Draft season has officially come and gone 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 Trade Patrick Marleau
You knew it was coming. We all knew it was coming. As reports began to filter out in late May that Patrick Marleau had requested a trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs, then followed closely by the news that his family had opted to move back to their prior home in San Jose, it was clear that Marleau’s tenure in blue and white was nearing an end.
That end ultimately arrived on day two of the NHL Entry Draft this past weekend. The Maple Leafs traded the soon-to-be-40-year-old winger to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, including their 2020 first-round pick (lottery protected) as the sweetener to offload Marleau’s gigantic $6.25 million cap hit.
It was a steep price. But as James breaks down in his piece, it was a necessary one as well.
Give it a read!
“Lou Lamoriello, who should never have been in charge, and who is still unbelievably in charge of a different NHL team, signed Marleau two summers ago.
At the time, the bad deal was written off as worthwhile for the leadership Marleau would bring. But last year, when Marleau declined to the point where he was scoring less per minute than Frederik Gauthier (which makes him a sub-fourth liner) it became intolerable.
Making it worse was the fact that Mike Babcock refused to recognize how bad Marleau was and continued to play him only one minute less, on average, than Tavares and Matthews. (During the regular season 5v5)”
Toronto Maple Leafs: 2019 NHL Draft Recap
The Maple Leafs sure were busy on the draft floor this weekend.
Despite not holding a selection in the first-round, reports began to trickle out in the lead up to Friday’s festivities that Kyle Dubas had been engaged in a number of discussions with a number of rival NHL teams. There was a lot that needed to be done, after all. Most of Toronto’s pieces of business fell off the draft board and into the realm of the trade market, which led to fans more or less glossing over the crop of new prospects entering the ranks.
Alex, in his latest piece, breaks down the entirety of the Maple Leafs’ draft class, examining their potential fit within the organization, and whether or not Dubas & Co. managed to find diamonds in the later-round rough.
“This pick right here is very, very good in my opinion.
Robertson was projected by some scouts and experts to be a first-round pick. While he’s on the smaller side, standing at 5’9 and 160lbs, he’s an offensive juggernaut all around and is one of the hardest workers in the draft. He has very good puck skills and hockey IQ and rarely ever stops moving his feet during the game. He’s also one of the youngest players in the draft, born four days before the cutoff for 2019 eligibility.
Playing for the Peterborough Petes of the OHL, he broke out this season and put up 55 points in 54 games. He’s also the younger brother of Dallas Stars prospect Jason Robertson, who more than likely just finished up his final season in the OHL after a number of incredible offensive campaigns.”
Toronto Maple Leafs: Hey, Mitch Marner! Show Some Class, Buddy!
For the love of god, can we please just wrap this Mitch Marner negotiation up already?
I want Marner to get paid what he is worth. I also want the Maple Leafs to sign one of their most talented young stars to a cap-friendly deal. It’s a free country, after all. I’m allowed to want both things.
What I don’t want, however, is to sit through another seven straight months of posturing between the Marner camp and the Maple Leafs organization. The William Nylander Saga from last season nearly killed us. Do you even remember? This stalemate divided this entire fanbase into frothing hoards of savages hellbent on tearing each other apart until the deal was inevitably signed at the very last second.
Frankly, I don’t think Leafs Nation can survive something like that again.
And yet, there is no end in sight. All we have heard since the season ended are different versions of the same sob story; Marner and his camp feel disrespected, they want to be paid Matthews money, they’ll push this as far as they go.
Listen, it’s Mitch’s prerogative to demand he be paid in relation to his on-ice value. But at a certain point, there is merit to changing the way he seeks to go about that.
As James covers in his latest piece, the public comments and “insider reports” need to stop. Point blank.
“You do not meet with other teams. Not unless you’re ripping off the Marner nameplate and replacing it with one that says Judas.
Marner is the home-grown superstar this town has always wanted. He can be the King of this city. You see what this city has done for Kawhi Leonard – adopted him and made him into their biggest hero ever – and imagine what it will do for Marner when the Leafs eventually win.
He can get the adoration he wants, but if he chooses not to earn it, but rather extort it artificially in the form of money, then he is lost.”
Thanks for reading!