Toronto Maple Leafs: It’s Time To Talk Montréal

We here at Editor in Leaf focus on the Toronto Maple Leafs, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore our divisional rivals.

From a Toronto Maple Leafs fan to the Montreal Canadiens

Hello Montréal!

It is I, a writer covering the Toronto Maple Leafs. You see while us Leafs fans have been partying and enjoying our summer, what with the whole Kyle Dubas promotion and John Tavares signing, a lot of us haven’t given you much thought.

But recently a series of tweets by Max Pacioretty’s agent has turned my head, and I gotta say…I’m a little worried about you guys.

I shouldn’t be. You’re a division rival who until last year had wiped the floor with the Leafs over an extended period of time. But my feelings right now are like when you have a next door neighbor you don’t talk to or particularly like, but you do become concerned when they come home every night babbling and smelling of alcohol.

The Canadiens

So consider this an intervention Montréal. It’s time to stop messing around and look at your situation.

In the last two years, you’ve traded P.K. Subban for Shea Weber, signed Carey Price to an 8-year, $84 million contract, traded Mikhail Sergachev for Jonathan Drouin, nearly traded Pacioretty, your captain, to the Los Angeles Kings, passed on Filip Zadina to draft Jesperi Kotkaniemi to bolster your center depth, and traded Alex Galchenyuk for Max Domi.

All those moves have gotten you is a 2015-2016 Atlantic Division title, a first-round elimination at the hands of the New York Rangers, and a 6th place finish in the Atlantic last year, with a season series sweep by the Maple Leafs to go along with it. Plus each of the transactions you’ve made have blown up in your faces.

Sergachev is thriving on the Tampa Bay Lightning, while Drouin had only 46 points making $5.5 million. Zadina has a vendetta against you and happens to play for the Detroit Red Wings, a division rival. Price had the worst year of his career last year (16-26-7, .900 SV% and a 3.11 GAA). And of course Subban, who has 99 points in 146 games with the Nashville Predators, and helped them reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2017.

Meanwhile, Weber has played 104 games with just 58 points and will be out until December recovering from knee surgery with 8 years left on his contract. And you just traded Galchenyuk for a player who hasn’t hit a 20 goal season in his 3-year career and extended him anyway.

Which brings us to Max Pacioretty.

Max Pacioretty

The captain of your team is coming off a rough 17 goal season. But prior to that he had 4 straight 30+ goal seasons and was a stable presence through playoff defeats, head scratching trades, and disappointing seasons. And yet you tried to trade him at the draft to the Kings and it fell through. Now his contract is up next summer. It’s time to make a call.

Trade Pacioretty, for the love of God, just trade him.

With one year left on his deal, Pacioretty can be a great piece on a team looking to build their center depth for a playoff run or even a rebuilding team looking for a new leader. The bridge has basically been burned between any talks of an extension, and knowing Marc Bergevin’s track record in dealing with contract extensions a deal is more than likely not going to get done. The longer you wait to trade him, the less leverage you’re going to have in the deal.

Use the picks and prospects you get to jumpstart a much-needed rebuild. Bergevin has messed with the team identity so much that there is no real picture of what the Habs are trying to do. Trade your captain, sack Bergevin, and burn it all to ash. Keep your younger stars and have Price and Weber as veteran leadership as you draft and develop your young talent into a potential Stanley Cup contender.

Or you guys can stay the course and hope Price can carry your offensively inept team to a playoff spot in a division with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins,  and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Your choice. See you on October 3rd.

Salary statistics courtesy of capfriendly.com

Statistics courtesy of hockeyreference.com