Getting Creative with the Top 6

Any Teams interested, for picks

Forward explanations

Nylander - Matthews - Marner would be a truly dominant line. Nylander would be in such a great position to succeed as he would play with faster guys who can make an impact off the rush (his biggest strength), which Tavares could not. This line also played ~50 mins together total this year and posted an outstanding ~70 xGF% (small sample size yes but still very impressive).
Bunting - Tavares - Marchment would work extremely well as both Bunting and Marchment are the type of guys that Tavares works best with. Muck and grind guys who can fetch the puck and play the cycle instead of the rush like Nylander. Nylander and Tavares often held each other back due to opposite game styles. These lines would get the best out of both of them. This also addresses Dubas’ want for “added tenacity”.
Engvall - Kampf - Robertson. Robertson is clearly ready for a full time NHL spot, especially in the top 9, and I think this line could be very effective. Robertson would be a similar situation to Nylander when he played with the other two (being the go-to finisher and offensive threat), but Robertson would further help this line defensively as he is more engaged defensively compared to Willy and is a very hard battler as well. If Robertson struggles in the shut down role, then he can move down to the 4th line where ZAR moves up to play the shut down role.
4th line would be more of an energy line. Whoever the 4C would be a younger and faster guy, and could provide offence similar to Spezza in that role. ZAR is a very solid defensive forward who could do some good on the forecheck and make our 4th line especially reliable in their own end. Anderson is certainly NHL ready and is very well suited for a long term 3rd/4th line spot. Solid two way player who isn’t afraid to battle

Defence explanations

Rielly - Gio: Giordano would be such an amazing fit for Rielly. Reliable defensively, incredibly smart, and still talented offensively and when moving the puck. My one concern is if he’s comfortable playing the right side, but if not I’m sure Rielly can (who used to also play RD). One or the other on RD and that’s fine. If both want LD, then adjustments are to be made to the rest of the d pairs but this I think could work extremely well.
Muzzin - Brodie would log big minutes and be a really good 2nd pair. They worked extremely well together in the playoffs and with Muzzin (hopefully) being fully healthy and bouncing back this could easily be one of the best 2nd pairs on the league.
Sandin - Liljegren are both incredibly gifted and smart Defencemen. Both have already shown they can dominate possession and the xG%, and they’re only getting better. It’s not a stretch to call this the single best 3rd pair in the league considering that when they were paired together just last year they posted amazing results, and will only get better (plus they will get sheltered in 3rd pair roles, allowing them to be even more dominant)
7th d man is Stetcher who is coming off a short year and therefore likely isn’t in a position to command much money in FA. If he commands more than other 7D can be found but I like the fit a lot. If an injury happens, we need the 7th d man to be a RD like. Stetcher is a good 3rd pair d man who again likely won’t be able to command too much, so we can get him cheap.

Goalies

Bring back Soup. When healthy he was extremely good, but he had a really bad second half while dealing with some injuries. Don’t commit too long term to him on this contract, 2-3 years is very much ideal (at around 5M). Not many other goalie options on the market and Soup is the 2nd best UFA goalie out there rn, plus he’s already familiar with the system and is loved by the team. Would love to have him back
The Backup spot is interesting but I could see it going to any of these 4 goalies. Scott is very talented but his health is a major concern. If he comes into next year healthy he is likely ready for the spot, but again it’s just a matter of whether he’s healthy or not. Woll and Kallgren both have posted mediocre AHL numbers but showed some good flashes in their short NHL stints. At least one should hopefully be backup calibre next year. McKay is a wild card. Dominant in college and was one of the best non-NHL goalies in the world. I could easily see him becoming a very good NHL goalie if all goes right. He signed an AHL contract with the Marlies a few months ago and if he impresses I’m sure the Leafs give him a contract (by not giving him an NHL contract right away this means that no team can claim him off waivers immediately if he gets sent down to start the year to show what he’s got. If he earns the call up he’ll get the contract).
Personally I think the best options are McKay and Scott in terms of talent and who could be the best, but their situations make it more difficult fs, and they’re more gambles. With 4 guys here tho, the odds are extremely high that at least one will be capable of being at least a good NHL back up for minimum 25 or so games