Snapshots: Stastny, Hextall, Klefbom
The Vegas Golden Knights may have lost a pair of high-end forwards in James Neal and David Perron, but the team did bring in an important free agent this offseason when they signed center Paul Stastny to a three-year deal. The 32-year-old center showed off his impressive skills after he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets from St. Louis at the trade deadline. Stastny was given the role of anchoring a line with their star youngsters’ Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers and that line was a key part of the team’s deep playoff run, before being eliminated by Vegas.
Now ironically in Vegas and expected to center the team’s second line, Stastny said he spends a lot of his offseason training much differently considering that he’s entering that portion of a players’ career where a decline begins. Stastny told The Athletic’s Ryan Clark (subscription required) that he spends a lot of time focusing on off-ice things, especially his diet.
“Trying to keep up with your diet, trying to stay lean, trying to stay quick because as you get older, you might lose that step,” Stastny said. “The game’s changed from my first year where it was a lot heavier, stronger, touch and grabbing to know where it’s just not as much physical. A lot more skating and you gotta keep with that endurance as much as you can.”
Stastny, who posted 16 goals and 53 points between St. Louis and Winnipeg, expects to join the team’s second line between Alex Tuch and either Erik Haula or Tomas Tatar.
- David Isaac of the Courier Post interviewed Philadelphia Flyers head coach Ron Hextall, who said in the Q&A that the team looked into upgrading their bottom-six this year in hopes of improving their penalty kill, which struggled last year, but felt they were unable to do that. The special teams’ unit played better over the final 25 games, according to Hextall, but he would still like to add a penalty killing forward, if possible. “I’m open to it, but it would probably be more of a lateral move on the market rather than a free agent,” Hextall said. “It would be a forward. We’d like to add a penalty-killing forward but to this point there’s been nothing there that’s made enough sense for us to move.”
- The Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins wonders if this is the year that defenseman Oscar Klefbom puts it all together, especially now that reports are coming in that say he’s 100 percent already with just a couple of weeks before training camp. The 25-year-old had a breakout season in 2016-17 when he tallied 12 goals and 38 points, but struggled through an injury-plagued 2017-18. Now healthy, the scribe believes this is the year he takes that next step.
2018-19 Season Primer: Winnipeg Jets
With the NHL season now just a month away, it’s time to look at what each team has done this summer and what to watch for in the year to come. Today, we focus on the Winnipeg Jets.
Last Season: 52-20-10 record (114 points), second in the Central Division (lost to Vegas in the third round, beat Nashville in the second round, beat Minnesota in the first round)
Remaining Cap Space: $10.24MM per CapFriendly (still need to re-sign G Eric Comrie and D Josh Morrissey)
Key Newcomer: G Laurent Brossoit (free agency, Edmonton)
Key Departures: F Joel Armia (trade with Montreal), D Toby Enstrom (free agency, Sweden), F Matt Hendricks (free agency, Minnesota), G Michael Hutchinson (free agency, Florida), G Steve Mason (trade with Montreal), F Shawn Matthias (free agency, unsigned), F Paul Stastny (free agency, Vegas)
[Related: Jets Depth Chart From Roster Resource]
Player To Watch: D Jacob Trouba – With last season being a contract year, many eyes were on Trouba to see if he could take that next step forward coming off of a career season in 2016-17. Instead, he battled injury trouble with an ankle issue and a concussion and wound up playing in a career-low 55 games. Accordingly, the Jets didn’t appear to be ready to commit to him long-term and the sides wound up going through arbitration with Trouba receiving a $5MM award.
Now, the 24-year-old finds himself in the exact same situation as last season as he’s once again in a contract year with arbitration eligibility in the summer. Will he be able to have that breakthrough year and show the Jets that he’s worthy of a big-ticket contract to make him the focal point of their back end?
If that doesn’t happen, then even more questions are going to be raised about his future. His previous contract negotiations haven’t exactly been the smoothest and he’ll hit next summer being one year away from UFA eligibility. If a long-term deal with Winnipeg isn’t in the cards, then all of a sudden, Trouba becomes a strong trade candidate. As a result, not only will he be trying to show the Jets he’s worthy of a long-term deal, he could very well be showcasing himself around the league with his play next season as well.
