3 offseason moves the Toronto Maple Leafs must make after another playoff failure

2. Rebuild the depth

Kyle Dubas did a very good job adding depth. Unfortunately, he added the wrong kind of depth. Did Dubas go out and grab Carter Verhaeghe ($1 million cap hit), Anthony Duclair ($1.7 million), or Conor Sheary ($735,000)? No, he chose to go with players like Wayne Simmonds and Joe Thornton. Each of those players outscored Thornton and Simmonds. Verhaeghe and Duclair each had more points than both combined.

Part of the risk of handing out so many big deals to players like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and William Nylander is you have to nail your depth signings. For the most part, Dubas did a very good job. I don’t see any bad mistakes as far as their depth signings, though it’s hard to make a “bad” depth signing. But Dubas must reconsider the kind of depth he acquires this offseason.

Who should the Leafs target?

Jason Spezza is someone the Leafs should definitely re-sign. Sure, he’s old, but he’s still a very good depth player and he’s an important guy in the locker room. Plus Spezza is likely going to be cheap again. Mattias Janmark is worth a look. Old friend Tyler Bozak might be worth a look as well if the price is right.

As far as defensemen are concerned, Ben Hutton’s worth considering if he takes a league-minimum deal. Patrik Nemeth is someone who can suppress shots against, so he’d be a nice addition at the league minimum. If Zdeno Chara is willing to be an extra defenseman, signing him would be a heck of a way to change the locker room culture.

All of that being said, depth acquisitions aren’t going to be enough.