yeah, what would happen to literally any team if things they did in the off season worked out as poorly as possible?

The Leafs haven't signed or traded for a legitimate top 6 player. Look at the Habs adding Dvorak, you and I would have no concern. All these players I mentioned are not players you should rely on

Kase is a legitimate top 6 player, Ritchie played in the top 6 for most of his career, Bunting has shown the potential.
Why should the Habs rely on Dvorak? He's a middling 2C who has never shown the ability to drive his own line and relies heavily on his wingers to do all the heavy lifting. Hell, Dvorak barely outscored Ritchie last year despite getting significantly more minutes and power play time.

Kase is a top 6 player if he can stay healthy. Last time he stayed 'somewhat' healthy was two seasons ago with Anaheim. Out of 164 games of two seasons in Boston, he only played in 9 of those games. Bunting has potential, which brings in the risk factor, 23 games is a very small sample size and shooting over 26% is unsustainable. Ritchie played top 6 minutes as he was forced to when Boston had no one else. When they brought Hall in, his minutes dropped and played third line minutes, especially in the playoffs where he played 11 to 13 minutes a night. These are the risks I am talking about and are nowhere near Dvorak's playing field. Dvorak is a 38+ point player who can play a top 6 role at all times without having to shelter him or drop his minutes

I don;t know why people think Kase is a top 6 player.

His best year was just 38 pts FIVE seasons ago in top six minutes on a fairly good Anaheim team.

Theres a greater chance he gets injured or is the damaged player of 2019-2020 then the top 6 winger of 2017-2018.

Kase was a NHL long shot as a low round pick, hes played just 88 games the last FOUR seasons and just 9 the last 2 years. In six NHL seasons he's played just 207 games.

He has concussion issues and is just a bad bet to play even a half season, let alone be able to play top 9 minutes, let alone produce like he did back in 2017-2018. Hes healthy now, after almost two seasons away and no physical contact. But to think hes a top 6 forward, based on one season?

ah yes a 38+ point player, that's totally not a risk at all compared to the leafs players, especially since the Habs will be relying on Dvorak way more than the leafs will be relying on any of the guys they brought in.

I heard on a podcast where someone who works in the NHL talked about how when Kase is healthy, he is capable of playing a top 6 role. He is very skilled, but the injury bug is what caught on to him. Even from watching him, when healthy, he has the skillsets of playing like a top 6 player

But they added (or already have) at least 5 or 6 guys who show potential to be a top 6 player. The chances are at least one of 2 of them become at least respectable top 6 players.

it's because he is a top 6 player, by literally every metric. His health doesnt change that. He put up top 6 numbers in pretty much every season for the games he played. You wanna talk about relying on him to play significant time? sure, you can debate that but the guy is easily a top 6 player if he can stay healthy

Exactly my point. I'm not saying they don't have the potential to be top 6 players, but potential also means risks. We are not talking about these players being 'defined' as a top 6 player like Dvorak

The injury bug thats followed him all his career and now the last 2 years its concussions. Someone who worked in the NHL might have said he was a top 6 forward based on his 38 pts 5 seasons ago, but the last 4 years (only 88 games) has shown his minutes and reliability decline.

As with the Team name "Leafs are taking on too many risks" I think you have to bear in mind that if Kase plays at all, its a win. But to believe he can be or EVEN WAS (for more than two seasons of his six season career) a top 6 guy, is exactly what this thread was saying.... You can say hes a top 6 forward, but if hes not playing which he hasnt for FOUR years, its a risk to think he'll be anything more than LTIR

‘Potential’ that’s the key word. Those four have the potential to do well or crash and burn. If one or two hit then I think that’s good

Maybe the type of system he plays in is a factor. He always played in a bang and crash type of system in Boston and Anaheim, maybe puck possession and being a perimeter player who shouldn't go near the boards is what he needs

I agreed and welcome to CapFriendly by the way

Dont get me wrong, I think this forward group is better than last year BUT:

Bunting 26 yrs old with just 24 games
Simmonds couldn;t stay healthy in a short season
Kase has played 88 games the last 4 seasons combined and just 9 the last 2 years and has concussion issues
Kampf has never played 80 games or scored 20 or more pts
Ritchie had a few good years in ANA and some solid yrs on the 3rd line in BOS, but is he a physical 3rd liner or can he be more?
Gusev has quickly worn out his welcome and was a healthy scratch last year
Is semyonov good or is he another Lehtonen?
Can Engvall or Mikheyev ever produce more than average 3rd liners?

Most of these moves are low risk/low contracts, but thats alot of risks and over reliance on a team capped out and at this juncture not able to put 22 players on the roster in a compressed schedule of 82 games.

But i"m saying the chances of non of them hitting is very low.

And even if non of them hit, the leafs can always go out and acquire someone like Rakell.

Am I missing something, the Leafs have Auston Matthews, John Tavares as their top 2 C's, Mitch Marner and William Nylander as their top 2 wingers. Put whoever you want beside them during the regular season. Those 4 alone will carry the Leafs to the playoffs. It will be what Dubas can add at the TDL to make this unit stronger that will matter.

If everyone fails, then everyone but Ritchie earn little enough that they will basically disappear once they pass through waivers. The Leafs run Kerfoot as a top 6 winger for most of the season and whoever is hot right now with Matthews and Marner, and lets be real, this guy doesnt really matter with those 2. And finally, they trade for a top 6 winger at the deadline when the cap hit is less. Even if none of those guys work out, there isn't much risk.

Leafs played in an easy division last season. We do not know how the roster will face against an American team

LMFAO the East division had the Sabres (15 wins) and Devils (19 wins). The North div has MTL go to the Finals. What are you talking about lol

The only real difference in the Leafs this season, is they have lost Hyman. A big lose, and they are really dependent on some of the other LWers to take up some of the slack.
Bogosian was great value last season, so the Leafs are depending on another Dman to step up.
Leafs (on paper) are worse than last year, But if Leafs and all teams need some of the bottom enders to play beyond their contract to be successful.

Can't believe I had to read this far down for someone to mention Kerfoot.

Also, all this talk about risk and injury. Dubas is doing what he can with very VERY limited cap space as a result of the flat cap. Signing home town discount veterans (simmonds, spezza) and taking some chances on talented players who either don't have the sample size or have had injury issues in the past is exactly the type of moves he should be doing because he's maximized the amount of potential depth into the organization. If he took a swing on someone historically healthy and talented, he wouldn't have been able to add as many pieces. If we've learned anything from the playoffs last year, it's that anybody on the roster can suffer an unsuspecting injury at any time.

For what it's worth, the roster you suggest with those 4 guys out, doesn't look horrible either. So add even 1 of them and I think the Leafs still have a good chance of turning some heads again this season.

lol, the east and west were both weaker divisions than the north

There's also the fact that if not for Dvorak, their 2nd best centerman would be Jake Evans...who played a total of 60 NHL games, mostly on the 4th line.

I see that you're saying...but having extra bodies that are NHL capable isn't a bad thing. Camp will decide who starts, that doesn't meen the other guys are gone. If you get into injury trouble, you don't want total greenhorns coming in the fill the holes.