1) no trade in here.
2) no need for Faulk.

There is a desperate need for a upgrade at RD, Faulk is just that. There is for sure a need for Faulk, it's the fact some toronto fans just don't rate him.

Leafs have lots of 3rd pairing dman, don't need another. Kappy is needed especially if Nylander is out for an extended period. Sparks might be the Leafs goalie of the future (along with Andersen.). And you want a first rounder too?

He is less defensive version of Gardiner. And we have no desperate need for upgrade at RD. We have zaitsev who is coming off horrible season and he is actually very good defensively, we have stay at home guy Hainsey who is reliable in his own zone playing RD and we have Ozhiganov who is going to be a beast. And in just his first game he was just that. Defensive beast. No need for Faulk. No need for big upgrade. Many people dont realize that we were 11th in GA in the whole league with Polak and the-worst-year-of-his-career Zaitsev with pure offensive 50 point D Gardiner on one pairing.. we are more than fine!

He's statistically better in his own end then anyone in toronto right now.... he would be your 2nd best D man hands down, Zaitzev is coming off a bad season true, but Freddy had to bail you out how many times? Toronto were bottom 6 for chances given up, shots against etc, Faulk was part of the blue line that was best in both. Ozhiganov is an upgrade but Faulk makes that D line something else. There is a big need here. Your blue line is good in one end of the ice, and it's not the end they are needed to be good in

"statistically".. statistically Gardiner might be top-20 defender in NHL.. is he really? No of course not.. and yes I admit that Freddie had to bail us out many times and D-core last season was brutal often than it shouldve been.. lets weight the D-core out after this season. We might be in top-10 in GA and much better in stopping shot attempts because we dont have plugs on offence like Bozak or JVR who CANT defend.. I mean we should see in this season how it is but we are pretty functional in defensive zone now.

Statistically Gardiner was an average 2nd pairing guy in one end and a HoFer in the other, As for the blue line, you have a year older Ron Hainsey, the ghost of Nikita Zaitzev, Connor Carrick and turnstile Jake Gardiner. Faulk is one of the better offensive D men in his own zone, and would really bulster TOR I think a trade like this works out for both teams. As for forwards not being able to defend, right because Kapanen Johhnson Kadri Matthews Marner Tavares Hyman are all gonna be in their own end! You can't blame a bad year for one guy a bad player and 2 bad forwards for allowing more shots against then 25 other teams. There needs to be some additions to that blue line, you cannot score your way to a cup. Defence wins championships, and this defence just isn't winning anything rn

Yea you can actually. Their forwards were bad defensively last year and team defense is a five man unit. Their center depth was abysmal in the playoffs. Tomas Plekanec playing 2nd line center for most of the playoffs is a joke. You can't actually tell me that is good. Centers are so heavily relied on to play both defense and offense and when you got Bozak + Moore playing 3 and 4C your asking to get crushed in the playoffs. Now they have 3 or even 4 centers that can all play a solid two-way game with a healthy Matthews, Tavares, and hopefully a smarter Kadri. Also, why do they want to play in their own zone? the best way to play defense is to spend more time in the O zone and less time in their own zone. They have enough puck moving dman and fire power up front to get out of their own zone quickly and hammer teams in their own zone where as last year they did not have enough depth. Ron Hainsey is still a problem playing on the top D pairing but their was no way they were going anywhere last year in the playoffs with that awful center depth and another defensive liability in JVR either.

Thats not enough to make a whole team fall. Defence is often a 2 man unit on odd man rushes, 3-on-2s 2-on-1's etc. The center depth with Plekanence Kadri Matthews and Bozak and they get stomped in the first 4 games, and only make it to 7 because the bruins fell asleep and Rask became a sieve. As for the forwards, the only player to have been relatively good in both ends last season for Toronto was Patrick Marleau. Thats a whole team faliure. As for the blue line, Gardiner crapped the bed in game 7, thats well documented. But where was Zaitzev, Hainsey Carrick? TOR need extra RD and that is an issue that will sink or swim this team. I just said it and I'll say it again, defence wins championships. Toronto don't have one. They need to be better defensively or get someone who can fill that stop gap before they can become a real contender.

