Roundtable: Should Toronto Maple Leafs Management Trade Or Fire Someone?

The Toronto Maple Leafs are struggling to win their games.

The  Toronto Maple Leafs start to the season has not been grand. Expectations, so far, have not been met, by a long mile. They have a roster that’s practically forged for nothing less than greatness, yet they have been struggling from the get-go.

The Toronto Maple Leafs ranking 31st in goals against in the league is a harsh reality I didn’t hold possible beforehand with Rielly, Barrie and Muzzin on the blue-line.  At this point, the shenanigans of Jake Gardiner don’t seem to be that bad anymore and I almost start to miss him on the blue-line.

With the soon expected return of Travis Dermott to the line-up, they regain a solid defenseman, though it’s not fair to expect that his return will turn everything around.

Along with Dermott, forward Zach Hyman and captain John Tavares are expected back rather soon as well. Hyman, one the Toronto Maple Leafs better defensive forwards and penalty killer, should certainly improve some defensive aspects to Toronto’s defensive game, but what if that’s not enough?

Should Dubas Intervene?

While players leave it all on the ice, after the final buzzer sounds, it different for coaches and management. It’s after the buzzer, their battle really starts.

For coach Mike Babcock, it’s a battle that requires more than a three-piece suit. And by god, I hope he has a better battle plan to turn things around. To remain that calm, is nothing less than admirable for a man in his position, laughter, however, will quickly fade, if it was even really there, shouldn’t things turn around quickly.

Hockey is a business as cold as the ice it’s played on. That’s just the way it is. A disappointing 13-game stretch could be enough for management to step in, especially when the looming disappointment of not reaching a 13-game stretch in the post-season for 3 consecutive years still lingers.

It’s why for this weeks roundtable, the Editor in Leafs writing staff came together to answer the question; “Should Leafs Management Trade Or Fire Someone?”

Let’s find out.

My Take

The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t met my expectations. Not even by a long shot, sadly.

Nevertheless, for the Toronto Maple Leafs to intervene right by firing Babcock now, would be a reflection of an inadequately managed team. It’s not the Edmonton Oilers for crying out loud!

It’s funny, right? How quickly a virtue such as patience is easily forgotten when passion’s involved. And I know, we’ve been asked to be patient from the moment Babcock was hired in 2015, I do.

Last year was the first year in which the Toronto Maple Leafs hoped to reap the benefits of developing their young stars. They brought in the captain and the long-term plan finally took its final form, the blueprint was finished.

Obviously, in Toronto, everyone longed for immediate success. Making last year’s playoff stint like a horrid recurring nightmare, but in all fairness, getting knocked out by a top-three team of the league can happen. Disappointing? Yes. Shameful? No.

I do believe this is the year Babcock will need to show results in the form a more successful playoff stint, but it’s only October, nothing has been lost yet folks! October has been a tough month, with a lot of speedbumps along the way, I’ll grant you that.

I think the same applies for trading for someone right now, the other GM’s will recognize the hail mary pass and will try to lure Dubas in a Taylor Hall like trade, which in the end can only cost the Leafs something valuable.

I will not deny the Toronto Maple Leafs are in trouble right now, they are. But there’s time for this roster to grow into a team and fulfil their potential.

Zoë Mason

Should the Leafs management trade or fire someone? Well, something’s got to give. On paper, the current Leafs roster could be the most chock-full of raw talent of any in the organization’s history. Teams that boast as much star-power as this one, with the likes of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly, Frederik Andersen, Tyson Barrie and William Nylander are few and far between.

So why have the  Toronto Maple Leafs been flirting with .500 since January? With 26 wins and 22 losses in 2019, the Leafs sit in the middle of the pack in 2019 performance. Well, it’s not a lack of talent. Its hardly even a lack of defence, the typical fallback excuse in the organization, what with the acquisition of Jake Muzzin and Tyson Barrie.

I know you’ve heard it before, but what’s that leave? Coaching. The types of things that are bringing the Leafs down at the moment — for example, the lack of ice time star-goalscorer Auston Matthews sees in high-pressure situations (ahem, Game 7 this past April comes to mind)— are decisions that are in the hands of head coach Mike Babcock.

I understand, Babcock has a pedigree unmatched in the NHL, with a championship in nearly every notable competition the hockey world has to offer under his belt. You owe the man a fair trial to see what he can accomplish. However, I think that trial is rapidly expiring. I think it would be a grave error to wait for another first-round exit in the playoffs before letting Mike Babcock go.

If this team fails to start performing at a level that we can and should expect from this roster by midway through this season, I think Babcock should go. I understand his replacement could be complicated, but we have arguably the best coach in the minors in Sheldon Keefe who could take his place in a pinch. He could even rock it.

