The season is officially over for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But that doesn’t mean the content must stop. Yes, although the Maple Leafs may not be playing actual hockey games anymore, the Editor in Leaf staff have been working around the clock to ensure that every angle from every offseason topic has been covered.
With so many pieces hitting the wall all at once, it’s natural that a few may have fallen through the cracks. So, let’s take a look at some of the past week’s most intriguing pieces.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Why Dallas is the Perfect Destination for Nikita Zaitsev
Nikita Zaitsev will not be a Toronto Maple Leaf next season. I think that’s pretty much set in stone by now.
After news that the 27-year-old had requested a trade broke last week, reports began to trickle in about which teams had already contacted the Maple Leafs about Zaitsev’s services. Playing the coveted position of RHD, Zaitsev will indeed be sought after on the trade market this summer, regardless of how disappointing his results over the past two season have been. Hockey is a dumb sport filled with people who make dumb decisions. More likely than not, Zaitsev will be one GM’s dumb decision.
If you ask Kyle, that GM should be Jim Nill. And in his piece from this week, Kyle goes through why Dallas is the perfect landing spot for Zaitsev, and what Kyle Dubas could potentially get back.
“But our focus is the situation on the blueline. The Stars have already re-signed Esa Lindell to a six-year, $34.8-million extension. Roman Polak, Taylor Fedun, and deadline pickup Ben Lovejoy are all UFAs this summer.
On the surface, those UFAs seem insignificant. That’s before you realize Polak was a top-four defenceman for much of the year, often paired with Miro Heiskanen. Yes, a team playing Roman Polak top four minutes nearly made it to the conference finals.
We’ve established that Dallas has quite the need on the right side. On the left, a trio of Lindell, Heiskanen, and Jamie Oleksiak is at the very least NHL quality. The Stars need at least one right side addition this summer, and Nikita Zaitsev is the perfect fit.”
Toronto Maple Leafs: Why This Celebrity’s Opinion Matters
Peter Mansbridge does not seem to have many kind words to say about Mike Babcock these days.
The long-time host of CBC’s “The National” is a hardcore Leafs fan, routinely tweeting about the team and offering his opinions in a passionate manner. This was taken to another level this past week in an interview on Hockey Night in Canada, during which Mansbridge posited that the Maple Leafs would be in the Stanley Cup Final at the moment were it not for Babcock’s gross incompetence managing the bench. Auston Matthews and John Tavares both played under 20 minutes in a do-or-die Game Seven, after all. And Mansbridge’s anger has only increased in the months since while watching the Toronto Raptors succeed doing everything Babcock should have, but didn’t.
In his latest piece, Nick takes a look at Mansbridge’s argument, and why his opinion on the Maple Leafs matters.
“The Leafs fanbase is very divided. It goes from people in the younger crowd; who think the Leafs should go faster and bring more skill to the table, to the older group; who think the Leafs need to bring more ‘heaviness’ and physicality to the team.
However, there are also people from both groups who think differently too.
But, this quote from Mansbridge shows that even fans that are used to an older style of hockey can still transition and enjoy the type of game that it is now. And, what he says in this video isn’t wrong either.
The Leafs need Matthews, John Tavares, or even Mitch Marner to play a lot of minutes in key situations. There’s no disagreeing that they could, it’s the deployment that’s the issue.
By now we all know, or at least most of us fans believe that was the issue.”
Why the Toronto Maple Leafs Will Be Better Next Year
It’s hard not to look at this past season for the Maple Leafs as a disappointment. Coming into the year having added John freaking Tavares to arguably the most talented young core in the league, expectations were sky high in Toronto, believing the Leafs to at least secure home-ice advantage in the playoffs for the first time in over a decade.
Alas, that is not what happened. And after yet another first-round defeat, there is a sour taste in the mouths of the fans.
James, however, is more optimistic than most. Not only does he believe that the Maple Leafs were contenders this year, he steadfastly argues that they will be even better in 2019-20.
Why does he think that? You’ll have to read his latest piece to find out.
“Another reason they’ll be better is that William Nylander will return to his superstar status. He and Matthews, when paired, are the highest scoring combo 5v5 in the NHL. This will help.
A third reason they’ll be better is addition by subtraction. Ron Hainsey is the worst top-pairing player in the NHL, Nikita Zaitsev makes everyone he skates with worse, and Patrick Marleau scored at a lower rate than Frederik Gauthier.
Just by exchanging each of these players with a random AHL player, the Toronto Maple Leafs will improve.”
Thanks for reading!