Leafs' offseason additions the depth needed to rewrite playoff disappointment

The Maple Leafs made headlines for signed goaltender Matt Murray but general manager Kyle Dubas' main focus has been on filling out the bottom six, with a focus on forechecking, speed and scoring.

Video Transcript

TICTACTOMAR: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of "In the Mentions." I'm TicTacTOmar. And have you noticed the theme that the Leafs have kind of been going with as free agencies opened up? Kind of our perspective has changed a bit.

You know, it started off with the Matt Murray trade, but then slowly, Kyle Dubas has been adding more players here and there to kind of fill out the bottom sticks, and it seems as if that's what the goal is, to make the bottom sticks faster, you know, stronger, you know, better on the floor check, and also more skilled. And that's something that's very interesting because when it comes down to what we always do, we overanalyze why the Leafs lost in the first round. Again, we think about why. And even though the Matt Murray trade happened and Jack Campbell's and Edmonton now, like, goaltending never really was a huge issue.

It always ends up being, we don't get enough goals in those elimination games. Yes, we have the stars, but we need the depth players as well. So I think, you know, signing Calle Jarnkrok, Nicholas Orb Cubel, Adam Gaudette, bringing back Pierre Engvall for another year, I think those are gonna be huge. And not only the fact that they can contribute offensively, but the fact that they are really hard to play against.

Adam Gaudette, specifically, seemed very motivated in his intro, you know, welcoming interview with the Leafs, and I think that is an important factor. You want to have those players that don't necessarily quit and keep going over and over again. So those additions have been really cool. And, again, it's really interesting to see how the, you know, the theme-- kind of how it's projected.

So when it comes down to seeing, hey, what were your thoughts about Kyle Dubas hours after free agency opened up? What are your thoughts now almost a week afterwards? And it seems like, for the most part, people's perspectives on Dubas haven't really changed, and that makes sense.

Maybe one, because, hey, it's still too early, regardless of what's happening right now. You know, we still have to see the team play games, but also, there could be more moves that are taking place and that are happening, you know? Even though it is July right now, there are still a lot that can be done. But I think it is interesting to see a theme that's come up and a theme that we've seen overall has led to playoff success. So it will be interesting to see how those guys work out.