This is by far the most likely

Seems fine. Also Kapanen+Johnsson+Kerfoot are gone for cheaper options and a RHD.

Your obviously not a leafs fan as Kapanen is 3RW, not 1RW lol.

Knowing Dubas yeah...

Dude Kapanen is one of the only Leafs who plays tough... in proper Dubas fashion, LET'S TRADE HIM!!!!!!!

This seems like the best option so far, imo.

Theres a difference between spending time on the PK and playing tough. Kapanen plays a fast skilled game and is on the PK because he is fast and forces turnovers. Also, if Kapanen was traded a tough-ish guy would come back.

You don't know Dubas he doesn't like toughness and grit. Only offense and skills matter to him

And your point? So is Kapanen the only tough guy on the leafs or is he untouchable because of his speed and skill? Are you sure you know as much about the leafs as you think you do?

Kapanen is one of the only Leafs who brings BOTH skill and toughness. Matthews, Nylander, Marner and Tavares don’t do that.

Kappy is untouchable

who is the tough guy that comes back? You keep doing it for Severson, who is not tough. To say he's not a leafs fan because he thinks kapanen can play the top line is just flat out wrong, and makes it seem that maybe you don't know as much about this team as you think you do- he played nearly a full season there with Matthews, and has since then developed toughness and has improved his skill game a bit- yes he plays PK, but he also throws hits and fights more than any leaf not named Clifford or muzzin

Top-6 yes, but top line over Marner? I know Keefe usually rolls 2 top lines, but with Nylander gone from RW I imagine that would change. Also Engvall and Holl brink some toughness, but they are overlooked for their bottom-of-the-roster roles. Also Hyman and Soupy may not be overly physical but they are certainly gritty.

Did Dale Hunter slip back into the building for the Muzzin and Clifford trades?

Extremely lazy shot at Dubas.

This is categorically false. He prioritizes skill, which is the smart thing to do, but he will add toughness so long as the player can contribute by more than just fighting/hitting.

I wouldn't look into the top 2 line thing very much- they have two first lines. Was Nylander a second liner this year? Technically yes but not really because they roll the top 2. And no it wouldn't change- the reason that they have two top lines is so that they have the advantage over other teams. they've also tried stacking Nylander-Matthews-Marner together and it was dog s**t- I was at the game that they did that for and it wasn't pretty. The build of the lines, which I totally agree with, is: Gritty Winger - Goal Scoring Center - All Around/Playmaking winger. Thats how they've done it, and it works. They wouldn't stack one line. So by that logic, whether Nylander-Kapanen or Hyman-Marner is the wing pair that plays with Matthews, it doesn't REALLY matter, it all depends on what fit works best

Hyman is gritty no doubt, I never said he wasn't. Him and Kapanen are really the only two top 6 wingers with grit that TOR has. Mikheyev is good and works hard, but is he a gritty, tough player?

Engvall? Toughness? Haha. Ok.
Holl isn't "tough" per se, but he is defensively sound. While that does have value, he's only played one year at 27, and still has a lot to prove. Can they rely on him as a top4 D to start next season? In my opinion not really, and they can't afford a $2M 3rd pairing guy

People often think Dubas only prioritizes speed and skill but he probably is using metrics and advanced stats we don't even know exist to rate players, and it only comes off that way. We can chirp GM's all we want but the fact is they are so much more knowledgeable then we are on players and stats and what makes or breaks a team.

Trade pending UFA Freddie (Allstar) to bring back pending UFA Reimer (career backup) just to save 1.6 million.

yikes

So if the lines are:

Hyman-Matthews-Marner

and

Soupy-Tavares-Nylander

then where does that leave Kapanen. I don't expect Kapanen to steal a spot from either Nylander or Marner soon and although he may be the leafs best swiss-army knife I think it is only fair to him and to the lacking defence to find him a team that will utilize him as a top-6 forward in return for a good RHD. Similar to the Kadri-Barrie trade, which was arguablly a win-win. (I get Barrie didn't have a good first half, but after Babs was fired he really took off.) Doesn't need to be Severson or Manson, it could be anyone who fits the bill really.

Well he's better than Mikheyev so there's that.

He is a playmaker, not a grinder. You certainly could move him to LW but for me Kapanen is a great tradable piece.

I'm sure that a
Nylander-Tavares-Kapanen

line would be alright and it would set up an alright 3rd line in Mikheyev (Johnsson is gone for Sorenson+3rd imo)+ Kerfoot + Barabanov, but the defense is still weak. If Dermott steps up , Holl continues playing like the top-4 RHD the leafs need, and Lehtonen plays as well as he's expected to it would be a very sufficient defense, but that's wishful thinking.

why does the guy HAVE to be "tough" if you think the leafs were bad this year because lack of "toughness" wow are you mistaken

but you don't need to trade to get defence. Why not sign demelo? Or do a Kerfoot/Dermott/Weegar/Wallmark type deal? I'd give up kerfoot before kapanen provided that we get a center back any day of the week

Injuries, bad coaching first 1/2 of the year, and no backup before Cambell came in are to blame. Toughness is a secondary "issue".

See but what makes kapanen so unique on this team is that he has immense skill AND toughness. That adds value. They have tough guys like Clifford and skill guys like Marner, but they don't have guys who can do both, aside from Hyman, Muzzin, Kapanen, and honestly a hint of it in Matthews now too. Look at all of the previous cup teams. Goons are pretty well gone, I know that, but they all have a good number of players who possess skill AND ruggedness/toughness, which is something the leafs cannot afford to trade away- they have a few guys who play this way now, but they can't lose any more. There are other ways to get defensemen who are as good or better fits than some of the proposed kapanen trades

It's funny how you didnt get one thing right in this whole entire post

Yes the main issues were Coaching, Leadership deficiencies, Backup Goalie, Defence, and Grit. Coaching has improved. Leadership is meh. Matthews should have been captain. Backup is solved. And toughness has definitely improved, but its not something that they can afford to trade away, especially given the likeliness that they can't resign Clifford. Guys who combine skill, speed, and toughness are integral parts of winning teams, and there are other ways to get defence