The 2012/2013 season? Detroit beat Anaheim 4-3 and then lost to the Hawks 3-4 Detroit should've beaten the Hawks but were banged up.

Matthews is better than Eichel, and the cap went up significantly after McDavid got his contract. Sure it would be nice if Matthews made less but its not a problem. Neither is Tavares, Nylander or Marner. They didn't have much of a choice in Marleau, they had to pay to move him. Thank you to Lou for that gem. Where teams get in trouble is with bad contracts, deals where people can't possibly live up to their contract and it has term to boot. Who is that in TO?

LMAO you were the one that brought DET into this. FFS.

So i'll still take a 25 year run with 4 cup wins and 2 cup finals any day? As good as this Toronto team will be. They will never accomplish that feat most teams wont. That was a dynasty in the making period.

Now you are just being silly, TO's current rebuild which is what we are talking about here, started 4 years ago and they went from last in the league to a legit contender (whether or not anyone wants to admit it) and are still the 3rd youngest team in the NHL. Considering their age, I think people should settle down on everything being a disappointment right now. 3rd youngest team in the league loses to the President trophy winner 3 years ago, lost to the 3rd best team in the NHL 2 years ago and to the 3rd best team in the League again last season. None of this was a failure, it was a learning experience. Young players grow and the Leafs are still very young.

Hmmm, interesting, looking at the calendar.......its now 2019. How has Detroit been doing for the past 6 seasons? Seriously whats your end game here?

That moment when thread goes wrong......

One year term isn't the best example of a bad contract, I'd wager moving Ceci wouldn't be difficult, especially if he has a good start to the season prior to Dermott coming back. He could then be flipped for something small to cut his salary if a team thinks he has more to give. Benning loves terrible defenceman who are right handed and overrated, maybe Vancouver would pick him up.

A bad contract is a contract that a player is not deserving of, Ceci isn't deserving of 4.5 mil, it's a bad contract

Know end game here? You're the one bringing Detroit into the equation, Just saying that even though Detroit is garbage now. They were a dynasty know longer then 12 years ago. Look how long it's taking Toronto to compete considering no cup since 1967. Just let me know when Toronto ever does what Detroit just accomplished 11 years ago. Well i'm waiting.

Because you came in here chirping while being a Red Wing fan. Its like a guy who works for Myspace now making fun of Facebook for something. Umm......is MySpace even a thing? If you are a fan of a possible last place team, its awfully stupid to be throwing stones at franchises that at this moment are trending in the right direction and are both better positioned salary cap wise and age wise than your team. Why did you bother to comment at all. The whole point of this is TO Is a very young team and that should be something that is discussed and considered a lot more when look at where this team is today. Too many people on here (both Leaf fans and non Leaf fans) treat the team like they have a 2-3 year window and then they are done. Their best player is 21 for crying out loud! They have a long time of contention ahead of them. Their time hasn't yet come.

As I said, its not a great contract at all, and definitely I am not a big fan of Ceci. However, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, he does have good pedigree and talent, maybe a change of scenery will help, if not, its only 1 year term.

You may at least appreciate the idea of this post. 3rd youngest team in the NHL this season, they have a long timeframe of contention ahead of them.

This is a ridiculously stupid take. The idea that someone can't say something factual or critical of another team just because their team is bad is ****. By that same logic you should never post because TOR hasn't accomplished a damn thing.

I can agree that TO has talents and still young. Somehow, you can't say they are good with cap space... C'mon you can even sign Marner and have a decent 23 man roster. Herey you have one only because Hyman is LTIR. You have a guy who never played NHL on your first line, he can be another Shipachyov. And if, only if, he's good, next year he will ask for a LOT more than 925k

Next year TML have 26 M - marner's money so arguably something around 15M-16M to sign 3F, 6D and think about Reilly and Andersen's extension the year after.

So you enjoy being a troll, good for you. Its nice to see people aspiring to such lofty goals and accomplishments. I like cinnamon rolls as well, would you like to tell me how stupid cinnamon rolls are? What about the outdoors? That's something I enjoy as well, perhaps you'd like to interject without being asked to comment on that topic as well. You seem to have this idea that people care about what you don't like and enjoy making fun of, so please continue. Lets hear about all the things you don't like and enjoy trolling people about?

That is what you got from that? Get help bud.

