Toronto Maple Leafs Still Could be Years Away from Winning

The Toronto Maple Leafs still have a lot of work to do before capturing a Stanley Cup.

It’s June 6th, 2024, Game 7 Eastern Conference Finals, double overtime. William Nylander circles around the back of the net to see a swarm of jerseys in front of the blue paint. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a darting John Tavares coming hot off the bench. With Tavares on the weak side, Willy rips it over to the 33-year-old Toronto Maple Leafs Captain. For a split second, it’s nothing but silence as every man, woman, and child holds their breath. Post and in.

Scotiabank Arena erupts. Blue and white sweaters hurl over the boards to praise their Captain. For the first time in 54 years, the Leafs are headed for the Stanley Cup Finals.

Your Toronto Maple Leafs could still be a couple of years away from a Stanley Cup Final appearance.

Here’s Why The Toronto Maple Leafs Could be Years Away:

I’m sure you’ve already seen the words “Plan the Parade” a couple of times. Yes, Kyle and the Leafs did a great job with what they were given this offseason, but a parade per se could still be years away.

If you take a second to look at the comparisons, it takes a lot of trial and error to win. Ovi and his Washington Capitals took 13 years to move past the Penguins and capture their cup. Stamkos and the Lightning? 12 Years with 5 trips to the Conference Finals. It’s evident that success requires a lot of trial and error. But with trial and error, comes growth and change.

After the Lightning got swept by Columbus in 2019, they didn’t blow it up. They went out and did what they had to to get better. They added depth and developed their prospects. After countless times of the Capitals losing in the second round, they didn’t blow it up and trade Backstrom, Holtby, or Carlson. They stayed steady and picked up guys along the way to help them.

If there’s one thing to take from the example the Lightning and Caps set, it’s to stay persistent and not blow it up too soon – something that seems to be suggested too often in LeafLand.

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In the past couple of years with the Leafs, it’s seemed that there have been steps forward towards that ultimate goal, however, there is still a boatload of work to do.

Much like the Lightning, an integral part of the Leafs success will be young players on entry-level deals making big impacts. There’s already great potential in prospects, Robertson, Sandin, Liljegren, and Amirov. In order for the Maple Leafs to have success and these guys be apart of it, it will have to be before they all get paid.

In the possible future where both Rielly and Andersen stay in Toronto rather than walking in UFA, it becomes apparent that trades will have to be made as well in order to stay under the cap ceiling. As much as I love each and every player on this team, the likelihood to win with the $40 million core-four is drastically reduced with the flat-cap situation over the next few years – one may have to go.

Nylander, a 30+ goal scorer at $6.9 million is a great value (despite what the haters say). I believe he is safe. Tavares has a full NMC, he is safe. Matthews is a perennial 40-50 goal scorer and one of the top two-way centers in our league, it would seem he is safe. Now, Mitch Marner at nearly $11 million may be the odd man out.

Yes, he’s the PP quarterback, he dazzles you with his hands and passing, and we all love that big smile, but he’s a little too much for a pass-first type of guy. Marner may need to be traded for a player who can provide similar things, but more a much cheaper price point.

The decision to trade one of the four, wouldn’t come for a couple of years still. There would have to be more trial and error before a decision that big would be made.

Furthermore than all of the money, the biggest thing in my opinion is experience. Not many of the Leafs have had the opportunity to move past the first round. These core players of Matthews, Rielly, Andersen, Nylander, etc., they need to get that feeling for playing into May and beyond – battling through all the hardships and limping in on one leg covered in blood, sweat, and tears. That is what these Leafs need to experience.

Now, it’s not that I don’t love this current Toronto Maple Leafs team and wouldn’t want to see them lift Lord Stanley, it’s just that I don’t see it happening right now. There’s work to do and Kyle sees it. Aside from his negotiation processes, I have loved Dubas as the GM. I think he has a vision of what this team can do in future years, and that’s what they’re going to follow.

I think with a little bit of experience in the next few years, mixed together with a couple of prospects making the jump, and then a trade or two sprinkled in, Kyle will have that recipe for success.

Like anything in life, if you stay persistent and make very little mistakes, you’ll end up succeeding. It could be months or years, but give it time and results will come.