well, to find a legitimate top pairing D, Youre gonna have to give up some assets. I think kappenen could be involved. I think tanev is a good option for leafs. maybe a little bit older then what youre looking for but he really fits the bill. can play top minutes, great defensively, and can. still move the puck. Especially since VAN is in full sell mode I can see a deal like this happening. how about kappenen for tanev?

Travis Hamonic (realistically will probably cost JVR in some kind of package)

If it won't cost Nylander or any Marlie player... then who is it gonna cost?

Obviously not Matthews or Marner.

So that leaves us with.... ....Ben Smith

Price is too high... Nylander might have to be involvied... trust me Armchair said so... Stetcher might be a cheaper option

would love to see this but with how good Hamonic's contract is, it might be more pricy

things might change if Duchene doesn't head to NYI tho

strongly disagree. kappenen gets it done

Here's my thinking. Pre expansion protection. Isles protect three Dmen. Boychuk, Leddy and one of Pulock, Hamonic, (and Dehaan and Hickey.) One of Pulock and Hamonic are in trade play.
Isles may not need an NHLers (cause they would be protected) but near NHLers that are waiver exempt. Lindberg, Kapanen, Dermott and maybe Long Island native junior Bracco would be available.
How's this: Hamonic and Halak (Isles save money) for Lindberg, Dermot and Bracco.

Same theory for either the Wild or Ducks. Ducks protect Lindberg and two of Manson, Fowler, Vatanen. Leaf could trade for Manson or Vatanen.

Leafs can protect 5 Dmen. Gardiner, Reilly, Carrick, Hamonic and lets say Manson. (Marincin and maybe Marchenko exposed). Leafs protect 3 forwards...Brown, Kadri and JVR (JVR still might have trade value). Exposed Martin, Komarov, Bozak Fehr. You only lose one player, but this is the way I think the Leafs can improve their defence without going UFA crazy. They might lose some prospects but you think an improved defence, Reilly, Gardiner, Hamonic, Manson, Zaitsev, Carrick and sign a LHD.....that look like a playoff team to me.

As suggested earlier. If someone wanted JVR in the Harmonic trade....I'm all for it. Kapanen for Tanev, that might be a deal too. Or the Kings wanted to added potential scoring and get cap space. Kapanen and maybe more for Muzzin.

Trouba, dumba, savard, vatanen, Manson. Those are the players that could be moved.

Don't think Marlies are untouchable... but Matthews, Marner, Nylander are to me... I think its obvious JVR is the one to go, unless they want a package of picks and prospects.
Who fits the bill?
Parayko - Untouchable
Severson - NJ Probably asks for too much
Tanev - I think is too old (for what we will have to pay)
Trouba - rumors he wants to play in US, but still seems like an option
Vatanen - too offensively minded
Manson - probably the best/most affordable option
Ellis - smaller, but still gritty and Defensively sound... Him or Ekholm will probably go due to expansion
Dumba - Another option, not as defensively proven as others
Hamonic - Oldish, but could be possible (snow seems to want to keep him)

john carlson give the caps gardiner and nylander b + prospect and a first for carlson and samsonov

Trouba for Gardiner+? and then JVR for a LHD maybe Brodin?

Remember with the expansion draft coming and some teams not being able to protect all their Dmen, IMO opinion trading futures (non draft protection) may be a good value for all teams.

CapitalFail67. I just make posted Leaf team which trades Orpik to the Leafs. Is it fair, the trade basically gives the Caps cap space and the Leafs Orpik.

Zaitsev and marchenko. I'm sure you could trade for ....oh wait

Again they may fair trades, but shouldn't the Leafs use the problems that other teams are going to have protecting all their Dmen, instead of just making lateral trades.

That's what I thought I was doing with Min. Brodin is on a great contract for a longer period than JVR. Also JVR has been brutal recently.

Trouba was more about taking advantage of the fact that they are overloaded on the right.

I like it, but this much "wheeling and dealing" isn't gonna happen, not with Lou in office

Nylander, Gardiner, B prospect, 2018 1st - Carlson, Samsonov......Are you crazy???

Nylander and Gardiner alone would get that done, and don't think the leafs have any interest in dealing Willy. He is set to be the 20th 20 year old in the last 20 years to score 60 points. I know thats a mouthful, but if you look at who else is on that list its crazy

Call ME crazy, but Gardiner and Carlson are very similar (in points, advanced stats, etc. ) they are perceived differently because of the teams they play on

Carlson is having a down year. Not his best season so far, that's for sure. But Carlson is much better than Gardiner.