Leafs Positioning for BLOCKBUSTER Move...

Toronto Maple Leafs are positioning for a blockbuster move, and in what felt like a bit of a pipe dream just a couple days ago as there was loose rumors surrounding Nikita Kucherov and the Toronto Maple Leafs, multiple reports have dropped over the last six to 12 hours, revealing that not only have things picked up surrounding the Leafs' interest, but some new details surrounding Nikita Kucherov and what his plan is to get himself paired with Austin Matthews. I'm going to break down that. As well as a new report that just dropped from Pierre Lebrun revealing the Leafs' interest. There is a ton of news to go over today. And I also want to say, it's not in the avenue that many people initially thought. So we'll break that down as well as a few other updates, including a move they made surrounding Bo Grew. Lots to go over today. Before we get into it, if you're enjoying the Daily Leafs content, make sure to hit that subscribe button. You guys have been beast with the support. There is. To be honest, I didn't expect to be making this video, but there's too much to talk about for us not to do it. And I want to start with the Pierre Lebrun report. It sets the stage good here for what the rest of this video is about. So Toronto Maple Leafs, there is no question that they have interest. The idea of Nikita Kucherov playing with Austin Matthews and Kirill Marchenko could be appealing on all fronts. When it comes to Toronto and Montreal, I think we're talking July 1st and not so much Tampa being willing to move him within the division by a trade in season. There's kind of two fronts here. A lot of the reports today are about the potential of an off-season move. I know, Darius, you're more likely, or you're more kind of on the side of, you think that's more likely. I still think there's an avenue for a trade here, and you can call me crazy. I think that there's too much smoke here for there not to be. We can discuss it. But there was also an article, I just want to lay it all out, via RG, which is a, Darius, I'll kind of let you explain who they are, but they are insiders. Now, are they as credible as Pierre Lebrun and Elliott Freeman? Maybe not, but you can see here, Toronto is the more realistic option and the most realistic option between Montreal and other teams. And the report goes as far to say it will not be a trade. He will just go there in the summer because he wants to pair himself not only with Kirill Marchenko, but specifically with Austin Matthews. So Darius, tons of reports dropped today. This was the big one, an anonymous NHL source via RG basically saying that Kucherov is plotting now this whole time to make a push Push to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now you can make the argument that Dan Milstein is using the Toronto media and the Montreal media, the two biggest markets in the league outside of New York to, you know, push this a little bit further, get his client more money, yada, yada, yada. We've been talking about it the last couple of days, right? You could definitely make that argument. But on the other side of things, we know for a fact that John Chayka and Dan Milstein have a good working relationship right now. So, uh, and that goes. And obviously with the Marchenko move after that happened, John Chayka came out and said that, you know, Milstein's very fair and pleasant to work with and all these other things. And I don't know what else he was going to say. But anyway, RG Media, you know, very reputable source. And this is coming from an anonymous NHL source. So it could be like a GM. It could be a scout. And we don't know exactly what team. But again, they're saying it's not going to happen via trade, which, by the way, would be very difficult. Right. Like you said, Nick, like, is there an avenue for it to happen still? Of course, like if the Leafs really wanted to make that work and they wanted to acquire Nikita Kucherov, they can make it work. It would be so difficult with the tagging stuff, you know, heading into next year. They would have to move so much money and so much money that's... wrapped up in no-movement clauses. But if they wanted to make it work and it was a perfect world, of course that could happen, but it would be difficult. And the reason why it is difficult is because he can't force his way to Toronto. And that's something I was talking about the other day. The only way it would work that way is if he had, like, in his contract, which he doesn't, a no-movement clause. He has to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 10-team trade list, right? So it's not like in our Tammy Panarin situation, like I was talking about the other day, where he said, I want to go to L.A., trade me to L.A., and then the Kings said, hey, we'll give you a third-round pick and our best prospect. Be happy with it, right? And that's it. So it's a little bit different than that situation. But when you look moving forward, what was the quote that we first heard the day that all of this came out from Emily Kaplan? He wants to play with a superstar. If you look around the league and some of the teams that have been named, Montreal doesn't have a superstar. They have a really good young team. They don't have a superstar. Who has a superstar? The Leafs have, I would think, at least two right now. And maybe he wants to play with them. Maybe he does want to come to Toronto. Maybe his agent has a great relationship with the general manager here in Toronto. I think that's very interesting and it's very doable, right? They can move money in the off season if they wanted to do that come, you know, July 1st. The other interesting thing here, Nick, is like, does Tampa just run the table with this, keep him and then, you know, trade his rights for, you know, little assets, like something small in the off season. That's something that could be a very real possibility where it's not a trade in season with the Leafs, but maybe there is a trade to be had right before free agency opens. Yeah. And you can see here. Started on the 30th, a shocking report that he requested a trade. We had a video, and we basically said in the video right after that, probably not going to happen. Then the next day, a report came out that Toronto was on his list. So then we started thinking, okay, maybe it's possible. Now today, keep in