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Toronto Maple Leafs: Monday Mailbag, Looking Forward

By Andrew Boehmer |
Apr 23, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) and teammates celebrate the series-ending goal in overtime by Marcus Johansson (not pictured) against the Toronto Maple Leafs in game six of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. The Capitals beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 23, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) and teammates celebrate the series-ending goal in overtime by Marcus Johansson (not pictured) against the Toronto Maple Leafs in game six of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. The Capitals beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Maple Leafs season is over with Sunday night’s loss to the Washington Capitals in game six of round one.

What a season it was and moving forward, we can only expect bigger and better things from this team. The good news is that there’s never enough to talk about when it comes to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It’s now time for the Monday Mailbag where I answer your questions from this past week. I had some great questions that came in and decided to stick with one theme in particular.

The theme is centered around moving forward in regards to the Leafs, speaking about the pending off-season. They had a terrific 2016-17 regular season, some playoff action, but what’s next?

2017 Off-Season

More from Editor In Leaf

Question: What should the Leafs main focus be this off-season?

Answer: Not overreacting. What I mean by that is they shouldn’t get carried away with trades or anything of that nature. I know the Leafs need some defensive help, but if we trade away an arm and a foot to get someone, they’re going to hurt themselves.

If the right defenseman becomes available at the right price, the Leafs should act.

Besides, the Leafs had a great run this year, nothing major needs to happen. They will improve with time.

Question: Is there a defenseman the Leafs should target this off-season?

Answer: Nobody off the top of my head. The only reason I say that is because the guys that could be a good fit will be asking for too much. That’s not even to mention that they might not want to come to Toronto either.

Kevin Shattenkirk is a good example.

He’ll likely sign a seven by seven contract, which is seven years for $7 million.

That’s just too much money for the Leafs to dish out when they’re going to have three pretty large contracts to offer to Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitchell Marner soon.

Thanks and Next Week

Many thanks to the questions that came in this week. Special thanks to those whose questions were featured.

Please keep sending them in and I look forward to next our next mailbag on Monday, May 1st. So, send in your questions to me via Twitter, @acboehmer, or by email, acboehmer@liberty.edu.

Looking forward to more questions, remember to have them on by Monday at noon.

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