Stamkos "likes" tweet

[havanablast21]

God I hope Toronto doesn't sign him... that would make no sense whatsoever given our time horizon. It'd basically be like signing Kessel back again.

I've gotta believe Babcock and Shanny are smarter than this...

I get your rationale, but I respectfully disagree Blayze. Not talking trading for Stamkos. We're talking simply signing a 26 year old Stamkos to Join JVR, Rielly, and not far behind Nylander and Marner. I see no reason not to ...to be honest!

[blayze]

I get your rationale, but I respectfully disagree Blayze. Not talking trading for Stamkos. We're talking simply signing a 26 year old Stamkos to Join JVR, Rielly, and not far behind Nylander and Marner. I see no reason not to ...to be honest!

What's the point?

Their window to win is in 4+ years... signing Stamkos today only ensures that they'll win a few more games each year while working their way out of a top 3 pick for each of the next 3-4 years (and STILL missing the playoffs).

By the time they are ready to win, Stamkos will probably be a 60 pt player at the rate he's deteriorating. Completely pointless move that is counter-productive to our long term strategy.

It's called a REBUILD for a reason folks... what we need is to stockpile prospects and young players, and continue to develop them.

Leafs are going to be SHIT for the next 3-4 years... and that's a GOOD thing.

[StuntMan12]

Leafs are going to be SHIT for the next 3-4 years... and that's a GOOD thing.

I feel the same way.


(Habs fan) hehe

[blayze]

I feel the same way.


(Habs fan) hehe

I wouldn't feel so good if I were a habs fan... you guys are going to just continue to have solid regular seasons and inevitably get eliminated in rounds 2-3 by teams with more depth.

[StuntMan12]

I wouldn't feel so good if I were a habs fan... you guys are going to just continue to have solid regular seasons and inevitably get eliminated in rounds 2-3 by teams with more depth.

Yeah the Leafs are in such a better shape than the Canadiens. #1 team in the Eastern Conference with the best goalie in the world in Carey Price who is only 28 years old. We have many good young players on our team, Patches, Subban, Chucky, Gally, Beaulieu, Ghetto, McCaron, Thomas....but what do the Leafs have? And somehow I shouldnt feel good as a habs fan? And Stamkos is a mistake for a weak team to sign? What world am I living in? At least the Habs can qualify for the play-offs.

[Axeman33]

What's the point?

Their window to win is in 4+ years... signing Stamkos today only ensures that they'll win a few more games each year while working their way out of a top 3 pick for each of the next 3-4 years (and STILL missing the playoffs).

By the time they are ready to win, Stamkos will probably be a 60 pt player at the rate he's deteriorating. Completely pointless move that is counter-productive to our long term strategy.

It's called a REBUILD for a reason folks... what we need is to stockpile prospects and young players, and continue to develop them.

Leafs are going to be SHIT for the next 3-4 years... and that's a GOOD thing.

Leafs fans still don't believe they are rebuilding. That or they don't understand what an actual rebuild looks like because their team has never done one.

[Big Ev]

What's the point?

Their window to win is in 4+ years... signing Stamkos today only ensures that they'll win a few more games each year while working their way out of a top 3 pick for each of the next 3-4 years (and STILL missing the playoffs).

By the time they are ready to win, Stamkos will probably be a 60 pt player at the rate he's deteriorating. Completely pointless move that is counter-productive to our long term strategy.

It's called a REBUILD for a reason folks... what we need is to stockpile prospects and young players, and continue to develop them.

Leafs are going to be SHIT for the next 3-4 years... and that's a GOOD thing.

I don't think stamkos will make a difference for draft position. He'll be like their new kessel.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah the Leafs are in such a better shape than the Canadiens. #1 team in the Eastern Conference with the best goalie in the world in Carey Price who is only 28 years old. We have many good young players on our team, Patches, Subban, Chucky, Gally, Beaulieu, Ghetto, McCaron, Thomas....but what do the Leafs have? And somehow I shouldnt feel good as a habs fan? And Stamkos is a mistake for a weak team to sign? What world am I living in? At least the Habs can qualify for the play-offs.

Did you really list andrighetto macaron and Christina ****ing Thomas as pieces the Habs have? That just proves blayzes point...the Habs are a one man team and its showing right now.

