Team: 2019-20 Toronto Maple Leafs

Initial Creation Date: May 10, 2019

Published: May 10, 2019

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Dealt Zaitsev to the Stars. People say you won't get anything back for him, but the thing is, you would; anyone who would trade for him thinks he is a Top4D and is going to expect to pay something for him. A mid-level prospect and a mid-round pick seems fair.
Dumped Marleau in Ottawa, paid them some picks and got DeMelo back. DeMelo is actually good and has been for years but who knows if OTT knows that and he's still a little old to really fit into a rebuild (or what GMs tend to think rebuild time frames are). Why does OTT want Marleau? After July 1st bonus is paid, he saves Melnyk $5M in real money below the cap floor.
Brown to EDM seems like a no-brainer (EDM's modis operandi) and Benning is actually pretty good at 5v5 but they probably don't know that.
Heed is cheap and a good D at 5v5, where he'll be playing.
As for Thornton, I had some cap money left over and figured why not upgrade on Gauthier, our worst remaining forward? SJS has a nightmarish cap situation next season and definitely can't spare this kind of cash for old Joe, who was still quite good this year, if they want to be in on Karlsson. Even then they may not be able to take him. I'd consider going higher on him, too.
Petan, I looked at his stats and though I philosophically prefer him to Gauthier, he wasn't all that so I figured let him show something with the Marlies.
And there you have: nothing fancy, but a considerably better squad by committee with a better cap outlook going forward, even suffering the major loss of the team's best defenceman, Jake Gardiner.

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