Not sure this team is any better than the current roster, saying that given our cap situation it's tough to improve on considering to become a true powerhouse we need a top 4 d, to sign 2-3 top 9 forwards with one of them being a top 6 preferably, a reliable 1A/1B goalie, and to resign Hyman and do all of it with very little cap space available. If Sandin can play in the top 4 next year (possible, but not a lock by any means), and Robertson in the top 9 at the least (again possible but definitely not guaranteed) then the leafs will be in decent shape, if not I see another 1st or maybe 2nd round exit in our future.

agreed, dubas is gonna have to pull some magic out again tbh

That Tavares signing honestly kills the leafs, while he has been decent for the leafs the contract is steep and with how good matthews is we really would be better off with a much cheaper 2C option and have cap to improve elsewhere.

kadri
miss him a ton rn

Don't Foligno play better wing. Plus unless engvall changes I think Brooks could be a main stay over him. Even when the 3rd line was balling you could see some of the things were getting mad about. Could just be me tho Im high on Brooks

That's one way to look at it.

But I'd rather overpay a superstar than overpay a Calvin de Haan type just to have them barely be able to stay in league in a year or 2 while making $5Mish.

It's not as if Pietrangelo was out there as an UFA the same year Tavares was.

Also, there was a global Pandemic that occurred a few years after signing Tavares, hard to forecast that when considering the cap implications of signing him.

Yeah obviously hindsight is 20/20, so I agree with you in some respects, I just think cap could've been spent better elsewhere. Like 11 mil is a lot of money for your 2C, I like Tavares but with the way the roster is configured I think that 11 mil is better spent elsewhere. Saying this being good up the middle is crucial if you are going to win the cup, so I understand the signing. Tampa had Point, Cirelli, Coleman plus an injured Stamkos. St Louis had O'Reilly, Schenn, Bozak, Barbashev. Wsh had Kuznetsov, Backstrom, Eller. Pitt had Crosby, Malkin, Bonino.

And stars make others better.

If it's still Kadri plus Nylander on that 2nd line, maybe Nylander is a 50pt guy. As much as I love Kadri, he's not Tavares.

Even with Tavares looking off the first 30 games of this season he's still easily outscoring Kadri.

If there was a easy way to fill that RD spot instead of grabbing Tavares, then fine, but skipping out on Tavares means a few more years of patiently building, likely are not competitive enough to pull off Muzzin deal, sign a De Haan type to shore up a Top 4 spot (which would blow up in their face).

When you have a chance to add a superstar to your young group of superstars, IMO you do it.

Again, there's more talent on our 3rd line this year, if not for the Pandemic, so it's not as if Leafs went full out early Pens and are playing AHL call-ups with our "Crosby" due to lack of capspace.

Way too much for Hyman. That is a cap killer contract.

then you lose him. not gonna let that one happen

both of you guys make excellent points. i love the tavares acquisition, and while I agree the contract was a bit much, you're paying for a 1st overall pick, and san jose was offering 13M, so he technically took 2M off to come here. with that said, tavares making 9-9.5M right now would be a much tastier number.

Then you lose him. You can't overpay a depth guy because he's likeable. 4 million is the limit I would pay.

a depth guy? he's a versatile player who is an excellent penalty killer, a top 6 winger who can also power an excellent 3rd line... and he's zach

He is a secondary forward. A good one no doubt but he isn't going to drive a line to being a huge productive 3rd line. Disruptive sure and that is valuable, however its value has limits in a salary cap world. Paying anything for it is a bad ideas, especially since he is 29 and has 2 pretty bad knee injuries on his legs. 4 million for 3-4 years is about as much as I think the Leafs should be willing to go. Giving him 5+ will undoubtedly end up looking really bad really fast.

i can see that. as he is a leader in the room i could see something below 4.5 (4.35 sounds perfect) over 4 years.

In a perfect world I would give him 3.5 for 4 years. And personally my limit is 4. I would go 5 or possibly 6 if he is willing to back dive his contract. Load up on bonus money and security. That way if he tails off he is an attractive cap floor contract that offers little actual salary. More than 4 and I would be shaking his hand and wishing him luck. Unless it's a 1 year deal then you can afford more. Rielly is more important and needs to be resigned the next summer.