lol dude defense is not a 2 man unit. what are you smoking? one player can only take one player therefore all 5 players on the ice need to take their own man. Their's no way 2 dmen alone can stop an attack of 3 forwards and a dman joining the rush in the attacking zone. The forwards for sure need to back check and play defense especially if a dman pinches and gets caught. As for the Boston series Toronto got owned simply because almost their whole team did not show up. forwards included. Matthews and Nylander combining for 2 goals the whole series doesen't cut it. They had a billion chances to score and they couldn't even hit the net. Their only good players were Marleau, Marner, Kapanen, Dermott, and Johnsson. That's only five players that showed up to play. They failed to capitalize on too many offensive chance by missing the net too much, Kadri got suspended and was out for most of the series so they had no C depth. Defense and goal-tending were not good either but not all the blame can be pinned on the D alone. The whole team was awful. I do however think they can bounce back. I fully expect Matthews, Nylander, along with Rielly, Zaitsev (bounce back year), and Gardiner to bounce back because they were solid all regular season long. They added Tavares who is great defensively and offensively, Par Lindholm looks like a good defensive center that can kill penalties, and Ozhiganov looks like a good dman that can move the puck quickly and also kill penalties. They got better defensively as a team. Now a handful of their players need to bounce back and take it as a learning experience. Their still a young team so its expected that they have some ups and downs during the course of the season.

First issue I raise is Ozhiganov and Lindholm rn don't look like they will make the maple leafs to start. Right now Ennis is currently the 4C according to twitter (Which is always a reliable source) The team will be better, but Freddy got Toronto to game 7 in that series, he played some of the best hockey you can play as a goaltender. Zaitzev had a good rookie year and then had a real big slump last year, I do think he will be better but not enough to chance the outcome of that series if it comes up again. Defence is done 1st and foremost by the 2 d men on the ice at any time. They have to be able to slow down the skaters to allow the forwards back and thats where Toronto lack. They need someone who can do that and not just relay on the pure speed of skaters to get them there.

You think Faulk is a 3rd pairing D man? Bahahhahahahaahahahahhahahahaahahahahah he'd be Toronto's 2nd best D man hands down. Thats a joke I've been needing for a while thank you. If you are being serious, please go and look at the hokcey reference advanced stats for Faulk, they are some of the best in the league

Nope. Ennis is playing RW on the 1st line with Matthews and Marleau. Which is not really a great 1st line since he is taking Nylanders spot. The battle for 4th line C is between Gauthier and Lindholm. I think Lindholm gets it tbh. The best way for the Leafs to play defense is to spend most of the time in the O zone and wear the opposing team down. Yesterday was only a pre-season game but Tavares looked like not only the best offensive player but also one of the best defensive players against Ottawa last night breaking up plays in the neutral zone. Thats the impact a franchise C has on a club.

Don't count out Josh Jooris, he has the uncanny ability to break an NHL roster as a bottom 6 guy. I can't see Freddy getting it, and Lindholm has been move all over the shop by babcock you never know.

Yes, to answer your question. How many premium Dmen do the Canes have? Slavin.Pesce, Faulk, Hamilton (replacing Hanifan). Sorry , teams that have 105 points (the Leafs). don't have a group of bad Dmen. 12th in the GAA. I guess we will will keep on hearing this for the next 20 years, the Leafs have bad Dmen, and have to upgrade at RHD.
To think Faulk would be 2nd best Dman for the Leafs....as you wrote, that's the joke, thank you
95% of Tanev trades are to the Leafs. Faulk 50% are to the Leafs, 50% to the Oilers. Seems like there is no other teams that have an interest these players. Gee Faulks case, Canes fans aren't that interested in keep him.

Canes fans don't care, we keep him and have an insane blue line, You were 25th in chances and shots against and Andersen bailed you out, he cannot do that game in game out. To not accept the fact Faulk is better then Gardiner Zaitzev Carrick Ozhigenov etc... its ridiculous. Leafs fans are notoriously hard to talk to but you my good sir top all, enjoy being blocked you arrogant smarmy little piece of work <3

I did look at Faulk's advanced stats as you suggested. Every year Faulk has little defensive zone face-off starts. Last year 36%. Seems like the coaches are afraid to have him in defensive zone...which is why he is a 3rd pairing, nothing wrong with that. Gee, you think Andersen bailed the Leafs out all season long. Strange the Leafs back up Mcillerney has a better GAA and Save % than Andersen. Defies all odds that the Leafs goalies bailed them out for all 82 games.

wow, don't you have overplayed your love for your canes. they haven't been close to making the playoffs despite having so many supposedly dmen.

seems like anti leafs fans alway talk about shots against instead goals against, goal difference, wins, points

Freddy, without freddy Toronto don't sniff the playoffs and thats the ins and outs of it

We've had a good blue lines almost our entire existance, but Goaltending, it's the only reason Toronto sniffs the playoffs each year. If Andersen is a cane and Darling is a leaf, Toronto don't sniff

it was pointed out factually, that the leafs backup had a better gaa and save percentage than Freddie. its unreal to think the leafs goaltending carried the team for the entire season.

Can I have some of what you're having please?

Thats cause backups always do. See Cam Ward in Carolina. Freddy carried that team he hid the holes in the D. That was shown when he turned to cheese in the playoffs