It's not a question of 'Wheeler vs. Tavares'. It's a question of whether the Leafs, considering what they have in forwards, D and goaltending should have gotten a mature, very expensive scorer when they were already loaded with team - owned, young scoring depth?
Tavares is performing well - no doubt. But, when he is on the ice, that means another one of the Leafs elite scoring talent is not. Someone who is younger, cheaper, and has room to develop and get better (and provide more value to the team).
Not only that, but you have ignored a weakness - which is defense (and a good backup).
So, you end up backed up against the cap - having your young talent (Nylander) holding out. Your young developing players don't get to develop as much as they should, they are less happy in their roles with the team.
Now you are going to end up dealing young players who haven't even hit their prime for a guy who only direction from here is down.
It's terrible asset management. This is not how teams get to the top and stay on top in a cap world.
Teams like the Red Wings, Hawks and Penguins remained powerhouses for so long by developing talent, letting older talent go and filling holes with cheap (cap implications) rentals.
The Leafs would have been FAR better off spending the JT money on a top 4, veteran defenseman.
Again, I am happy cause even if the Leafs do manage a cup, their position as a league leader is going to be shorter lived due to dumb decisions.
