Mess
Global Moderator
Identifying a need and solving it are 2 completely different stories.
Martin and Komarov were drains on the team. Polak was meh for the most part and whatever toughness he provided was offset but other areas he lacked in. The Leafs truly won't miss them.
Dubas doesn't have much cap space to work with either and trades are hard to make. The team is also young and will naturally become tougher.
If anything as a team on the rise let's be thankful he didn't try to sign someone like Clarkson, Lucic, Ladd, Callahan like his GM counterparts did and handcuff the team for years with a bad contract.
At present it appears Dubas believes NHL stands for No Hitting League, at least that is what you would believe by the way he has his current roster assembled as he let all his big hitters walk and failed to address the teams lack of physicality in the process.
Leafs were both in the bottom 5 team in hits (physicality) and penalties drawn last year and Leafs offseason changes under Dubas made that first situation even worse.
My fear is that this team will be pushed around and intimidated by big, strong heavy skilled teams and have very little push back ability based on current player personnel. Many of Leafs current players don't like to be hit and even cause self inflicted wounds by causing turnovers to avoid getting hit. Others are simply unwilling to engage physically in an attempt to win puck battles and outmatched size wise in the process.
Teams will exploit this weakness to their advantage, and not much Babcock can do with the players he has been provided as a "Leopard never chances its spots" and there are too few Lions and Tigers on the roster to fight back when the going gets tough.
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