Toronto Maple Leafs Tyler Bozak would be better off to remain with the team.
Many fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs no longer wanted Tyler Bozak in a Leafs jersey after last summer. They didn’t want to see him play as the number #1 centre anymore. They had had enough. They watched as he was trotted out alongside Phil Kessel for far too long.
They watched coach after coach give him minutes and match ups they felt were above his head. They watched management group after management group fail to obtain a better option, which wore the fan base thin and forced them to focus that frustration on the wrong target, Bozak himself.
It was never Bozaks fault that Brian Burke made trades to try to cut corners on a rebuild. It was never Bozaks fault that Dave Nonis decided to spend time and assets to acquire Jonathan Bernier, even after James Reimer lead the team to the playoffs, after having failed to make the show for 7 years in a row. On top of that he spent big money on free agents like David Clarkson and Stephane Robidas, while the centre position remained a weak spot throughout the organization.
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The current management team is still trying to straighten out the mess left behind by previous regimes, but I digress. This isn’t about Brian Burke and Dave Nonis’ inability to ice a winning roster. This is about the unrealistic expectations heaped upon a fine player in an impossible situation.
Enter Lou Lamoriello and Coach Mike Babcock.
It appears Bozak has been handed a new role. He’s still the ace on face offs for the team, but he’s no longer been given the best of line mates. James Van Reimsdyk, perhaps the teams best forward, spent more time on a line with Nazem Kadri than he did Tyler Bozak. Instead, P.A Parenteau has been Bozaks most frequent winger. He is no longer made to force feed passes to a right winger that wants to cheat on defence to create offence. Instead, he can play a game that is more suited to what he does best. Start in the offensive zone, win the face off, pin the teams in, and create offence through hard work.
Some may argue all of this is simply building up an asset to capitalize on trade value. Others would argue that its tough to find a veteran centre, on a good contract, with a knack for winning faceoffs, that wants to play for your team.
He has said he wants to stay as a Toronto Maple Leaf through the rebuild and has talked about wanting to become more of a leader. All of the teams that have successfully rebuilt through the draft, have combined drafting with good trades, free agent signings and ensuring a proven veteran presence is in the locker room and on the ice.
Bozak, being placed on a line with the young Connor Brown and Josh Leivo in his first game back from injury, should be a testament to the leader and player that Mike Babcock thinks he is. Afterall, being a leader is only half the battle, if you can’t produce on the ice then no words in the locker room will suffice.
So, while the Leafs follow through on the ‘Shanaplan’, maybe they should consider Tyler Bozak. He’s the guy with the 2nd highest PPG on the team, the highest faceoff percentage, an impressive 1.99 P/60min, an overall great attitude and the longest serving Leaf currently in the system. Bozak is a piece that should stick around for a little while longer, to help push and protect the new wave of young Toronto Maple Leafs currently on their way into the system.
Afterall, who better to show them the way through the peaks and valleys that is the Toronto sports landscape, than a guy that has been dragged through the mud during some of the worst of times in Toronto Maple Leafs history, yet he lived through it, only to stand in front of a camera with a smile on his face and tell the world that he wants to remain in the blue and white?