Toronto Maple Leafs: Babcock’s Toys are Gone (For Now)

The Toronto Maple Leafs sure had themselves a busy July 1st.

Between bringing in yet another hometown centre, to signing Kevin Gravel (whoever that is), to pulling the trigger on a pair of good low-risk depth options in analytics darling Nick Shore and Kenny Agostino, Kyle Dubas wasted no time in filling a good chunk of the holes left on his roster.

Oh, and he also stripped Mike Babcock of nearly every single one of his infamous toys. They’re all gone. Hallelujiah.

The exodus began off of the ice weeks ago when both D.J. Smith and Jim Hiller were granted permission to pursue employment opportunities outside of the organization, leading Smith to be brought to Ottawa as their head coach and Hiller to move over to Nashville.

Smith is the more interesting case here, however. Infamously handling the Leafs’ blueline and penalty kill during his time in Toronto, Smith oversaw the operations of what was otherwise the team’s two most glaring weaknesses of their current era, both of which played vital roles in their two most recent first-round exits, as well.

As it turns out, though, Smith’s change of scenery set the stage for the true purge to come.

Earlier this morning, the Maple Leafs put the finishing touches on a trade that sent Nikita Zaitsev, Connor Brown, and Michael Carcone to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Cody Ceci, Ben Harpur, Aaron Luchuk, and a 2020 third-round pick. Not only did the deal clear a significant amount of space off of Toronto’s cap but, in one fell swoop, saw two highly coveted roster pieces of Babcock’s fade from his grasp entirely.

Zaitsev, prior to his departure, was perhaps the more maddening of the pair.

Despite putting forth a level of production that was barely NHL-caliber for two of his three years as a Leaf, Babcock still saw Zaitsev as an unquestionable top-four staple nevertheless and continued to hand the 25-year-old consistent minutes nightly both at even strength and on the penalty kill, all to the exasperation of every even moderately-informed fan.

With Zaitsev’s no-trade clause potentially acting as a hold-up to the deal, Smith’s presence in Ottawa reportedly convinced him to waive it and become a Senator.

Needless to say, thank you, D.J.

In Brown’s case, he became almost the forward version of Zaitsev. Promising 2016-17 rookie season aside (aided by some favourable usage, to boot), Brown scored a mere eight goals in all 82 games in 2018-19 despite spending stretches alongside Auston Matthews, failed to drive possession in any form whatsoever, and was yet still thrown on the ice by Babcock in the dying minutes of game seven with the Leafs down by two and their season on the line.

Terrific stuff from the sport’s highest-paid coach. Truly, outstanding.

Now, both players will become Ottawa problems, not Toronto’s. And when it comes to reigning in the impossible-to-predict whims of a coach as stubborn as Babcock, ridding him of all potential problem opportunities is the best way to go.

But wait, there’s more! As if the Senators hadn’t saved the Leafs from themselves enough already today, reports began to filter out soon after that Ottawa would indeed be signing Ron Hainsey to deal that is expected to land in the range of $3.5 million AAV.

So, to make sure we have all the facts here, the Senators are now intent on willingly bringing in the Leafs’ second-worst regular defenceman to be paired with who was the Leafs’ worst regular defenceman. And, to top it all off, they’ll actually give him a pay raise to do it.

This organization just gets better and better, folks. Long live Ottawa!

For those keeping track at home, Hainsey’s move now officially confirms that six of Babcock’s prior vices have left town in the months since Toronto’s season ended in April:

• Zaitsev
• Brown
• Hainsey
• Marleau
• Smith
• Hiller

It’s hard not to feel pretty good about that.

Of course, there is still room for failure. Cody Ceci, for one, offers the potential for Babcock to once again over-value an ineffective defenceman for nothing other than his supposed physical gifts. With reports now suggesting that the Leafs will ink Ceci to a one-year deal in the coming days, fans could very well sit through an upcoming season in which Morgan Rielly goes from being handcuffed to clearly inferior D partner in Hainsey to now being handcuffed to a clearly inferior D partner in Ceci.

Then, there’s which players actually survived The Purge™.

Despite having both Nick Shore and Jason Spezza enter the fold down the middle this morning, everyone’s favourite 6’5 centre, Frederik Gauthier, still remains within the organization somehow to tempt Babcock with his towering height and…well, nothing else.

One would think that Spezza is the perfect fit for Babcock’s whole “tie goes to the veteran” mentality. The 36-year-old pivot is a good Ontario boy, plays a solid 200-foot game, and happens to measure in at 6’3 every day. It’s not 6’5, but it’s close. That being said, this would assume that Babcock goes about making his decisions in a logical manner. And to assume that, my friends, would be a mistake.

Nevertheless, nearly every single weight which previously held this terrific young team down from reaching their potential has been exorcised from the organization. Kyle Dubas has taken control.

All that remains is to see how this plays out.

Thanks for reading!