Progress of the Rebuild

[TheGoldenJet]

Where in the rebuilding stage do the Leafs currently find themselves?

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[Gary Nylund]

Re. the first option - just because you're a contender doesn't mean you have to "buy big". This is especially important to understand if you're planning on contending for the next decade - no team can afford to "buy big" every year so you have to pick your spots.

 

[Liminality]

We're competing now while also looking ahead at the future, that sounds like a nice place to be in.

 

[81Leafs50]

Leafs are well on their way to building a great team. still lots more to do with this roster. Scoring is great, scoring depth is good. Goaltending is great. defensive depth is there but the quality is not there at the top. Leafs need to add a top two dman.

The BlackHawks are going to be selling off soon. Maybe Leafs can pluck a good dman off of their roster to bolster a d-core.

 

[Spirit of 67]

The drop off between your 2nd and 3rd options is too big.
We're maybe a year away from being true contenders.
But we don't need to draft more elite talent.

 

[SprDaVE]

A few good tweaks to certain roles and a boost on defense should be what's needed. Our core pieces are in place. Time to straddle in.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

To the guys saying the poll is not perfect, you're right, it's not. I tried my best, now do the same

 

[I Believe]

Hard to predict who are true cup contenders. I don't think anyone in their right mind would've labeled Vegas as one at the beginning of the season.

I wouldn't consider us favorites, but I think we're good enough where a playoff hot streak and some luck = we have a cup this year.

Also think we'll improve some more next year

 

[Buds17]

Perhaps somewhere in between "getting there" and "almost finished", but probably closer to the latter. Several good pieces in place that need to mature. The biggest need is on right side D, with perhaps a bit of a lesser need at C in the event Nylander's future isn't there. Depends on how we're able to address that (trade, free agency, draft/within) and the quality of the player(s) needed.

 

[ACC1224]

Rebuild is going great.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Rebuild is going great.

Perfect! I was hoping to see an option like this myself when I saw the thread title.

Rebuild is going great. I defy anyone to argue against this. Oops there goes the bat signal - Pookie should be here any minute now telling us that the rebuild is screwed because we traded a 2nd round pick for Boyle last year.

 

[Liminality]

Perfect! I was hoping to see an option like this myself when I saw the thread title.

Rebuild is going great. I defy anyone to argue against this. Oops there goes the bat signal - Pookie should be here any minute now telling us that the rebuild is screwed because we traded a 2nd round pick for Boyle last year.

Was thinking the same thing.

Our rebuild is going better than expected which I think scares some people, it just means our young players are better than expected sooner than we expected. We've got a good core, probably one of the best in the league age wise. Continue building and helping these young guys stay competitive.

 

[Zybalto]

Solid 4th line center and middle pair RHD would push us into cup contender status.

Amazing that we are still less than 2 years from being the 30th ranked team.

 

[Gallagbi]

#2 is closest for me - minor tweaks at this deadline and use it to evaluate things. Then look to address needs in the summer on shorter term deals. Only exception would be if one of the top UFAs wants to sign a cap friendly "home town" deal

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

I don't feel like now is the right time to blow our load on a big trade that will see us lose the likes of Kapanen, Dermott, Liljegren, or our 1st, so I went with the second option. I don't think this year is the correct year to go for it. We still have a few too many question marks for my liking, and I feel like we'd be hard pressed to get out of our divisional bracket in the playoffs. I'd rather make some minor tweaks, hold on to our high value assets, and then re-evaluate at the draft and then make a acquisition to boost the team into the Contender category. Rentals rarely help, and guys we could add to our core and would be here for a while will cost far too much at this time of year.

 

[X66]

I want to avoid one year rentals. Those picks and assets given away add up, and I don't think we're at that stage in our rebuild to be giving away young assets at will.

 

[hotpaws]

The drop off between your 2nd and 3rd options is too big.
We're maybe a year away from being true contenders.
But we don't need to draft more elite talent.

I agree , we're in between the 2nd and 3rd option .

 

[TheGoldenJet]

I don't feel like now is the right time to blow our load on a big trade that will see us lose the likes of Kapanen, Dermott, Liljegren, or our 1st, so I went with the second option. I don't think this year is the correct year to go for it. We still have a few too many question marks for my liking, and I feel like we'd be hard pressed to get out of our divisional bracket in the playoffs. I'd rather make some minor tweaks, hold on to our high value assets, and then re-evaluate at the draft and then make a acquisition to boost the team into the Contender category. Rentals rarely help, and guys we could add to our core and would be here for a while will cost far too much at this time of year.

Good post. Sounds like you'd be in favour of the Leafs biding their time to possibly acquire 1 more good/elite piece to add to the core, whether via the draft or through trades/UFA in the summer?

 

[justafan22]

In between the 2nd and 3rd options, more towards the 2nd. They need one more good top 4 man + development from the youngsters to be a cup contender. I think they can win a round this year, but not more than after that.

 

[justafan22]

I don't feel like now is the right time to blow our load on a big trade that will see us lose the likes of Kapanen, Dermott, Liljegren, or our 1st, so I went with the second option. I don't think this year is the correct year to go for it. We still have a few too many question marks for my liking, and I feel like we'd be hard pressed to get out of our divisional bracket in the playoffs. I'd rather make some minor tweaks, hold on to our high value assets, and then re-evaluate at the draft and then make a acquisition to boost the team into the Contender category. Rentals rarely help, and guys we could add to our core and would be here for a while will cost far too much at this time of year.

I think this summer they will trade a few of the assets for a Dman.

 

[Razz]

The rebuild is effectively over with a 2nd consecutive playoff berth all be certain at this point. Now they are just plain building, like all teams are.

 

[nsleaf]

They are exactly where I predicted and expect them to be. Option 2, maybe, it's a tough call.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Good post. Sounds like you'd be in favour of the Leafs biding their time to possibly acquire 1 more good/elite piece to add to the core, whether via the draft or through trades/UFA in the summer?

UFA or trade. A player in this draft might be late developing to help us contend, especially with where our pick is trending to be, and I feel our missing piece is a defenseman and an upgrade on Bozak in the 2/3 centre slot. We could use the draft time to acquire said pieces, but I want to wait and see how we and other teams are sitting at that point.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

A player in this draft might be late developing to help us contend, especially with where our pick is trending to be

Agreed on that, especially if we're talking about a defenceman. Could take 4 or 5 years for a bottom-first round pick Dman to make the NHL.

Wingers on the other hand develop much faster. Which is why Id want that 1st round pick to be used on a LW JVR replacement. Someone like Denisenko (20s pick) or Farabee (13-18 pick) might only need 1 year before they are ready for the NHL.

 

[Trapper]

Our place in the standings has no bearing on the plan.
That's from Babcock.
We aren't dealing JVR now it seems, but we aren't giving away prime assets for another UFA.
We don't need deadline UFAs. We need a few more long term pieces. Especially ones to replace Bozak/JVR.
This is what we need next year. Replacements for those 2.