New lines to control Babs

Lol.

But where's the 4th line gritty guys to grind it out?

Do you think the Penguins can extend Galchenyuk (3 years 15 million AAV) and Schultz (3 years 18 million AAV) and then send them to the Leafs along with a first round pick for Marner?

No. I doubt Marner ever goes anywhere, and that's a good thing - he's a heckuva hockey player, even if he is overpaid. But it is interesting to think about what 11M of cap space can get you given team needs.

The leafs have placed their bet on their core and this cap structure . I'd imagine they'll ride that bet for a few years to see what it brings them. And I don't think it's a bad bet at all. But we'll see.

This might be a hot take and I typically don't comment on other teams because I'm not knowledgeable enough but from an outside perspective:

Babcock is probably 25% of the problem here. When you're paying guys like Marner, Matthews, Tavares, Nylander you'd hope those guys are pulling your teams to win. Draisaitl and McDavid make about Matthews and Marner money so you'd hope you're getting more production from your top guys.

You guys arguably have one of the best forward corps and they can't figure it out. You guys lost 6-1 to a Crosby-less Pens team. You're top 4 (3 without Marner) should be able to get more than 1 goal for your team and that's not the coach's fault.

I don't think that's a hot take at all. Seems like a pretty spot on assessment, imo.

It is kind of a mystery as to where the leafs offense has gone. I'd say Babcock is at least 50% of the problem and the other 50% is on the players.

But you can't fire the whole team. So, fire Babcock, solve 50% of the problem with one move and sit back and watch the other half of the problem improve as a result.