Torrin Batchelor
It’s not a win now versus a win later approach, it’s simply a logistical reality. 2019 is going to be the Year of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I won’t be so bold as to guarantee a parade down Yonge Street, but a conference final seat seems like a incredibly realistic goal.
The contract status:
Right now the Leafs have Nylander, Marner, Zaitsev, Matthews, Brown, Hyman, Carrick all on entry level contracts. Even with all the bonus money that will be owed to that very talented rookie core, the Leafs will never have the same kind of financial might under the salary cap as they will for the next two seasons after this one.
You’ve gotta know Matthews is getting paid handsomely immediately after his ELC expires, Marner won’t be too far behind him. Nylander, Brown, Hyman and company will probably earn bridge contracts but all will still be millions more expensive than they are currently.
The draft pipeline:
Building through the draft is clearly the way to salvation when done properly, but eventually you need somewhere to put all the kids coming through your system. The Leafs only have 50 NHL contracts they can hand out and with Kapanen, Leipsic, Bracco, Timashov, Johnson, Nielsen, Valiev, Grundstrom, Korshkov and all the other kids already in the system and the ones yet to be acquired at the draft in LA, the Leafs are running out of room and fast.
The roster holes:
Even a year ago the Leafs seemed years away from relevancy. Yes, they had the shiny new coach who seemed to be able to get the most out of his team and a few electric rookies. However, the team was missing pieces in several key areas, most notably a No.1 Center and a No.1 goalie… guess what?
Auston Matthews and Frederik Andersen have clearly checked those boxes off for the Leafs. That leaves potentially a veteran top six trigger-man to get the most out of Matthews and a pair of defence men that can round out a pretty sub-par Leafs blue line.
The performance so far:
The Leafs clearly have something special in Auston “Stone Cold” Matthews, whose drawn comparisons from Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Toews all the way up to the great Joe Sakic with his deadly accurate wrister.
Mitch Marner, William Nylander and the rest of the young guns are no slouches either, drawing praise from Lou Lamoriello stating that the Leafs are farther ahead than they thought they’d be at this point. The Leafs can score, and they can win games in exciting and entertaining fashions, if they can become slightly more disciplined with the lead then this group might even challenge for a playoff this season.
The conclusion:
Young cheap core + lots of financial might + fully stocked prospect cupboard = everything you need to make a contender status push inside the next 3 years.
If the Leafs can sign one of Kevin Shattenkirk or (preferably) Karl Alzner this summer and then use their massive stock of prospect capital to acquire another top four Dman and potentially a top six veteran scorer (depending on what happens with JVR) they have every piece of the puzzle you need to go for it and potentially win it all.
There’s no point in waiting Lou, but there’s also no need to go all in right now. The Leafs have time and their window is only just starting to creep open. 2019 Leafs Nation, remember this post.