id rather get a complete stud on the blueline for nylander but they aren't exactly easy to come by.

Why not cut out the middleman and do Ellis for Nylander

Good luck for getting Matthews to take a cent less than what McDavid is making.

Because Kapanen is not a top 6 player. You need to replace Nylander with a guy skilled enough to play with Matthews.

LOL, keep dreaming if you think that is what he is getting! If he wants to win then he will take a slight discount.

I don't understand this.

Your making the team in 2019 but Nylander is an RFA now and I think Reinhart is too but your doing the Ellis move in 2019???
And Gardiner is UFA in 2019.

Sorry I forgot to specify that trade done in 2018

I think he is young and wants to get paid... plus I think he wants back in the states out west. I would look for the Sharks to move space and make him a huge offer. Not to mention the Islanders will prob offer sheet the hell out of him. Matthews, like I said, will get a deal extremely close to McDavid.

You have inside info that he wants out of TO? Nothing I have heard says he wants out. Just because NYI offer sheet him doesn't mean he has to sign it. TOR is close to winning a Cup, NYI are not. TOR could turn the Matthews/Marner/ Tavares time into a dynasty (can't believe I am saying that "puke") He will take somewhere between Eichel and Tavares.

How about keep Nylander and see what we have in our young defenders before blowing up the roster to pay a guy in his late 20's 7 million a year. Ellis is great but for how long? Nylander is 22, never trade someone that young for someone who is leaving their prime. Its just nonsense.

You move out Nylander for Reinhart and Gardiner/Kapanen for Ellis so you lose 1 roster player. Please elaborate as to how this roster is "blown up". The only young guy that even has a shot at being a top pairing guy is Liljegren and he is a year or 2 away minimum and won't immediately be a #1 guy.

You really need to stop with the crazy exaggerations.

So wait two year.

The defence isn't terrible. They were 12th best and the addition of Tavares improves the team defence and the offence. Nylander makes Toronto better. Trading him for an inferior player and then sending valuable depth to Nashville for a defencemen leaving his prime doesn't improve the team. All these moves weaken the team. Smaller additions can be made to improve the defence this season and not sacrifice any of the future.

The Leafs can afford to still be a tad patient. If they go all in, it'll be this year at the deadline but at reasonable costs or two seasons from now when Marleau is off the books. With the way Toronto operates their player development program, they'll have a lot of good players ready to step up in the coming years for cheap ELC contracts.

Anyone who doesn't look at the big picture, just look at LA's current state. Sure they won 2 cups but they are going to be utter trash in a couple years with half of their cap tied up to a handful of players over 30 years old.

You really don't know much about hockey do you? I constantly see you with these insane comments on here.

Ellis is NOT leaving his prime as most defenseman don't even hit their prime until around 25. Reinhart is NOT inferior to Nylander, he has just taken longer to develop. And TOR being 12th defensively is fking laughable! TOR allowed the 4th most SA in the league and Andersen made 150 more saves than the next closest guy to him who played basically the same number of games. Andersen bailed you guys out last year.

You aren't waiting 2 years for Liljegren, you are waiting 4-5 before he reaches potential.

STOP

Next time try and add to the conversation please.

Just get through 2019/20 with a young d. See what they have. Then go spending the next year.

Don't we already know what they have? Liljegren and that is about it. The rest are bottom pairing/7th D men. Liljegren is not going to be a top pairing guy anytime soon either. You are now 3-5 years deep into Tavares contract before your D is solidified.

Human males reach their physical peak at about 24 years old. Statistically speaking, hockey players hit their offensive peak around the same time. Then they remain within 10% of that level for the remainder of their 20's before usually declining in their early 30's as they begin to lose their steps. (Unless you're Patrick Marleau in which case your have cyborg legs and never lose a step.)

So the whole idea that players are just entering their prime when they are in their late 20's is utterly false. Ellis is 27, a fantastic defender and a solid addition to any team. But for how long? Defencemen take a lot more punishment than forwards and that takes its toll. So at some point in the not too distant future, he's going to start declining. He'll be a very good defenceman for quite a while yet.

As for the Leafs defence, do shots against tell the whole picture? Yes the leafs allowed a tonne of shots, they also had the lead more than almost anyone in the league so teams were always pressing because they were behind all the time. A stat that is far more important than SA is high danger scoring chances for and against. When you look at that, the Leafs won that battle by almost a 2-1 rate. So what's a better defence, one that allows 35 shots from the outside but very little high danger chances? Or the team that allows less shots (Carolina) but allows a tonne of high danger scoring chances (Faulk bleeds those)?

