The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed John Tavares, but that isn’t the end of their off=season.
While the Toronto Maple Leafs continue to restructure their front office and scouting department after the departures of Lou Lamoriello and Mark Hunter, the fans sit patiently and wait for the real action to begin.
Like, any kind of action.
Because this is getting boring! Not that I want to wish away the months of July, August and September, but we really need some action here.
So what, if any, action can we expect for the rest of the summer?
Nylander Extension
One thing you can expect will occur soon is that William Nylander will be extended. I’ve seen some people try to argue that a bridge deal is the way to go here, and frankly, that’s laughable. The Leafs might do it – I don’t claim to have any psychic powers – but it would be a genuinely awful mistake.
If the Leafs do bridge him, it will be because they are sacrificing his future with the team for a short-term window over the next couple of seasons and that would be a very bad decision because Nylander is a) every bit as good as Mitch Marner b) a potential hall of fame player who will go down as one of the great Leafs of all time, as long as he plays here long enough.
Bridge deals are not good for star players, and you can trace the decline of the Montreal Canadiens from the day they bridged Subban and the horrible consequences such a decision wrought on the franchise. At the time, with Subban, Price and Paccioretty the Canadiens were set-up for a decade of being one of the best teams in hockey. Sound familiar?
Don’t bridge Nylander.
Hopefully the Leafs will sign Nylander to an eight year extension and pay him for his entire prime.
Big Trade
You just can’t change some people’s minds. Haunted by years of inept management, nearly all Leafs fans with an internet connection are afraid of going for it because they can’t forget all the bad moves for short term gains that past management has made.
As such, many who I talk to are against the idea of trading the future for now. It’s going to happen though. Kyle Dubas is not going to waste the opportunity he’s been given and the Leafs will never have a better time to win than now.
But don’t worry: John Ferguson Jr didn’t have the necessary support of ownership to be a bad team, so he made short term moves for the wrong reasons. Burke and Nonis did not understand how the salary cap worked. Cliff Fletcher and Pat Quinn may have not won Cups, but they went all-in and it just didn’t work out. I doubt either would change what they did.
Just because the Leafs failed to win when they traded their picks and prospects in the past doesn’t mean anything for today’s team.
The only thing these past teams have in common with today’s team is team is terrified fans. The situations are very different, and the Leafs current management is well aware of the rarity of the converging events leading into this season and they will act accordingly.
So don’t get overly attached to any Toronto Maple Leafs prospects, and you better believe they will trade draft picks.
At this point, I do not expect Timothy Liljegren to start his career with the Leafs. I do not expect that the Toronto Maple Leafs will be picking in the first round of next years draft, and I will not be surprised if they make a play for the best player available.