It's NOT the smartest thing to do when you've already got 4 players who re much more skilled than the vast majority of players. BOS has 3 and they're better than TOR. STL has 2 and they're better than TOR. DAL has 1 and they're as good as TOR. Vegas, the only exception here, has 4 but they're all paid under 10 mil which leaves them cap room for more than 3 top 4 d-men.

yes those reasons but mainly i could understand if they played their best hockey and lost the game, maybe it just didnt go their way those games but that wasnt the case, effort was very inconsistent and they just flat out didnt show up most games, that was the number 1 problem, i cant sit here and honestly say that they played their best and lost all these games

Funny how you act like you know everything yet yesterday you advocated for trading the TML's best d-man and of the only guys who brings work ethic and grit to the team. Cut the crap Jack you know nothing about hockey. Skill alone has never won a cup since what, the 80s. Time to live in the modern NHL, where defense (unless you have Sid in your team) wins championships

The Leafs were bad this year because of 3 things:
1-Andersen. Self explanatory.
2-injuries
3-lack of work ethic and toughness/grit and the will to win. How many times have I seen a Leafs player (in the top 4) lose the puck and then do nothing to get it back. That's the problem they don't seem to care 1 night out of 3. They play 2 AMAZING games in a row which makes you think «wow they're legit contenders» and then don't bother to show up the game after. And just the fact that I don't see a large portion of the Leafs fanbase be OUTRAGED like I am after seeing them not even trying for 60 minutes straight kinda tells you everything you need to know about that fanbase

Trading morgan rielly is the smart thing to do. It seems like you know nothing about hockey because you literally just said grit is important, skill hasn't won a cup since the 80s and defense wins championships which is the most false statement to have ever been said. Do you win games by letting in the most goals? No, you win by scoring the most. I hope you know that but since you know so much about hockey I guess you do lmfao.

I guess asset management isnt your thing either but that's fine because you seem like you are able to read news headlines- regurgitate the stuff you read online and say you know everything. Arguing with you is pointless because you know nothing even though you've somehow convinced yourself you do. You also never use any sort of evidence to back up your knowledge. Maybe do some fact checking or at the very least take a quick look at the roster before you make some lazy, ****ty argument that is based off of nothing

Oh wow mister nobody got angry oooo I'm scared.

Unless TOR gets a guy like Parayko who's exactly what TOR needs, Reilly is untouchable. He's one of the best offensive d-men in the league and he should've been named captain.

« Do you win games by letting in the most goals? No, you win by scoring the most. » Wow as if this was somehow the point. Isn't it wierd how the Leafs still lost 50% of their game with an elite offense? isn't it weird how they've not been a truly elite team BECAUSE their D constantly makes mistakes. Isn't it weird how the other teams have adjusted to the Leafs all out offense group?

Attacking is way easier than defensing. It is way harder to be a good/great d-man than it is to be a good/great forward. TOR currently has only 2 d-man capable of defending very well. If they don't solve that problem somehow then they'll again get beaten in the 1st round.

It's still the smart thing to do. Prioritizing does not mean one or the other, it just means valuing one more highly and ensuring that players who are brought in, tough or not, have the ability to play meaningful minutes in the lineup and not negatively impact the team from a score sheet/flow of game perspective.

I have your number 3 at my 1. lack of effort and will to win, if by gritty you mean being giving more effort and willing to win more than i can accept that, i just dont like when people say they need a guy like gudas or someone like that and thats their problem

"That's the problem they don't seem to care 1 night out of 3. They play 2 AMAZING games in a row which makes you think «wow they're legit contenders» and then don't bother to show up the game after."

Thats their biggest problem, you nailed it. i agree completely,

"And just the fact that I don't see a large portion of the Leafs fanbase be OUTRAGED like I am after seeing them not even trying for 60 minutes straight kinda tells you everything you need to know about that fanbase"

agree 100% as well, these fans think they play their heart out day in and day out and just dont get the job done, because they dont have good D, toughness etc. which is why IM not a fan of people ****ting on Dubas because its the players that like you said will play 1 good game out of 3, yeah hes not perfect at all, but to blame this season on him i think is crazy, players are way too taented to put up stinkers like that.

id put goaltending at 2, Andersen was so inconsistent this year, but i think people tend to try and look away from that because the last 2 years he has probably stolen games for us so people may look at that

only reason why i would put injuries 3 is because although we couldnt seem to catch a break is that every team gets injuries and thats just a thing to overcome and there are games even when we were injured that we should have won which relates back to point 1

been wanting parayko for years, literally the perfect d for the leafs

That couldn't be further from the truth. Forwards have a bigger impact on the game so trading a star forward for a defenseman is already a big loss. Have you eve considered that maybe the leafs defense (which was above average) wasnt the issue. The goaltending was what hurt them. Of course the defense will look bad when the goalies are preforming well below league average.

I know the **** you are saying about the 1st round is bull**** because hockey is extremely random and anything can happen. Tampa bay has better defensemen then Columbus so they should have won right?

1-d-men play 22+ minutes a game. Forwards are lucky if they play that
2-D stabilizes you team in a way forwards can't.
3-didn't know that a D-core composed of Barrie who was awful this year, Ceci who was Ceci, Reilly who played injured 3/4 of the year, Holl who was only average and Muzzin who basically spent the year on the IR was above average
4-yes Hedman is better than Jones but Werenski is better than both Serg and McDonagh and CBJ's D Depth was better than Tampa's

The thing is Tavares had proved himself as captain on the islanders, and he was definitely the right option. I also would've liked Rielly as captain. Bringing in Spezza has also helped with the leadership, and softened the blow of losing Marleau. Getting more toughness shouldn't be hard. There will likely be 1-2 bottom 6 spots open that can easily be filled with a tough like Noesen.

It's hard to play your best hockey when 1/2 the team is playing through lingering injuries and doesn't want to reinjure themselves. This break should be beneficial for the leafs, as everyone can rest and heal.