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My only problem with it was he wasn’t more direct in challenging ownership. “Best city, best hockey fanbase, and best goal scorer in North America deserve the best run team in the sport. Toronto isn’t going anywhere, but the other two might. Ownership should get serious”

I don’t know if it’s unanimous that they’ve really been a contender since he became the centerpiece. Their results over the last 4 seasons could support another argument.

what contending teams have had a player like McKenna (assuming he reaches his potential) as the centerpiece? I don’t normally put much stock in the idea of fickle Leaf fans running their best players out of town, but… the few posts above sure do have the whiff of it.

Impossible to know that until the team’s free of Berube.

I dunno. I don’t think I’m that down on where they are right now. Like, this puzzle doesn't seem as impossible to solve as it did before the draft lotto:

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?