Key Storyline: We may only be in September, ten months away from the next free agent period but it’s safe to say that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff’s activity in 2018-19 will be with July of 2019 at the forefront of his thought process.
Joining Trouba as core players on expiring contracts are defenseman Tyler Myers (UFA) plus wingers Patrik Laine (RFA), Kyle Connor (RFA), and Blake Wheeler (UFA). Those are a lot of key cogs in need of new deals and they’re going to have some challenges locking all of them up and staying under the cap.
Winnipeg presently has a little over $44MM on the books for ten players in 2019-20, an amount that will go up by a few million once Morrissey’s deal gets done. Laine could conceivably get ten times his current AAV ($925K), Connor could go from $925K to between $5MM and $7MM, while the other three will undoubtedly be seeking raises as well. Put it all together and there’s a cap crunch on the horizon.
With that in mind, it will be interesting to see if Winnipeg looks to try to shed some payroll throughout the season. Their move to give Armia to Montreal to take Mason’s contract off the books gives them plenty of wiggle room for 2018-19 but sooner than later, they’re going to have to take steps to create some more space for 2019-20 and beyond.
Overall Outlook: Despite losing Stastny, Winnipeg heads into the upcoming season with high expectations. The core that was there for all of last year remains intact and the continued development of some of their key youngsters should help offset Stastny’s departure. As things stand, the Jets have to be considered as one of the top threats in the Western Conference.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NHL Rookie Tournaments Set For Early September
8/31: The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders have joined to fray, as their rookie camps will clash in prospects game on September 12th at the Isles’ practice facility, the teams announced. This leaves only the Florida Panthers without a competition for their rookies in the coming weeks.
8/24: Before team training camps open up for veterans, the rookies get some work in each year with various rookie tournaments and exhibition games taking place around the continent. This is where you can catch your favorite team:
- The most well-known preseason rookie tournament is obviously the Traverse City NHL Prospect Tournament. The annual tournament hosted by the Detroit Red Wings is in its 20th year of existence. The format consists of two four-team “divisions” who play a round-robin tournament with the winner of each group earning a berth in the championship game. Featured this year are the Red Wings, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, and St. Louis Blues. The games run from September 7th to September 11th.
- Buffalo is again set to host the Sabres’ Prospect Challenge Tournament. Running from September 7th to 10th, it is a single group round robin tournament with the Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, and Pittsburgh Penguins joining the Sabres on their home ice. This will be the first game action for top overall pick and preseason Calder Trophy favorite Rasmus Dahlin.
- Across the border, the three eastern Canadian teams are set to square off in Laval, Quebec, the home of the Montreal Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket. The Habs announced a set of three games featuring themselves, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Ottawa Senators on September 7th, 8th, and 9th.
- On the other side of the country, a previous rookie tournament has been split in half. The NHL Young Stars Tournament, held in Penticton, British Columbia, will now contain only the Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks, as well as a pair of collegiate teams in a three-day series of games from September 7th to 9th. The Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames chose not to participate this year and will instead face-off in one singular game in Red Deer, Alberta on September 12th.
- The Vegas Golden Knights are set to host the first of a revolving tournament among U.S.-based Western Conference teams. Nicknamed the Vegas Rookie Faceoff, Sin City will be the location of this year’s tournament which also features the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks. It will be a three-day, nine-game series taking place on September 8th, 9th, and 11th. The tournament is expected to head to Anaheim next year.
- Finally, the NHL’s southeastern squads will square off in Estero, Florida at the home of the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. The Prospect Showcase will be four days of games between the Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning, and defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals, taking place from September 8th to 11th.
For all updates on rookie tournament rosters, check in with Roster Resource and their running tracker of roster announcements.
Jets Re-Sign J.C. Lipon
The Jets have inked another of their restricted free agents, announcing the re-signing of winger J.C. Lipon to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay him the league minimum of $650K at the NHL level while Postmedia’s Ken Wiebe adds (Twitter link) that he will receive $150K at the minor league level. The contract contains a total guarantee of $210K.
