What'd you guys think of this armchair team I created? Are they good enough to win the cup?

this is DEFINENTY a cup contender if not champion

Wait, why would McDavid take a 2M pay cut?
And why would Stamkos sign in Toronto


They're good enough to win a cup

I dont think toronto would have got Matthews if that happened. But like the oilers the pick would have been top 4 so we would have probs drafted Tkchuck as Lou loved that kind of player.

If Lou got Mcdavid i think the next step would have been Dubas 3 years later robbing buffalo of O'Rielly (im taking Marleau+Johnsson+a prospect and our 2019 1st for him) Dubas moves 2021 1st to LA for Muzzin

It’s a good team. I don’t think it’s very realistic haha

There is alot wrong here, but do you honestly think youd draft 1st overall in 2016 and get Matthews if you got mcdavid the year before?

They wouldn’t have been bad enough to get Matthews

yeah but the pick would have been top 4 so Tchuck, Dubois, Sergechev,Chycrun, McAVOY all possibilities

That’s true

I dont think so. Cup winners can roll deep lines. No problem in net. No problem on defense in general...small adjustment in my mind...muzzle drops down to 3rd pair to roll 3 dpairs. He can always jump up with Pesce intermittently. That 3rd and 4th lines are bad though. Most of the last cup champions had successful shutdown lines.. Stamkos held to 1 point against Toews. O'Reilly/Berg. Gotta be able to have a deeper team. Also, Matthews is a better center than Tavares. Id drop JT out entirely and get $11M elsewhere. Just my opinion.

That destroys anyone

I had to fit everyone under the cap so I had them take less to play in their hometown. I feel if they won the draft lottery 2 years in a row, Stamkos would've been interested to sign.

Well, I sold JVR, Bozak, Bernier and Phaneuf. Then signed a bunch of AHL goons. So it's basically just McDavid, Kadri, Rielly and Gardiner plus some AHL guys in 2015-16. That's not good enough to finish above bottom 4 IMO.

All the guys on LTIR could be dealt for assets.

This team would steamroll their way to the cup. It’s like the oilers except McDavid has lots of help

Fair point, they could definitely have better forward depth. I think third line is fine, those guys can generate offence. Fourth line is mostly there for defensive duties & grit. Honestly, this team doesn't have a lot of issues, so IDK if it would be worth it to sacrifice a franchise C like JT for depth.

Oilers did it how many times?

Unfortunately Mcdavid and Kadri would have won them enough to probs not make it to #1 of 2016 it would have either went to the Jets or Edmonton

If u got McDavid you would not get Matthews as well.

I think they are at least contenders, though u don’t get Matthews if you got mcdavid the year before imo. There’s no way you finish last with mcdavid

Top 6 forwards and top 4 D are absolutely lethal, but you have to ride them hard. Kerfoot and maybe Ritchie are the only bottom 6 forwards I’d trust with more than 5 minutes a night in a playoff game, and I don’t trust that bottom pair much either (I saw someone mention swapping Sandin/Muzzin, that would let me trust all 3 pairs more, then go back to these D pairs for the 3rd period or whatever). I think they’re definitely contenders, and probably win more often than not because McDavid, but yeah I have some issues with the depth. Hard to see a flaw in a top 6 containing 4 1st overall picks that are elite 1Cs though lol

BUT what if Matthews went to the #2C? He's a better center than JT...IMO. You can take that cap and fill out the rest of the team...no?

Hall (2010), RNH (2011), Yakupov (2012), McDavid (2015)......

I forgot that nail yakupov and connor mcdavid are equals

Franchise player Nail Yakupov... McDavid is just an extra forward, waste of money. duh

but seriously, McDavid can’t carry a team on his own. Edmonton made the playoffs 2 of 5 years since he’s been there, have they not? and even then it wasn’t just him, it was the team as a whole actually not being horrible.

I mean, based on my moves, the 2015/16 Leafs lineup would’ve looked something like this:

Holland - Kadri - Komarov
Clune - McDavid - Brown
McLaren - Sill - Bass
Sestito - Flick - Storini

Rielly - Gardiner
Marincin - Polak
Bartkowski - Gryba

McKenna
Hackett

That’s a pretty bad team if you ask me. So maybe they won’t finish last but they should At least be able to draft Tkachuk.