Quoting: leafsFan1996
agree to disagree. Larsson plays hard competition in Buffalo with meh linemates and treds water, Fast is a hard forechecking player who can move up the lineup and compliment talent and is great on the pk. this replaces Kappy (bad defensively and allegedly bad off the ice, didn't mesh in the top 6) and Mango (I liked in the top 6, but 3.4 is hard to swallow in Toronto's situation, injury prone) with cheaper options who are better defensively and harder to play against.
I was real low on Barrie, he killed offence by taking too many low % shots, couldn't beat F1 on the breakout and was bad in his own end. Demelo is a great compliment to Reilly and rounds out the top 4. Also no more Ceci but Lehtonen is a wild card, could be better, but most likely a negligible difference
I think some growth will come internally (young stars, growth of Dermott and Sandin, Robertson lighting it up against other teams 4th lines) and better luck (better year from Freddy, shoot more the 2% 5v5 in round 1, less injuries, full year of Campbell and Keefe)
but the new additions will improve us defensively and as far as the 3rd line, there is more versatility and hard forecheckers. this makes us harder to target specific parts of our game in the playoffs and we still keep the top 6 that can matchup with any top 6 in the league.
I'd argue all 3 new additions make us harder to shutdown, and there is more room with goaltending, luck and internal growth to improve than decline. I'd like to know what you'd do differently
Well... for starters, let me say this. It isn't so much that I don't like the additions that you've made here. The contrary is actually true. I like the players that you have added.
I just don't see it as enough change to make a difference.
There is a larger problem that keeps getting pushed under the rug in most of these posts. The Leafs are spending 40 million dollars on four forwards. As much as I like the players, I believe that is a poor dispersal of financial resources.
I think that all of their salaries are for the most part reasonable dollar values. (Perhaps Marner is slightly overpaid but, that is another story for a day long since past IMO).
I think it would be in the team's best interest to trade one of those salaries to properly allocate finances better. (I know that is not a popular opinion and so be it).
Tavares has a no move. Matthews isn't going anywhere and after Dubas' comments about Marner, neither is he. Who does that leave?
I really, really like Nylander. So much so that, were it up to me, I'd rather trade Marner and use his 11 million dollars of cap space to shore up in other areas. We all know that isn't happening. So there does that leave us. Basically right here with what you have produced, or something similar, which to me, just isn't good enough. (Again, that is my opinion and I know it isn't a shared one for the most part).
I could go a lot deeper but, I'm not going to. Lets just say, that there isn't anything that terrible about what you have produced here, and agree to disagree as you have already said. YOu've gotta give something of quality to get something of quality and for the most part, what you have here just doesn't move the needle enough for me to believe that things will be any different.
Fair enough?
I wish you good fortune in the wars to come.