matthew NIS to take a leap next year Bobby McMahon I understand he’s a little bit older but you need that dude to take a leap like that’s how this team is going to improve like we can’t have Matthew NY score like 15 goals again like can he become a 25 goal scorer next season like that those are the things that will take this team to the next level because at this point looking at the free agent Market there’s really not anything out there that the Leafs can do to improve the top six at this point so they need guys to take leaps internally or there’s going to be a trade at some point either before the season starts or during the season to improve this team yeah I’m with you with the bruzi one like I kind of waved on it back and forth I think there was definitely a recency bias with it cu the only reason why I was even considering it to be a good idea was because he finished pretty strong and that was kind of the BR we were hoping with all year but the more I thought about it I just went over the things I think domy brings and some of them are off the ice I look at the number it would have taken to sign bruzi and we saw what he signed for was it five and a half so we got he got a little raise five and a half million like does he make our team better really originally better maybe yeah What needle What needle does he move and I I said during the season or towards the end of the season I thought n like I was hard on NIS all last year up until maybe the final third of the Season where I really thought he turned it on and by the end of the season my take was well he’s better than bruzi he does what we were hoping bruzi would do so why would we give this guy five a half million in term who’s older and seems to be inconsistent right right so I was okay with letting him walk I I think that kind of would have been a lazy signing had we signed brusi like safe but you don’t want to be safe with those guys who are average and don’t really move the needle and don’t necessarily make very little money before we move on do you have any other takes on anything else that happened with the Leafs and free agency what do what your thoughts on the Lily the Lily signing people were Lily is one of the most polarizing players man lowkey with the Tron M beliefs some people love lilligren some people say they want him gone some people are calling your organization idiots because they show on paper that they like him by giving him a contract but they have him in the Press Box sometimes strange man what’s your take on him recently I think lilin’s a a good depth defenseman I I’m actually more of a fan than him I I’m I would say you know if you were to if you were to pull most Leaf fans maybe it’s 50/50 split down the middle maybe 6040 like don’t like 60 like them 40 don’t like him I’m in the camp that I actually like Timothy lilligren he kind of is what he is I think he provides a little more offense than he gets credit for so listen I I think he’s a nice depth defenseman and at that number you know what is it officially here three million a year over two years I mean like it’s not bad at all man yeah yeah for that again for for that money what what do you really want and how bad will he have to be for us to be really pissed off about it so I’m happy with it like I like I think with the whole draft thing how he was projected at first people had unreasonable expectations for him but I I I don’t see like people are so hard on him with sandine like there was games I wanted to rip my [ __ ] hero because he was just getting out muscl sandine was so small like he’s just a really small guy yeah yeah whereas lilligren actually has size he can move he can provide offense like L’s a nice depth defense but you could do a lot worse for AEP defenseman than Timothy lren that’s my opinion anyway let’s do this really quickly Bruno of the guys Toronto who are guys who did not sign with Toronto who did you really want or who were you really hoping for being reasonable geez that’s that’s a really good question um the one guy I thought was going to choose Toronto who I kind of really would have liked in the top six is Jeff Skinner like I I think that would have been a really nice fit now defensively he’s kind of terrible but there’s a team that needs goal scoring Jeff Skinner he can score goals I think he would have been a nice fit especially for the price that Edmonton got him for which I believe was three million um so I think that’s the one guy that sticks out to me there’s not another name maybe that’s you know that’s jumping out at me how about you I wanted Skinner as well um there’s Buzz that the Leafs actually made a pretty hard pitch for him and they even presented that he would they would give him a shot with Matthews and Marner but what’s hilarious is that that’s an amazing pitch but you have someone else saying yeah but you get to play with Conor McDavid so oh awkward but yeah I I would have liked skanner at at that price I thought it was very good and it’s great value for Edmonton I wanted zadorov I fell in love with I fell in love with zadorov over the playoffs like before there’s all the connections with Trill living and I was like ah who like people are overhyping this whatever but then watching him in the playoffs watching these games for Vancouver he never shut the [ __ ] up every time the camera was on and he’s huge and runs into people constantly I loved it he never stopped beaking and then he took that shot at Edmonton I’m like this guy’d be perfect in Toronto in the big would