19/20 Options for 3/4 C

Do you really want the lumbering Myers on time at age 36? There should better options. Gardiner has peaked, just think money could be better spend on a real Dman.

its a fair point, and when you put it like that , if Gardiner and Myers weren't resigned following 18/19 it would leave more than enough to say, sign Doughty or Karlson at $10M, or Ellis at $7M in 19/20, or if they arent avaible then you could stick with Myers somewhere around the $6M /6 yr mark... that said, I think the Leafs D got exposed badly by Boston this year in the playoffs and I'm not sure they'll wait around til 19/20 to try and address that.. trading for a Doughty, karlson or Ellis at this point would cost so much in players/picks/prospects that I don't think it would be worth it. But if they're still avaible in 19/20 then there could be space with this roster. that could be interesting..

Actually I'm one of few hockey fans this isn't so worried about the Leafs defence in 2019/20 and beyond that. Reilly, Dermo, Borgman. Zaitsev, Liljegren. Now I know there are "ifs" in there and some young guys have to be progress. You said the Leafs defence was exposed in the Bruins series yet you resigned Gardiner who had his worse game of the year in game 7. I just don't get all this craziness for Myers who is the 4th best Winnipeg Dman and certainly isn't going to be any better as he's in his 30s.

That's a fair opinion too, and who knows, the leafs D might be fine with in-house options over the long haul. But they're are some ifs, and they're plenty young, too (Lilly is still 18, I think??) so, no need to rush them. I opted to resign Gardiner if someone like Myers is brought in and resigned as well, and then I think we get a better balance throughout the D core and they all perform better. But in repsonding to your point of there being better options/value than Myers, then if the Leafs want to go after one of those bigger fishes like a Doughty?karlson/Ellis (if they ever make it to market..) then there is no room for Gards going forward. I'm fine with Gards staying if he doesn't take on too much of a load and I'd be happy they kept with with a more balanced D corps 1 through 7. or I'd be happy if they traded him to address an exisitign need. But I don't think the Leafs will just wait for their D needs to develop in house and continue to let guys like JVR, Bozack, Leo and maybe Gards walk away for nothin - they have more than enough cap room to make an add on the back end and/or at 3/4C (if they don't give WIlly a shot there). and I imagine they will. I mean, drafting/developing/trades and ufa signings are all just tools/options that are available to create a competitive club and shoudl be uitlized accordingly... to stick and stand pat with draft/developmetn strategy only seems like a wasted opportunity and limiting in and of itself. I imagine the Leafs look outside for help this year through a signing or a trade two.. mostly because they can