Sure, its a gamble, but when the team reaches a point of stagnation, which the numbers indicate this one has, maybe it’s time to try something a little radical.

Michael Mazzei

To put it mildly, the start to the 2019-20 season has been a sluggish one for the Toronto Maple Leafs. They have lost a number of winnable games, have seen old habits continue to creep in, and are losing ground in the standings.

Saying this is concerning for a team that has aspirations of doing something special is an understatement. Yet, now is not the time to make a decision to make a trade or fire someone either on the bench or in the front office.

Let’s face it: slow starts suck. I’m sure the Leafs roster will agree with that statement and want to right the ship as soon as possible. This is why I think more favourable results will be coming for this team sooner rather than later, meaning they will regress back to a level we can expect.

Given that the team’s PDO is uncharacteristically low, both goaltenders have had slow starts, and an overwhelming number of changes to the roster, it should be expected that there was going to be setbacks at the beginning of the year. These are professional athletes who are paid millions of dollars to play this sport; I’m confident that they will figure things out in due time.

If, however, things do not improve by the end of November and the Leafs are still struggling to gain traction, then would be a more appropriate time to make a drastic change such as a trade or firing. The worst thing they can do is make a knee-jerk decision and make such a move too prematurely.

In the meantime, Toronto should just ride it out and let the next few weeks dictate their thinking going forward. Until then, all we as fans can do is hope for things to progress in the right direction for this team as the season proceeds.

Erin McKenzee

Though I’ve been pondering this question since before the season started and was pretty sure of my answer already, I wanted to wait until after Saturday’s game against Montreal to put it into words. Why? Because it was the latter half of a back-to-back that we, of course, lost.

Before the game, coach Mike Babcock flashed a new fashion look (a vest) to the cameras and claimed it was his way of bringing luck to the Toronto Maple Leafs. In reference to every single back-to-back they’ve had this season, he used the words “We haven’t exactly been sailing.”

No, Mike. You haven’t.

This preposterous decision to constantly play Freddie on the first night and Hutchinson (last year, Sparks) on the second is not only frustrating, it’s petty. Babcock said it himself – their back-to-back’s suck – so either he’s incredibly unintelligent, which I doubt he is, or he’s continuing to do this to anger upper management into answering to him. High school drama at its finest.

“So can you imagine if you lost Game 1 and then you went to Game 2 tired?” Babcock said this week, via Sportsnet. “I don’t know, the investment makes no sense to me whatsoever.”

What about losing Game 1, going into Game 2 tired, but having your starting goalie behind you? Wouldn’t that have been nice on Tuesday when the Leafs had already lost to Columbus with Freddie and then lost to Boston with Hutchinson?

I was once Team Babcock and held his Stanley Cup, Olympics golds, and world championship titles on a pedestal despite all the questionable decisions he made with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now, none of that is enough to defend him and his reluctance to change anything about the way he coaches. It’s time for Babcock to go.

Alex Hobson

I think if the Leafs are going to trade or fire ANYONE, it’s Mike Babcock.

On that note, I do want to see how the team does with a full, healthy roster. One featuring Zach Hyman and Travis Dermott, and John Tavares. This slow start to the season could be an indication that Hyman and Dermott did much more for the team than what initially meets the eye, but I still don’t think this team is going to win a cup under Babcock.

Here’s the thing. As I wrote in my piece from earlier this week, Babcock is a universally respected coach (unless you’re Mike Commondore) and nobody is doubting his resume. But the fact of the matter is, he has a coaching style that revolves heavily around physicality and defence. It may have worked for the Red Wings in 2008, but one quick glance at this roster tells you that the Leafs will not succeed playing this style of hockey. And while I also agree that this team needs an element of physicality outside of Jake Muzzin, making one quick trade for a 6’4 bruiser isn’t going to turn things around immediately.

It’s clear what vision Kyle Dubas had when he took over as GM. This team will thrive on speed and offence, and the roster shows you that immediately. And it’s a style of game that CAN work. But if it’s going to work, it’s not going to be under Babcock’s coaching style. It’s like putting a square peg in a round hole. If Babcock somehow DOES light a fire under this team and they end up winning it all, I will gladly eat my words. But I just don’t see it happening.

Mark van der Lugt

It’s almost a month into the season and the Toronto Maple Leafs now see their record sitting at 6-5-2, which is exactly what we expected right?

Does this mean Toronto has to make a trade or even make a firing? Looking at the standings, if the playoffs started today, Toronto would be facing Boston AGAIN. The outcome this time would not end well AGAIN for the Leafs. So what gives? Dubas did his job in acquiring two right-handed defencemen and was able to acquire quality depth forwards to fill the cracks. Yet it looks like the same old story, same old song and dance with Babcock- he miss-plays his lineup and it costs the Leafs.

