Menzinger
Kessel4LadyByng
In an ideal world, yes. But at what expense? Gardiner walks? Can't afford Kappy? Can't add to the D?
You don’t sacrifice the top talent on a team for depth.
Even if the cap wasn’t an issue, does signing a near 30 year old Gardiner for 6.5-7 million long term sound like a good idea? Personally I’m not so sure it does.
As far as cap problems go, the only one of particular issue is next year, after that the removal of Marleau + steadily rising cap ceiling over the next few years will give the Leafs tons of breathing room. They really just need to get apanen and Johnsson to take a short and cheap bridge deal to see them through next season.