Malkin was our most payed player and worth every dime. And considering pens had major depth issues in 2013/14 and 2014/15 that prevented them from winning any cups, due to the 2012/13 lockout season dropping the cap. It took years for the cap to rise again and that was exactly around the time Pens went on a back to back tear. The Leafs are in the same situation with the covid pause and a flat cap for years, except their players make even more relative to the cap than the pens, and definitely weren’t as good. Crosby/Malkin/Letang/Kessel > Matthew’s/marner/Nylander/Tavares

TBH if the Leafs disappoint again next season, I think they will already be blowing it up. Most likely it will be the end of the Dubas/Keefe era. If they play well, things will get interesting when it’s time to resign Rielly.

Looking at this armchair GM, I’d probably sign a cheaper goalie than Binnington like Raanta or Ullmark for around 3 million dollars, that gives you enough cap space to pay Rielly 8. Furthermore I‘d have to let Mikheyev (2M) & Simmonds (1.25M) walk. Amirov will most likely be ready at 925K & Sign league minimum possession guys like Simon or Rodrigues. That saves another 1.5 million.

Overall it’s not ideal cap situation but management is going to need to be smart by signing extremely cheap depth forwards who are useful enough to fill roles in the bottom 6. That’s the only way I see how they can keep Rielly without moving the core forwards.

Why do we want muzzin?..were rebuilding..hes good player but we need kids & picks

That won't matter as much as people think

Except the Leafs don't have any bad contracts.

That’s a pretty fair assessment.

Neither did the Pens when they went back to back, and their core contracts were MUCH better. I don’t see how you can seriously compare the two.

Yah Pens had a much better core.

I am certain I could go back and find depth guys who made more than they were worth