The 2nd is going the wrong way

This offseason would be how I retool the Leafs.

They can play an 11/7 next year (something Berube has used more than any other coach from 2019-2021). Clarke has wicked offensive talent but is still developing into an NHL D. Having 7 D allows him to QB the PP without needing to rely on him to play big minutes at 5V5. If we are chasing a game he can rotate in for Tanev/Desharnais to give more of an offensive push. Otherwise he can just play his 6-8 minutes of PP per night and jump on for some offensive zone draws with Rielly/Zadorov/McCabe instantly making any D pairing an offensive threat (especially after an icing). If he does that 10 times a game that is another 6 minutes of icetime so he's playing 12-14mins a night, a little more if we a chasing a game. Otherwise we just roll the other 6 as normal.

Upfront, Dewar and Holmberg can both pay LW/C/RW so you can add any player to that 4th line to run them out for a shift. Otherwise you just roll the top 9 which has one "star" player Matthews, Reinhart, Nylander on each line.

For the PP you have one of the best net front guys (skill wise) in Tavares, the best bumper guy in the league in Reinhart, Matthews as your primary shooter, Clarke who is just next level at the OHL/AHL as a PP QB who can hopefully transfer that to the NHL quickly (like Bouchard did for Edmonton) and Nylander as the opposite side threat if anyone cheats on Matthews. That is top tier PP personnel and unlike with Marner/Rielly there aren't clear deficiencies in how the whole group fits together. This group is very complimentary in their styles, as long as Reinhart can get used to not being the primary target in the bumper but a secondary threat, this should be an insane PP if run properly.

For Kampf?

He is worth a 3rd/4th but I can guarantee you'd see something like this if NJ hired Keefe. The main reason we overpaid him is because of Keefe. Since joining the team he has the 5th highest minutes per game played of all Leafs forwards. Essentially if the core 4 weren't on then Kampf was. He was on the first 3v3 unit for Toronto (ahead of Matthews), top PK guy, on for most D zone draws, Keefe loves him.

Also having had him for a few years, you wouldn't regret the trade. It's annoying cause you know its an overpay and you know he is overpaid but he is just so good defensively that its hard to get mad.

Ah, yes, the unhealthy Brandt-Clarke-for-Mitch-Marner-or-I'll-die obsession. What is this, the tenth time you've proposed it?

Still not happening.

I'd be surprised if Nashville wanted Kevin Fiala back, but if they do, I can see him being the centerpiece of a Juuse Saros trade. He won't be accompanied by our leading goal scorer and local boy Trevor Moore, though.

Trading Mitch Marner only to sign Sam Reinhart short-term for $11.5 million. As Tallyrand said of the Bourbons, they have learned nothing and forgotten nothing.

You can’t trade Marner, he has a NMC and is treated like a “god”in Toronto. He isn’t going anywhere, and most teams don’t have the cap to fit him.

Reinhart and Marner are very different players. Marner is a perimeter playmaker, and Reinhart is a goalscorer who gets most of his chances right down the middle of the ice. Reinhart can also play a role on the PP (bumper) that the Leafs have desperately needed, Tavares is forced to fill the roll because nobody else can do it effectively, by getting Reinhart, Tavares can go back to the front of the net where he is much more effective.

The short-term deal for Reinhart mitigates the Leafs' risk; they aren't just rebuilding the core 4; Tavares is off the books next year, and Reinhart the year after. It's not locking into 8 more years of this like signing Mitch would be. And from Reinhart's perspective he's 28. No point signing a 7/8 year deal that takes him to 35/36. He's better off signing the 2 year deal then taking his 7/8year deal at 30 when the cap is higher and he's still young enough for a competing team to give him money + term (similar to what Matthews is doing with his 4 year deal taking him to 30).

Honestly if LA could turn:
Clarke, Turcotte, Fiala, Moore into Marner (50% off and extended), Saros (extended), Molendyk and they didn't do it then it would seriously call into question the front office's competency.

