Mike Johnson

They were taking a run, a serious run of the Stanley Cup.

They have not been there in 60 years.

And so they were thinking, yeah, it's way too much to pay.

But we're paying it because we're taking the biggest swings right now.

And of course, in hindsight, not a good decision.

But in the moment, where they were and the belief of what was possible, they overpaid for Lawton.

They overpaid for Carlo, but they did so probably knowingly because they wanted to take their best swing.

And then they missed out a couple.

And then, you know, they were one game away from probably getting to the Stanley Cup final, if we're being honest, last year.

And then we would probably look at it a little bit differently, but they didn't.

They lost.

Life goes on, and now life is less good than if they had not made that deal.

Yeah.

I don't think people care about that stuff.

I think you care.

Like, I've been around it.

I understand, like, it's been 15 years of toughness against Boston, but...

I don't know how much fans really care about that.

You know what I mean?

Like, they care about the Leafs being struggling, but... They care, Johnny.