Elliotte Friedman Leaks the Toronto Maple Leafs' Major Plans for this Upcoming Week
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With free agency coming up in a few short weeks, the Toronto Maple Leafs have a lot of issues they need to tackle, and Elliotte Friedman seems to have the scoop on all of it.
If you are a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, you understand just how much work the team needs to do this summer.
Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and Matthew Knies all need new contracts. Furthermore, there are players like Steven Lorentz who are allowed to test the open market.
According to Elliotte Friedman on "32 Thoughts," general manager Brad Treliving is ready to have some difficult conversations this week.
Toronto Maple Leafs will get to work this week
One of those conversations involves John Tavares, who has expressed his desire to return to the franchise.
I think this week you're gonna see the Leafs look at some of their summer business; Brad Treliving was away as he was dealing with his daughter's graduation.
Now, I think we start to see where their offseason gets figured out. Tavares, there was a lot of talk about him wanting to stay, and them wanting him to. As long as neither side is unreasonable, you have to believe a deal gets done.
Tavares can't offer $8M a year, and Toronto can't offer $1M a year or it won't work, but there is something here both sides are happy with.
Now, I think we start to see where their offseason gets figured out. Tavares, there was a lot of talk about him wanting to stay, and them wanting him to. As long as neither side is unreasonable, you have to believe a deal gets done.
Tavares can't offer $8M a year, and Toronto can't offer $1M a year or it won't work, but there is something here both sides are happy with.
Meanwhile, Treliving needs to have a talk with Matthew Knies about sticking around long-term and avoiding an offer sheet.
A lot of talk about Matthew Knies too.
The Maple Leafs are well aware of a potential offer sheet, but they don't want to let it get there.
Around the deadline, when they had to decide whether to move Knies or reshape their roster, there was some preliminary talks about an extension and I think they kind of know where they are going.
We are in a new era of contracts, we're feeling out where we're going with the cap going up.
But when Knies says 'I want to be a Maple Leaf' I think he's telling the truth and they believe it; they want to get a deal done before an offer sheet becomes a reality, but it's grind time now.
The Maple Leafs are well aware of a potential offer sheet, but they don't want to let it get there.
Around the deadline, when they had to decide whether to move Knies or reshape their roster, there was some preliminary talks about an extension and I think they kind of know where they are going.
We are in a new era of contracts, we're feeling out where we're going with the cap going up.
But when Knies says 'I want to be a Maple Leaf' I think he's telling the truth and they believe it; they want to get a deal done before an offer sheet becomes a reality, but it's grind time now.
Lastly, Treliving might need to reach out to Marner and Darren Ferris, who have largely kept their intentions under wraps.
Marner, I think first of all there's a lot of noise, but the team is going to ask for clarity; "Is there any conversation to be had, or is this 100% your commitment to testing the free agent market?"
They have to ask that first, see what the answer is and go from there.
They have to ask that first, see what the answer is and go from there.
Needless to say, this is going to be a busy week, and Leafs fans around the world will be holding their breaths, at least until the first week of July.
| POLL | ||
MAI 26 | 467 ANSWERS Elliotte Friedman Leaks the Toronto Maple Leafs' Major Plans for this Upcoming Week Will the Toronto Maple Leafs get better during Free Agency? | ||
| YES | 318 | 68.1 % |
| NO | 149 | 31.9 % |
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