Plz stop..... I am tired of TOR fans thinking they well get every home-boy and bring them to their hometown, also that trade is a rip for LA

insert facepalm

That doesn't even come close to getting you Drew Doughty both Tavares and Carlson are under-paid by at least $1 million and where do you think you're coming up with the money to afford Tavares, Carlson, Doughty, Marner, Nylander and Matthews no way you can afford all of them

How to lose your young core by signing massive deals to players nearing the end of their prime 101. The issues:
1. You have just over 1 million in cap space. You get 12 million relief from UFAs. Some will need resigning/replacements. You get maybe 2 million extra space. There is no way to keep Doughty without losing Marner/Matthews. So, you either traded Gardiner+ for 1 year of Doughty or you traded Gardiner + Marner/Matthews for Doughty. Neither of those are good. And the chances are decent that Doughty will demand enough that you can't keep either of Marner + Matthews with him. This is bad.
2. John Carlson is a great offensive #1D and strong powerplay quarterback. So is Gardiner. So arguably is Rielly. Carlson is not the best answer at 1RD, especially given how much term and cash he commands.
3. Tavares is great, but his term and cash are issues, and TOR isn't desperate for a centre. Why bet so much on him?
Ultimately, this is arguably the best lineup the Leafs could ice next year. It also shortens their window by about 5 years. I'll take the extra 5 years of championship window over the superteam today any day.

This is ony fantasy though. Everybody's threads on this site is only fantasy. But some replies: 1. Drew Doughty is in his final year before going UFA - in real life, its a risk (no matter what the cap hit is) that a traded player entering free agency could leave; and don't forget the salary cap is more than likely to go up next year too. You might have noticed that out of the main RFAs (Nylander, Matthews, Marner) only Wiilliam Nylander is signed - Matthews and Marner don't have to be granted an extension until next summer, and like former GM Lou Lamoriello said "if you have time, use it" And if Doughty walked next summer, he's earned that right and if he did walk, well that would then free up salary to sign Matthews and Marner. 2. Yes, Jake Gardiner is a great offensive Dman and a strong powerplay quarterback...but in Leafs Nation he is a polarizing player who still has a tendency to make bone-headed errors. And John Carlson would be a lot more minimal in his errors, compared to Gardiner. 3. In real life: Toronto IS desperate for another centreman (as Bozak and Moore are UFAs and most likely won't be back with Toronto) so as of now, only Matthews and Kadri are signed with the Maple Leafs; beyond them, the Leafs do not have an NHL player who play centre (Gauthier has tried but is very inconsistent...Lindholm is unproven but he is already signed; Adam Brooks might need one more year with the Marlies and Chris Mueller is a career AHL player (not that there's anything wrong with that) So in my fantasy game, John Tavares came home to play for the Maple Leafs...and took a hometown discount. Like in real life: not every NHL player cares about their income tax brackets and bank accounts etc. - I believe there are players who still care more about winning a Championship than what their taxes will be; unless one knows him personally and can prove otherwise, JT might/could just be that player

Like I said, this is all fantasy and when I play the fantasy game I play to be the best

My fantasy if posts like this continue.....LakeshoreLeafs....just keeping walking south.