The 25-year-old spent all of last season with Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate in Manitoba and posted his best numbers since his rookie professional season. In 68 games with the Moose, he collected 17 goals and 21 assists which ranked him tied for eighth on the team in points.
Lipon has just nine games of NHL experience under his belt in his five-year professional career. Those contests came in 2015-16 where he picked up a single assist in that time. Since then, he has been an important cog for their farm team and spent the past two seasons as an alternate captain, a role he is likely to reprise in 2018-19 assuming he clears waivers as expected.
The Jets still have work to do heading into training camp as they still have two of the 13 remaining RFAs around the league in defenseman Josh Morrissey and goalie Eric Comrie. While Comrie will likely sign a short-term deal, Morrissey’s case is much more prominent. While there haven’t been reports as to whether he’s working on a bridge contract or a long-term pact, he did express optimism last week that a deal would be reached in time for training camp.
Winnipeg Jets Sign Kristian Vesalainen To Entry-Level Deal
5:29: Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun tweets that there is a clause in Vesalainen’s contract that will allow him to return to Europe in the first year of the deal if he doesn’t make the Winnipeg roster out of training camp. Considering that $925K is considered the maximum AAV of an entry-level deal, Wiebe adds that the AAV of 1.49MM is assuming that Vesalainen hits all of his performance bonuses.
4:08: The Winnipeg Jets announced they have signed 2017 first-round pick Kristian Vesalainen to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal has an AAV worth $1.49MM.
There was some concern on what the Jets would do with Vesalainen as his contract in Finland had run out, yet Winnipeg still hadn’t signed the 19-year-old power forward. The prospect’s services were highly-sought after and the belief was that he was holding out for a chance to make the Jets’ roster this season. While not impossible, that might be challenging as the Jets’ roster is full as the team is coming off a season in which they made it to the Western Conference championship. Regardless, the Jets now have the opportunity to control his destiny as they could keep him, loan him to his old team in Finland or Sweden or send him to the AHL, although the team may prefer to keep him in North America.
The 6-foot-3, 207-pound winger had a breakout year, playing in the Liiga in Finland last season. He tallied 22 goals and 21 assists between two teams and helped his team, Karpat, capture the Liiga championships, with an impressive playoff performance, scoring four goals and eight points in 18 playoff games.
Central Notes: Seguin, Jets’ Second-Line, Boqvist
While negotiations continue between Tyler Seguin and the Dallas Stars, there has been no progress when it comes to locking up the Stars’ star forward to a long-term deal. In fact, in a mailbag edition in The Athletic (subscription required), Sean Shapiro writes that it is unlikely the team and Seguin will be able to reach an agreement on an extension before the season starts, which could put a tremendous amount of pressure on Dallas management, especially if the team struggles in Jim Montgomery‘s first season as head coach.
With three coaches in the past three years and a slow start out of the gate, many might feel that Dallas could be forced to consider trading Seguin rather than eventually losing him for nothing like the New York Islanders did with John Tavares this past offseason. However, Shapiro writes that the only way general manager Jim Nill trades Seguin is if he’s on the way out as it would signify that he has failed in his bid to assemble a great team. So, it’s likely Nill and the team will do everything it can, which could include an eventual trade for another top-six player, to help convince Seguin to stay in Dallas long-term.
- Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun writes that the Winnipeg Jets will have a battle for their No. 2 center position in training camp this year. While the position was manned at the end of the year by trade acquisition Paul Stastny at the end of the season, the veteran has moved on to Vegas, opening up a competition between Bryan Little, Jack Roslovic and Adam Lowry. Roslovic might have the upper hand as the 21-year-old is an emerging talent after posting impressive numbers in the AHL last year after he posted more than a point a game with the Manitoba Moose, where he scored 15 goals and 35 points in just 32 games, while adding another five goals with the Jets in a limited role in 31 games. The 30-year-old little had a disappointing season that saw him score 16 goals and 43 points, some of the worst numbers of his career. Lowry managed to appear in just 45 games last season after dealing with multiple shoulder injuries, but may also have found his niche as a checking line center.
- Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required) examines why the Chicago Blackhawks intend to allow the OHL London Knights to develop Adam Boqvist, their top pick in the 2018 NHL draft. The eighth-overall pick is expected to breathe both talent and youth in a depleted blue line within the next year or two. While he’s not expected to be ready yet to make those contributions, the franchise had multiple options in where they could send him, including sending him back to Sweden, sending him to the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL or back to Sweden for another season. Powers said that returning him to Sweden wasn’t the best option as he only received 7:27 of ATOI with his SHL team, Brynas, last season and while that likely would increase, he would never average 20 minutes a game there. That left two options. They felt that the five-foot-nine, 157-pound blueliner wasn’t ready for the AHL, so that left sending him to juniors. London is a team they have familiarity with as Patrick Kane played there for one season as well as the fact that the Knights have a top coach in Dale Hunter and Blackhawks’ scout Jim McKellar spent 13 years with the London organization as well, which makes them feel that Boqvist should get plenty of playing time and a chance to further develop his skills.
Plenty Of Work Still Left To Do In Winnipeg
The Winnipeg Jets are one of the strongest and deepest teams in the NHL. They reached the Western Conference Finals last season on the back of a strong goaltender in Connor Hellebuyck, a never-ending offensive attack, and a diverse and talented blue line. This summer they had quite a bit of work to do to keep that group together, and have already dealt with several issues.
Hellebuyck was signed to a six-year contract, guaranteeing he’ll be in Winnipeg through his prime years, while Adam Lowry and Tucker Poolman signed multi-year deals to maintain their roles as depth players in the NHL. Jacob Trouba reached a one-year deal through the arbitration process, and crept one year closer to unrestricted free agency, and several other fringe pieces re-upped for one-year deals. Just yesterday, Nicolas Kerdiles inked his two-way deal yesterday, but unfortunately, that doesn’t cover nearly all the work the team still has to do.
First on the to-do list has to be a new deal for Josh Morrissey, who has established himself as a key left-handed counterpart to the big names on the right side for the Jets defense corps. With Toby Enstrom leaving for greener pastures, Morrissey will be asked to take on even more responsibility going forward and could demand a long-term deal. The Jets have Poolman, Dustin Byfuglien and Dmitry Kulikov signed past 2018-19, and need to get some more certainty on the blue line as they continue their negotiations with Trouba and fellow 2019 UFA Tyler Myers. For his part, Morrissey believes that a contract will get done before the start of the season. He told Jason Bell of the Winnipeg Free Press as much in a recent interview:
Everyone’s going to have their own opinions and that’s fine, but from my standpoint as a player, my agent and from our conversations with the team, everything’s been going great. Everyone’s confident it will be handled and done, definitely in time for the season.
It’s in Myers, Trouba and captain Blake Wheeler that the next group of big decisions lie. All three are scheduled for unrestricted free agency next summer, and though an extension can’t be signed with Trouba until January, the other two are potential extension candidates at any point. The team certainly doesn’t want to watch two of their most valuable players walk out the door in less than a year, especially as they just start their competitive window.
Then, there is the question of Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor. Both star forwards are heading into the final years of their entry-level contracts, and both could break the bank on long-term extensions. While Laine says there is no rush to get a deal done, the Jets have to try and save every possible dollar if they’re going to be able to bring back Wheeler and Myers too. Connor is fresh off a breakout 31-goal campaign as a rookie, and Laine looks like he’s poised to be the next great NHL goal scorer capable of winning multiple Maurice Richard trophies and contending for the Hart as league MVP. That kind of player could get an eight figure salary if he pushes hard for it, though the recent Nikita Kucherov extension could put a soft cap on winger earnings for a while.
The Jets are currently sitting with $35MM in cap space for the 2018-19 season, but that suddenly doesn’t seem like very much when you start adding up the salaries of Morrissey, Wheeler, Myers, Trouba, Laine and Connor. There’s room to keep everyone in Winnipeg, but it will be a tight fit. The next 12 months will be an incredibly busy period for GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, even while the team tries to compete for the Stanley Cup.
