My apologies because I know I’ve used this reference once before, likely last summer during Brad Treliving’s free agency bonanza. The Office quote holds up. “What is better: A medium amount of good pizza, or all you can eat of pretty good pizza?”

Once again, it seems like the Toronto Maple Leafs have opted for all you can eat pretty good pizza. Are the Maple Leafs better than they were at the end of the season? Yes. Are they better than they were before the trade deadline? Probably. Are they better than they were at the end of 2024-25? I don’t think so, and the fact is the Leafs needed to improve on that roster. They still have plenty of summer left to do that, but don’t unfurl any “Mission Accomplished” banners just yet.

Sergei Bobrovsky has had quite a career. It might not show up in the traditional goaltending stats like save percentage or goals against average, but for over a decade, Sergei Bobrovsky has been an absolute monster when it comes to goals saved above expected. Couple that with Bobrovsky being good for 50 starts a season, and the appeal for Bobrovsky taking the crease is there.

There’s a but. Last year was a terrible season for Bobrovsky. Goaltenders might have terrible seasons, but when 37-year-old goaltenders have terrible seasons, there is a bit more of a worry about whether they can bounce back. There are other concerns, like the fact that the last time Bobrovsky’s numbers dipped, it was when he joined the Panthers. It took two seasons for him to turn things around. Again, the Leafs are asking Bobrovsky to figure things out quickly at 38.

In theory, Bobrovsky is the goaltender you want behind a questionable blueline and a team that will take some offensive chances.

In theory, Bobrovsky thriving under Ian Clark in Columbus and Curtis Sanford being developed by Ian Clark as a goaltending coach should make them a match. In theory, Ed Belfour arrived in Toronto at 37 and gave the Leafs two great seasons.

The Bobrovsky gambit is a risk that Chayka will have to own. It was an interesting decision to rework the net when it was one of the few positions that seemed good enough for Toronto. Spending $7M a season to fix a non-existent problem with a $7M AAV, a 38-year-old coming off his worst season, is putting it all out there.

You hear a couple of things, and you start connecting dots. Right now, most of the dots are pointing towards the Ducks, a team that Morgan Rielly is supposedly willing to be traded to.

The Ducks had a quiet first day of free agency. They are supposedly being cautious to avoid offer sheets impacting what happens with Leo Carlsson (update: too late). Smart, but eventually they will have to do something, and they’ve missed out on a few good opportunities. They’ve lost an offensive defenceman in John Carlson, and there really isn’t a replacement left.

Enter Morgan Rielly.

The Ducks can afford him, and Rielly will waive his NMC to go there. Beyond that, if the Ducks need to shed salary, players like Chris Kreider or Alex Killorn could be potential returns, or more optimistically for the Maple Leafs, Pavel Mintyukov is someone the Ducks have at times considered moving on from. It’s unlikely the Leafs are too picky but would love to gain some cap space.

Anyway, the Ducks seem like a team to watch when it comes to Rielly.

There’s no undo button in the NHL, so it’s pretty clear what the Maple Leafs are looking to go with, and it’s the balanced lineup. The fourth line should be capable of taking a regular shift. After the top six scoring lines, the Leafs will have a shot suppression line and one that plays some heavy hockey. It’s a choice, one that begs the question of what happens if there are a plethora of injuries in the top six, but one paper with a healthy lineup card, it looks pretty good.

The thing is, the Maple Leafs have paid a lot to get there. Blueger, Duhaime, and Sissons will cost the Maple Leafs over $9M, when a fourth line of Groulx, Quillan, and Lorentz would cost the Leafs around $3M. The newly acquired free agents are better and will take on some penalty killing duties the others might not be ready for, but are they three times better? Would the Leafs fare better with a faster, cheaper, younger fourth line that is a bit of a mystery box, but would have allowed Toronto the opportunity to bring in either a top six capable forward or a top four defender for their trouble?

Jim Hiller’s 1-3-1 approach works best when you can trust every line to execute it. That could be the justification for the decision to balance the lines, but that decision comes at the cost of skill, speed, and youth.

When it’s just four days into free agency, it’s likely too early to critique the Leafs as a finished product, but overpaying for bottom of the roster talent has never been a good play, especially in Toronto.

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