A Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup Will Alter the NHL Forever
By James Tanner
The Toronto Maple Leafs Will Remake the NHL in Their Image When They Win
The Toronto Maple Leafs hired a 30 year old GM, who immediately built the biggest analytics department in the league, and deployed a “studs and duds” salary cap strategy , focused on drafting and trading for skill, put skill on the fourth line, made the majority of their defenseman the puck-moving kind, and had their team play a possession heavy game that cheats a little bit for offense (but is, in practice, not the run and gun style its made out to be).
Over the years, the Leafs haven’t just been a topic of discussion, they’ve been completely derided, written off, and disrespected. Legacy reporters have gleefully told fans waiting to lap up any Leafs criticism about how this anonymous scout, or that anonymous league executive thinks they’re doing it all wrong.
It’s OK, supposedly, to fail for 55 years, but trying something different is a step too far.
Ignoring mid-range players and signing all their stars is something that two and a half seasons of regular season dominance can’t overcome. Only winning will do so. But a win will take the NHL’s most progressive team and normalize them.
To be sure there are those who don’t even consider the Leafs a progressive enough team, and who very much want you to know that the Leafs use of analytics is not representative of their community at large.
But, considering the relative conservativism of the league, it’s owners, managers, coaches and media, the Toronto Maple Leafs are pretty far out there. Should they win, you are likely to see their ideas – whether the use of six puck moving defenseman at once, or the refusal to draft for size and grit – catch on.
You might even even see outdated, downright silly, but still almost universally unchallenged ideas about “playoff hockey” change.