mind, if you don't want to believe RG, they are reputable. Pierre Lebrun literally said this like 30 minutes ago or an hour ago, and there's no question they have interest. And the reason I think a trade, it's probably not likely, it's like you mentioned, the no trade, the no movement. This is going to be something to watch for a while, though. The Leafs have a very decent offer if they wanted to go and do it. It would be the most complicated offer you could probably find, but they could make it work if they want to jump the gun a little bit. And that's where it gets interesting. Now there is Darren Drago talking about how it would, I mean, it's absurd. The ask is for Austin Matthews, which is kind of, which is kind of, there's zero chance that ever happens. So I'm going to go ahead and ignore that because I think it's just a little bit stupid, quite frankly, but that's fine there realistically. And we can briefly talk about what it would take. Darren Drager said, you're talking about top young NHL players, up-and-comers like Easton Cowan, top prospects, and draft picks. So what it would take to get Kucherov in a Leafs jersey via trade, and we'll obviously be talking about Nikita Kucherov in the offseason, it would be Easton Cowan, at least one first round pick, and probably, I mean, it has to be salary filler. So I would presume Morgan, Riley, and Dakota Joshua, something like that would kind of make the salaries work. Then you have a hole at blue line. They could make it work. It is interesting. And also reports came out today from Kucherov's side. He spoke to the media. Like he's still going to play for Tampa Bay. So there might be the most obvious outcome here is what you said. I think earlier they keep them, they play through and they do a trade kind of like the Leafs did for Chris Tana. If they get something back for him, they try to win the cup this year. And then if the Leafs end up wanting them, they could of course get them. But yeah, it is a, it is wild. And Nikita Khrushchev is still going to be playing with the Tampa Bay Lightning. So a bit less pressure there, but no other team has been linked besides the Toronto Maple Leafs and briefly the Toronto or the Montreal Canadiens. And Kucherov has come out and asked for this trade because he's giving the organization an opportunity to get something for him, right? I think that he's being, you know, kind of respectful in that way because he's leaving. He's basically informed them, I'm leaving one way or another on July 1st. If you would like to trade me, then trade me. We'll work on a list here so you can get something for me. Or again, I'm walking. Now, I want to bring up, because you brought up this Pierre Lebrun report. One thing that I thought was interesting from the last part of this, and yes, I'm looking into everything now. Um, The last part of that, Tampa Bay is a little reluctant to trade him to a divisional opponent in season. What about out of season? What about after the season, right? For less assets, because obviously people are, you know, Darren Drager with Austin Matthews thing. I think his point was more like it would cost you like a superstar. Like that's what they would look for in return. You're never going to trade Austin Matthews for Nikita Kucherov, an expiring deal. Like, what are we talking about, right? But, you know, in-season, that's what they're talking about. So, again, what about in the off-season? Could you trade for his rights? The Leafs have done that multiple times over the last couple of seasons we've seen, right, or off-season. So I think that becomes a very interesting option. And then not only that, let's say July 1st comes, nobody's training for his rights, which would be in the best interest of the Tampa Bay Lightning. You can just walk to whatever team you want. And if he wants to play with a superstar, I could see him coming to Toronto. A lot of people scoff at that. He's not American. He's not American, right? Like that whole thing where like, oh, these guys don't want to play in Canada. No, like it's been reported that he would come to Canada. He would come to Montreal. He would go to Toronto. Money's not an issue. He literally said that today. He feels disrespected, kind of like the whole Stephen Stamkos thing by the organization that they've only spoken twice about this. And he's like, I'm the leading scorer for you guys all time. I've won two Stanley Cups. I've been one of the top three players in the NHL for the last 10 seasons. And you guys don't want to offer me a contract, but he feels disrespected. He said, it's not really about money. Now he's going to make a lot of money, right? He's going to make a lot of money. It's not like he's going to take 9 million or something like that. But Nick, I think there's a, there's a, there's a way this happens. I just don't think it's in season. I think it would be in the off season and then there would have to be a lot of money moved around as well. Again, the tagging rule, if there was no tagging rule, it would be a little bit easier in season, I think. But it's just not going to happen. But you can see both of them compare it like he's like a top three player in the league, right? Like this would be a huge get even at his age. So it would be interesting to talk about, you know, heading into next season. But then, like, how does that also affect Connor McDavid? Because that's going to be a thing, too, in two years, right? So all of that to say, Nick, I don't know if you feel differently. It's fun. We're going to continue to talk about it. It's going to continue to progress. They need a defenseman, right? Like, let's pour our assets, our energy, the mindset, whatever that is, into helping the defense because they've got a solid forward group. Yeah, let us know down below. You can see here, I mean, they would be maybe outside of Drysaddle and McDavid, the best duo in the NHL, if they came on the same team. You have McDavid in there. Let's have fun. Let's get three of them and then go and win a cup and build a super team. But, yeah, there's going to be a lot of updates. It'll make for an interesting season, interesting off season. And yeah, we'll keep you up to date every step of the way. Comment down below what you guys think. Thank you guys for watching. And more importantly, do you want them to pursue Nikita Kucherov in the off season?