depth defense is fine especially for a team whose 2nd in GA. With a flat salary toronto cannot be picky and must choose how to make that blue line better even if its only slightly. Yes the nylander trade may look bad but when toronto is not 1st or 2nd in GA or is leaving freddie to the wolves no one will be complaining. Toronto should not need to rely on outscoring its problems but must make a solid effort in defense in order to win a cup cause lets face it times a wasting for that and this young core.

saying it again. You do not trade first line players for 2nd pairing defenders. You just dont. It's a bad trade no matter what your reasoning is. It is bad value, there is nothing you can say or do to make it good value or logical. It does not make the team better.

If you need to trade some scoring you trade it for comparable value. If you want a 2nd pairing defender, you trade them a 2nd line winger or less. If you want to trade a 1st line winger you must get a top pairing defender back. Aim higher than Pulock if you insist on trading Nylander.

main issue and will keep stating it is cap. Pulock is a good fit in toronto but if bigger fish could be aquired great but at what cost most top 4 dman are expensive and with toronto pressed up to the cap we cannot afford that this year. If we had an 88.2 cap pitrangelo would probs be coming and nylander would stay put. We can wait and see what dubas does but rn everything is only speculation

Tavares? Went home
Maroon? Went home
Stamkos? Was supposed to go home but the leafs were beyond horrible
Kane? See Stamkos but Sabres
Toews? Jets didn't exist at the time
It's never been uncommon for a player to go home if his hometown team is performing well. The Yotes are gonna exist in 5 years, stop being dumb. They just got new ownership to keep them where they are, and Matthews refused to sign longer than 5 years. Toronto is also a huge media circus. Players tend to prefer it outside of major markets, a la Phil Kessel. There is a genuine chance he leaves, don't act like it's impossible, and don't act so indignantly.

I didn't say all players did I? If they did, Toronto would have.... actually won something in the last 50 years.

Maroon? Really? If you have to use Maroon you should know right away that your point is in trouble
Maroon was with three other franchises before he "went home". He's also not home right now
Stamkos, didnt go home.
Kane didnt go home
Toews didnt go home
Crosby didnt go home (his team was the Canadiens growing up)
Seguin, Benn, Perry, Doughty, Burns, Nash, Kariya, Mario, Bourque, Luongo, Bossy etc etc etc etc did not go home
you got nothing

Well if players go home we will get McDavid...

lul fans would go insane until defense issues rise again and people go stop signing star forwards

Tavares went home, players are now taking 5 year deals to open up the market, and sorry to break it to you, but Arizona won't have to re-sign Marner when that deal is up..... you got f**k all buddy, enjoy living in denial.

adorable, this keeps getting better. Dude, players have always taken 5-6 year deals. You should take a gander at what Kane, Toews and Crosby (and dozens of other players) did before their big payoff deals. They all took shorter term deals. That was the norm, that is the norm. for a brief period a few guys like mcdavid took 8 year deals, but that was the anomaly. So yeah, still nothing
Enjoy making stuff up to dig on the leafs, we know it's all some fans have

Bro, you think this is what I'd use to dig on the leafs? They lost to a zamboni driver, you think I'd use Matthews? They haven't won a playoff series in the cap era. You think I'd use Matthews? They haven't been to a cup final since 1967. You think I'd use Matthews? Bro, seriously use your brain. Even Tkachuk went home, even Datsuyk went home. Even Kovalchuck went home. I was using north american players for your sake, if you look at the wider picture, PLAYERS OFTEN GO HOME!!! High quality players, less notably because teams offer the sun and moon to keep them.... however, you don't have said cap space to offer that to Matthews, you'll have to re-sign Marner when that's ready! You really are not being smart. Keep living in denial, it's adorable.

So with maroon in Tampa now your list consists of... Tavares.

No one is saying it’s impossible. Just not likely and certainly not any where near a sure thing that he would be moved anywhere.

no body knows where anyone is going but lets face it if the oilers or leafs do not win a cup within those contract times matthews and mcdavid will be gone. Tavares had his chance with the islanders and they wasted it and when they finally were getting things corrected it was sadly to late and he was toronto bound. Not saying matthews will go to arizona or mcdavid to toronto but in this day in age anything can happen.

my my, you sure are dedicated to going down with this ship..