[2014olympicgold]

I love me some Stamkos, he is my favourite player. I have a team Canada Jersey (black one) when he wasn’t even on the team technically. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, if Stamkos leaves TBL, his first choice of a destination if money was not an issue would be Toronto. However, if Toronto doesn’t pony up the cash, why would he go to Toronto for 6mill/yr when he can go to Nashville for 10mill/yr. That is my thinking.

Now as “delusional” as the world thinks every Leaf fan is, the longer this gets dragged out, the more the likelihood of this rises. GM says his first priority is to sign Stamkos long term after they were eliminated from the playoffs. Since then they have signed the coach and Condra. Doesn’t seem to be No1 priority, but obviously you can’t ignore other issues until Stamkos is signed. I get that, but come on, Chicago signed both their stars a year earlier than needed.

Is he at his stardom level he used to be at? Obviously no. Either it be lowered minutes, thinking less offensively and more defensively, not being able to use the whole ice (no longer a center), no longer being the center of the powerplay plan (the Ovi shot spot), or he’s no longer needed to score 60goals a year. I think he’s still got that talent to be lethal if he’s the No1 center on a team.

I’d love to see a JvR-Stamkos-Marner line next yr. I know it’s a pipe dream to have 1. Stamkos on the team, and 2. To have Marner not only on the Leafs, but to have him on the top line. But with the highlights of Marners passing with London this yr and last yr, I think it would be fantastic to see him with someone who can pull the trigger like Stamkos.

[Axeman33]

GMs always say things like "its our #1 priority" when it comes to special players. It's just what they say, like many cliches in sports.

The fact is, any contract around Stamkos isn't going to be easy to do and not like a contract you can do for people like the coach or a guy like Condra. There will be a lot more stipulations and aspects to any deal given to Stamkos, let alone the money.

I have no doubt they want to re-sign him and I am sure it's still a priority, but it's not something you can just sit down and whip off.

[Pengwin7]

My notes, which hold from the summer.
1. Stamkos will sign with Toronto.
2. It's not going to be a rebuild... it's going to be like what we saw with MIN... it won't be just Stamkos... it'll be Stamkos, possibly Eric Staal, possibly Byfuglien.

The tweet thing... I mean... it's an extension of everything displayed from Stamkos dating back for a while.
He's got stuff on his twitter about throwing the ball around with the Jays, supporting the Jays, etc.
I mean... that's a major passion for the city, it's sports.

Toronto hasn't had "something special" with their hockey club for a while.
They are set up with some good kids, a great coach, and lots of cap space.
Stamkos has a chance to be that real something super special for the city.
I'm talking... Gretzky-LA type legacy here.

Minnesota signed Parise/Suter in summer of 2012.
Since then they've gone 94pt pace (12-13), 98pts (13-14), 100pts (14-15), and I think/thought they were the strongest team in the West this year.
Playoffs ever year post-Parise/Suter.

It's gonna happen TOR fans... just try not to be annoying when it does.

[2014olympicgold]

GMs always say things like "its our #1 priority" when it comes to special players. It's just what they say, like many cliches in sports.

The fact is, any contract around Stamkos isn't going to be easy to do and not like a contract you can do for people like the coach or a guy like Condra. There will be a lot more stipulations and aspects to any deal given to Stamkos, let alone the money.

I have no doubt they want to re-sign him and I am sure it's still a priority, but it's not something you can just sit down and whip off.

Oh I get the ease of the coaches contract and Condra’s, but Chicago knocked off 2 of the biggest deals in league history well before they had to (1yr before). Kinda seems like Yzerman is playing with fire here and didn’t want to pay his star last yr when he should have.

My notes, which hold from the summer.
1. Stamkos will sign with Toronto.
2. It's not going to be a rebuild... it's going to be like what we saw with MIN... it won't be just Stamkos... it'll be Stamkos, possibly Eric Staal, possibly Byfuglien.

The tweet thing... I mean... it's an extension of everything displayed from Stamkos dating back for a while.
He's got stuff on his twitter about throwing the ball around with the Jays, supporting the Jays, etc.
I mean... that's a major passion for the city, it's sports.

Toronto hasn't had "something special" with their hockey club for a while.
They are set up with some good kids, a great coach, and lots of cap space.
Stamkos has a chance to be that real something super special for the city.
I'm talking... Gretzky-LA type legacy here.

Minnesota signed Parise/Suter in summer of 2012.
Since then they've gone 94pt pace (12-13), 98pts (13-14), 100pts (14-15), and I think/thought they were the strongest team in the West this year.
Playoffs ever year post-Parise/Suter.

It's gonna happen TOR fans... just try not to be annoying when it does.

