Leafs gag at the thought of Sandin and Holl on the top six next year. Better keep Zaitsev, he's a NHL Dman. There are lot better ways to jettison cap and get value in trade.

Make that 2 or 3 years for Marner and I think it works

I think Sandin will have earned it. Holl, in a limited roll actually playing and not becoming rusty I think can be a decent bottom 6. But yeah definately not ideal. As I said a Stralman or Miller would be perfect, but you just cannot afford it unless you ship out Marleau with his NMC.

Howelse could you jettison Cap? What are your thoughts?

The 3 worst contracts on the Leafs in my opinion
1. Ziatsev
2. Marleau
3. Brown
4. After that i am lost. In terms of Value/$ =Matthews good, Nylander great, Kadri Amazing, JT Good, Andersen Great, 4th line cheap,Marners will probably fine. Maybe sell high on Johnsson? But you got to keep Kappy

How else is one supose to shed cap.

I figure once the Leafs sign all their RFAs they are 7m over the cap. Now I retired Marleau and trading of his cap solves a lot of problems. as that would creates about 5.5m cap saving..
But if he doesn't retire....yep its 7m. Now I don't understand hardly any of these silly, yes silly Zaitsev trades. You say yourself that "he has the worst contract", well if that's the case no team will want him as no team wants dead cap. for such a long period of time. But the reality is Zaitsev as a minute eating RHD, and is contract is not bad . And there is no way the Leafs could depend on Holl, Marincin, Liljegren as a regular next year. So it looks like Zaitsev has to stay. There just isn't a cost efficient way to replace him either next season.
So if you're talking about 7m that has to go...you can virtually do it with one player being traded....Nylander. Now I don't understand how any one can say his 20 goals, 60 goals is great value. He's overpaid by any NHL comparable. His actual pay out in cash is just 4.9m a year for five years starting next year which makes him attractive to some teams despite his near 7m cap hit. To achieve this net 7m either at that he would have to traded for prospects or picks.
How did the Leafs get in this cap trouble. Signing 11m. Tavares....as a UFA. Not that I disagree at all with the signing but it has a big affect on the cap. Then to overpay Matthews and Nylander too. And Marner.Kapanen and Johnson with their improved play deserve more money than expected. Also the acquisition of 4m Muzzin.
Not that want Nylander to be traded, but he's about the only guy that can be traded and will give the Leafs flexibility to sign their other players to reasonable contracts. I'd rather trade Nylander and have just one roster spot to fill at right wing where the Leafs do have competent NHLers to replace him.
IMO Marleau is going to retire. His play has fallen off badly this season. The Leafs probably would not have acquired Muzzin unless they knew Marleau was going to retire and then his cap. hit can be traded.

All lovely opinions. But it is amazing how I completely disagree with almost all of them.
Nylander is not replacable by anyone on the leafs except marner as a winger. Kap and Johnsson are good but it isnt close.
Matthews and Nylander are fair contracts, not over or under, just fair. A Pastrnk discount would have been nice but sadly they didnt go for that...
JT is worth the money and yeah a 10 or 10.5 would of been great but with his numbers no issues.
Ziatsev is bad, at possession, moving the puck, he eats minutes with little value. But hes exactly what good hockey men like. Someone to block shots and not create much offense.

Also, Dubas on Nylander: " It is our intention to have him here as long as we are here. He is an excellent young player. I don’t think we want to get into the business of not having excellent young players",

it is 1 year of cap trouble, i would rather give up meh defencemen who others think has value, and brown who can be a solid contributor (both = Nylander AAV) than give up on Nylander. And if you need more sell High as High can be on Johnsson and replace him. Thats an additional $3ish Million. Then do your plan of retiring Marleau or sending him back so SJS with 50% retained.

I don't plan on retiring Marleau. But if he does retire, his cap hit is an easy trade to a team with cap space. Certainly San Jose isn't interested in him at all.
I know Nylander's value (or any players) is subjective, I just don't understand the all the love for Nylander...I do look at his production. So I don't understand why is so an untouchable by some fans.
And only a fool believes what a player, coach or executive says in public. What else would Dubas say? "Yea we might have cap issues, so no one is guaranteed to stay long term".
Don't executives say "We won't be changing coaches". "We intend to sign all our players". A week later the coach is fired. A different UFA is signed. So press conferences are made for public consumption, it appeases fans to think, to calm the press guys so they won't be asking the same questions every week. Now what Dubas said to Nylander in private has validity. But of course we will never know what was said.
Sandin and Holl in the Leafs top six next year? No thanks, that looks like a lost season.