Leafs don't have Ceci and Barrie....they are UFAs. I'll never understand the criticism of Hainsey, he allows Reilly to play recklessly and has his best season. Babcock for good reason was fearful of Reilly and Gardiner killing penalties. Zaitsev and Hainsey were worked like rental mules killing penalties, and then Zaitsev and Hainsey were criticized for not having better offensive stats.

Well you are right Hainsey did a pretty good job being the stay at home for Rielly despite playing his off side.

Kinda late since I had internet issues but here goes:

Kadri in Toronto just wasn't going to work out. He was a 2nd line C who was playing 13 minutes a night after Tavares came here. He was a great trade chip and Dubas bungled it. They were right to trade him, but Barrie and Kerfoot weren't the right guys. I would have tried to convince him to go to Calgary (after he vetoed a trade there) and got Brodie or Hamonic along with Jankowski. Both would have fit better IMO. I agree with what you said about Marleau but I think the 3rd year was important to him, I think the extra job security is what convinced him to leave SJ and come here. I don't like the idea of trading Robertson, or scratching Liljegren and Sandin. Sandin is NHL ready, if they can give him a better partner than Barrie. Matt Roy might be good, but is he 1st pairing material? I would argue Walker is better than him if we're getting a RHD from the Kings. Neither are worth Robertson though.

Keeping McElhinney would have been the right call but hindsight is 20/20, Dubas wanted to go with a younger guy that the org groomed and who had a great year in the AHL the year before. It's a decision that any GM would have spent a long time thinking about and even though it didn't work out, I won't criticize him for it.



Marleau was solid for the Leafs and the Leafs had a lot of cap those 2 years. Wouldn't have been a problem to pay him that money for 2 years, and just let a prospect (like Kap) take over after that. Matthews' contract was terrible (should have either been longer or cheaper) and Marner was able to use that as a comparable which turned into a major problem. If Dubas had played his cards right, he'd have Matthews at 7 years, 11.5 million AAV (similar to what Panarin ended up signing for) and Marner at 6 years for 9.25 (which is exactly what Mikko Rantanen signed over in Colorado). Nylander maybe 500k lower too but I think his is the best of the 3 for sure.

Babcock was good to help the rebuild and in Matthews+Marner's rookie year, he was robbed of the Jack Adams in my opinion. He did a great job that year. After that, I don't know what got into him but he wasn't the same, way to stubborn and inflexible. Should have let him go at the end of last year instead of letting him start this one.

In terms of this team, I don't like Brown at 3.5 (even though he's done well in Ottawa he wouldn't have been a 1st liner in Toronto, Hyman is guaranteed a spot on either Matthews or Tavares wing because he makes them both better). Defence is weak but it's going to be that way next year anyway barring a big move. Kadri should be gone for a Dman who they could re-sign for a similar cap (Hamonic and Brodie come to mind again).