never said "you" wanted him...... more importantly your Bruins did. as stated above "Every team in the league would want JT91, and would/will make the sacrifices to make it happen" ; hence why the B's were shopping Krejci + . & if this is not a jealous post it is certainly not a well thought out one. a) why re-sign Gardiner, b) why does Matthews get more $, c) how does Kap get $3m?

lastly you also mention: "they just need these players to out score every team in the league smile Apparently defence is a foreign word to them" . Lets be honest here; Krug / 41 yr old Chara / J. Moore / MacAvoy (defensively) / Miller / McQuiad; are not the standard bearers for defensive responsibility. Last year the Bruins gave up 19 less goals than the leafs. 9 of which were empty netters vs the Leafs

Why would I increase the cap? Even if I did that wouldn't help much.

Horton is on cap relief

There's no way they sign for less then what I posted.

Again, being real here and not trolling. Why would I go with something that I'm not doing.

As for the AHLers I could bring them in to make a full roster but that would make me go way over the cap.

I don't watch leafs games so I'm going off what some of my leaf fan friends say which is why Kap is at 3m. As bad as Gardiner was in Game 7 I still think they'll keep him since he's still one of their better dmen. Matthews is going to want a McDavid type deal. He will want the same if not more then JT91.

As for my Bruins, yes they were shopping for him and thankfully never got him. For out D, Krug is likely out and we have depth there something the Leafs don't have.

1. You increase the cap because this is a 19-20 roster using an 18-19 cap
2. Horton's full $5.3 can go on LTIR in the offseason as was proven this offseason
3. I'm not saying your numbers for Matthews, Marner and Nylander will be wrong, but the statement that 'there's no way they sign for less' is incorrect.

Oh yeah thats fair.

@Juice I changed it with your recommendations except for the cap but we don't know where it will be next year. I'd guess 83m which would mean they'd go over. It'll be tight and think they should trade one of the stars for a top 4 dman

haha...now we're on the same page.

Yes...It will be very tight. and may involve losing a Brown/Kapanen/Johnsson if the core players demand more...and if they want to improve the D they'll likely need to include Nylander in order to get anyone of significance and be able to fit it. I think they'll roll with what the have to start the season and reassess after they see how the on-ice product looks

Of course all of this is speculation. I'm sure they might make trades to get that blue line tighter but as it stands right now the team isn't looking good for next season. Well not looking like they will be the same.

Side note, I apologize for the rudeness in comments before.

I extend apologies as well for any rudeness on my end. There's been a lot of ACGM teams coming out since Sunday afternoon either poaching RFA's with unreasonable offer sheets or flat out claiming there's no way the team can keep Matthews-Marner-Nylander not that they signed Tavares.

Most reasonable Leaf fans know that we will be right up against the cap (a place we're familiar with) and that our biggest hole is at RHD with no immediate solution or cap space available to address it.

The way I see it, we are icing an identical lineup that put up 105 points last season except we've swapped Tavares for Bozak and will have a young, promising player stepping into JVR's spot. Matthews/Marner/Nylander/Johnsson/Kapanen/Brown/Hyman will all be one year more seasoned with hopes they'll all take another step forward. Having Matthews-Tavares-Kadri up the middle with skilled wingers on each line provides a lot of depth. Most people forget that Reilly is only 24 years old and getting better each year. The defence was league-average last season but if Zaitsev plays more like yr1 than yr2 there will be a bit of improvement there too.

At the end of the day, I still think Tampa-Boston-Toronto will dominate the top 3 spots in the Atlantic which will make getting out of the 1st round a battle still...but the team, on paper, is stronger right now that the one that finished the season

Well said. The d is a good start with Reilly however they don't have that shutdown Dman they need. Regardless I think this upcoming season will be a close repeat of this past season. I can't wait for it to start.