Rielly has 2 more years term and Andersen 1 and they'll be able to handle that by doing what they do now. Bring in cheap depth. Who carried Pittsburgh to the cup when they won back to back? Was Prust a star that carried the team? Or was it Malkin, Crosby, Kessel and Murray? Depth is important but the difference between lets say Tyler Ennis and any other 3rd or 4th liner is very small but the difference between those guys and Tavares is massive. Stars are the ones who make things happen, them getting paid isn't ever the problem. Its when you have guys that by themselves aren't that great making too much is when you have a cap problem. Look at Vancouver and Edmonton, two teams that aren't even playoff teams and yet they are close to the cap, have a lot of bad contracts on the team and are a lot older than TO as well. Toronto's 3rd line could be better than Vancouvers 2nd line and they make slightly more than Vancouvers 4th line.

The whole point is the whole this team is doomed mentality or running out of time or any other gloom mentality is non sense.

Teams that go deep in the playoffs have multiple top 6 players on contracts below their market value. (that can include ELC) - look at this years stanley cup finalists . Taresenko, o’Reilly, pietrangelo, Brayden schenn, Robert Thomas, Bergeron, Marchand, pastrnak, debrusk. The leafs have a great core of players but they are either slightly overpaid or being paid their market value. Hard to win cups like that.

What else can possibly be gathered from your input? What constructive debate are you bringing forward?

Should I go over all your statements year and put forward all the pertinent information to the point of this post?

The point of this post - Toronto despite being a contender for this up an coming season is the 3rd youngest team in the NHL. They have a lot of years of contention ahead of them, that is interesting to me.

Additional information that could create a meaningful debate in regards to the point of this post - .......................................................................................................

Definitely not a troll, how ever could I have arrived at that conclusion.

This has been a great start to the day. To sum up-

*Humble brag*: "Leafs are the 4th youngest team in the league AND they're contenders!!!"
*Response*: "They haven't made it past the 1st round in 15 years..."
*Slighty less humble brag*: "Yeah, but Detroit is old!"
*Response*: "Yeah, buncha cups in the modern era though, eh?"
*Upset humble bragger*: "tHiS iS a LeAfS tHrEaD, i WaS jUsT pOiNtInG oUt A fAcT!"

Facts:
-Hopefully Nylander can bounce back with a full season, but it remains to be seen.
-There may not be a "bad contract" per se (even though Ceci will have a lot to prove), but you've got 1 year of Barrie and Muzzin before you have to find some way to either replace them, or find the money to keep them.
-Liljegren is listed, but is he ready? Would be nice to see him have a full, healthy season.
-You brought this on yourself.

Another great thread!

So are they 3rd youngest or 4th youngest? You're so rattled you can't even be consistent.

Of course, they can bring cheap depth. But, since you're saying the core is the most important part of a team, what does this particular had bring you yet ? not much, why in any sane mind would loosing pieces like Muzzin, Barrie will help you be better next year ?

Last years palyoffs really can't be used as an example. It was a really weird year, partly because there is a changing of the guard underway and also it was just a weird playoffs where perfect matchup scenarios happened that altered the whole playoffs.

For example, Tampa's top pair defence were either not playing or playing hurt, stamkos was injured as well and momentum just never swung there way. Columbus wasn't a world beater cinderella story, they got lucky taking on a hurting team. Injuries are always the great equalizer. Carolina going as far as they did had everything to do with matchups. Washington was the higher seed but they were terrible 5v5 last season (worst among playoff teams) and that gave a huge advantage to Carolina. Pittsburgh was broken down and tired last season and ran out of gas against the Islanders who plucky style worked against the older Pens. Carolina against the Islanders in the 2nd round was another good matchup but when they took on Boston, they were outclassed by a team that was better at what Carolina did so well.

San Jose, shouldn't have gotten out of the 1st round but the refs game them that when they called a major with minutes left in a game and the Sharks scored 4 goals on the PP to take the series. It was a travesty, and then it happened again in the 2nd round against Colorado! The off side the refs called after Colorado tied the game was a joke and a half. Once you got to the final, anything can happen and it was a great series but with so many good teams losing due to unlucky crap last playoffs made it the dumbest ever playoffs. So many people I know went 0 for 8 in the first round last season playoff predictions. It was wild but its more of an outlier than anything. I'd be highly surprised if this seasons playoffs are anywhere close to as unpredictable.

I think you'll see sometimes get much better as they grow (Colorado, Toronto, maybe Carolina) and other teams fall back to earth. Pittsburgh likely has 1 or 2 more decent years left, Washington is going to start showing its age now as well. Boston could be a team that starts regressing, eventually Bergeron's bionic body will start to break down.

Younger teams get better and TO is one of the youngest and those young guys still haven't reached their prime.