I think benching Kampf was just saying “okay, you signed your big contract but you still need to earn your place.” I don’t think it was about the team, just that Keefe thought Kampf wasn’t playing well enough.

Comparing with the Oilers again, they were supposed to be one of the best - if not the best - teams in the league. They are now playing to their potential. The Leafs aren’t underperforming. This is what you’d expect with the team they have. A bunch of players are having career years. A new coach won’t make a team play better than they’re capable of.

I think the bad thing about those contracts is not just that they haven’t worked out but that they didn’t make sense. Both Domi and Klingberg are players that marginally increase offense at a huge defensive cost. That’s not what this team needed at all. Scoring isn’t a problem. They need defensively responsible players that can chip in now and then. Domi has the most protected minutes on the team and he’s still barely out-scoring that defensive liability (he’s +1). It would be so much worse if Keefe was just rolling lines. Because Keefe can’t trust the bottom 6 to defend, the top 2 lines are playing too much and in less than ideal situations, which could be a problem as the season drags on. Reeves, Domi, and Klingberg were all solutions in search of a problem.

Bertuzzi is fine but hasn’t really worked out as hoped. He seems like a good guy to have around for the playoffs though. You’re right though that it’s good that none of those players are signed for term (except Reeves for some reason).