Defense:
This is the area that the Leafs needed to address the most, and they sure did.
Timothy Liljegren was re-signed, a (move that I am on board with), and Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson were added.
Both of these new additions bring something the Leafs defense group desperately needed. Tanev brings his superb shot-blocking ability and his reputation as one of the top shutdown defensemen in the entire NHL. While Ekman-Larsson brings more of an all-around game with some much needed mobility and the ability to play on the second power play unit.
While I like both players and their respective AAVs, I do have an issue with their contract length.
Ekman-Larsson will be making $3.5 million until he's 37 years old (four more years), and Tanev will be making $4.5 million until he's 40 (six more years).
The terms of both of these contracts are not ideal, however, both players bring something to the team that was desperately missing last year.
The defense group is an improvement and one of the best we've seen in the Matthews-Marner era.