For this team build I'm running Matthews, Eichel, and Tavares down the middle, 20 minutes a night each with cycling pairs of wingers. This also allows for a 7th defenseman or additional forward, perhaps for a specific role only playing on special teams. A lot of the wingers have some versatility to play centre in case of injury.
To start off with the expansion draft, we send Filip Hallander, a solid prospect to Seattle. In exchange, they take on Pierre Engvall in the trade, and agree to take Ilya Mikheyev in the expansion draft.
Next, the Eichel trade. 2 stars with reasons to be moved, with eichel obviously worth a decent amount more. Along with Marner, the leafs send last year's 15th overall pick Rodion Amirov, as well as Mac Hollowell and a 2021 2nd rounder. With Eichel wanting out, the Sabres can bring in Marner to have a new face of the team. Aside from the additions, Buffalo has a monetary incentive as well. Despite Marner having the higher cap hit, after the Leafs pay his bonus on July 1st he actually makes 16 million less real money than Jack Eichel over the remainder of their contracts. The Pegula's have a lot of money, but Josh Allen's about to put a huge dent in it and 16 million freed up can certainly help.
I sent Justin Holl, and a 7th (listed as 6th) to the Oilers in exchange for a 3rd. With Adam Larsson likely gone in Free Agency, I think Holl could be a cheaper replacement, though a bit of a downgrade.
The final trade was SDA and two 3rds in exchange for Max Domi. I think Domi is a guy who could use another change of scenery, and I think Toronto's a place he'd want to be. Leafs could use a guy like him that plays hard, and adds some points on top of the grit. SDA has some potential, and 2 3rds in addition to him provides some value for Columbus.
In terms of extensions, I signed Spezza to the minimum, Galchenyuk and Bogosian to 1.2, and Dermott to 1.35. I think one of Dermott, Bogosian, and Sandin should be able to fill the top 4 spot left behind by Holl.
In free agency I added 3 players. First, Linus Ullmark at 4x4. I think he'd likely look for a medium term around 4 years, and 4 million per is pretty solid. Between him and Campbell, both could be 1a or 1b, but the situation in net should be solid either way.
Next is Blake Coleman, he's a pretty solid winger and would be a nice addition.
Lastly, Erik Gustafsson at 950k. He's not highly regarded due to his defense, but I think he can fit well in this scheme. With the option of a 7th defenseman, he can be played extremely sheltered minutes while being a big help to the powerplay.
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