I agree with you. But I have a feeling Dubie doubles down on his Dubieness which will lead to his demise.

FORWARDS (13)
Right wing: Mitchell Marner ($10,903,000) - William Nylander ($6,962,366) - Ilya Mikheyev ($1,645,000) - Jason Spezza ($750,000)
Centre: Auston Matthews ($11,640,250) - John Tavares ($11,000,000) - Nick Foligno ($2,000,000) - Adam Brooks ($725,000)
Left wing: Nicholas Robertson ($796,667) - Michael Bunting ($1,500,000) - Alex Galchenyuk ($1,050,000) - Pierre Engvall ($1,250,000) - Joey Anderson ($750,000)

DEFENSE (7)
Right: Dougie Hamilton ($8,500,000) - TJ Brodie ($5,000,000) - Zach Bogosian ($1,000,000)
Left: Jake Muzzin ($5,625,000) - Morgan Rielly ($5,000,000) - Rasmus Sandin ($894,167) - Travis Dermott ($925,000)

GOALTENDER (2)
Jack Campbell ($1,650,000) - Vitek Vanecek ($716,667)

RETAINED SALARY TRANSACTIONS (1)
Phil Kessel ($1,200,000)

DETAILS
Roster Size: 22
Salary Cap: $81,500,000
Cap Hit: $81,483,117
Cap Space: $16,883
- gergeswillems

Don't mind the G and D at all.

Forward group still looks 'weak' to me. Need some hard forechecking bangers. Don't know Michael Bunting. Like keeping Foligno and Spezza. Engvall ...replace him with a guy that's 6'5" and hits, PLEASE.

Robertson on the 1st line with Marner feels like someone hates Matthews to me.

Let me guess...

Isles have a roster full of bad contracts and have no Cap!

Habs are not good. They're riding a hot goalie. But they don't have any elite players like the Leafs do and are in cap hell!

Vegas is weak at C and have no cap!
- gergeswillems

Didn't the Habs take out Vegas #1 C to start the series?

Seems to be a pattern there...


Point better keep his head up...

Didn't the Habs take out Vegas #1 C to start the series?

Seems to be a pattern there...


Point better keep his head up...
- Nasty_Duck

Fatty Patty Balloon will eat anyone who touches Point. Literally. He has to. His eating skills are much better than his fighting skills.

Don't mind the G and D at all.

Forward group still looks 'weak' to me. Need some hard forechecking bangers. Don't know Michael Bunting. Like keeping Foligno and Spezza. Engvall ...replace him with a guy that's 6'5" and hits, PLEASE.

Robertson on the 1st line with Marner feels like someone hates Matthews to me.
- underhill14

What if we paid Hamilton $4.5M? Provides more flexibility to get those wingers that would have helped create some space in the playoffs. Need some out of the box thinking here guys.

Why trade Marner for prospects who will develop when Matthews walks out the door?
- Canada Cup

Doubt that Leafs are able to trade Marner for prospects, but the $10.9M cap space could be used to sign a top tier defenseman or a couple of good players. Marner for 2 firsts and an top prospect + an overpaid 4th line plug would also get you Hamilton possibly. Not a likely scenario IMO, Dubas likes his softee skill guys too much.

Why trade Marner for prospects who will develop when Matthews walks out the door?
- Canada Cup

Because McJesus is coming home.

Doubt that Leafs are able to trade Marner for prospects, but the $10.9M cap space could be used to sign a top tier defenseman or a couple of good players. Marner for 2 firsts and an top prospect + an overpaid 4th line plug would also get you Hamilton possibly. Not a likely scenario IMO, Dubas likes his softee skill guys too much.
- winsix

Matthews seemed to like the tape to tape but I’m sure he’ll grow to love Mikhayev.

Matthews seemed to like the tape to tape but I’m sure he’ll grow to love Mikhayev.
- Canada Cup

What if we paid Hamilton $4.5M? Provides more flexibility to get those wingers that would have helped create some space in the playoffs. Need some out of the box thinking here guys.
- Canada Cup

Sure

Matthews seemed to like the tape to tape but I’m sure he’ll grow to love Mikhayev.
- Canada Cup

It has gone right off the rails now. If you don’t win the cup before your best players are 25 that means they all have to go.

It has gone right off the rails now. If you don’t win the cup before your best players are 25 that means they all have to go.
- shack67

Maybe the problem is expecting kids who aren't even 25 to be what leads them to a cup. That means more of a supporting cast, which means less top heavy salaries, which I think would still lead most back to Marner being the odd guy out. 🤷🏻‍♂️

It has gone right off the rails now. If you don’t win the cup before your best players are 25 that means they all have to go.
- shack67

Maybe the problem is expecting kids who aren't even 25 to be what leads them to a cup. That means more of a supporting cast, which means less top heavy salaries, which I think would still lead most back to Marner being the odd guy out. 🤷🏻‍♂️
- joel878

3 players are younger, but the Leafs on average aren’t a young team.

And 24 isn’t a kid.. that’s prime producing years in hockey

The habs are absolutely showing make the playoffs and things can go your way with some hard work.

