Toronto Maple Leafs: EIL Content Roundup – February 7th

The Toronto Maple Leafs are back in business, baby!

The regular season is now firmly out of the winter break, and the Editor in Leaf staff have been working around the clock to bring you, our loyal readers, right into the middle of the action. Every angle has been covered, and every stone has been overturned.

With so many stories hitting the wall all at once, it’s easy to lose a few in the shuffle. So, enjoy this roundup of this week’s notable pieces.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Kyle Dubas Having One of Best Seasons in History

When you really think about it, Kyle Dubas inherited one of the most complex and difficult free agent situations in league history when he assumed the role of Leafs’ GM. Sure, he’d been in the organization for the past 4 years. But it’s not like Dubas had been anywhere near calling the shots that entire time, which essentially forced him to make franchise-shifting decisions from day one.

Most notably, Dubas happened to take the reigns at the exact moment when the Leafs’ three marquee young stars, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander, either became RFAs or sat one year away from RFA status.

Despite being faced with an excruciatingly difficult negotiation period with the latter, Dubas still managed to lock up both Nylander and Matthews to around-market-value deals while simultaneously building the ancillary parts of the roster into a contender. Only Marner remains unsigned, and both sides have publicly stated that Mitch “will be a lifetime Leaf”.

Think about that. In just 8 months on the job, Dubas has:

• Signed the biggest free agent in NHL history, John Tavares, to a team-friendly deal.
• Locked down two of the team’s three young pillars to long-term contracts.
• Conquered arguably the most difficult RFA negotiation saga with no ill will remaining.
• Acquired a top-4 defenceman while giving up zero roster players or top prospects.

That’s incredible. And as James notes in his piece from this week, what Dubas is currently doing might be the most successful GM season in history.

“But the fact is, that the Toronto Maple Leafs have Auston Matthews, who is 21 and getting better, for just slightly more than they are paying John Tavares, who is 27 and as good as he’ll ever be.  This is a good cap hit for today, and as the contract ages, it is going to be relatively cheap in the sense that as the cap goes up, the value this contract provides will also rise.

Same thing with Nylander.  Sure, he’s not scoring at the expected rate, but if you look at his peripheral numbers, he’s playing fantastic.  And I don’t care if you don’t care about the numbers. We are past that.  Anyone who chooses to ignore statistical evidence doesn’t get a vote. The mainstream media will cater to these people, but riddle me this: in what other topic is it considered controversial to measure something?”

Toronto Maple Leafs: Mitch Marner Will Sign an Offer Sheet

So much for limiting distractions during the season, right Mitch?

When Marner’s agent, Darren Ferris, requested that the Leafs delay negotiations on a new deal until the end of the season, it seemed like a reasonable ask. After living through the Nylander saga months prior, Mitch obviously wants to focus solely on the very real possibility of winning a Stanley Cup, leaving the ancillary contract talk for later. The Leafs, of course, honoured this request.

Which is why it came as such a shock earlier this week when Ferris publically bemoaned to anyone who would listen about how the Leafs were “low-balling” his client, less than 24 hours after Auston Matthews signed his own monster extension.

The best way to limit distractions, of course, is to publically accuse your client’s employer of trying to squeeze him out of well-earned money in the most media-saturated market in all of hockey. It’s “Being an Agent 101”.

Ferris’ comments immediately sparked a hellfire of speculation in the days to follow regarding the possibility of Marner signing an offer sheet. You know, that thing no one has even tried to use since 2013? Yeah, that.

The one person who does seem to think Marner will be offer sheeted is our very own Chris. And, in fact, he thinks that Mitch will actually sign one if the opportunity presents himself.

Read on to find out why.

“There is a common trend that UFAs are likely to receive above market value offers on July 1. What is to say that there are GMs out there that will not try to offer sheet Mitch Marner to $12M for 7 Years, beating the Maple Leafs’ projected offer not only in Salary but also term.

Don’t forget about Paul Marner; Mitch’s dad who came out in an  article by Jonas Siegel of the Athletic saying “It drives our family nuts when we hear you guys all talk about who should be the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch never hardly gets any consideration.”

With players who demonstrate leadership like John Tavares (who was recently a captain on his former team), Auston Matthews and Morgan Reilly on the Toronto Maple Leafs, it becomes difficult to see Marner getting that coveted ‘C’ on his jersey.”

Toronto Maple Leafs: Depth the Priority at Trade Deadline

By swinging for the fences and acquiring Jake Muzzin, the Leafs have already made their splashy move. They should be pretty happy with it, too. Getting a player of Muzzin’s calibre without giving up any roster pieces or top prospects is a bonafide steal and his addition to the blueline essentially morphs it from being one of the NHL’s worst into one of the best.

This likely means that the deadline will come and pass without any major shuffling being made. But that doesn’t mean that Kyle Dubas will stand pat. Rather, there are still areas of the roster that could use a tweak or two and you better believe ol’ Kyle has an idea of how to solve them.

As Jarrett writes in his latest piece, depth should be the focus of this year’s deadline if a run at the Cup is really a possibility.

“At this point, that veteran presence is a luxury that the Toronto Maple Leafs do not have. The 14th forward on the Leafs appears to be Trevor Moore and the 15th forward would likely be either Jeremy Bracco or Pierre Engvall. Those 3 players have a combined 7 games of NHL experience, all of which have been played by Moore.

Adding a veteran forward such as Wayne Simmonds could give the Leafs the experience they need at a reasonable price. Simmonds would be a natural fit for the team, bringing a physical element to the lineup as well as a strong net-front presence that could kickstart the Leafs power play.”

Thanks for reading!