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So, the mushy middle. Feels high risk. If things go south, they'll likely get some late firsts for Nylander (4th best player in his draft class) and Matthews (1st). Conference rivals reap the rewards of the garbage seasons, and you hope the one top-of-class pick you get turns out to be a better...

"A 2D" would mean you're getting past the top-20 defensemen in the league. Once you're past the franchise-level defensemen, or someone very much on that trajectory, then it's not worth doing, no.

All the more reason for Chayka to take this exciting bag of magic beans, hop on the phone, and work his way down the line of best defensemen in the league. McKenna for Makar? Click. McKenna for Hughes? Click. McKenna for Heiskanen? Click. And so on. Eventually they'd get a yes.

He might be a Kucherov, but Zach Werenski (or whoever) is Zach Werenski. If someone McKenna makes expendable (Knies, Cowan) can’t bring back a top-20 D, then I think they should get creative. Or, I guess throw a lot of money at the best puck-moving UFA D, give it a season then rebuild around...

And if they say they're staying, then what are the Leafs doing?

I mean, if it doesn't happen in that window, they're rebuilding anyway. I think there are three paths: keep McKenna and trade Matthews, Nylander, etc to get the rebuild going; trade McKenna to contend now; keep McKenna and the rest to recreate that 2018-2025 magic. #1 might be smartest, but it...

But Kessel came to a team where he was pretty much the only guy. A 24+ year old 1D would be complementing 2 of most talented players the franchise has ever had.

Unless you get a 1D back, you are rebuilding a #1D. Yes, that one. Do that.

How are you going to get a "haul" out of guys with NMCs? I guess I could see an accelerated rebuild if Matthews to SJS gets you a Quinn Hughes-ish return... and Boston or Philly gives us back the 2027 first for like Nylander. I don't think the long-term chances of rebuild working out are much...

To me, this doesn't fundamentally change where the Leafs were when they canned Dubas: a roster with a surfeit of elite forwards, nothing elite on defense. The differences are the age spread of those forwards is now 10 years instead of 4 and 2/3rds of the forwards have complete trade control. I...

So that'd be a Schaefer, Lane Hutson, Luke Hughes, Thomas Harley, Jake Sanderson, Noah Dobson, Noah Hanifin. I would also check in to see whether CBJ and NYR are getting serious about their rebuilds.

Ok. I did. Now I have Gavin McKenna, Auston Matthews (NMC), William Nylander (NMC), John Tavares (NMC), Morgan Rielly (NMC), Easton Cowan, and Matthew Knies. How do I get a 1D?

I ask because we've long had a shopping list for this team and then always had to conclude "well, they don't have the assets that'd land that" But now... they do?

So a bunch of good forwards. Who’s gonna get them the puck from the Leafs’ zone?

Are either Marner level?

I dunno. If McKenna can't land us the #1D we've been looking for all these years, can we rebuild around him?

Yes, something like this. 1OA gives a lot of exciting possibilities for real hockey trades. And management pressure to compete with Nylander and Matthews incentivizes such trades.

You know who could help the Leafs the next couple seasons? Zach Werenski.

Sounds familiar!

Why not take McKenna and then go shopping for a #1D?