So I dropped a nuke on Toronto yesterday...

[Peace 1,518]

So I made two pretty huge trades yesterday, and I know some people are scratching their heads wondering why I dismantled the forward group of the Toronto Legion. I think that'll be revealed in the podcast that should be released next week, but I'll go into it briefly here just because I need a media spot to write about. I traded Leo Strauss to Seattle alongside a second round pick in S78 for an inactive player and Seattle's first and third round picks in the upcoming entry draft. I also traded John Merrick to Los Angeles in exchange for Lester Green and a S78 2nd round pick. 

Now I've had to deal with it in the VHLM, but this was the first time I can recall where I've had to deal with it in the VHL. 

I had two players who just couldn't be teammates together. It's nothing against them, or against who they are as individuals, they just don't mesh well and that's something I respect. 

I spoke with gregreg about the trade and I still hold firm to what I said. I want him to be comfortable on the forum and I felt like I couldn't give that to him in Toronto, that's about as much as I'll reveal about our private discussion.

 

As for Steve, well... without revealing more private issues within what I hope is 'behind closed doors' it just wasn't working out for us. For those of you who are wondering... yes, he -- in not so direct words -- passively requested a trade from the Toronto Legion. 

But let's break down the trade. 


Toronto gave up: 
- John Merrick; 749 TPE, S73, C
- Leo Strauss; 474 TPE, S74, C

- S78 TOR 2

Toronto acquired: 
- Lester Green; 535 TPE, S74, D
- Some inactive dude.
- SEA S77 1
- SEA S77 3
- LAS S78 2

So let's eliminate the obvious values. 

Strike out the second round picks moving both ways. 

It's now Merrick and Strauss for Green, the inactive, a first and a third. 

Let's dump the inactive off that due to them being... valueless, really. Not even worth a 4th, it was a sheer 'we need to move cap to make this work' part of that deal. 

John Merrick and Leo Strauss for a first round pick, a third round pick and Lester Green. 

I think Toronto did okay here, obviously I could have gotten more value but every GM knew what was going on. 

Smarch (Lester Green) came into the LR and was immediately engaged, became a leader very quickly and the feeling of stress seemed to just melt away after he joined. We needed that, Toronto needed that. It was a breath of fresh air after the room had gotten stale, and I appreciate him taking that step up to boost the morale of everyone involved. Thank you, Smarch, seriously... thank you!

 

In terms of value, I'd say we can strike off Greene for Strauss and the third round pick. Green has a fair amount more TPE, so the third compensates -- obviously to a lesser degree -- the rough value there. That leaves Merrick for a first round pick, which is where I 'could have gotten more' with these series of trades, but I'm honestly okay with that due to the circumstances regarding the trade. Now I'm interested to see how other people break the trades down. 

Toronto now has a teeming blue line and a deplete forward group, where as prior to drafting Jolly Green Giant, Scotty Kaberle and Kristof Welch... we had a teeming forward group and a deplete blue line! 

Toronto is either side of the extremes. Seems familiar.  

 

Edited January 23, 2021 by Peace

[Victor 10,911]

11 minutes ago, Peace said:

I had two players who just couldn't be teammates together

but... don't you just trade one and keep the other then

[Peace 1,518]

2 minutes ago, Victor said:

but... don't you just trade one and keep the other then

More on that later, boss.

[ThePerfectNut 563]

Me realizing after 3 seasons that John Merrick is Steve player which his old player was guy legrande or something.

Making more sense for me now lol

[ROOKIE745 603]

Review: This is a hard one being a member of this team, but as always Peace you deliver. Good writing, pacing and tone in this case. Knowing this isn't exactly the time for humor. The spacing and and use of ... and -- helps with the serious mood of this. Trade details are shown which is nice and I liked that you mixed them together. Sorry if the review is in poor taste, just.... want the TPE ^^'' 9/10

[fyrefly 172]

Review: First things first, I love the title. Nasty clickbait, isn't it? Anyways, I do like the article, too. Outlining the trades you made, and giving a little bit of reason to it, but not enough to ruin your podcast which I'll probably listen to now. Maybe make the trade itself bold so it sticks out.

9/10

[Toast 887]

10/10 appreciate a GM willing to give people a bit of insight behind the moves. While this doesn't have specific information (shame) about what went down and why this had to happen... hopefully we'll get into it sometime later.

[Callahan 39]

Review: As a member of the team I understand why you did what you did. Granted, I don't know the full story on the players the locker room is much more active and it's like a breath of fresh air. As it goes with this media spot the serious tone and writing really shows how this needed to be done to move forward. 10/10