What's with the title?

love the forwards but any defence with gardiner is a no

SMH gonna diss Horvat like that. Tavares is probably staying in New York, and that defense is still just as bad as it was before. Instead of going after Tavares, go after Carlson.

The whole point of this was to show that the Leafs can afford Tavares while still keeping the core.
Gardiner can be any player with a 5.5M caphit.

you cant win a stanley cup with all forwards, defense looks average, not cup contending

I definitely don't see a cup contender anywhere on that team...

You're squeezing the RFAs just to sign Tavares. Leafs will not and I don't think any team should pay Tavares 12.5m. You've got a good core but really the math doesn't work. By 2020/21...your post, all players make more money not just the stars. Plus it's only a 20 man roster.