Jets Sign Nicolas Kerdiles To A One-Year Contract
The Jets have inked one of their remaining restricted free agents, announcing that they have re-signed winger Nicolas Kerdiles to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay the league minimum of $650K in the NHL while his minor league salary is $150K, per Postmedia’s Ken Wiebe (Twitter link).
Winnipeg acquired Kerdiles back in June from Anaheim in exchange for center Chase De Leo in what amounts to a swap of players that could benefit from a change of scenery. Although the 24-year-old got into four games with the Ducks back in the 2016-17 postseason, he wasn’t able to parlay that into a spot on the roster last season. He suited up in just two games in Anaheim while spending most of his season with AHL San Diego where he picked up 15 goals and 19 assists in 49 games.
While he will get a look with the Jets in training camp, Kerdiles will likely be AHL-bound once again when the season gets underway in October. While he will have to clear waivers to do so, he passed through unclaimed last year and should do so once again.
The Jets still have some work to do this summer. The team still has a trio of players to re-sign, headed up by defenseman Josh Morrissey. Goaltender Eric Comrie and winger J.C. Lipon are also in need of new deals and will likely join Kerdiles with Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate in Manitoba.
Snapshots: Jets, Islanders, Stars
Do the Winnipeg Jets need to reassess how they are building their team? Obviously, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and company are doing a fine job as is; the Jets finished with the second-best record in the NHL last season and boast one of the league’s youngest lineups. However, Paul Wiecek of The Winnipeg Free Press makes a valid point that with a cap crunch coming for the talented squad, the team would be better off shifting their focus away from the blue line and onto the forward corps. Wiecek cites the contract disputes with Jacob Trouba – who will be a restricted free agent once again next summer – and the still unsigned Josh Morrissey as situations that the Jets could move on from in the near future. Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot will also both be unrestricted free agents next off-season and the team will have to figure out what do there as well. Instead of continuing to devote precious cap space to the blue line, like the Jets’ Central Division rival Nashville Predators, Wiecek feels the team would be better off focusing their efforts and expenditures up front. With Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor, as well as several other young depth forwards, headed to restricted free agency in 2019, it may be in Winnipeg’s best interests to sign their talented homegrown forwards to long-term deals and look at other options on the blue line. The same goes for re-signing captain Blake Wheeler, an impending UFA would draw considerable interest if he hit the open market. Wiecek suggests the team look at the recent Stanley Cup winners, the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, who were far more invested in star power and depth up front than on the back end. With that talent already in place among the Jets’ forwards, and some dissent and long-term questions on the blue line, this may be an idea that would work out very well in Winnipeg’s favor.
- Another team making changes to their structure are the New York Islanders. However, this adjustment is one of strategy and culture under new head coach Barry Trotz. The Athletic’s Arthur Staple sat down with the recent Stanley Cup winner and learned about the whirlwind first couple of months for Trotz with the team. Trotz was not short on feelings about the club and its future:
“There’s going to be change. It’s going to be structurally, on and off the ice, expectations are going to change… On the ice, I have a vision of how we can play to be better. This team can score, with John Tavares or without John Tavares. The area it’s failed in maybe the last year and a half is on the defensive end. Just looking at the trends over the last four years, it’s clear that’s an area we need to fix. The great thing about the game, one of the hardest things to do in this league is create offense and score goals. This team has been able to do that in the last four years. One of the easiest things to correct, if there’s a commitment and a buy-in, is keeping the puck out of your net. We’ll need a bigger buy-in, we’ll put some structure, we’ll make sure the details are there and we’ll make players accountable. If they’re not, we’ll get someone who can be accountable. And we’ve got to build our players. We’ve got some unfinished products who can certainly be better. Get them to play to their capabilities, that’s all we ask. We want them to be consistent and play to their capabilities, we never ask guys to do more than they’re capable of.”
To say it has been a difficult summer for the Islanders and their fans, given the loss of Tavares and the lack of improvement elsewhere on the roster, is an understatement. However, they still obtained a successful and well-respected coach and hearing that he has a clear plan and is open about his expectations has to be a boost to the morale of the team and its supporters.
