Where will Stamkos end up?

[saillias]

Originally Posted by BigTuna

Then you know more than all the scouts. congrats. Why aren't you in the NHL?

Leading the AHL in scoring at 19 isn't changing your mind.

Why isn't he in the NHL? It's not like you guys are brimming with scoring depth.

Lots of guys make the NHL at 19, drafted 8th-9th including Trouba, Couturier, Hamilton, Ristolainen, Horvat, Pouliot for a stint, oh and Ehlers.

[Vinny01]

Marner, Nylander, Kadri, Rielly, Gardiner are okay pieces but I think almost every GM would take Gaudreau, Monahan, Bennett, Hamilton, Brodie quite easily as those are players doing well at the NHL level. If Stamkos is planning to come to Canada I think the Flames, Oilers, and Senators offer the most intriguing destinations. Habs have a solid roster the same age as Stamkos but I don't see him going to that circus.

[BigTuna]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Marner, Nylander, Kadri, Rielly, Gardiner are okay pieces but I think almost every GM would take Gaudreau, Monahan, Bennett, Hamilton, Brodie quite easily as those are players doing well at the NHL level. If Stamkos is planning to come to Canada I think the Flames, Oilers, and Senators offer the most intriguing destinations. Habs have a solid roster the same age as Stamkos but I don't see him going to that circus.

Why are the Flames, Oilers and Sens better destinations than his hometown team? The Sens for one have the lowest payroll. in the entire NHL They cannot afford Stamkos. They are out. And why would the Oilers give 11 or 12 million to Stamkos with their #1 need being defense and needing to sign all those forwards? This is wishful thunking on your part. Stamkos grew up a Leafs fan. That's his #1 destination.

And Kadri and Gardiner aren't likely eve in future plans. Guys like Dermott, Brown, Sparks, Percy, Timashov, Neilson + the pick this year are.

The Flames are ahead of the Leafs so of course Gms would take their NHL established players and current playoff team.

[BigTuna]

Originally Posted by saillias

Why isn't he in the NHL? It's not like you guys are brimming with scoring depth.

Lots of guys make the NHL at 19, drafted 8th-9th including Trouba, Couturier, Hamilton, Ristolainen, Horvat, Pouliot for a stint, oh and Ehlers.

Nylander was one of the best Leaf player sin training camp and the preseason. They simply want to develop him. His performance spoke for itself. There's nothing people can point to as in performance to say he wasn't good enough to be on the Leafs. He deserved to be on the team. I understand what they're doing. There's guys that are 18/19 on teams right now in the NHl that would not have been left on the Leafs if picked by them.

Would Hanifin be in the NHL if picked by the Leafs? No. Does that mean anything? No.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by BigTuna

Why are the Flames, Oilers and Sens better destinations than his hometown team? The Sens for one have the lowest payroll. in the entire NHL They cannot afford Stamkos. They are out. And why would the Oilers give 11 or 12 million to Stamkos with their #1 need being defense and needing to sign all those forwards? This is wishful thunking on your part. Stamkos grew up a Leafs fan. That's his #1 destination.

And Kadri and Gardiner aren't likely eve in future plans. Guys like Dermott, Brown, Sparks, Percy, Timashov, Neilson + the pick this year are.

The Flames are ahead of the Leafs so of course Gms would take their NHL established players and current playoff team.

Those prospect names you listed off are no names in my opinion but I don't know much about the Leafs outside of Marner, Nylander, and Kapanen

Stamkos wants to go to play his prime years on a non playoff team? A team where management he said that prospects will develop on the farm for years before getting their shot? Thst media circus is going to be very difficult to stick handle when the team is garbage like the Leafs are. Signing a free agent in year 2 of a rebuild with a team that is still dumping assets for futures is unlikely regardless of who he cheered for growing up.

At least Calgary boasts a solid blueline and elite skill upfront. The Oilers somehow have the cap space to sign him and the chance to play with McDavid could entice. I agree though I think Edmonton focuses on the blueline instead of chasing a high prices forward.

If Calgary can move a couple contracts they could be a player. The has been rumored interest (Mackenzie did say the Flames talked to Tampa about Stamkos this summer). In addition the chance to play with Gaudreau who looks every bit as good as MSL was with Stamkos also could be enticing.

If he wants the money, spotlight, and pressure he could go to Toronto. If he wants to play in Canada and win with a team on the rise maybe he picks the Flames?

[BigTuna]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Those prospect names you listed off are no names in my opinion but I don't know much about the Leafs outside of Marner, Nylander, and Kapanen

Stamkos wants to go to play his prime years on a non playoff team? A team where management he said that prospects will develop on the farm for years before getting their shot? Thst media circus is going to be very difficult to stick handle when the team is garbage like the Leafs are. Signing a free agent in year 2 of a rebuild with a team that is still dumping assets for futures is unlikely regardless of who he cheered for growing up.

At least Calgary boasts a solid blueline and elite skill upfront. The Oilers somehow have the cap space to sign him and the chance to play with McDavid could entice. I agree though I think Edmonton focuses on the blueline instead of chasing a high prices forward.

If Calgary can move a couple contracts they could be a player. The has been rumored interest (Mackenzie did say the Flames talked to Tampa about Stamkos this summer). In addition the chance to play with Gaudreau who looks every bit as good as MSL was with Stamkos also could be enticing.