That a 100 point winger, top 10 goalie and top 10 LHD prospect that you are turning away for two middle 6 forwards (skilled but one dimensional), a one way high end RHD prospect (when you already have two solidified top 4 RHD including a 23 year old with the exact same skillset as Clarke) and a borderline waiver player (Turcotte can't clear waivers next year, are you really sure he'd make the Kings and won't just be given away?)

For Nashville it's harder to judge cause goalie trade values fluctuate but for a team that has just Forsberg, turning Saros, Molendyk, $5M in cap space into Fiala, Moore, Lili seems like a great use of assets.

If anyone should be questioning this it's Toronto who trade out a top 10 winger in the league in Marner who will put up at least 90 points per season for the next 5+ years, a bonafide 2nd/3rd pairing RHD who likely has potential to do a lot more for two prospects who aren't NHL proven and aren't top prospects in the game (Bedard/Cellebrini level). Even if Clarke becomes Bouchard (likely his ceiling) this could be seen as a loss for Toronto.

Just wait till he meets Berube, he'll be asking to leave.

Nope, he won’t. Tell me, how is Berube going to somehow change the roster? Or do what the last 3 coaches couldn’t do?

We are obviously speculating but from the outside looking in, under Keefe/Dubas the organization was built around the Core 4. They were given whatever they wanted and treated well, defended with the coach, GM, President in the media consistently.

Under Treliving/Berube, I'd expect them to be held accountable, from being called out for poor performances, benched, etc. There are loads of ways of doing it.

It's not impossible to do either. Under Lou all these players were kept inline. Whether it was Nylander's hair, Matthews facial hair, Marner's ELC deal (with zero bonuses), etc. The team had standards and held these players to them.

Devils decline Kampf trade. We can find similar in free agency.

Let's put aside the fact that the intentional mischaracterization of Kevin Fiala and Trevor Moore as "two middle 6 forwards (skilled but one dimensional)" is intellectually dishonest. You still seem incapable of grasping the reality proven by Toronto's last 6 years' experiment: a 100-point forward isn't more productive or beneficial than a 73-point forward plus a 57-point forward, and that's not the way to construct a winning roster, especially when the two top-6 forwards equal the cap hits of the 100-point forward and a minimum-level-contract player to fill the other roster slot.

No, Los Angeles isn't including Brandt Clarke in a Marner (or Nylander) trade despite your obsession (TWENTY-SIX out of your last 33 ACGMs have included such an effort!), Los Angeles isn't including Brandt Clarke in a Saros trade, Los Angeles isn't including Trevor Moore in a Marner or Saros trade, and Fiala's NMC precludes him from being included in a Marner or Saros trade (even if Nashville wants him back -- a point which you didn't seem to notice). If giving up so many current roster players for Marner and Saros is such a good idea, why don't you trade us Matthews and Nylander, too, for the rest of our good players so we can look exactly like the Toronto Maple Leafs of 2016 - 2024?

See what you don't seem to get is that while having 4 100 points guys and no depth moving not be a winning strategy, having 20 2nd liners and no elite talent is also not a winning strategy.

LA has ZERO elite talent. Byfield will become that, Spence could become that but Fiala and Moore definetly are not that. Marner is.

How do you magically hold them accountable? The core 4 all have NMC and buyouts are not going to happen because the contracts are buyout prof.
Everyone (Toronto fans) want to hold Marner accountable for losing.
The defence is horrible & Tavares is the biggest reason the Leafs don’t have a defence.
Toront will do something stupid, and that’s what you should be worried about, like trading Marner for magic beans.

Absolutely true. Los Angeles definitely needs at least one elite talent in the forecourt and one in goal. (The Kings front office is convinced that Clarke will replace Doughty as the elite defender.) Making Marner the forward elite talent crowds out the resources necessary to add the other.

Except this trade gives you an elite F, elite G and does it in a timeframe where Doughty/Kopitar/Byfield are still close to elite.