I agree, however, I think you can upgrade on Dermott. Going all in on Ekholm would be something I would look at. Potentially spending a 1st, 2nd and Dermott for him at 50% retained while giving up a 4th for a 3rd party team to retain 50% of Ekholm's remaining cap hit to get it down to $937,500. Very similar to the Savard trade last year when Tampa and Columbus involved Detroit as a third party team. He fetched a 1st and a 3rd. Ekholm is better so a 1st and 2nd would be fair as well as Dermott should seal the deal.

That leaves the cupboards pretty bare though.

We drafted 30 players in the last 4 drafts that Dubas has been GM. In that time frame a ''normal'' team who makes 7 selections each draft would have drafted 28 players. This mean that if we went through with what I suggested, we would have drafted 32 players over 5 years compared to the average team drafting 35. It's not like our cupboards would be empty. We have other roster players like Kerfoot or even Morgan Rielly's rights once the season is over that could generate some picks as well. I think we will be fine. We have many good prospects in the pipeline that I think are a year away from contending for spots. Our cupboards aren't bare at all IMO.

The quantity of prospects is irrelevant if none are high quality.

You are mistaken, we have some high end prospects coming through. Robertson, Liljegren, Amirov, Niemelä, Hirvonen, Knies are all prospects that should become top 9 forwards or top 5 defenseman on a team. Robertson and Amirov have the potential to become high end top 6 forwards while Topi Niemelä can become a good top 4 puck moving defenseman much in the mold of Sandin. Knies looks like an exciting middle 6 power forward a type of prospect we have lacked. He could become an excellent complimentary piece to our more skilled players. Liljegren can become a solid #4 guy but even if he caps out as a third pairing defenseman, he will be useful as he can kill penalties and moves the puck really well. Hirvonen is a smart two-way player that likely becomes a third line centre in the NHL. Same goes to Abruzzese who can be a versatile middle six player just like Kerfoot. Veeti Miettinen had an excellent freshman campaign at St. Cloud where he was unanimously voted onto the NCAA all rookie team as well as being the rookie of the year in his conference. He could become a top 6 goalscoring threat as well if he keeps progressing. He might be a hobey baker finalist next year, very exciting. Mikhail Abramov, SDA and Kokkonen are all prospects as well that can impact the bottom of the roster. My point is that Leafs have many good prospects in their system. They don't have a Matthews, Marner or Nylander, but they still have some excellent prospects. Our prospect pool is in the top half NHL teams prospect pools without question.

I am not sold on any of those guys beyond Liljegren. I think Robertson is completely overblown. He's played several games and had a goal to his name. Skates hard but is so small he gets knocked off the puck so easily. The rest are all far away from making any impact. They could amount to something or flame out.

Well, that is your opinion and I completely disagree with it. We will have to agree to disagree on this.