Honestly this might j be what happens and leafs fans r gonna b so disappointed

Korshkov, Barabanov, and Lehtonen must all play damn well in North America if this team is gonna try to make any sort of run

This team doesn’t have much bite to it.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is what happens, and I wouldn't be all that disappointed. I'd like to see some more moves this offseason, whether it be FA's or trades, but if they want to see what they have with certain guys first, I don't blame them. You still have until the deadline to make moves.

That’s fair, although there’s not much cap to make moves w. Only moves they can rly make is lateral moves

I think Barabanov has been flying under the radar. Don't think he has the potential upside of a Mikheyev, and I think that has kind of caused people to lose interest in him, but I think (and hope) he comes in and is a solid 3rd liner.

Honestly It's not a terrible team, but its very easy to notice that hole on defence

You can always move cap out as well. If they wanted to make moves, they can find a way

Deadline cap space is a different animal. Leafs can also move players up and down to accrue cap space. I think the contracts on Mikheyev and Dermott May be high here as well.

This is one of the options dubas eluded to in his interview. Seeing where the team is approaching the deadline. With injuries and some unknown commidities their needs may change.

I think there'll be at least 1 more move coming with Andreas Johnsson being traded. That frees up $3.4m in cap space which I can see being used on a UFA RHD like Dylan DeMelo to play on the top pair with Rielly. I would be perfectly content with that as he's physical, defensively responsible and capable of making a good breakout pass.

The top-six is exceptional with Mathews-Marner and Tavares-Nylander; Kerfoot is solid as a 3C and I think Barabanov is going to impress with his speed, strength and tenacity much like Mikeheyev did last year. The hole is for sure on defence, but Mikko Lehtonen is the real deal: led all KHL dmen in scoring and finished 6th overall in league scoring last year. That followed his performance in the 2019 World Championships where he won gold with Finland and was named to the tournament All Star team along with Mark Stone, William Nylander, Jakub Voracek, Filip Hronek and Andrei Vasilevskiy. I fully expect Lehtonen will QB the 2nd PP unit and move up to the second pairing with Muzzin very early in the season. That would make our 3rd pairing Sandin-Holl which I'm nervous about... which I why I hope they trade Johnsson and add DeMelo.

This is probably closest to reality. I think Dubas holds on to all his big boys which prevents him from adding anything significant. I could see 1 low profile trade or a bottom 6 forward UFA signing...but way more likely that seeing 3+ trades take place.

Korshkov on the 4th line will see 6-8 mins TOI so his role is largely irrelevant. The two key acquisitions here are Lehtonen and Barabanov... but both are 26 year olds and not 19 year old prospects that are still developing. They both flourished in the KHL and should adapt nicely to minimal roles in the North American game with the potential to do more. Remember, we're not relying on them to be Top Six/Four players, but I think both are capable of surprising naysayers.