you ra would you rather have zadorov than tanv or did you want to sign both of them I want I’m greedy Bruno I wanted it all okay yeah but if you had to pick one who would you pick what did zadorov sign again for five million yeah I want to say it was actually may have even been a shade over five I want to say let me double check here is Zora okay no six years five million on the nose so essentially the same deal as T of$ 500,000 more but he’s how old yeah he’s a lot younger than Chris tanip I want to say he’s at least three to four years younger at Le oh at least at least I’d say I’m 5050 on it like if like if you made that swap I wouldn’t I wouldn’t be affected by it but I’m greedy and I wanted both the other one and people are going to be surprised at this one and he took a lot of [ __ ] in this city but I think this kid has a lot of potential and he never got the proper opportunity here and it kind of fits into what Toronto needs I wanted Eric branstrom okay the the SS let him walk and here’s this kid he can skate at the time of his when he was drafted and the deal with was made or when the deal was made um because he was in the The Mark Stone trade people said he was the best defenseman in the draft and people a lot of people like Ottawa won that deal getting this kid he can skate he moves the puck he’s frustrating because he can be a turnover machine because he’s soft like we just talked talked about what sandine looked like while he was in Toronto but I just think this kid still has a ceiling and can be a lot better his underlying numbers are insane insane and that may have to do with what competition he he’s put up against and I’m not sitting here saying I think he could be like a top two defenseman even even maybe like a third defenseman but for the money for a million bucks I would have G I would have been happy to gamble on branstrom and we talk about us not being able to score goals us not being able to move the puck he he does that his his Zone exits are very good from from from his underlying numbers again like there there are turnover problems and sorry maybe it’s the Zone exits that are not strong but his uh what do they call it his like Zone to zone is very good he he moves he does move the puck so I thought I thought for a million bucks like I would have been down for that kid you know the only BR laor he’s too small for Brad sh living yeah on the back end 510 185 that is way too small for Brad TR living he’s even signing he’s even signing monster goalies [ __ ] we can’t even we’re not even we’re not letting anyone in who’s not big yeah you have to be like at least like six foot two to be signed by Brad TR living and listen he he’s he wanted zadorov too like he very clearly even going back to last year wanted both tanv and zadorov didn’t get zadorov but yeah trving likes a big nasty mean defense Corp and honestly right now I think the Leaf’s Decor looks pretty good overall thanksd before we get into probably the juiciest topic of the podcast cast I want to close free agency with this who do you think is the best team in the NHL right now post free agency and again I know I’m saying post free agency even though it’s technically still going on but all the big fish have been signed so right now who do you think is the best team in the league because I know who I think is the best team in the league yeah I’m I’m going to give a boring answer and you’re probably gonna say the same thing and I I [ __ ] hate that but I think the obvious answer is okay you look at a lot of teams and I will say this I will look in the camera and I will say this straight I’m starting to feel bad for a lot of teams around the National Hockey League because there’s this whole idea in hockey where they think teams have sort of like a window and there’s a cycle and they’re good for four to five years and then they go down and rebuild so teams always look forward to think okay like that’s when our young kids will be getting better and then that’s our opportunity to maybe top the division or make a run in the playoffs but the good teams weren’t getting any weaker and I was talking to some sense fans and they’re like their their feelings are low right now man they look at free agency and the guy L they looked me in the face and said well on paper the Leafs got better Florida’s Florida Boston got better with Tampa’s moves they’re at least the same those are the the Atlantic division is still a gauntlet man I’m even team like for teams like uh Ottawa for Buffalo for Detroit like they’re still in a rough spot Montreal same thing e even for me I’d be lying if I said if I said that I wasn’t at a point where I was like okay Tampa’s kind of teetering right now and they’re gonna start their way down no [ __ ] it they get the they get maybe the biggest free agent signing they’re not going anywhere it’s like would you guys go away and the Bruins same thing with the Bruins oh CR you retired virginal are retired they pick up L lindom and zadorov man these teams aren’t getting any weaker so it’s tough like I feel bad for a lot of these teams who were trying to find their way up um but I think the easy answer is Edmonton because you could have argued last year they were the best team in the league and if you look at what they added with Skinner I mean well they didn’t get worse they if you’re going to make an argument they at least got better so easy answer and hate to give a boring answer but I think it’s the Edmonton Oilers no that that’s the correct answer I think the Edmonton