I say run it back

Team: 2023-24 Toronto Maple Leafs

Initial Creation Date: May 15, 2023

Published: May 17, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

I know. Leaf fans are angry and we NEED CHANGE. RIght? And everyone else is acting like sharks in the water hoping to get one of nylander, marner or matthews. But let's run this thing back...we're really not that far away from breaking through even more. Could we end up losing in the 1st round again? Sure. But I haven't seen a single trade scenario that makes me think we'll end up a better team in the short term by moving any of these guys. And I don't care about the long-term yet.

I looked at a Murray buy-out...but year 2, when the cap hit is $2m, is when we'll need the cap space more than this upcoming year. So maybe he moves his NTC if he understands he's the 3rd guy on the depth chart here.

So move a 1st to dump him...maybe get a 2nd or a 3rd to move Sammy's rights...then sign a vet goalie to backup Woll. I'd be cool is Sammy does 2-3 years between $4-5m too. I'd figure that out first before deciding if O'Reilly is someone we want to commit to again.

Schenn, Aciari and Kampf would be the guys I bring back....then gauge what Bunting is looking for vs if Bertuzzi will come here and at what cost.

Knies can play top 6 from what he's shown us. Worst case he's 3rd pairing but I think you give him the chance to play with our big dogs. I like the size and grit of Bert and Knies on the left side with our other 4 skilled players.

If there's a trade for Brodie and a chance to sign Dumba...I'd consider it just for the youth and mobility...TJ seemed to be slowing down a lot down the stretch.

But I really want to see this core to the end of Tavares' contract and then see what his $11m coming off the books can do for us.

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