These past couple of days have seen Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Lou Lamoriello go on record to talk to sources like Tim Micallef and Sid Seixeiro on their Sportsnet show Tim and Sid, and The Athletic’s James Mirtle about the ongoing rebuild.
With the trade deadline coming up, there has been a lot of speculations over which players should be traded or swapped and things of that sort. Lou made a lot of interesting points, but the underlining idea that he got across was that the Toronto Maple Leafs have set a rebuild blueprint, and they have no intentions of moving away from that.
Now from a fan’s point of view, I obviously would love to see the Leafs win as soon as possible. I’ve seen many fans with that mindset. They would like the Leafs to make a move for defence or fix our bottom 6 by trading away some other pieces in the system.
From a critical point of view however, the Leafs should really stick to the plan, like how Lou reiterated, and not sell the farm like many fans are pushing for. Why you may ask?
“The Leafs Owe it to the Kids”
As pointed out by Tim and Sid, many Toronto fans feel as if the team owes it to the rookies to maintain their winningness for playing this well.
The Leafs have exceeded expectations this season by a landslide. Analysts pegged the Leafs to have a bottom five finish before this season began. Heck, even I expected the same from such a young and experienced team. The rookies have played so well together that it feels as though their tremendous effort shouldn’t be wasted by an end of season breakdown.
Well the reality of it is that things are going good. Good enough that things should not be shaken up too much. If a shakeup is not necessary, it shouldn’t happen. The Leafs are building for the future here. Wins and losses will come and go, but they’re minuscule to the fact that the young guns are developing and will surely bring sustainable wins in the future.
Talking to Tim and Sid about this opinion by fans, Lamoriello said that management will be staying the course with the plan that Brenden Shanahan had originally came up with–the plan to build through the draft and be patient in this rebuild.
"“Right now we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves, we’re going to stay on this course. I really think that’s what the fans want,” Lamoriello told Tim and Sid."
Lamoriello said the only moves that he feels to be appropriate right now are those that would not interfere with the long-term plan of things (a.k.a don’t sell the farm).
William Nylander: To Stay or Go?
One of the names who has been consistently coming up in trade rumours has been William Nylander. Fans want a top four defenceman. If James Van Riemsdyk isn’t enough to fetch one, why not William Nylander?
Well Nylander shouldn’t be traded because you don’t just trade away young raw talent. The Leafs are not contenders yet, and people need to realize that. We are a rebuilding team. Rebuilding teams prize prospects and players 23 and under.
William Nylander is only 20 years old, super skillful in his rookie season, and still has ample time to develop. Yes, his trade value is high right now, but trading away this raw talent now only prevents his value from increasing for the Leafs. It also prevents him from developing into an even better player that can be utilized on a cup contending team. The sky is the limit for him right now in terms of potential. Time is still needed to see how he pans out.
Tim and Sid discussed the prospect of Nylander being moved potentially. Lou’s answer? Nope. He believes Nylander is a part of this long-term plan and needs the time to excel with time.
"William Nylander is an integral part of our future" - Lou Lamoriello on #TimandSid.
— Tim and Friends (@timandfriends) February 22, 2017
What’s Best for the Future?
To reiterate on what I said above, stay the course. The Leafs believe in winning in the future, so should the fans. I’ll admit, it would be nice to win now. As Leafs fans, we’re all sick of waiting 50 years now for a cup.
But this rebuild is different. It’s being done correctly. If we were to sell key assets to try and win now, what will we have in the future? One Stanley Cup win is nice, but multiple is better. Just look at the Chicago Blackhawks.
What Lou and Toronto’s management group are trying to achieve is success that will last many years, not just one or two. The only way to gain success like this is to have multiple elite players. And the only way to gain multiple elite players is to draft and develop some first.
Patience is key. This season is looking great, and I bet the young guns would love to have a successful season this year since they deserve it. But it’ll be much more sweet in a few years when they’re able to win year in and year out.
Don’t sweat Toronto, we’ve waited this long. Give it some time, the Leafs finally seem to know what they’re doing.