I will 100% annoy every non-Leafs fan if/when he signs for a long time. “Oh you got Max Pac? Oh ya no big deal, but did you hear who the Leafs signed 5 months ago? Just some scrub named Stamkos!”

“Oh you have Crosby and Malkin? They’re good players, but they’re no Stamkos”

“Stamkos Stamkos Stamkos”

December 25^th, 2016 – “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a reminder the Leafs signed Stamkos in July”

[Axeman33]

None of us truly know the discussions that have gone on already between Stamkos and Yzerman that may or may not have lead to where they sit today. We can all assume things, but that's it.

Yzerman is a smart GM. He's not going to simply let his former 1st overall pick, franchise player and team captain walk away for nothing at the end of the year as an UFA. I guess we will have a better idea as we get closer to the trade deadline. This is my assumption.

[Pengwin7]

Yzerman is a smart GM. He's not going to simply let his former 1st overall pick, franchise player and team captain walk away for nothing at the end of the year as an UFA.

Obviously not.
But it's not completely in the GMs hands.
It may (for all we know) not at all be in Yzerman's hands. There may be NOTHING he can do.

We need to remember that hockey players get drafted, get that RFA status, they are basically gonna be forced to play where they got drafted for their first 7 years unless they are some enormous arrogant douche (Lindros).

Not every NHL player WANTS to stay with an organization for his career.
Hockey players have boyhood dreams about where the envision playing too.
Yeah... we've seen some guys settle in with their organization, but we've seen others leave.

Ilya Kovalchuk was drafted to the Thrashers. Who wants to stay there for a career? Eventually his contract ended, he was UFA. The Thrashers were out of playoffs his final year, so they traded him.
Zach Parise was drafted to the Devils. Who wants to stay there for a career? Eventually his contract ended, he was UFA. The Devils decided to keep him right to the end - but ultimately, he signed in MIN (HIS home area).

At this point in the season, I'd say this has NOTHING to do with the GM (Yzerman) and EVERYTHING to do with the player (Stamkos).
I watched this play-out first hand with Kovalchuk (they couldn't win with him at $6m, so obviously they weren't going to win with him at $12m).
And we saw this play-out with Parise - where the Devils were at the end of their legacy and had brought in the primadonna Kovalchuk as their future face of franchise.

Parise bolted to his home area - a city that LOVES hockey and was ready to embrace a HOMETOWN face.
(not to mention, a few years later, Thomas Vanek followed. We saw that coming too, yes.)

It sounds familiar, yes?


http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/81...minnesota-wild
(We could replace "Parise" with "Stamkos", replace "Minnesota" with "Toronto", replace "Suter" with "Staal", replace "Wisconsin" with "Thunder Bay".)

Parise, who is from Minneapolis, said he recruited his good friend Suter to join him in Minnesota.

"We kept in touch throughout this whole thing and we decided that we thought for both of us that the best fit would be Minnesota," Parise said in a conference call. "We're excited that it worked out and we get a chance to play with each other.

"My parents were so excited when they knew that I was considering coming back home. When I made the decision they were real excited as well. That played a big part. I grew up here, I love coming back here in the summers, and I thought, 'We enjoy it here so much it would be great to be here year round.'"

And it's a relative homecoming for Suter, who is from Wisconsin, as well.

[2014olympicgold]

I think a bigger question would be does Yzerman trade Stamkos? And does a team offer less because they know the possibility of him being just a 20game rental. It’s one thing to be a rental in terms of Wisniewski or Sekera but to be a rental player of Stamkos’s caliber, what gets offered? 1^st rounder and a former 1^st round pick? 1^st rounder+Fiala+Doughtery for 20games of Stamkos?

It’s one thing to trade for a guy and think you have a chance at resigning him, but with the rumours swirling Stamkos and Toronto, what team would pay for literally 20 games? If he’s not going to Toronto, you know he’s hitting FA for sure if he’s traded.

[roenick27]

Is he (does someone have any info) just not happy there? I kind of feel like last year he was viewed in many respects as a "2nd" liner. Now this year it seems he's struggling even more. Is it maybe not a loss of talent, but more a "trade me" type thing? I don't think he's dogging it or anything, but maybe lost that "elite" edge subconsciously maybe? I just get the feeling that this isn't the Stammer that we've been accustomed to/will see again in a TOR, as a 1st liner again?

This is one situation that has me totally befuddled (IRL and for Dynasty Cap)