Why is the D pretty weak?

Disagree with your assessment of the D. This is the exact Dcore that put up 7th in the league overall for GA in the "no defense" North. This year, the only difference is youre replacing a sub .900 freddy with mrazek... i think this could be a defensively sound team. Agree though that forwards are the big question mark. Not worried about the top 6 so much, theyll produce, worry is scoring depth. Someone other than spezza has to step up

They are too Small, and not physical.
Fine to get away with it in season.

Muzzin, Brodie too small?

Holl isn’t affraid to throw the body.

Sandin and Liljegren can hold their own as well.

Sandin and Lily can??? in the AHL maybe. Really no proof too that as Lily has like 7 games played and you saw Sandin in the playoffs.
Muzzin is the only bodychecking D man the Leafs have, and if you think Holl and Brodie are physical you need to watch other teams.
That all being said there is no meaness to any of them.

They literally just had their best defence/defensive results in the past dozen plus years and are returning 5 of 6 from last season (including their entire top 4), with the likely addition being their top defensive prospect.

Sure it would be nice if the Leafs had six Hedman's, but it's not like the Leafs got knocked out of the playoffs last year because T.J. Brodie didn't hit enough.

T.J Brodie was there Best D man. Yes Iike him and he's good, but he's a #3 guy really.
I'm saying if the Leafs want to make a deep playoff run they need to get bigger and better on the Backend

If they want to go deeper in the playoffs they need what makes them successful in the season to translate in the playoffs.

So if their PP and scoring dries up in the playoffs, it doesn't matter how big, tough and mean they are on the backend. They're team defence was literally the least of their problems in the playoffs.

Right?

Leafs aren't going to become the Isles all of the sudden.

Their PP was dry thw whole 2nd half of the season. They won games by scoring lots and lots of goals. Unfortunately That is not what gets by playoff time.
Isle type of hockey does. The Leafs are more skilled so if they could adapt a bit to that stylemore then they can make a run.

Vegas, Tampa, style is a perfect mix. Big and skilled

Leafs gave up 148 goals in 56 games. That's 2.64 g/gp. Which was 7th best in the league. In a division that was known for all out offence.

You seem to recycling narratives from prior years, and completely overlooking the massive improvement they made defensively last year.

Again, it wasn't their defence that cost them in the playoffs last year.

So your answer would be to deplete the forward group (and depth) further and acquire some unicorn giant tough #1 dman to push everyone down the depth chart?

Are you moving Matthews for this player?

Marner for a D man and top 6 forward. That's what I do.
While at it before his vaule is gone package Lily and one other guy for another top 6 forward

All well and good to propose that like it'll be as easy as pulling it off in a video game.

Different story when you actually look for teams that enough depth on defence to be able to move a top 4 dman for a upgrade at forward all while taking on a $10.9M forward.

In reality, it's pretty well a guarantee Leafs lose any Marner trade.

Additionally, even if this dream trade scenario of yours works out, another top 4 dman coming in guarantees Rielly walks next summer, so you've really just flipped Marner for a lesser forward and a Rielly replacement, which makes the Leafs a worse team in 22/23.