That's fine, but who exactly did the Leafs get rid of that fit that description?
The only players I can see would be JVR, Kadri and Gardiner whom haven't been traded.. yet.
I wish I could find it but there was an article suggesting that most players peak by 28-29 years old, and after that, their performance starts to drop.
Kessel was 27 years old when he was traded. Dion Phaneuf was 30 when he was traded. I'm sure the other players the Leafs traded were around 29 years of age.
If this rebuild takes 3 to 5 years, how useful will the players dealt be in 3 years? 4 years? 5 years? I don't know. If whatever the Leafs are doing is considered tanking, then I'm glad they took the smart option.