The Toronto Maple Leafs have a number of questions surrounding them with 10 games left.
Typically at this point of the Leafs season, we're getting geared up for a playoff run, but this year is different. Unforunately the team is going to miss the playoffs for the first time in the Auston Matthews era and the future looks scary.
It's crazy how fast things change and how hard it is to watch a game, but unfortuantely you can't be a playoff team every year. You need to go through changes and hopefully better days are ahead very soon.
As we enter the last 10 games, here are the 10 biggest questions surrounding the organization.
10 Questions facing the Leafs with 10 games to play
No. 1. Will Craig Berube get fired?
Despite winning the Atlantic Division last year and making it the furthest they've been in over 20 years, it looks like Berube has officially lost the room. However, will he get fired? Yes, the answer is 100 percent, yes.
2. Is Brad Treliving still the GM next year?
This is an interesting one because typically the coach gets fired before the GM and it's tough to fire both at the same time. Treliving probably should get fired, but it feels like Keith Pelley will need another scape-goat in 2026-27 so Berube probably gets fired now, then Treliving at the end of next year.
3. Will the Leafs hire a President?
It's very clear that the Leafs miss a Brendan Shanahan type figure, so they should hire a President of Hockey Operations immediately. Whether it's Doug Armstrong or Chris Pronger, this seems like a logical hire this summer.
4. What happens if the Leafs fall in the top-five?
If the Leafs fall into the top-five, they will be a playoff team again next year.
5. What happens if the Leafs gift the Boston Bruins a draft pick?
If the Bruins pick sixth overall or worse, it will be another chapter in the lopsided rivalry between Toronto and Boston. That player the Bruins pick will most likely turn into a Hall of Fame player who will devastate Leafs fans for 20 more years.
6. Will a legacy Leaf be traded this offseason?
Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly have all been involved in trade rumours for the past year, as it feels like we've reached a tipping point. If I were a betting man, I would say that Rielly gets traded this offseason, but Matthews and Nylander stay.
7. What goalie is getting traded?
Toronto will technically have four NHL goalies on their roster next year with Anthony Stolarz, Joseph Woll, Artur Akhtyamov and Dennis Hildeby, meaning a trade looks imminent. They probably won't be able to get much for him, but Stolarz looks like the odd-man out.
8. Are the Leafs rebuilding or re-tooling?
If the Leafs have Matthews and Nylander on the roster next year, they will re-tool because they cannot afford to gift either Boston or Philadelphia their first-round pick for the next two years.
9. Who is going to replace Joe Bowen?
Legendary broadcaster Joe Bowen is retiring after this season, which means one of the most popular play-by-play roles in sports will become available. I'm not too sure who the top candidates are but I'd love to see TSN's Montreal Canadiens play-by-play guy Victor Findlay take the role.
10. Will any of the Marlies be full-time Leafs next year?
At this rate, Bo Groulx might be a top-six forward for the Leafs next year, while Hildeby will most likely be the team's back-up. It would be nice to see a few more call-up's before the end of the season but look for those two to be full-time NHLers next year.