For some unknown reason, day one of Free Agency is always an all or nothing day for Toronto Maple Leafs fans.
Free Agency is the day that most teams make mistakes. Toronto Maple Leafs fans will do well to remember that – the team’s lack of exciting news yesterday is not the end of the world.
That first paragraph alone will likely have done enough to send some Toronto Maple Leafs fans reading this into a tailspin. If you encounter one on the street today with no big signings announced they will likely be cursing GM Kyle Dubas and how inadequate he is. Simply put, the Toronto Maple Leafs do not need to fix their entire team in 24 hours of day one.
You’ll hear how Dubas is young and dumb and inexperienced; he should be fired with immediate effect. If you hear these people, just know that they are wrong. The Toronto Maple Leafs were one of the smartest teams in the NHL yesterday, overpaying no one and making only small moves, and with every single breaking news story the NHL has, it becomes more and more clear that the Leafs have one of the best GMs in the sport.
In many ways, not signing someone and getting caught in a bad contract is just as significant a call to make as it is to sign someone.
There is no need to hide the fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs have holes in their roster, but the team has a cadre of up and coming prospects to fill those holes. There are players available but what hasn’t changed is the cap crunch that the Leafs face, or the fact that not having a ton of space on UFA day is probably a good thing.
The players the Leafs have dedicated their cap space to are all elite players who were going to need to get paid and paid handsomely because that is how the NHL has trended. No one expected a flat cap, but that’s just something they’ll have to overcome.
Toronto Maple Leafs Don’t Need to Freak Out
As much as every Toronto Maple Leafs fans will hate it, there is an art and indeed a reasonable argument to playing the first day of Free Agency patiently, cool and calm. You might not like me saying that, but maybe you’ll be able to stomach it more if you heard it from Darren Dreger, a TSN Hockey Insider, who said it on TSN 1050 Wednesday morning.
Dreger isn’t wrong. Just as crucial as making a big signing on the first day of free agency is not overreacting and paying too much for someone. This is especially applicable to Toronto because of what happened in the playoffs.
Toronto has chronically overreacted when it comes to a disappointing previous season and what Kyle Dubas and Brendan Shanahan have always done with aplomb is keep this team steady.
Let’s not forget that Kyle Dubas pushed all of his chips in on the playoffs last season, so it’s not only rich to be saying he has no guts to swing for the fences, it’s just wrong. He has shown that he will make moves, and that he isn’t afraid to make moves when it proves to be a worthy investment.
Yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs need to fill out their roster, but even the most ardent armchair enthusiasts realize that changing things on CapFriendly doesn’t always pan out in the real world. The Leafs may be in on a player, but the player might not be in on them. There is more to consider for the players other than just money.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs and Kyle Dubas go out and make a big splash for a marquee free agent then that’s fantastic. Everyone can hope they team get past that first playoff round. However, other than Dougie Hamilton, there were not many impact players available. It was smart to go cheap.
Toronto doesn’t need to sign anyone just to sign someone. The team needs smart acquisitions, it needs the right person, not just the first one that pops up. Give the organization time to find the right deal or the right trade and not just go into Free Agency with their money gun ready to spray the field.