This is almost laughable lol no way in hell this happens

If you take out the RFA rights to Stone, the Senators might accept, but the Leafs are definitely overpaying. The Leafs also have no need whatsoever for another offensive defenseman, and certainly shouldn't be trading away players who can actually fix their defensive weaknesses in a couple of years for it. Also, Marleau's getting older and slowing down, so without Nylander, they're really weak on wings and don't have anyone to help Anderson.

who is paying stone 8.5 million? and would get a better deal trading for Faulk or kleff this is a crazy overpayment for 1 year of a guy who might get injured....

One thing : how do you sign all those guys next summer? 11M for EK, 10.5M for Matthews, 8.5M for Marner, 5.5M for Gardiner. That's 35.5M right there, so you're at 88.1M$ with 15 roster players (need 8 more and the cap will be at 83M$ TOP)...not well thought out, pal

Karlsson to Toronto is a fact. Since the Sens have dithered so much on trading EK, he stays a Sens. I've checked the schedule, EK plays in Toronto three times this season.

Leafs have no need for the best defenseman in the league? lol. and the odds of Liljegren turning into even half the player that Karlsson is are pretty slim. And as for the wings being weakened, Stone is an upgrade on Nylander. McElhinney is a capable backup and if he fails then call up Sparks or trade for one.



Start with 2.4 million in cap space. Trade Marleau after the season. Let Gardiner, McBackup, Ennis and Hainsey walk. Karlsson's 6,500,000 comes off the books as well. That's 24,700,000 or more. Enough to re-sign Marner and Karlsson and get some depth pieces.

Go with

Kapanen-Tavares-Marner
Hyman-Matthews-Stone
Johnsson-Kadri-Bracco
Gauthier-Lindholm-Brown

Rielly-Karlsson
Dermott-Zaitsev
Sandin-Ozhiganov

Andersen
Sparks

You can't get Stone and Karlsson for that package, period. As I said in my previous response, the only way that deal works is if you offer that package for Karlsson straight up, no RFA rights to Stone included. But that's still an overpayment. Will Karlsson help the Leafs? Sure, but he's not good defensively, and that's the area the Leafs need improvement. Karlsson for Nylander is an offensive improvement, but not enough to trade away your best defensive prospect when your defense in the area that needs help. What I said was that the Leafs have no need for Karlsson - their offense is enough to contend for a Cup without him. Their defense is a different story. Even the Penguins had Letang (if he was healthy) and guys who could step up their defensive game for the playoff stretch. The Leafs don't have anyone who can help Anderson, and Karlsson won't help that. This is a lot more cap for the Leafs for minimal improvement without Stone, and Dorion rejects it without a second thought if you keep Stone involved. Yes, the Leafs have a great goalie in Anderson, and a capable backup in McElhinney and upcoming Sparks, but none of those are people who can save a team that allows 40-50 shots per night for an entire season. You have good offensive defensemen already, and what you need are guys like Tanev who can play defense (not saying he's worth what the Canucks are asking for, but there are other players of that sort as well).



Marleau will be like 40 when you want to trade him, and for that kind of cap hit, you're going to need to throw in some really valuable assets to make any team want to take that, especially since you would clearly be in a desperate situation. And not just some no name prospect or forward who rarely plays. It's going to take someone like Kadri, and that significantly guts your depth. You have no chance at getting Stone from the Senators either. Kapanen may be a really good winger next to Tavares, and obviously Marner will be as well. Hyman is decent on a line with Matthews, but after that, you have little remaining forward depth and defensemen who can only score, and will be relying way too much on your goalie to make sure the other team doesn't score more. People have criticized the Tavares signing for this reason, and even if that criticism is unwarranted, this makes your cap situation even worse with no defensive improvements in sight.