10 Thoughts on Life and the Toronto Maple Leafs

Thought #9: Stop saying this is Brendan Shanahan’s offseason!

The lamest thing I’ve seen on Twitter this offseason is the idea that Brendan Shanahan, who himself often played the hard-nosed style of hockey the Leafs are criticized for lacking, is finally stepping in for the first time as Leafs president and is really the one orchestrating the signings of the grittier Simmonds and Bogosian.

This is obviously a situation where people don’t like one guy (Dubas) so when he does something they can’t complain about, they have to find a reason to justify it to themselves.

People are leaning into this belief Kyle Dubas only builds his team in the mold of speed and soft skill. However, if you look at how he has modeled his teams dating back to his days as Marlies GM but especially as GM of the Soo Greyhounds, both franchises played the hard-nosed, hard to play against style he wants his current team to play.

Dubas outright believes a team should have a high compete level night in and night out, in addition to having the high-end skill Toronto has. It seems people are unable to give Dubas credit when it is due.  The Leafs have added both Muzzin and Clifford prior to this offseason, and the Leafs GM is on record many times saying he seeks players who can be gritty and play, but that those players are rare and hard to find.

It is abundantly clear Dubas has always envisioned his team being built how the 2020-21 Leafs will be built and no matter what happened in the 2020 playoffs, he was always working towards making his roster look a little different.

Thought #10: One last thought 

During the NHL’s pause, I wrote about five areas where I would like to see Toronto Maple Leafs players improve upon. Recently, I wanted to revaluate and establish a new five areas where I would like to see improvement, but with such heavy roster turnover, I decided to hold off until I see what the 2020-21 Toronto Maple Leafs look like in game action.

So with that on hold for now, here is a little sneak peek at one of my five: Auston Matthews’ one-timer/slapshot.

Could you imagine Matthews with an Ovechkin-esque one-timer? He is already one of, if not the, best goal scorer in the league with the deadliest wrist shot in the league. The terror the Leafs superstar could wreck on opposing teams’ defense would be breathtaking to watch play out.

A player already with that resume, at only 23 years old, who is only improving – oh boy. We have seen Matthews take drastic steps in creating a potent one-timer/slap shot. In comparison to 2018-19, in roughly the same amount of games (68 vs. 70), Matthews increased his number of slap shots from 11 to 43 this past season (stats; NHL.com).

Will Matthews take an even bigger step in 2020-21? Only time will tell but it is certainly fun to fantasize about just how good Matthews and the Leafs alike will be if he can add to his already spectacular repertoire.

With the Toronto Maple Leafs offseason pretty much over, we can shift our focus and look forward to next season. And that just about wraps up this week’s edition!