For me, if a team has 2 elite centres, a good shutdown 3C, a respectable top 4 defence and a starting goalie, that’s already a very good enough core to build around. Where Toronto made a mistake was paying 11 million dollars for a flawed winger and now they don’t have money to sign a legitimate 3C and 4D.

It has nothing to do with cracking the roster. He certainly is better then half our forwards at a minimum.

I like Strome and think he might get rejuvenated if given an opportunity, but I think Chicago would be happy to just get rid of him. He is a cap dump to them.

The two biggest weaknesses Toronto have are their left wing depth, and their killer instinct.

The Leafs aren't as bad as the rank and file in ACGM make it out to be. Their defense is fine, their depth is fine, they're confidently comparable to the rest of the top teams in the league. The main problem with the team is psychological; the team has a whole doesn't seem to have the iron will to get over the tough barriers. If you've seen a Leafs playoff game late into the round, you've seen this. Everyone in the ice goes limp when all the stakes are on the table. We've seen it a few times in the regular season too. For whatever reason this team is contempt with getting humiliated.

Maybe it's the pressure of playing in Toronto, essentially having to hold the longest cup drought on their shoulders in an unforgiving market. Maybe it's because they're paying for the sins of Ballard and won't be rid of the curse unless they dump his corpse into the lake and remove him from the HOF. I don't know. But I truly believe Toronto's biggest weakness can't be resolved with a roster change.

Thanks for the feedback. I agree, in terms of player pedigree and ability, this team is not really weak. Except for Nick Ritchie & Justin Holl so far. But their top players aren’t in the right psychological to win. And sometimes it really comes down to the environment that they’re playing in, maybe a change is better for them.

Btw I didn’t know that Ballard was in the HOF. Someone who didn’t win a thing as an executive shouldn’t make it first of all. Not to mention he was straight up bad.

The stats of last nights 2-1 OT loss illustrates a point about forward depth and talent: Marner and Matthews played well over 23 minutes, with Matthews at almost 25, Nylander and Tavares 19:57 and almost 21 minutes. Not a single other forward even played 15 minutes, with Kampf being the only one to play even over 14 minutes. Thats a weak forward corps.

Over an 80 game season in a compressed schedule?

(And defense not much better, with the third pair at just 11 minutes)

I'm not saying its the rule or the anomaly YET, but its worth watching over the season.