Use my brain, ok I will! Now Tkachuk, who you said went home spent his hockey career in Winnipeg, Atlanta, St Louis and Phoenix. He was born and raised in Massachusetts
ok, that was easy.
Datsyuk? Ok, he was born in Sverdlovsk, Russia. Now known as Yekaterinburg, he left the NHL to play in St Petersberg which is 30 hours away.
mmmhmm
Kovalchuk? Born in Tver Russia, left New Jersey to play in St Petersberg! that's only 6 hours away!
this is fun! oh and he's back in the NHL.
Now, i left euro players out for a reason too. Mostly because 99.999% of the time a european player goes home it's because they are basically retired from the NHL and are on a retirement tour int eh SHL or whatever, they arnt choosing to leave the NHL, they are just out of options.

Now i could continue on with a vast vast vast list of names of players who never went home (Yzerman, Sakic, Gretzkey, Messier, Sundin, the Sedins, Dryden, Orr, etc etc etc) But really, i'd be here all day.
So no, players do not OFTEN go home. In fact, it's actually pretty rare! It's rare when you juice the numbers to include old guys signing one year deals when they are well past their prime to live out a season with their childhood team, and it's even rarer for a superstar in prime years to do so, that's why Tavares going to Toronto was such a big deal.
If you'd bothered to put any actual thought into this argument you'd now that. Or maybe you do know it and you're just too stubborn to admit you are so very, so painfully wrong. Because you are.

People always want out of Toronto, and his home town team will have the cap for him, it's more likely than most leaf fans will care to admit. Am I saying it's 100% happening? Of course not, but it's a very real chance. A lot of people don't like the media circus and the added pressure. Examples of that? Someone like Dougie Hamilton, or Phil Kessel? That's all I'm trying to say, I'd say it's still 65-35 he stays in Toronto, but there is a very real chance he doesn't stay.

lul typical fans outside toronto always say people want out of toronto thats laughable. Phil kessel was one example of hating media but his attitude and work ethic made it hard for anyone to get along with him and look where he is now rotting away in Arizona got Kapenan out of him so thankful for that. Ever since Toronto finally got its act together with management and drafting/signing players people are biting at the lip to play on this team even with all the media coverage. so saying people want out is the biggest joke of the year. Even if u argue it no point u made a statment that someone made before and toroto media laughed at it

Players often prefer playing in quieter markets. Toronto is a clownshow of a media circus. Teams like Boston, Calgary, Montreal too. Guys like Phil Kessel, Jake Gardiner, Dougie Hamilton, Joe Thornton, all of them have publicly said they prefer the quieter media. You cannot deny that some players prefer it without the extra pressure, because it's well known. Don't be dumb, and if you know this, don't be ignorant.

Thorton almost came to toronto lul and was disapointed when he was not traded, Gardner was garbage so yeah, Kessel had an attitude problem, hamilton was bashed in Calgary and Boston for little to no reason and if Lou was smart would have traded for him instead of targeting zaitsev, and so on. the only reason toronto is the media king of hockey, yes some like quieter markets, but others would kill just to have that kind of status toronto players get.

Canes fan calling Toronto a clown show... the irony is killing me...

What irony lol, Canes > Leafs in every way imaginable bud

Disappointed not to get a trade, doesn't mean he wanted a big market lol. He wanted to cup chase. Hamilton has straight up said he does not like playing in major markets, so if Lou had got him, he'd have walked away from the city at the end of next season lol. Gardiner is still one of the premier puck moving D men in the league, his finish has been suspect, but his ability is not questionable. Kessel didn't like Toronto or Pittsburgh. Shane Doan loved living in an area with no real pressure on him, there are so many examples. Some people love being in the spot light, but just as many dislike it. There's already questions about Nylander, who's commonly known to dislike the media. Matthews is just as likely to hate the clown show of a media circus as he is to love it.

lol sure they are goaltending questionable, offense meh its good but pucks on net dont equal goals, sure u guys buffed defense but still made it to the third round of the playoffs but boston swept u. Columbus and even toronto won more games against them than u guys did. Canes are in a tough division and sure they may look better but good luck making the playoffs when the islanders, columbus, even montreal and florida get their acts together. So saying Canes > Toronto joke of the year material right there

Carolina were higher in the standings than Toronto, if you swap Toronto and New Jersey in terms of division, Toronto would bottom out. That's not a lie, NYR, NYI, CAR, CBJ, PIT, PHI, WSH is not a normal division. Get your head out of your rear end, the offence is great, the D core is insane, the goaltending has been good all year. Carolina are better than Toronto. You couldn't even beat a zamboni driver they had in net for you!!!