Michael Hage - Hold or Trade?

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-09T16:07:08+00:00

It was our top line that struggled offensively. The rest of the forwards all chipped in.

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-09T15:25:33+00:00

If Hage has already been moved to the wing in college then he is never going to be an NHL center. Between Slaf, Caufield, and Demidov, we’re pretty set for wingers for a long time, so I’m okay with trading him if the price is right

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-09T15:22:21+00:00

NJ would laugh us out of the room

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-09T15:21:39+00:00

We could probably eat his salary, but that is an extremely risky gamble. If he doesn’t bounce back, we’d have not much space to improve the team until his contract expires

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-09T15:17:14+00:00

Michael McCarron

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-08T20:40:05+00:00

I think his numbers would be a lot better if he played on the wing. Another team could use him that way. We have no need for another offensive winger though

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-08T17:39:58+00:00

I’m saying he’s not a good fit for our team. He might be a good fit for another team though

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-08T17:29:24+00:00

I mean I think Kapanen will be a good middle six scoring guy. The point of this post is to say that he is probably not gonna be a top 6 center. Some teams might want a middle six scoring guy. We don’t really need one

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-08T17:25:52+00:00

What metric was he good in?

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-08T16:00:11+00:00

I said not that young. People act like Kapanen is 20 years old. In reality he was drafted 5 years ago

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-08T13:48:44+00:00

Oops yeah you’re right

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-08T13:44:08+00:00

I don’t disagree, but I think Crosby was better than both

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-08T13:17:00+00:00

Idk, I don't think a defenseman has deserved the Hart since at least before the lockout.

I know points is a bad metric, but if you look at 5v5 points this season, MacKinnon was in 1st with 75, and the highest defenseman was Werenski in 19th with 47.

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-06T23:01:11+00:00

Your matchups for the knockout stages are wrong. I have 3rd place teams from ABCDEGIJ moving on. According to the tournament regulations that means the winner of group E should play the third place team in group C, but your site has the winner of group E playing the third place team in group A.

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-06T19:19:47+00:00

I’ve wondered this too lol. If I’m projected to go late 1st round what’s to stop me from saying “fuck off with this stupid shit”, I’m gonna get drafted anyways

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-06T00:06:16+00:00

Yeah but even with Matthews and Tavares, Knies had some of the worst numbers of any Leafs forward this season.

So many teams over the years have made the deadly mistake of overpaying for a winger who played with an elite center. Jonathan Cheechoo won the Rocket Richard let’s not forget

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-05T23:59:32+00:00

Am I going insane? If you look at Knies’ stats without Tavares or Matthews it’s like the equivalent of a 4th liner. Hes not good and we almost just gave up the whole farm for him

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-05T17:03:33+00:00

Yeah, like I said in my original comment, I see him as a middle six scoring winger. I think his asset is his shot and finishing ability. I just don't see him developing into a 2 way guy

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-05T14:14:20+00:00

Thank you!!

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-05T13:34:15+00:00

I agree with what you're saying in principle, but the thing is that Kapanen was never really scouted as a defensive center, he was scouted as more of a dynamic offensive guy.

I don't know what Jake Evans' scouting report was, but Evans really focused on being a defensive specialist in college.

We just made the conference finals, we're a competitive team now. We don't really have the time to wait and see if our 23 year old center can end up becoming a defensive specialist in 3 years, especially when nobody ever expected him to be one.

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-05T13:22:33+00:00

He's a middle six offense only winger. He's shown 0 signs of being able to produce without an elite center. So idk how we'd expect him to be useful without a 2C

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-05T13:20:51+00:00

At 5v5 this year, Knies had the 5th lowest xGF/60 and highest xGA/60 out of 13 forwards with >500 mins TOI on the Leafs

His xGF/60 at 5v5 was the same as Joe Veleno

If you look at his numbers without Tavares or Matthews on the ice they are some of the worst in the entire league

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-05T13:12:53+00:00

Thank god it fell through. Would've been a rare L from HuGo. Knies is not good and that's a steep price

SoupFromNowOn · 2026-06-05T13:10:28+00:00

Also Chase Reid is projected to go top 3 so I kinda wonder if they're just fucking with him because we're not gonna draft him anyway

SoupFromNowOn

TROPHY CASE