Oilers are very clearly the best team in the NHL heading in the next season and mostly because they’re running it back with the same roster uh plus a couple of very good improvements they signed Victor arvidson which what I thought was a low-key very good free agent signing this is like a 25 30 goal scorer who’s going to play with some very high-end players they were able to bring in Jeff Skinner they’re running it back with basically the exact same team this is going to and listen I said this you know as this season came to an end that it was their last chance to kind of win the cup but they’re gonna have one more year to do it because this team looks like it’s better than the team last year on paper and the betting odds back it up right now the Oilers are the betting favor to win the Stanley Cup next season yeah so uh the books are telling us the exact same thing their forward group looks amazing their defense Corel Len you could still poke some holes in their decor and steart Skinner and net um but they came one win away from winning the Stanley Cup and now they’ve upgraded up front and you know they’re bringing the band back they they they’re obviously gonna have to make a decision well really it’s not their decision but what what’s going to happen with dry Cal is he gonna resign is he gonna walk I don’t think they’re gonna trade him like I think they’re just gonna [ __ ] yeah hope they win the Stanley Cup and then obviously the McDavid decision is going to happen the following year so this is a damn good hockey team man heading into next season yeah how much I hate to I hate to bring this up and this is so leaves Toronto filled holes people can say about what they signed and whatever Toronto had needs and they address them full stop so Le fan should be very happy about that how far away is Toronto from that in terms of what they could have done in free agency like if they say signed Skinner and zador would you be like the Leafs are the [ __ ] the Leafs are it yeah I think the Leafs are still maybe a player or two away from me being like extremely confident or confident in their like Stanley Cup chances but I think the Leafs are still like in that group to be honest with you again it all comes down to what the hell are there big guys going to do in the playoffs because they have all underwhelmed it hasn’t just been Mitch Marner which I’ve been yelling about the last like three or four podcasts Matthews hasn’t been good enough in the playoffs tarez hasn’t been good enough the only guy that’s actually like carried over his success from the regular season to the playoffs has been William neander so that’s what it comes down to then could NIS take a leap is Bobby McMahon gonna take a leap um will stolar or Joseph wall end up providing quality goal tending like that I mean that’s what it comes down to the Le the leaps are a good team here here like let’s not get it twisted I don’t think they’re that far off like these top teams I think they’re they’re in the mix like wouldn’t you still agree that the Leafs are easily like a top 8 to 10 team in the NHL I know that’s not saying a ton yeah I mean but I think they’re easily a top eight to 10 team in the league well I think the fact of the matter is they finished it was with 101 points last year and they had a bad year I think the Leafs really had a bad year they had um they had a it was not so much their start like their kind of their second phase this season was pretty [ __ ] and they had goal tending issues they were down to their Third String Goalie it’s like they they didn’t have a good regular season I never thought they were that good they never look good to the eye and they still finished with 101 points and you look at what’s out and what they what they brought in okay like they replaced Brody and kingberg with tanv and oel okay samsonov with stolar if you I’m quick math if you add those three in and add those three out we’re still ahead on the cap and then like we retained DOI like you can make you could say that we lost bruzi but like I said with that really what did we lose so again I I think this team easily Clips 100 points and that puts them in that mix of teams that are you g to pick them to win the Stanley Cup no but they’re good enough to beat almost anybody if not everybody so in conclusion the Oilers are the best team in the league the Leafs are going to Coast into the playoffs again and the Ottawa Senators are going to miss the playoffs again great really great you said it not me can’t wait for that episode preseason preview all right man before we close out this episode we got to talk about some juicy news that was reported by Nick kyprios and I’ll read his quote it’s on the Leaf’s captaincy in John tarz so here’s what Nick kiio said on his show on sportset he said from what I’m hearing the Leafs are contemplating taking the captaincy away from tarz and giving it to Austin they will talk about it I’m not saying it’s going to happen but it’s real now this is something that I’ve been kind of beating the drum on because I think the Leafs need a new captain they need to move on from Tavarez I know people have said ah bring him back on a HomeTown discount I want nothing to do with this guy moving forward and again it’s nothing against him as a person or even as a player like I think he’s still a pretty good player but I think the Leafs just need to move on from him as the as the captain I would love to see Austin Matthews as the captain I think even Morgan Riley is Captain material and say