That D is really not good. Marincin proved he should not be playing at the NHL level and Larsson's results do not show he should be a first pairing defenceman. With Chaisson being your only add and downgrading from Andersen to Khudobin I think you've actually made the Leafs worse. Sorry man, hopefully this isn't it.

oilers take that. They need a 1a so they get a pretty good goalie who's been carrying toronto. Though by getting rid of larsson, they hve a big hole as he played around 20 minutes per games. But they can sign barrie .

Definitely hope this isn't the blueline they go into the season with, but barring a significant trade it's hard to see it being much better. Pietrangelo is a pipe dream and anybody better than Larsson is going to cost significantly more in cap space and/or assets.

Then why would you trade away Dermott? You made a weak position group weaker. He's at the very least better than Marincin. You also didn't promote Lehtonen from the AHL who is probably good enough for the 7th D at the very least. Then if you sign a UFA (even if they're not perfect) from the Demelo, Hamonic, Gudas, Braun, Dillon class, it won't cost a ton and could provide a ton of value. You make the group weaker by creating more competition and options. A big problem last year was the starters weren't great and there was no depth. You have the same problem this time, I doubt Dubas lets that happen.

On Dermott, because cap plus you can trade Dermott for useful assets which isn't the case with Marincin. All of the claims you're making require additional moves to clear cap space. Could happen but you're making the team weaker somewhere else in the process. There's not a ton of depth in that forward group as is.

Lehtonen could be in the mix but we really have no idea what we have there until we seem him in NHL action.

If you move Johnsson for draft capital you're going to be better than adding Chaisson and Larsson. Larsson is the problem, he's bad and expensive.

Larsson isn't the most exciting guy, but I would disagree that he's either bad or expensive, at least compared to the guys you've listed above. All depends on what the UFA market for defenseman is like though I guess. In the past it hasn't been a great place to find good players on budget friendly deals. Maybe this year is different though given the unique circumstances.