Toronto Maple Leafs: The Dumbest Thing I’ve Ever Heard

The Toronto Maple Leafs are the team I write about every day.

The site that I write for is exclusively about the Toronto Maple Leafs, and they are clearly my favorite team.

Because of this, I am often accused of being biased.   But I find this weird, because why would anyone expect objectivity from a person who loves the Leafs and writes exclusively about them?  It just seems weird.

I embrace my pro-Leaf bias, but at the same time, I think this gives me a better perspective than somebody who is trying to be objective – I want the Leafs to win, and if I don’t think they are on the right path, I will scream till I’m blue in the face about it. My bias is an advantage because I care.

It might look like I’ll praise the Leafs no matter what because I’ve been a vocal supporter of the team even when everyone else has pretty much bailed.  I stick by them not out of blind loyalty, but out of the belief in the idea that process trumps results.  I think it’s hilarious that people are giving up on a team with two of the NHL’s top five players, 3 x #1 defensemen, and a potential Vezina Quality goalie, just because they couldn’t get it done while their $11 million dollar future Hall of Fame centre was injured.

The Leafs lost two series over twelve games, while missing core players, and playing in a way that gave them overwhelming odds to win. The fact that they didn’t is unfortunate, but  even when you have an 80% chance of winning, you’ll still lose one-in-five times.

Toronto Maple Leafs and the Dumbest Thing Ever

I used to rip Brian Burke. I hated Dave Nonis. I thought hiring Lou Lamoriello was stupid, and I think time proved me right on that one.  And if I though the bad playoff results were the result of bad management, I would say so.   But I believe in the Leafs current plan, roster, and management.

And I say all that to make this point: Not trading Ilya Mikheyev when he asked for a trade is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.

You don’t trade every player who asks, especially if that player is a core piece of your team.  But why keep around a fringe player if he doesn’t want to be here? What is the upside? Mikheyev is a non-star in a league where non-star players are practically interchangeable.  He plays on a team where there is an overwhelming amount of competition for jobs:

The Toronto Maple Leafs have four forwards who are guaranteed to play ever night, and they have eight other roster spots where anyone could end up playing.  Sure, Spezza, Simmonds, Mikheyev and Kerfoot are probably going to get the jobs, but any or all could drop off a cliff or be moved for cap space.

In addition to the previously mentioned four players with the inside track, Nick Ritchie, Michael Bunting, David Kampf, Pierre Engvall, Ondrej Case, Kurtis Gabriel, Adam Brooks, Nick Robertson, Krill Semyonov, Joey Anderson, Josh Ho-Sang and I’m sure even a few others will be fighting for jobs.

So that’s either 12 guys fighting for four jobs, or 16 guys fighting for eight (depending on Kerfoot, Mikheyev, Spezza and Simmonds).   Whatever it is, it’s a lot of guys, and if Ilya Mikheyev was traded, you wouldn’t miss him at all.

I like Mikheyev, and I understand that you don’t want to set a precedent of trading players under contract just because they ask.  But why bother with the distraction? He isn’t that good, and you’ve got about seven players you could replace him with and not even realize he’s gone.

I didn’t even now he wanted to be traded, and I think I wrote about six articles this summer that mentioned he should be.  I guarantee that Ilya Mikheyev won’t be missed.  This is a guy with a chance (ok probably a longshot) to earn time with Tavares or Matthews, and he asked to be traded.

That tells me everything I need to know about him.  See you later Ilya.