Matthews seemed to like the tape to tape but I’m sure he’ll grow to love Mikhayev.
- Canada Cup

Matthews would score 40 to 50 with a elmer J fudd as the set up guy. $10. 9 for a winger that does a Houdini come playoff time is like putting diamond earings on a pig.

Maybe the problem is expecting kids who aren't even 25 to be what leads them to a cup. That means more of a supporting cast, which means less top heavy salaries, which I think would still lead most back to Marner being the odd guy out. 🤷🏻‍♂️
- joel878

All fan bases are pretty much the same. Detroit fans were screaming for Stevie Y to be traded back in the day.
How old were Ovie and Stamkos before they won? Harry Neale used to say if you start listening to the fans you’ll soon find yourself sitting with them.

3 players are younger, but the Leafs on average aren’t a young team.

And 24 isn’t a kid.. that’s prime producing years in hockey
- Horsey Sauce

You missed my point. Regardless of average age of team, the narrative at the end of the day are what Matthews and Marner did, the team is built fairly reliant on them to be what gets it done in the end.

How many teams win cups expecting 23-24 year olds to be what gets them there?

The support they need isn't a goon or something, it's the ability to be able to rely on something outside of your top line. You don't get there when your top line eats up 30% of the cap.

All fan bases are pretty much the same. Detroit fans were screaming for Stevie Y to be traded back in the day.
How old were Ovie and Stamkos before they won? Harry Neale used to say if you start listening to the fans you’ll soon find yourself sitting with them.
- shack67

Im pretty sure Marner isn't our Ovie or Stamkos, that's Matthews. And how many 11 million dollar linemates did those two need to get it done again?

Im pretty sure Marner isn't our Ovie or Stamkos, that's Matthews. And how many 11 million dollar linemates did those two need to get it done again?
- joel878

Any player who finishes 4th in the scoring race can pretty much name his price. He hasn’t been great in the playoffs YET. But that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen.

Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the leafs to lose to the Habs. The leafs are notorious for trading players too soon in their careers only to see them excel with other teams. I for one am glad that’s no longer the case.

You said TB wouldn’t make it out of the 1st round? Weird.
- Garnie

When?

You missed my point. Regardless of average age of team, the narrative at the end of the day are what Matthews and Marner did, the team is built fairly reliant on them to be what gets it done in the end.

How many teams win cups expecting 23-24 year olds to be what gets them there?

The support they need isn't a goon or something, it's the ability to be able to rely on something outside of your top line. You don't get there when your top line eats up 30% of the cap.
- joel878

There’s agreement that changes are needed but disagreement on how you move things around. Let’s say all the big pieces - Rielly and Marner stay - you’ve potentially got some Freddie money, some Hyman money and some Kerfoot money to get a goalie and then spread around to D or forwards.

One approach is simply to become less reliant on your top line period. Maybe break up Mitch and Auston. Maybe create a strong offensive third line around Willie. Bring in some forecheckers as you priority spending for the summer (along with a goalie) and only spend money in the defence if Rielly is gone but don’t go nuts. How much is the swimmers brother worth?

There are ways to change the way this team plays. There are ways to make them less reliant on their top line without shipping out Marner.

All fan bases are pretty much the same. Detroit fans were screaming for Stevie Y to be traded back in the day.
How old were Ovie and Stamkos before they won? Harry Neale used to say if you start listening to the fans you’ll soon find yourself sitting with them.
- shack67

I remember those days. Trade Yzerman for Yashin! Fedorov for Roenick! I wasn't one of them. Harry Neale also benched Yzerman. Got fired. And never coached another NHL game.

There’s agreement that changes are needed but disagreement on how you move things around. Let’s say all the big pieces - Rielly and Marner stay - you’ve potentially got some Freddie money, some Hyman money and some Kerfoot money to get a goalie and then spread around to D or forwards.

One approach is simply to become less reliant on your top line period. Maybe break up Mitch and Auston. Maybe create a strong offensive third line around Willie. Bring in some forecheckers as you priority spending for the summer (along with a goalie) and only spend money in the defence if Rielly is gone but don’t go nuts. How much is the swimmers brother worth?

There are ways to change the way this team plays. There are ways to make them less reliant on their top line without shipping out Marner.
- Canada Cup

Agreed. Take McDavid out of the picture and Marner is a threat to win the scoring title. I’m not sure we make the playoffs without him.

Send him to LA. They have 20M in cap next year, looking for top-6 wingers, and have a ton of high end prospects.
- Steven_Seagull

Who’s going to want a soft 10.9m who doesn’t score in the playoffs????

Nobody!!!!!!

Something Gretz said back in the day always has stuck with me..
after the Isles beat them for a cup ... he walked by the Isles room and the guys .. the stars.. Trottier / Potvin / Bossy all totally black and blue ice all over.. just sitting there..

The light went off for him... he had to raise his game even more and do whatever it took.. blocking shots.. killing penalties .. whatever to win a cup..

He has said multiple times.. his whole mindset changed from that time on...