The Toronto Maple Leafs finally caved and went ‘full Classic NHL’ when it comes to their roster this year.
To be sure, the Toronto Maple Leafs have added players like Jake Muzzin and Nick Foligno in the past – players who fit the “playoff hockey” mentality, but this year with Luke Schenn, Jake McCabe, Ryan O’Reilly, Sam Lafferty and Noel Acciari they really went as far down that path as it was possible to go.
They also got rid of players perceived as soft even though they always win their minutes.
I am disappointed that they changed, because even though the final results were bad, the underlying numbers said they should have won something like 15 of their last 18 playoff games, and I firmly believe that if luck went their way they could already have won one or more championships and revolutionized team building in the modern NHL.
Instead, (and this is 100% speculation) someone perhaps told Kyle Dubas that he had to take a more traditional approach this season if the team was going to “run it back” one more time.
Or perhaps Kyle himself figured that given the random nature of the NHL, he’d have a better chance of keeping his job if he did things in a more traditional way. Considering that outside of star players, nearly all other players are interchangeable, perhaps he didn’t see this as selling out, so much as making a perception tweak that would buy him time.
Again, I’m just speculating.
So let me speculate further:
The Toronto Maple Leafs Could Use a New Coach
Sheldon Keefe’s really struggling with putting together a lineup. He’s desperate because he knows that if he loses he’s done.
This forces (or will force) him to do things that anyone can see are bad: not using O’Reilly as the 3rd line centre, constantly breaking up Matthews and Marner, taking his frustrations out on William Nylander, not trusting his young players (specifically Tim Liljegren),putting too much trust in Matt Murray, and overusing guys like Luke Schenn and Sam Lafferty.
Keefe will be/ is highly tense due to the pressure on him, and this will pass on down to the team, who absolutely cannot afford to be tense heading into the playoffs.
This team is struggling heavily down the stretch and history shows us that cup winners tend to do the opposite.
And Bruce Boudreau is sitting right there.
One of the best coaches of all-time, but more importantly, one of the coolest, nicest guys you will ever come across. The single most likeable and charismatic person in the entire sphere of the NHL. If there was ever a guy whose attitude was tailor made for a specific situation, it’s Bruce Boudreau and the six-straight-first-round-losses Toronto Maple Leafs, who will face more pressure to win the first round than any team in pro sports ever has before.
This isn’t a panic move based on the last few games, it’s actually extremely logical.
Boudreau would come in with no pressure. He would relax the team and keep things much more chilled and even-keeled. He would single-handedly erase the pressure of losing six straight times in the first round.
And on top of that, you get the new-coach bump right at the perfect time.
There is even a precedent of doing this with eight games left in the season and going on to win the Stanley Cup. A precedent set by none other than Kyle Dubas’ mentor, Lou Lamoriello who did it twice (winning just the once).