Interview with GM Peace about Toronto's rebuild and the keeping of Jaxx Hextall

[ROOKIE745 604]

Hello Peace and thank you for taking the time to chat with us. Toronto has seen a lot of change this off season with McDagg retiring and trading Killinger and Magnum. Let's start with McDagg retiring, did his retirement put more pressure on you to make any moves for this off season? Was being able to bring in someone from the free agent even more important?

 

"McDagg retiring wasn't a real surprise, but it certainly put some pressure on Dtayl and I to find a replacement. McDagg and Ritchie -- both 500+ TPA players for S75 -- retired earlier than we expected (although we knew Ritchie's intentions quite early compared to McDagg).

Unfortunately the available free agent pool became very thin before free agency opened; doesn't seem like the 40m cap space is an issue for most teams right now. A lot of pending unrestricted free agents resigned with their old teams to either remain with the club or agreed to a sign and trade beforehand."

 

I see, now we all know the hardships Toronto has had with the free agent market, where was your mind at when this trade deal came up? It couldn't have been easy needing to ask your three most important players about being traded and waving their NTC if they had one.

 

"I put Killinger and Magnum on the market to see what I could get with them after the free agent option started to dry up a little. I didn't make the decision right away, I was just exploring that avenue as well, and we considered just developing in the draft as well with our original target (Kaberle). Ultimately, though, Dtayl and I agreed that Toronto would be on the decline this season due to regression and inactivity had on our blueline."

 

"The decision became much more easier when I did my TPA analysis with depreciation and banked TPE in bind. Toronto would have been fighting for a wildcard position with an aging core, and that's not something any of them deserve after dealing with inconsistency in Toronto already."

 

When Hextall refused to waive his NTC how did that affect your choice? Any plans you were cooking up for the future of the team. Were you still hoping a deal could be worked out with London? Or were you more leaning on just keeping Killinger and Magnum after that?

 

"Hextall deciding not to waive his NTC didn't have any impact on the deal between Toronto and London, but I knew (at the time) London was looking for a better starting goaltender as well. A new attack plan has been developed and communicated to the Toronto Legion hoping to leverage the final few seasons Jaxx has, so we're going to put our faith in that plan."

 

How are you feeling about keeping Hextall? He is a fan favorite in the Legion fanbase and continues to work really hard, has keeping him made it harder or easier for this retool or rebuild?

 

 "I'm elated that we're keeping Hextall. Like I said in the answer above, we've got an attack plan with his as the starter. With him securing that position, Dtayl and I don't have to worry about finding another goaltender until he's about to retire, which means we can focus all of our energy on building up core pieces through the draft."

 

"That stability is amazing to have, and takes a lot of pressure away from our current core and future #1 and #2 defenders in Giant and Kaberle next season. We hope to be a playoff team again by the time Hextall is in his final season."

 

Speaking of which, to you is this a retool or rebuild? Usually when we think rebuild we think of removing the old core and getting a new younger core but with keeping Hextall their is still a piece of the old core their. Being a season 70 draftee also means he only has 3 seasons left he can play in the VHL, how confident are you that you can get the team to be a contender in those three seasons?

 

"I would claim Toronto isn't rebuilding but rather retooling. Selecting Giant and Kaberle certainly helps boost our way back towards being a playoff team and we've got a great crop of young VHL players now led by Merrick and Sens, who are both S73 players, so I'm pretty confident once Giant and Kaberle enter the VHL (both anticipated around 400+ TPA) we could make the playoffs as early as S76 as a wildcard team."

 

(word count 282, not including Peace's responses. And Peace again thank you! you seriously didn't have to type replies that long XD)

[Peace 1,532]

Oh my lord. “As well” and all the typos, I’m never doing a text interview like this on mobile again.

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

peace messed up by not taking me RIP Toronto

[Peace 1,532]

1 hour ago, TheLastOlympian07 said:

peace messed up by not taking me RIP Toronto

I tried trading up literally every pick @Esso2264 had in the second round to select you. He wouldn't trade a second round pick to me, but I did try, and everyone else 'needed it'.

 

Started to bug him a bit on the stream it sounded like. haha