Cant Linholm and Folwer both play RD? And not a chance Dubas, or any gm, trades Willy for Pesce, thats just dumb.

Right but what incentive did TOR have to do this?? None

Trade Brown+Zaitsev for a 5th if you must, anything not to have Ceci around

Reilly-Barrie
Muzzin-Holl
Dermott-Hainsey

They should have moved willy the moment they got JT. That was one I forgot. One of Dubases biggest mistakes.

I would like this lineup. But we got a 3rd from the original deal, so Ill pass on your new one.

Lindholm maybe but then who plays LD besides Fowler?Larsson? Ghule? Djoos? Pretty bad

Everyone last season Barrie is awesome, goes to the Leafs and now he's the worst. Classic

for sure that couldve happened but we also wouldve seen the pairs under babs for those x games as
rielly hainsey
muzzin barrie
dermott holl
in the end, it ezzz what it ezzzzzzzzzzzz

Because half a season with a new coach is enough time to evaluate a guy who had the job for 1 season prior to this one. Patience certainly isn't your virtue

Getting rid of Zaitsev is the incentive.

That's ridiculous, Willie is on a steal of the deal.

How did signing JT rush the rebuild? They had made the playoffs in each of the 2 years before they got him. They weren't rebuilding anymore, they were working their way up to contention.



He has had the job for 2 years, which is never enough to judge a GM's record unless he really screws up hard (like Fenton in Minnesota). And, he was left in a tough spot (having to sign young stars who didn't like the coach they were playing for) and had some deadweight contracts (Marleau, Martin and Zaitsev) that Lou left him with.

Since then, he's signed JT, built a great top-9 forward core, and he has proven himself to be an excellent drafter (Sandin, Robertson, Abruzesse) and talent evaluator (he signed this year's OHL dman of the year after Arizona didn't offer him a contract). The Nylander contract has turned out just fine and his depth signings have been great (Spezza, Ennis come to mind). They have Liljegren and Sandin coming up which should hopefully stabilize the defense. His other trades (aside from Kadri) have been good, Muzzin was a good add and getting out of Zaitsev's contract is a win.

Trading Kadri was a good idea since 4.5 million for a 3C playing 13-14 mins a night wasn't going to work. Barrie wasn't the right guy. Someone more defensively responsible would have been nice. Matthews and Marner were overpaid (Matthews got too much money relative to the term and Marner was overpaid period) but I'd much rather overpay a star by 2 million than a depth guy.

No GM has a perfect record. But the Leafs have to play to their strengths, which is that they have great skill and are built to move the puck and score. If a new GM comes in, implements a philosophy of playing "tough" and "gritty", then it's automatically lowering the ceiling of the team by making the stars do things they can't do. For this team, Dubas is the right guy because his vision for hockey lines up with the team he has on the ice. He shouldn't be fired.

Nah you're overvaluing Kapenen and undervaluing Pesce. Pesce is an elite defensive guy and 100% is worth nylander. Manson would cost more than Kapanen because middle-6 wingers are worth far less than RHD's and in any case, Manson isn't that great. He's a big body, sure, but he can't handle the puck very well and his defense is questionable.

@Caniac2000 please tell him

No....

Toronto outhit Boston in 2017/2018 and were neck and neck in 2018/2019.

Absolutely no point in changing course until he gets a full season with a coach who has the same approach as him.

Love him or hate him Shanny has bought in, so have to commit at least one more season.

Think that is easy to say in hindsight, because at the time of that deal, all of us were rather excited about a PP with Reilly and Barrie.

Further, the blueline was decimated with injuries. Now, on one hand that cannot be blamed on Dubas. On the other, it was clear the organization lacked NHL ready depth at the position.

Tale of this tape for me is what he does to fix the depth issue - which signing Lehtonen is a step in that direction.

Well, I will admit Dubas has been excellent at the draft. But trading Kadri was not a good idea, neccisalelly. Kadri was a very good part of the leafs. The only star who actually played with a bit of an edge.

He's had 1.5 seasons, what are you talking about with the "rate he's going"? He's had half a season with a coach he's on the same page as.

Next GM gets maybe an off-season to prove his worth?

What a ridiculous statement to make.

They lost to the cup finalists in 7 games last year, and would have won if their PK didn't forget how to keep the puck out of their net...

But yeah, no where near ready to compete.

Better 5v5 team throughout the series, but sure Boston thumped them.

? If Manson isn't great, then why are you saying he is worth more than Kappy? Pesce is not that great either, he not worth Nylander, If Dubas did that it would be like the Kadri trade.

Then he should've fired Babcock before the season started

Ok, sorry, I actually didn't realize it hs only been 1.5 seasons. Thought it was 2.5 for a second. Still. He hasn't shown his philosophy is a good one. He needs to modify it.

I agree.

The « re » part of the rebuild was done but the « build » part of it wasn’t even close to being close to being done.

They needed to improve the D, Dubas did nothing for that in 2018

It was hinted at that he wanted to, but he was overridden by higher up.