So the saying goes “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” This quote applies to Babcock- he is forcing his theologies of how to play hockey with his systems, to the wrong team.

Toronto is not built for what Babcock wants out of it. Toronto has the depth and resources to be a juggernaut offensively in the NHL, but Babcock constantly wants to muzzle it. The previous cup winners may have proven that you need a level of grit to withstand the rigours of the playoffs, in order to get to the promised land.

A level of goaltending is also required and I will not deny that Toronto needs some more rounding out, Dubas knows it too. What Toronto needs is for Babcock to realize the amount of firepower he has and maximize it. When you’re given- *deep breath* Matthews, Tavares, Marner, Nylander, Rielly, Muzzin, Johnsson, Kapanen, Kerfoot, Mikheyev, Barrie AND you sit at 6-5-2? Something needs to change.

Dubas has held up his side of the bargain of forging a more than capable team to win, it’s time for Babcock to do the same.

Nick Barden

I don’t think the Toronto Maple Leafs should do either – yet.

I’ve said many times before that everyone should be patient. The Leafs are without three key players in John Tavares, Zach Hyman and Travis Dermott.

Once all three players return and Toronto has a full team, then I think that’s the time to judge their play.

While I understand that yes, the team should be performing well even without key players because of their depth in the lineup, I can see why they’re not doing well.

However, if all three players come back and still, the Maple Leafs aren’t doing well, I think the coaching staff will be shaken up a little bit. I’m not saying Mike Babcock will be let go, but something will have to change.

This is a team that, on paper and on the ice, can go deep into the playoffs. It could be the way they feel about a coach, or they’re not motivated enough (which is probably why they get scored on first all the time).

But they’re good, really good. If nothing can be fixed and the Leafs are still playing like this in mid-November, early December, then maybe it’s time to go into a different direction with a coach, or someone in management.

For now, wait and see what this team has to offer once all three of Tavares, Hyman and Dermott return. I guarantee, the team won’t play like that once they come back, and if they do, management will fix it.

Lucas Bolt

The easy route would just to be to fire Mike Babcock and have Sheldon Keefe be with the team the next morning. I don’t believe Mike Babcock is the problem though.

GM Kyle Dubas’ philosophy on how a team should look like consist of the premise of speed and skill. Now the Leafs do have a team-based off of this philosophy but it doesn’t seem to be working.

We are in the new age of the NHL where GM’s are looking to take high skill players in the draft. With the likes of Cale Makar, and Quinn Hughes creating a storm in the league there is a reason to take this philosophy more seriously.

That being said the latest teams to win the Stanley cups have all had skilled players but a countless number of big bodies willing to do the dirty work. The Leafs do have a few grinders and high energy guys on their team in the likes of Hyman (yet to play this season), Moore, Kerfoot, Kapanen etc. But, the core of the team that Dubas wants to build around, that being Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander sometimes go unnoticed on the ice and your left wondering if they even played the game some nights.

For Matthews and Marner especially, when you are making so much money if you are not scoring you have to make an impact some other way whether that be on the PK or backchecking etc.

When the 3rd line looks better than the 2nd and 1st line most nights that’s a problem.

This team needs a reshuffle and the best trade chip to do that while not hurting the team would be Nylander. If you package him with a piece or two you could probably get somebody like Josh Manson, and Nick Ritchie. Both big bodies and can give a hit that change the dynamic of the team.

Kyle Cushman

Everyone just needs to take a breath.

Have the Toronto Maple Leafs been stellar out of the gate? No. But they haven’t been bad either.

You can talk to me about wholesale changes to the team when they have a legitimate stretch of healthy play. Travis Dermott and Zach Hyman have been out for all 13 games. John Tavares has missed five. You simply can’t get a true read on this team until all three return to the lineup.

Firing someone would be asinine. If the Leafs were to fire anyone at any level of the organization just 13 games into the season, why wouldn’t they have just moved on at the end of the season? 13 games just aren’t enough to properly evaluate the team, coaching included. Both assistants are new and are still implementing their strategies. Mike Babcock has returned and the results have been nowhere near fireable.

As for the roster itself, outside of a minor trade, there’s no reason to make a move either. Unless we are talking about a Nic Petan or a Nick Shore, a trade this early would be far too reactionary. It’s easy to forget, but a third of the Leafs lineup were not on the team last season. Toronto’s best lineup has yet to play a second of hockey together, though that should change soon with Dermott and Hyman set to return shortly, as is Tavares.

Needless to say, everyone just needs to relax. A firing or a trade of any significant capacity would be lunacy at this stage of the season. Take a deep breath, relax, and let’s wait for this Maple Leafs team to get healthy before calling for heads.