Conn Smythe Trophy winner has serious doubts about the Leafs as a true contender

Year after year, the Leafs continue to roll out teams who are, on paper, very, very good, yet every year, they experience the same fate in the playoffs. Most of Leafs Nation is at the point where we understand that the foundation of what the Leafs are trying to do is flawed. You simply can't commit so much of your cap space to 4 or 5 players and hope to have the appropriate mix in the middle and bottom of your lineup necessary to thrive in the playoffs.

One of the Leafs' biggest supporters over the last few seasons has been Spittin Chiclets co-host and NHL on TNT panelist Paul "Biz Nasty" Bissonnette. During a recent edition of his podcast, Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney had Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Marchessault on as a guest. One of the items that Marchessault had addressed was Bissonnette's love of the Leafs and his insistence that they're going to win a Stanley Cup very soon.

There's no question that the Leafs will need to make some changes and I'm sure, in a lot of ways, that they will. However, if those changes don't involve changing their core and finding a legitimate top pairing defenseman, they may have a very tough time breaking through during the postseason and going on a run - especially with the gauntlet they'd have to go through in the East to get to the Finals.