The Toronto Maple Leafs are down 1-0 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The series, for the Toronto Maple Leafs, is over.
At least if you listen to their most vocal fans.
But honestly, why not give them a chance?
Auston Matthews just finished his fourth season, which means its pretty much exactly four years since the team finished last overall.
Remember the Five Year Rebuild? Heck, I used to argue against it, saying there was no need to wait that long (and there wasn’t, had the team moved Hainsey and Zaitsev out of their top four last year, who knows what might have happened?) but the fact is, in no way should you be upset about a team’s results when they are only four seasons removed from finishing last overall.
Whatever happens today and for the rest of this week, keep this fact in mind as context: If the Leafs were to win the Cup this year, it would make them one of the single most successful rebuilds in the history of the NHL.
Only the Penguins have done better, and I don’t recall anyone comparing Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner to Sidney Crosby and Eugene Malkin.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Columbus
The clear problem with the Leafs, whether anyone wants to admit it or not, is one of empty, superficial perception.
The Leafs assembled a team of HOCKEY MEN – Dale Hunter, Mike Babcock and Lou Lamoriello, which they then jettisoned for a “nerd” in Kyle Dubas and a rookie headcoach.
Perception wise, it is a tough sell in a market that loves third line grinders more than superstars, and takes a great pride in its lunchpail identify.
It’s one thing to tell hockey fans they don’t need any fighters, but then to strip the team of defensive defensemen and grinders, skate five puck moving defenseman and assemble what some people (who I consider misguided, but who may not be) consider the softest team ever assembled.
That is a lot of change, and change demands results. That is why most change occurs at a glacial pace.
The math backs the Leafs, and so do their team stats. Obviously you can’t sell sports fans on ifs and wouldas, but the fact is the Leafs finished 8th overall under Keefe while playing 25% of their games without their two best defenders, and 50% of them without their best defenseman.
All the while getting the 24th best goaltending in the NHL.
You can tell people until you’re blue in the face that teams who finish higher in the standings than their 5v5 goalie save percentage rankings almost always improve in the near future, but until that translates into real games, most people won’t care.
And that is fine. I have done this job long enough to know that a good portion of the most dedicated fans only care about one thing: results.
I do too. I am going to be pretty upset if the Leafs bow out to Columbus, but I honestly don’t expect them to.
They are clearly the better team, and I expect that to become apparent eventually.
The Toronto Maple Leafs assembled a dream roster. Instead of Mats Sundin and a bunch of B-listers, the Leafs have surrounded Matthews with Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly.
Their second tier players are mostly first liners: Hyman, Johnsson, Muzzin, Mikheyev, and Kerfoot make them extremely deep.
And to top it off, they’ve got Rasmus Sandin and Nick Robertson ready to give them a minimum of two dirt-cheap years.
Things are looking bright. You can’t complain about a slight decline in point totals when NHL games are so random. The Leafs are clearly getting better.
And hey, if it makes you feel better, Mike Babock wasn’t a good coach. He psychologically abused at least one player we know of, let his best players sit on the bench and made extremely questionable decisions in last year’s playoffs.
Lamoriello has made a mess out of the Islanders salary cap that far and away dwarfs the Leafs perceived cap problems. He is also responsible for the two biggest blunders in the last five years of Leafs history: Nikita Zaitsev and Patrick Marleau.
Not only is Dubas better, I would be better and you would be better. Good riddance to Lamoriello, his best before date was years ago.
And Mark Hunter? His drafting was downright pathetic, and Dubas’ drafting has been so good even his harshest critic has to give him that.
To sum up: Give the team a chance. They might not be built exactly how you would want a hockey team built, but they are managed by smart people who obviously think differently – why not give them a chance?
Even if they get bounced by Columbus – and I don’t think they will – the Toronto Maple Leafs are in excellent shape moving forward. This is the best roster they’ve had since the league expanded to 12 teams.
In order to learn how to win, teams need to learn how to lose. Isn’t that Hockey Cliche 101?
The Leafs might win, they might not. But why not enjoy having Matthews, Nylander, Marner and Tavares on your team for a while? It’s really fun. Embrace it.
And, if they don’t do anything after next season, you might have a point. But the current group has at least one more season – maybe two – where they deserve your patience. Cheer for your favorite team to win in spite of your views, don’t cheer for them to lose because they don’t share them.