Toronto Maple Leafs: Traversing The Road Ahead

For the Toronto Maple Leafs, the season is now over.

In the days to follow, players will go their separate ways, attempting to put the sting of defeat behind them and recover from what’s been a long and draining year.

Some will hop on a plane headed straight for a beach, content to bake in the tropical sun for the foreseeable future. Others will retreat to their offseason homes, scattered across the globe, for some sorely needed family time. A few may even stick around in Toronto, finally able to now truly enjoy the city to its fullest extent without the spectre of morning skates, practices and team meetings looming on the horizon.

No matter the specifics, one thing remains certain. Hockey will be the furthest thing from the mind of any member of that locker room until further notice.

I mean, all I do is write about the team and even I feel like a five-month break isn’t nearly long enough.

For the fans, however, nothing could be further from the truth. With 2017-18 in the books, the focus now shifts to the future.

That means sold-out crowds at Ricoh Coliseum, where all eyes will be fixated on the Marlies and their quest for a Calder Cup. (Which, by the way, I’ll continue to cover as I have all season long.)

It also means mock drafts, team obituaries, and free agency.

So, as the players now unplug from hockey’s matrix, Leafs management begins preparation for what will likely serve as the Shannahan-Era’s most pivotal summer.

Here’s my brief take on the road ahead.

So Long, Leo

In scratching a healthy Leo Komarov for the series’ final two elimination games, Mike Babcock has all but packed Leo’s bags for him.

There’s simply no way around it. Komarov had himself a miserable 2017-18. Despite averaging the seventh highest ice time among Leaf forwards, the veteran winger finished with an abysmal 19 points in 74 games.

By every metric, Komarov’s line was where offence went to die.

Regression aside, it can’t be ignored that the Leafs possess far too much offensive talent on either wing to justify Komarov’s continued presence in the lineup.

Both Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen have done everything to establish themselves as impact NHLers following their respective promotions. Scratching even one of them for Leo at this point is unacceptable.

Much like his current employer, I’ve also neglected to mention the presence of Josh Leivo. 

It’s easy to forget that the sparsely used winger remains under contract with Toronto for the upcoming season. And while he may lack Komarov’s defensive prowess, I’d bet my house on Leivo surpassing the former’s point total over the same sample size.

In fact, the Leafs seem to have found their Komarov replacement already. immediately upon his arrival with the Marlies, Carl Grundstrom returned to his dominant ways, positioning himself as a serious threat to crack Babcock’s 2018 opening night roster.

Komarov will forever remain a fan favourite and valuable contributor in the hearts of Leafs Nation. Alas, no relationship between team and player is without an expiry date.

After considering the various factors at play, it’s become abundantly clear that Leo is past his.

JVR & Bozak

With all the commotion surrounding Jake Gardiner‘s ugly game seven performance, the degree to which James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak have been spared from any semblance of blame is nothing short of amusing.

JVR, expected to command a cap hit of over $7 million for himself in free agency, was nowhere to be found. Not just for game seven, but for long stretches of the series as well. His lethal net-front presence is undeniable. But, put him anywhere else, and he vanishes.

Regarding Bozak, his days as a Leaf have been numbered for months.

This season, Babcock handed Young Bozak™ the most sheltered minutes of any Leafs forward, starting 57% of his centre’s shifts in the offensive zone. On top of that, Bozak somehow only mustered a paltry 11 goals in 82 games, all while logging the fourth most PP time on the entire roster.

Now, if he were a threat to crack 40 goals, much like an aforementioned pending UFA, Bozak’s defensive impotence would be excused.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. At age 31, what you see is what you get. And what we’ve seen from Bozak is a declining centre struggling on the man advantage who can’t be trusted with defensive zone starts.

Let the Canucks pad their pockets. JVR and Bozak will ride off into the sunset together as it was always intended to be.

Upgrade the D

Look, I’m as disappointed in Nikita Zaitsev as the next guy.

After the year he put together, the six remaining years of his contract are beginning to look more like an anchor than a bargain to even the most ardent Zaitsev supporters.

With that said, I still find it hard to believe that Zaitsev’s regression from one year to the next is without cause.

He may have never been worthy of the term he received. But, the 25-year-old is likely much closer to the suitable second-pairing option of 2016-17 than whatever the current version of him is.

So, unless Peter Chiarelli blows up Lou’s phone with a Hall-for-Larsson sequel, Zaitsev’s staying put. Instead, it would be wise for the Leafs to upgrade their positional need without depleting their inventory in the process.

Mark Pysyk

Florida’s Mark Pysyk is exactly the RHD the Leafs need.

And as luck would have it, Pysyk’s general manager, Dale Talon, happens to be a dummy. In fact, I’d wager Talon is perhaps second to only Chiarelli himself regarding the ability to get repeatedly fleeced in trades.

A positive possession player on a bad team, Pysyk’s name continues to fly under the radar, something which could potentially lower his market value. Rather than handing John Carlson the entire Canadian Mint on July 1st, set your sights on Pysyk. The latter is locked down at a cap hit of just $2.3 million until 2020.

As the saying goes, a good GM identifies who the bad GM’s are and never stops calling them.

Well, guess what? Talon’s a bad GM. Lou dangling some grit under his nose is all it might take for him to decide that moving Pysyk is the right move.

A right side of Pysyk, Zaitsev, Ron Hainsey (on the third pair) and possibly even a late-season Timothy Liljegren cameo is enough to get excited about.

Next: Act Like You've Been There

And in case you’re wondering, yes. I do realize I’ve ignored the centre position.

I’m set to delve into Toronto’s search for a suitable depth centre replacement in a later piece. The topic requires some in-depth focus that can’t be done justice in this one.

So, mourn the season’s end. Let it all your anguish out. Just don’t let it cloud what promises to be a tantalizing road ahead.