That's the price you pay to contend, though. What good is a late first in 2022 doing for you when you're in win-now?

Doesnt contending require winning atleast 2 rounds in the last 20 years?

Playoff contending, then. So much of it is luck. Look how many years the Sharks were a playoff team and they never managed to get over the hump. The Leafs aren't without flaws, but they are very much a playoff contender.

Yes there is a point but we have been trading more than a 1st round pick. We have been trading 1sts, 2nds, 3rds, etc non stop. We are often starting our draft in the 3rd round or later from the dubas era. Some trades had bad luck but we're good ie Muzzin. Other like Foligno spelled trouble before the trade was consummated. Oriellly I liked but he is a beginning of the year type of signing for our team to properly develop chemistry. McCabe has turned. The marleau trade was because he had to sign Tavares for his big signature move splash. We kept losing draft picks and this has created a care cupbard. Hopefully Treliving finds a fine line with his trades. As we need to do both trade when we can without overpaying and adding too many players but also keeping also picks as much as we can

I agree with them being a contender but when you look at trends the winning teams make 1 or 2 moves sometimes none at the deadline. We added 7 new players last year. It has been proven that it takes times for chemistry to develop. Vegas last year only got barabanov. It was previous deadline where they lost but resigned your stone, Eichel etc... that paid huge dividends. Rentals that leave if paid a huge price for often hurt the team. Goodrow and Coleman were with Tampa for 3 years while they made the finals and won twice in a row. Last year he rangers has trouble finding a spot for Kane and tarasenko and bowed out to new Jersey. So far this year the Panthers are struggling to find chemistry for tarasenko. Thankfully they didn't pay much for him.

We need to watch our trades with draft picks as we need them to restock cupboards but also try and improve our team.

Not sure you’re getting Johnny Jammies to waive to go anywhere.

But I get it. TOR has a great team, just a lot of not-great luck when the calendar turns to April. A major shake-up could do wonders; but, not sure you're getting any of the big-four to do it themselves.

You didn't read it was a random trade to take him off the roster to show our depth. That's all.

All (or most) top teams have less than average prospect pools. That is the way the league has mandated the system works - late round picks << top 10 picks and pretty much all competitive teams gamble @ TDL to boost their chances. No use belly aching about it now 🤷🏻

I am not belly aching. As with previous comments, I am stating that we overdid it. I agree with trades and our picks but too many were massive overpays ie Foligno. Some were good, I have grown to like the McCabe trade and the Muzzin trade I will defend as durability is hard to predict and Muzzin is still at a decent age. We just did it too much and should have focused on both upgrades and keeping certain picks.

Hindsight is always 20-20; Foligno was a huge miss, agreed. The rest I am ok with - you gamble, sometimes you lose. Leafs prospect pool is pretty good given the number of picks we shipped and don’t forget tragic passing of Amirov (highest pick we’ve had since Matthews)

I agree with you. Those TDL trades did not nothing to help the Leafs. Just a waste of potential good players player on their ELCs., Then the Leafs are forced to fill their roster with mostly over the hill aging UFA signings.
Knies and Robertson. are the ony two Leaf on their ELCs.....that's awful.

Good point with amirov. That could have been a great pick. I od believe some of the 2nds we trade which some were before dubas' and the the first for marleau was not worth it. To be honest I don't see how much worse we would be with kadri as a second line center over Tavares. I like Tavares and still very much see his benefits it's he hindsight 20/20 that shows a few areas where we can have kept 2-4 picks. If one of those picks hit on a defensive prospects that's gold..didn't help that many of the hunter picks hurt us. I still believe mark hunter deserves another chance in the NHL but his drafting could have been better for us. I personally hope another team gives him a chance to show how good he can be.

Dubas' gets a lot of hate but not all is deserved. He way overdid this past year and Foligno was a bad trade. But he is true to his players and has an idea of needed players. He prioritized puck moving D and now we struggle there big time. My two biggest complaints are that he did not follow on his word for look only trading with players with term and the apparent need for a big splash. I can see were Tavares helps us now (as he will probably resign for much less than his current cap that) but this is a few years into the Matthews era.

So much has to do with luck, both with hitting on the picks you do have, and finding success in the playoffs when you get there. If Dubas and Brad didn't do everything they could to get this specific Toronto team over the hump with Matthews/Marner/Nylander, they'd be crucified too. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

The issue I have with the Leafs current construction is they have spent all that draft capital without getting the significant upgrades. Everything is tinkering around the edges when there's still major holes in the top-6 wings and on RD. The team would be better off IMO if they operated more like Vegas: f*** them kids, we need THE guy now.

Like a Cowan, Minten, and Niemela are nice, but would they really be as big a contributor now and in the next few years as, say, an Andersson? You either go all in and trade everything for immediate help, or you sell and grab as much draft capital as you can. The Leafs are where they are because Dubas and Brad are taking half measures: good, but likely not good enough.

As stated with many earlier hindsight is 20/20. I'm agree with the bold moves but some failed for Vegas ie Pacioretty. Also they are now feeling the negative effects of losing their core misfits. They missed two years ago and are at risk of missing this year because their players are having durability issues.

The need the guy now mantra was different with Vegas too because they didn't have a stone or an Eichel prior to the trades. The leafs have a Matthews and a Nylander. We need to surround them with the proper players than when the games get tighter, and pull hay odd round goal that is usually not available for Matthews and nylander.
Look at the Panthers they got Bennett, this year proves it, he struggles and often looks invisible in the regular season, but once the playoffs start his style of play plays dividends.