With Morgan Rielly's extension, Jack Campbell's play, and the fact that the Leafs have many players to resign this offseason, many moves will have to be made to remain both competitive and cap compliant. Their main priorities should be to resign Soupy, keep the core together, and only make upgrades when needed or available.
This 1st line has been very good this season when healthy, so there is no need to break them up unless they stop clicking. Has legitimate potential for 100 goals.
Having Robertson on the 2nd line is definitely a gamble, but with Tavares and Nylander with him, he should be effective. If he is not a good fit, you can move him to the 4th line and bump up the wingers below him. Nonetheless, this second line would be very good. Has potential for 85 goals.
The 3rd line is what it is now: a shutdown line. One of the best in the league in fact. It is fast, can move the puck up the ice, and even has the potential to score 50 goals.
The 4th line is a scrappy, yet competent line. Aston-Reese has not showed that he is good offensively yet, but he is very effective in the defensive zone. This line will annoy the other team, score playoff-style goals, and prevent goals. Potential for 35 goals.
The 1st defensive pairing is competent on both sides of the ice, with Rielly being elite offensively and Brodie average, and vice-versa defensively. Rielly has been much better defensively since the end of last season, and he has become a more complete player because of it. Potential for 20 goals.
2nd pairing is a shutdown pairing. The one downside is it is slow, so Larsson and Liljegrin can switch places, but this pairing is superior defensively. Potential for 8 goals.
The 3rd pairing has worked out well this season, but they often make mistakes that are because of their lack of experience, like going for the puck instead of the body. This is where switching Larsson and Liljegrin could be beneficial, as both pairings would have one vet and one young player. However, this pair can start off together. Potential for 6 goals.
As per goaltending, Campbell is elite, and Woll is a young goalie that in his limited chances, has been pretty good. He is also a cheap option as this team does not have much money left to spend.
Kerfoot went back to the Avs because there is a chance that they lose one of Kadri or Burakovsky, so Kerfoot would be a good, cheap replacement.
The only trade that I am skeptical about is the Larsson trade, as he may be unavailable. Another team could have been asked to retain instead, but Seattle has a lot of space right now. I may need to add more to get it done, but Holl would most likely get flipped at the deadline for at lease a 3rd, maybe more.
Larsson sucks. He's never been very good and makes about 3 million more than he's worth. I'd sooner keep Holl than waste assets on a downgrade.
While he's had a down year, Larsson is a very underrated defenseman. Plus I'd rather have Larsson for 3 years instead of Holl for 1. At least this way, we have a right-handed shutdown defenseman for the next few years until Niemela is ready.
While he's had a down year, Larsson is a very underrated defenseman. Plus I'd rather have Larsson for 3 years instead of Holl for 1. At least this way, we have a right-handed shutdown defenseman for the next few years until Niemela is ready.
He's not a shutdown defenceman. He never has been and he's terrible. Larsson has some of the worst possession numbers out there. He never has the puck, never gets the puck and when he does have it, doesn't know what to do with it. He's like Gudbranson. Completely useless but somehow people still think he's good. He blocks shots and hits a lot because when he's on the ice, the other team has the puck all the time.
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