what you want about Riley I know there’s people saying to trade him as well but I think either of those guys would be a better fit as Captain and maybe that would provide you know maybe another jolt to this team because obviously there’s the coaching change baru is coming in um but other than that you know obviously these free agent signings but we’ve seen what it’s done to some teams in the past like even San Jose right when they took the captain C away from thoron I think all in all like that was actually like a positive move for them um so yeah I mean I would I like to see it I wouldn’t mind seeing it to be honest with you because I don’t think tars is going to be here long term do I think it’s G to happen no I don’t because this is a team that kind of plays it safe with a lot of the things they do but I think moving forward this is clearly Austin Matthews team and maybe it’s better to to give him the C sooner rather than later yeah I I would just think he’s a year away why do it from his contract ending why do it now why not do do it when either he leaves completely or he takes the Toronto discounts so then it’s like okay he can give the speech I’m passing on these responsibilities to whether it’s Matthews or whomever because they’ve earned it I I just think it’s it’s too loud of a thing to do now and to give the attention that’ll bring all together on him resigning with the team there’ll be a lot of takes saying well now they’re not going to resign them and I don’t think they want that attention all around and maybe they don’t care but I I just think it’s too loud of a thing to do and it doesn’t really serve enough of a purpose to not wait in my eyes you might as well wait to do it and the whole Matthews thing being Captain okay Bruno okay other than Matthews being the that’s funny other than Matthews being the best player in the history of the franchise okay why do you think he should be Captain well I think he should be Captain because now I think we’ve seen a lot of maturity in him like I did not think he should he should have got the the captaincy you know when they ended up giving it to John tarz just because he was still young you know he had that stupid incident where like he pulled down his pants whatever the hell happened with that like I think he was still honestly he was a kid still at the time but now he’s been in the league for eight years he’s been through a lot of wars in the playoffs he’s been through a lot of like rough times as a leaf I think he is now like fully prepared we’ve seen him win two rocket Rashard trophies a hard trophy he obviously has the accolades he’s been around long enough now where he’s obviously one of the veteran leaders on this team and he’s one of the faces of the NHL so I I I think and I think he’s he’s been a lot better just in terms of like his communication how he speaks publicly when he’s talking to the media I think he’s taken a lot of strides and I think he would be a good Captain i i i there’s no doubt about it in my mind you know what I say to that why’d you only sign for four years Austin yeah that’s that’s a good question and I ripped his ass when he only signed for four years I wish he signed an eight-year deal but that’s a good point it’s a really good point why should you get it I you’re not committing to us you’re not committing to us you’re saying you don’t want to be here forever or you want to make as much money as possible like I’m sorry I have an issue with that and even if he gets cap let’s say he gets the captaincy at the end of this season what we may need another one in three years of yeah you know I’ll just decide to walk we try to make beliefs man like we push you around you don’t push us around I don’t like it I don’t like it I wouldn’t I would not want him to be Captain I would have a huge problem with Austin Matthews being Captain because I understand it I understand the brand of it and the marketing of it at the end of it’s a letter on a Jersey it’s all [ __ ] um but no I I I don’t I I don’t see it like I I say I don’t see it I see it I just I don’t love it at all like could Matthews easily just resign for another four years and keep doing this to maximize his dollar sure but you saying that just sparked a thought in my head and something that really pissed me off before we closed this out was Sam Reinhard heart signing an 8-year deal for 8.625 million to return to Florida this guy scored 57 goals last year 10 in the playoffs the Stanley Cup game-winning goal in game seven and he just returns to Florida for under $9 million that is crazy to me and it just goes to show the advantages that these Florida teams have not only because of you know how good they are and the and the climate there and the tax benefits it’s just uh it’s crazy it’s like all these teams even Tampa right like they have this this structure where like no one on the team makes more than nine and a half at least on Tampa in Florida’s case barov is the highest paid guy at 10 a year and then you have the Leafs with Matthews making 13 and a quarter neander 115 Barner who’s probably going to resign for 115 to 12 and then you know you have that happening in Toronto and you see Sam Reinhardt signed for 8.6 5 million like what a slap in the face that is Jesus see I I got to talk to someone in hockey or a highend accountant to fully understand the differences here because I’ve heard I’ve had people tell me the whole tax thing is [ __ ] because you get paid based on where you are when you’re working so it’s state to