Compare the cap hits of Tampa’s top guys to the Leaf’s top guys, and it’s not hard to see why Tampa has a roster full of really good players in support roles, and the Leafs don’t. The wisest move for the Leafs might be to stay clear of AP. The last big dollar UFA they added (Tavares) kind of made them go backwards in season total points.
I believe we should still go after Pietro, but immediately follow it with moving one of those RW for cap relief/depth. Dubas wants to keep the core guys together but sadly we live in a cap world. So if you want to be a real contender, it's going to have to happen. Unless someone from the Marlies emerges as a legitimate role player.
I just don't have faith in Dubas' plan. Even if he signs Pietro, i don't think Dubas has the guts/brains to move a necessary contract for team success. How i feel is, he cares more about players as individuals/friends, than he does team success. His job is to make this franchise successful and long term team success, but I feel like he's distracted by trying to be friends with the players and he makes that a priority over team success. This core group is expected to bring a championship to Toronto, so far they have not been able to get out of the first round. And I don't blame the individual core players for it. We didn't lose because of Matthews/JT/Marner/Nylander/Rielly. We lost because of the rest of the team. Something Dubas doesn't get.
Three biggest challenges for Toronto
Cap
The blue line
Depth
Pietro addresses the blue line, but makes an even bigger mess with the cap/depth. I don't know how this potential signing could lead to long term success, without moving a big contract or the cap rising. And with the pandemic, the latter is not happening.