Good luck getting past the Leafs.

RFA signings look pretty good but like you said it all depends how each player develops. I can see Patrick taking a huge step this year and Konecny who's already a hell of a player, looks like he's just gonna keep getting better. Really interested to see what kind of a year Philippe Myers has if he gets a shot on the Flyers blue line, another player with a lot of potential but as a Defenseman he might take a little more time to develop.

I like that you have Lindblom on the 2nd line ahead of JVR...Those are 3 devastating lines, and the 4th line is not slouch either...

The way their team is built they don't scare me one bit. Obviously I'm here assuming our prospects pan out, the Leafs are more of a sure thing. But if our prospects would pan out then its strength against strength and weakness against weakness. Obviously it wouldn't be a walk in the park, like if we played 10 series, in no way are we winning 8-9 times, but we'll win some, they'll win some. They don't seem to be building some unstoppable juggernaut. I'm actually more scared to play Tampa in the future than I am Toronto

Matthews, Tavares and Kadri are the best threesome of centres in the league. Then Marner and Nylander on the wings makes the Leafs hands down the best offensive team in hockey. Their defence isn't the greatest but they did finish 12th best for goals against. They allowed 11 goals less than Philly and also scored 26 goals more than they did. The scary thing is Toronto is going to be a lot better this season than last. They may have lost a few guys but they weren't of consequence really. JVR is not even close to as valuable as Tavares and JVR is the only guy they would have missed at all.

Philly I think is going to be a good team but its going to be hard to pass teams like Pittsburgh and Washington and then there is Tampa and Toronto in the other division. A lot of things will have to go right for Philly to get to the final.

This year's stats don't matter because I'm talking 3-4 years down the road. It's no secret that the Leafs will be tight against the cap real soon. I'm not like other people who believe they'll lose Marner or Nylander, but the very well could lose a guy like Kadri. Gardiner is probably gone. They'll lose a lot of their depth. They already did this year actually. And we've seen in the playoffs how important depth is

It pains me to say this as a Flyers fans but I see the Leafs as a worse version of this year's Penguins. Contenders? Sure. But they're also beatable. Faced a good goalie in Holtby, Murray wasn't elite like he was in their two cup runs and they got eliminated. And again, this pains me to say as a Flyers fan, but if you asked me who I rather have in the playoffs, I'll take Crosby, Malkin, Brassard, Kessel and Guentzel over Matthews, Tavares, Kadri, Nylander and Marner. I'd rather face the Leafs than face Pittsburgh or Tampa but I guess third behind those teams isn't bad

TK, Hagg, Lindblom, Phil Myers are overpaid.

Hagg one was a little hard for me because I'm thinking two contracts ahead. I could understand Lindblom and Konecny but Myers? 3 million is too much for him in 2 years?

He likely isn't even going to be on the team this year so you think Hextall is going to give him $3 mil after 1 NHL year? Highly doubtful. Hagg as a 3rd pairing guy will never make more than $3 mil per.

That's where we differentiate with Myers. People thought he was near NHL ready last year, should be near ready this year, I see him getting into 40ish games this year, then full time next year and impressing enough (and being used enough) to get a decent amount

As for Hagg, I'm not high on him either but he was used as a top 4 d-man this year. Definitely number 4 d-man potential, not to mention he's the type of guy coaches and GMs like. While 4 is probably high I could definitely see him getting 3+ million in 2 years if developed properly

I would love to see Myers up this year but we have too many D contracts now. I guess we could bury Folin but I don't see them burying Gudas or AMac.

Pens are definitely formidable, but they are also getting old, they will start regressing soon. As for the Leafs, and depth for that matter, yes its important but the Leafs have loads of it. Wing depth is easy to find if you draft well and develop players. Toronto spends more money on player development and some teams spend on their entire teams budget. Its nuts how much effort they've put into player development and it works, just look at a guy like Johnsson who's a blue chip prospect who was a 7th round pick. Yeah he's older (25 years old) but he was developed into a guy who'll be a big contributor. Overpaying on depth is what kills teams in the cap world.

Toronto spent 11 million a year on Tavares and are way deeper this year than they were last year. Tavares gives them more depth than JVR, Bozak and Komarov combined and they now make 15 million a year.

If you're talking 3-4 years from now, then Tamps is dust, half of your best players are in their 30's and likely not nearly as effective and for Toronto, Matthews, Marner and Nylander will be in their mid 20's. Toronto will be scary good in 3-4 years. Who cares about losing some depth guys, its why you draft players, to fill out the depth. Every pick doesn't have to be a home run. They've already hit their homers, now they need to hit a bunch of singles and doubles and let the home runs (Tavares, Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Reilly and Kadri), cash those runs in.

The Pens "old" players are some of the best players of this century. Players as good as that take a while to decline. In 3-4 years, they wouldn't have declined yet, it will be the start of their decline. In 5-6 years, then I can say the Leafs will definitely better. As for Tampa, I really question if you know who they have in their organization. The oldest part of their core (best players) is McDonagh who's 29. That's two years older than Tavares. If you think Tavares will be dust in 3 years, then all I can say is I disagree. They have better forward prospects than the Leafs. You called 25 year old Johnsson a blue chip prospect (not many people would but), I can name 3-5 forward prospects they have who probably have a higher ceiling than he does. Not to mention barring trades, their defense and goaltending will definitely be better

As for depth, your definition of depth is different than most people. Losing 3 middle sixers and gaining one first liner isn't gaining depth, it's losing depth at the expense of high end talent. In no way does it mean the team is worse, just means the talent is less spread out hence the reason there's less depth

In 3-4 years Crosby is in mid 30's, he won't be the best player in the world then. And he certainly won't be as good as a 25 year old Matthews. You're nuts if you think time just ignores people. Hockey players get hold and they lose steps and get hurt more. Trust me, I just turned 35 and I get hurt from getting out of bed too quickly. LOL its not that bad but you feel the wear and tear for sure.

We've seen it in the past. Good players at their top level longer than other players do. We aren't talking about Chris Kunitz, no disrespect to him but we aren't even talking about a guy like Seguin. We are talking about one of the best players to play the game. Sure, nothing is guaranteed but odds are 33/34 year old Crosby will still be an 80 point player and will start declining shortly after

With the wear and tear on his body, I doubt it. I think he'll be a quality player well into his 30's but he won't be a super start at 33. I think he'll be what Toews is now by 33. A really good player but a shadow of what he was in his prime.