state anyway and of course you’re at home more often but also I’ve heard you can do it so you set up a company in a certain place like I’ve heard rumors that Matthews has set something up in Arizona so they pay his company rather than paying him if you have the accounts you can do it one number two I haven’t seen the structure of the reinart deal but I assume he’s it’s not front loaded like these Toronto deals are so there’s the benefit there so then what is it what is it like this guy he easily could ass sign for two million a year more for the for the max term easily and he said no so is it the tax thing like am am I have I been lied to about you can dance around it is it just a matter of where you play because I thought about that I thought about people talk about pressure or the pressure of a city and sometimes I buy it sometimes I don’t but one thing I will say is I can see a player saying well I just have to deal with more here and not that I don’t like it but I just have to deal with more here so I’m not taking a discount whereas when you play in Florida it’s like H your life’s relaxed you know it’s just there’s no real pressure they had like 47 people at their parade haha no Panthers fans are pretty insecure about that blobbing how many people came to their parade but uh I wonder if it’s that it’s I’m in this big Market I get all this attention I have three bad games in a row everybody wants me dead and that’s fine I’m okay with that I like playing in this market but I’m not gonna sign at a discount because I’m earning it with like the whole head space thing I have to deal with I don’t know but I think it’s a Canadian tax and this might even sound ridicul ulous but a lot of these guys like to golf and they get to golf all year in Florida like it just I don’t know it just seems like a more appealing lifestyle honestly and I think you’re lying to yourself if you think otherwise unless you’re like the most hardcore Canadian ever but gez yeah I mean it’s tough It’s like these guys are saying hey you want me to come play in Canada you better pay me an extra couple million dollars or else I’m just going to go right down to the US and go play for one of these Florida teams and um and just enjoy my life and not have to deal with the [ __ ] that they have to deal with in Toronto for example yeah I’d like to know the number I’d like to know the the number for Reinhardt say if Montreal wanted to sign him and he was open to it what’s the number he’s putting there probably like 10 or 11 million more like number one you said because of Canada and because the climate and the lifestyle thing maybe that it’s that simple but then like Bruno if you were that Pro Hockey player making that decision we’re talking an 8-year deal two extra million year that’s $16 million a lot of money that’s a lot of money man that’s a lot maybe it’s not worth it to some of these guys who just want to be low-key maybe their their wife or their girlfriend really loves it there and again they can kind of fly under the radar no one really cares about if they play good or they play poorly and they just collect their paycheck and they win hockey games yeah I’ve heard I’ve heard a a former he was an assistant GM actually assistant GM with Toronto in jam with the capitals and he made the point he said never underestimate the power of the wife or the girlfriend in these decisions so a lot of times when guys guys leave and they seem angry it’s like sometimes that’s the wife or the girlfriend saying let’s get the [ __ ] out of here and even all weird how he stayed it’s because their partner didn’t want to leave and nothing’s wrong with that it’s your life it’s your family I’m just making the point that it’s not something we really think about that these guys have families and have lives like that and have to make decisions with their Partners screw you Florida hockey teams signing 10 to 11 million players for a shade over eight million God anyway leor is there anything else you want to get off your chest before we wrap up this podcast 150 Bruno 150 I have’t make the joke that they haven’t shut us down yet but I don’t think there’s any Looking Back Now I think I think we’re smooth sailing until we’re in the grave with this podcast to everyone CH grin the boys are going strong 150 when we started this thing back in I I can’t even remember now I believe it was January 2021 we were like we have no idea what’s going to happen uh we’re kind of in the middle of Co and we started this thing and next thing you know we’ve now recorded 150 episodes so congratulations to us laor and thank you gfp Nation for following along for 150 episodes we appreciate your support so so much but that is going to do it for episode one 150 150 the gluns for punishment podcast or gfp a Toronto May beliefs in NHL podcast hosted by Michael leapor and Anthony Bruno as I say after every podcast if you’re a firsttime listener or a longtime listener and you really enjoyed this episode please consider giving us a fstar rating and review on Apple or Spotify it does wonders to help out this podcast and if you’re watching us on YouTube and you really enjoyed the content smash the like button subscribe to the channel leave a comment down with your take on how the Leafs did in free agency and while you’re at it ring the notification Bell so you know exactly when the gfp podcast is posting some new content so for Michael leore I’m Anthony Bruno thank you for 150 and we will see you in the next one thanks everyone [Music] [Applause]