Stats don't always paint the whole picture.

On a different note, how is it that people who don't like the leafs say the following two things.

1) Andersen is completely overrated
2) The Leafs defence is the worst in the league

They finished with the 12th least amount of goals against. So is it the defence that is better than everyone says? Or is Andersen the best goalie in hockey and took the worst defence to the playoffs with the worst defence in hockey?

Liljegren will be in the NHL in 2 season maybe sooner. He'll be good as soon as he arrives and looks like he'll be a really solid player. He was one of, if not the best skater in his draft here and Dermott has openly said, he's almost already better than he is now. And Dermott looks like a really good defenceman in the making. I'm not worried, I can be patient because the Leafs have that luxury. Only desperate fans on worse teams that have little hope in their own team see the Leafs as an opportunity to pillage. Its not at all based in reality.

And Reinhart just isn't as good as Nylander. Nylander has more skill and is a next level skater. I'm always taking speed over whatever Reinhard has to offer.

They have Rasanen, Holl is worth a look, Carrick is underrated on the right side, (Actually led the leafs in shot suppression) Durzi is a good looking right handed defenceman as well. They signed that Russian guy who's coming over from the KHL.

They have options coming. Many won't be ready until next season or the year after which is fine, that's when they'll need to go young and cheap for a season anyways. Who knows how the young players develop over a summer of training at the Leafs facilities.

Again all 6-7th D men lol.

As for your other post. Did you watch the Leafs last year? Yes Andersen was one of the best goalies in the league IMO and bailed the team out all the time. 12th least amount of goals in the league is ok but not good. If you want to be an elite team then you have to be elite at both aspects of the game.

How do you know that Kapanen isn't a top six winger? This site is hilarious, talk to any Washington fan and they'll tell you Tom Wilson is definitely a top 6 winger and you're on here saying Kapanen definitely isn't. I'm not one of those homers who think he's going to be an allstar but with speed like his and a high level of skill as well, I think he can definitely be a top 6 winger. I think he's better suited for a top 6 than the bottom 6 but he goes out there and does his job well.

Kapanen is a great secondary guy to have around, and I think he'll carve out a very fine career.

He's definitely no Nylander and I think the two of them is better for the team than over spending for a defenceman. Ellis is great but he's no stud. He's best suited on a teams 2nd pairing. He'd be top pair in TO and would do a great job no doubt. However, I think the Leafs can find other options that will do good enough until their younger options are ready to take over.

You keep saying "overspending for Ellis"...it is NOT overspending! He is a very good D man and those cost money! Gardiner is going to get north of $5.75 on his next contract and IMO he isn't close to Ellis.

I would never say Wilson is a top 6F because he isn't.

You have no idea how they'll progress. Not having Polak, immediately makes them better. If Holl or Carrick or the Russian guy show good chemistry with Reilly, Hainsey may drop down the depth chart which would improve them as well. As I mentioned Carrick was the absolute best at suppressing shots, he should have played the full season and would have been much better than Polak. I anticipate him turning heads this year, he's not an all star but he's a guy that'll be like a poor man's Ellis. Great positioning, a great skater and a bull dog mentality.

I'd rather see what we have than making the team worse to fix a perceived weakness.

As for watching hockey, I watch as much as I can and play twice a weak so I get the game. Andersen is a very good goalie, top 10 in the league for sure. And I think TO will be better this year defensively for 2 reasons.

1) Tavares will control the play and take pressure of both Matthews and Kadri which will give the Leafs so much more time in the offensive zone.

2) The team is still very young and they'll keep progressing. Reilly is only 24 for crying out loud and he's our best defenceman. Dermott is 22 and Carrick is 23, they will continue to develop.

You're just ripping on stuff and don't really know because these guys haven't played. There have been lots of guys who don't look like greats and then have stellar but quiet careers. Maybe Holl is a Willie Mitchell type guy, who never was supposed to be much but was so important to his teams.

I wouldn't pay a 28 year old Ellis 7 x 7, I think he'll start declining as quickly as 4 years from now and then you have a bad contract. As for Gardiner, I've said he should be traded several times. I like him, hes a very good defenceman and someone will pay him 7 million next year. Is he worth it? Not a chance, but he'll get it.

For the Leafs to acquire a "Stud" defender, they are going to have to massively overpay. It'll cost Nylander and likely some other depth, those guys are so hard to find. In my opinion, waiting for Liljegren and other young players makes more sense. Nylander is too good and his ceiling is too high. Also Hall for Larson.

That's enough reason for me to not move forward on that. Period.

I just got you a stud defender without overpaying with a guy like Nylander lol