The 2 year/$4.5 million deal with Daniel Winnik makes us better in the short-term. Which might be a bad thing if the Leafs plan on tanking in the next couple of seasons! lol.
My guess is the goal with this deal was to bring in a vet with character who would be a great locker room guy and provide a positive influence for the kids. Daniel Winnik is a great third-liner/penalty killer/part-time second-liner who can help you win games. But the Leafs are not in any position to make the playoffs anytime soon. Let alone contend. So that's probably not why Winnik was brought in.
You have to wonder if recruiting guys who make our team better in the short-term is a good strategy for the Leafs right now though. Even if it's an unrestricted free agent that we didn't have to give up any assets for. You add veteran character and locker room presence with a guy like Daniel Winnik. But you also hurt our tanking chances. The Leafs' roster is gutted at this point so Winnik will likely play with Kadri. So our second line will probably be good. And if you drop Winnik down to the third-line to play with Komarov and Spaling, they will be a tough line to face too.
So as long as we have Bozak on the 1st line, our 1st line will suck. But if we have a competitive 2nd or 3rd line whose going to win us some points, we're going to drop further down in the draft. Kessel is the $64 million man. And therefore gets the flack. But he's a winger. Wingers are the least defensively responsible position in hockey. The weakest link is Tyler Bozak! When Kessel plays with Crosby and/or Malkin, he's going to be a great $47.25 million man for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He's not supposed to be the franchise player. The Leafs' need a $8 million/yr+ centre. And if Mitch Marner becomes the next Patrick Kane instead of the next Claude Giroux, we're in trouble because it's difficult to acquire a first-line centre in a trade or free agency without over-paying for one. If William Nylander doesn't become an NHL centre, we're in trouble as well.
In an ideal world, Mitch Marner will become the next Claude Giroux. And William Nylander will become a great first-line winger who can occasionally play centre and take face-offs when Marner or Kadri are injured.