If he wants the money, spotlight, and pressure he could go to Toronto. If he wants to play in Canada and win with a team on the rise maybe he picks the Flames?

Didn't stop you from commenting on their "Okay" pieces.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by BigTuna

Didn't stop you from commenting on their "Okay" pieces.

Did o really need to clarify I didn't know much about their prospects? I know enough about the garbage plugs that make up their NHL team some of which are just okay. But it is Christmas and the time to dream about a local superstar coming and saving that 40 year dumpster fire you cheer for

[trackercowe]

Have you seen Stamoks? This thread sure hasn't.

[Da_Chief]

All hail Leafs. They're amazing. They have amazing prospects. Media hates them. No one though Babcock would go there but Leafs are so amazing that he went there. Doesn't matter that in the modern NHL era they havent even made it to the Finals once. All hail the Leafs.

Now back to your regular programming. Where will Stamkos end up? I think Leafs have the best odds but a dark horse could be the Devils. They will have 30+ million in cap space and only have Zajac, Henrique, Cammi, Motteau signed up front. He will be close to New York for sponsorships, team with one of the best netminders, good young developing D.

Cammi-Stamkos-Palmieri
Henrique-Zajac-Zacha

Greene-Larsson
Merrill-Severson

Schneider

Looks like a fast rebuild to me.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by BigTuna

...Goudreau has managed to "Make It" because of elite talent. Marner and Nylnader certainly have that talent.

It's "Gaudreau."

Gaudreau made the NHL because his talent is exceptional. It is no exaggeration to say that he is right now one of the most talented players in the league. Having talent is one thing, but to compare Marner and Nylander to one of the most skilled players on the planet is grossly premature at this point.

Leafs fans can hope that these guys are half as good.

[Mr.Coffee]

Marner and Nylander are as talented as Gaudreau??????????

HAAAAAhahahahahhahahaahaaha

[Aarongavey]

I suspect Nylander will be recalled when the Leafs can ensure that he does not burn one of his 7 years for UFA eligibility. They do not want to Draisaitl him.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

I suspect Nylander will be recalled when the Leafs can ensure that he does not burn one of his 7 years for UFA eligibility. They do not want to Draisaitl him.

IIRC the oilers sent down Draisaitl before using up a RFA year. They did burn a year of his ELC.

[Heavy Jack]

Yea they sent down before he got to 40 games which is why he didnt lose an RFA year i believe. I might be reading that wrong though...

[Camronius]

Nylander looks to be a great prospect, if we had him in our system at this time, he would likely be our most promising prospect and flames fans, largely would be gushing over him (Bennett is not really a prospect any longer imo). Nothing of course is a given at this point, but Nylander's trajectory looks good. Comparing him with Schultz is silly and flawed. If opinions were to the contrary about his ability to play in the NHL it'd be far more interesting to hear about the holes in his game that would prevent him from moving forward to the next level.

As far as Stamkos goes, it'll come down to how important winning is to him. I think many teams will be willing to throw massive amounts of money at him. Personally I don't see Toronto as an attractive place for someone who wants to win, they are just too far away at this point. They could start to turn it around similar to Ottawa, Colorado or Calgary, but any team could, any they could easily flail for much longer similar to Edmonton. I would expect he join a team further along in the rebuild process than Toronto.... although who really knows what motivates him? Home town and all that could play into the decision, as a fan I think that wouldn't give him the best chance to win.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

I'll be shocked if he goes anywhere except Toronto.

Unfortunately, I think Toronto is setting themselves up to do very well in 5-ish years.

This will make me sad.

[Vinny01]

Why would a 26 year old want to go to a team that will be good when he is 31?

If Toronto gets Stamkos I see them trying to put win now pieces in place and they will botch another rebuild

[Hackey]

Has there been any kind of actual evidence that leads to all this Stamkos to Toronto speculation or is it just the fact hes from the area? I really haven't seen anything that would convince me he's going to Toronto other than it seems like everyone has jumped on this bangwagon. It makes sense and it doesn't to me. If winning a Cup is at the top of his priority list it seems like a bit of a risky choice but I guess if they did do it the pay off would be as good as he could ask for.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Why would a 26 year old want to go to a team that will be good when he is 31?

If Toronto gets Stamkos I see them trying to put win now pieces in place and they will botch another rebuild

Because it's his hometown, and they'll give him as much or more money than anybody else?

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by BACKCHECK!!!

Because it's his hometown, and they'll give him as much or more money than anybody else?

Ever since Lebron James went back to Cleveland there has been a fascination that star players want to play for their home town team. Big difference here is James actually played for, then bailed, on his home town team before returning to redeem his reputation in his home state.

Toronto media began to speculate that Stamkos would want to do the same thing. I just don't see why a guy wants to leave his contending team to go to a pressure cooker that is a bottom dweller. Stamkos is going to be 26 next year does he really want to go to a team with an incredibly demanding coach, and an even more demanding fanbase and pull them out of the gutter?

If the Leafs do offer him the most money that only adds to the pressure he will have. Kessel faced the barrage in Toronto and only could hold on for so long. Does Stamkos want that pressure only amped up a few notches?