The Most Ridiculous Toronto Maple Leafs Takes on the Internet
Ice-cold hockey takes and the internet are almost synonymous. Add the Toronto Maple Leafs in the mix and things sometimes get wacky.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are an excellent team.
They are led by a president in Brendan Shanahan who conceived and designed a blueprint for their long-term longevity.
He has executed it to perfection, turning a dreadful group into a serious contender for the Stanley Cup.
Despite how well the Leafs front office has conducted their business, fans will always feel that they are making significant errors.
Luckily, social media provides an outlet for all the amateur general managers around the league.
The fans have demands and suggestions. We share the most ridiculous yet popular takes.
Kyle Dubas Is a Terrible GM
It’s not always fans who concoct ice-cold takes. The idea that Kyle Dubas has been inadequate in his role was a common theme in sports writer Damian Cox’s tweets.
The assertion that Dubas has ruined a good team is laughable. Dubas is deserving of criticism and Cox is accurate about questionable his cap management, but that’s where the indictments should end. (Editor’s Note: One could say the Leafs have done an excellent job on their cap, since they signed all their star players and have the deepest team in the NHL),
The Maple Leafs have one of the best collection of talented players in hockey.
The Leafs have managed to retain their core players in Dubas’s short time at the helm. While he did overpay Mitch Marner, Dubas has been excellent at executing trades. Each of his deals has brought an equal or better return for the franchise.
Dubas has improved this year’s roster by bringing in Alexander Kerfoot and Tyson Barrie in the offseason while also moving out Nikita Zaitsev.
Dubas has also spearheaded a number of contract extensions.
If those agreed-upon player salaries have put the Leafs in a precarious position under the salary cap next season, hostilities towards Dubas should be reserved for next season, giving him the chance to find a way out of the tough situation he’s built.
This year, thanks to his actions Toronto should have the horses go on a deep run. That is hardly the work of a terrible GM.
The Leafs Need Wayne Simmonds
This take might be less about the New Jersey Devils tough guy and more about the old school mentality that toughness supersedes skill.
Hockey is a physical sport, there’s no doubt about it, but it takes more than grit and determination to put the puck past the best goaltenders on the planet.
The Maple Leafs have a roster that is designed to outskate their opponents. The need for calamitous body checks ended in the National Hockey League when Don Cherry stopped hawking his Rock’Em Sock’Em videos.
Physically decimating opponents doesn’t win games now that the rules are more strictly enforced in the NHL.
Prior to the change in penalty standards in 2013, one could make an intelligible argument that enforcers needed to roam the ice. Now, that bellicose position has been usurped by soft hands and lightning feet.
Starting last season and continuing into this one, Leafs fans have called for Dubas to ship out players like Kasperi Kapanen or Andreas Johnsson in exchange for a Wayne Simmonds who has massively declined from his former peak.
While he might be an imposing figure who adds sandpaper to his team, that’s about all he could provide to the Buds.
Simmonds has 19 points this season while averaging over 15 minutes per game. If he were in Toronto lineup he’d live on the fourth line.
Trading second or third line players for a fourth-liner is just woefully poor decision making that the Maple Leafs wouldn’t do because remember, Dubas is not a terrible general manager.
Trade Tyson Barrie
At some point, it became en vogue to call for an end to Tyson Barrie’s run with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
His time in blue and white will likely come to an end at the conclusion of the season thanks to his ability to command a lucrative contract as an unrestricted free agent.
The Leafs are best served to treat Barrie as a valuable rental player. Their blueline needs strengthening and the offensive defenseman makes it better.
He did have a slow start to the year, but that appears to be mostly attributed to the way in which he was being coached. Improvement was immediate and unmistakable once the keys to the team were handed to Sheldon Keefe.
When playing 5-on-5, Barrie’s Corsi percentage is 55.3. That’s +3.4 relative to his team.
The analytics prove that Barrie has been great for the Leafs.
There isn’t a likely deal that the Leafs could execute that would make it worth parting ways with the defenseman earlier than expected.
Trade William Nylander
Trading away William Nylander is still somehow a popular opinion, based mostly on non-sensical myths about his abilities.
This may be a result of lingering resentment over the long and drawn-out negotiation period that was a common talking point in Toronto sports media at the time.
William Nylander has become the player the Leafs always knew he could be. The Maple Leafs Hot Stove SKATR tool proves that Nylander isn’t just playing excellent hockey, but an argument can be made that he has been better than Marner.
That take would still be far better than the preposterous idea that the Leafs need to trade Nylander.
Some fans might see moving Nylander as an opportunity to open up cap space.
They forget how difficult it is to find a player of his talent, especially one who now appears to be earning fair compensation for his services.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have a valuable player in Nylander who could easily slot in on either their first or second-line.
He can be featured on both the powerplay and penalty kill thanks to his formidable offensive and defensive dexterity.
dark. Next. The Five Goalies the Leafs Should Trade For
Ahead of the trade deadline, there is no doubt that poor takes will continue to flow. One just has to take solace in knowing that Toronto’s management team doesn’t make their decisions based on the suggestions shared on social media.