- Another new head coach has his players excited for the coming season. In speaking with Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com, Dallas Stars defenseman John Klingberg expressed his pleasure with the team’s hiring of Jim Montgomery as their new coach. Montgomery recently visited Klingberg at his home in Sweden and the talented defender came away very impressed with their first real interaction. Not only was Klingberg very appreciative of his new bench boss’ willingness to make the long trek to visit him, but also connected with Montgomery about his plans for the team and his own individual development. Klingberg feels that Montgomery can help him transform into a true No. 1 defenseman and that his plan for the team will play to the elite puck-movers strength. Klingberg summarized his excitement for the new campaign nicely, telling Zeisberger that he and Montgomery “have the potential to do some big things.”
What Does The Future Hold For Jake Gardiner?
Before July 1st, few people outside of the Toronto Maple Leafs front office were too concerned about the contract status of defenseman Jake Gardiner, who enters the final year of his current deal in 2018-19. Then Drew Doughty, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Ryan McDonagh, and Ryan Ellis all preemptively signed long, expensive extensions. Just like that, the situation for Gardiner changed completely.
Looking ahead to next summer, there is now an argument to be made that Gardiner is the second-best defenseman on the unrestricted free agent market as it currently stands. That was far from true earlier this summer. He has gone from an afterthought to an Erik Karlsson consolation prize. While the free agent class features many prominent veteran defenders – Jay Bouwmeester, Anton Stralman, Marc Methot, and Alexander Edler – it lacks many long-term pieces behind Karlsson and Gardiner. The Winnipeg Jets’ Tyler Myers and the Vegas Golden Knights’ Nate Schmidt would perhaps offer Gardiner some competition, if either unexpectedly reaches the market, but there is a strong case to be made that Gardiner would be the superior target.
The real question is whether or not Gardiner actually makes it to free agency. While nothing has changed about Gardiner’s value or ability since July 1st, his relative cost has shifted dramatically. With a potentially loaded free agent market for defensemen, Gardiner would have been taking a risk by turning down a fair extension from the Leafs to pursue other offers that may not have come once the smoke cleared from the major signings. Now that he almost certainly will be considered one of the top available names, Toronto may have to pay a premium to keep him from testing the waters, if they can. By the time Gardiner finishes next season, his career games played and offensive production will likely be superior to those currently of a player like McDonagh, who just signed a seven-year extension worth $6.75MM AAV. Granted, Gardiner is not the all-around player that McDonagh is, but given his continuously improving play and the boost of being a top available younger player, it is a fair frame of reference. For example, look at the four-year, $18.2MM contract that Calvin de Haan – considered by many to be the best defenseman in this current free agent class – signed with the Carolina Hurricanes this summer despite missing the majority of last season due to injury. The market sets the price and scarcity drives up price.
So will Toronto ante up to keep Gardiner? The Maple Leafs have to be careful with their long-term salary cap management. The team still owes William Nylander a contract this summer, as well as extensions for Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner by next off-season. Those are the three names that everyone is focused on when it comes to Toronto. Yet, in addition to Gardiner, other impending free agents that the Leafs would like to keep include forwards Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson, and Josh Leivo, defensemen Travis Dermott, Andreas Borgman, and Connor Carrick, goaltender Garret Sparks, and even incoming imports Par Lindholm and Igor Ozhiganov who could win spots on the team this season. This is the final year that Toronto can take advantage of this massive group of bargain players, all of whom are paid $1.3MM or less and due raises. Not to mention, signing Gardiner and the other blue liners and losing veteran Ron Hainsey will still keep a massive hole open on the right side of the defense that the team will need to continue to search to fill.
The numbers simply don’t seem to add up, at least not very neatly. It would seem difficult for the Maple Leafs to pay Gardiner his market value, extend all of their other key impending free agents, fill the gap on the right side of the top pair next to Morgan Rielly, and still somehow end up under the salary cap next season. The story line to watch this season, as the John Tavares era begins, is whether the Jake Gardiner era is ending. Another career year for the capable defenseman could leave the Leafs without much choice but to let him walk next off-season and continue to work with a pieced together blue line. Do they trade him at the deadline? Do they trade a young core forward to replace him? Or instead do they somehow move salary to fit Gardiner in at any cost? Find out in 2018-19.