Toronto Maple Leafs Plus / Minus – Rating the Summer Moves

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a bad summer by any standard.

The loudest fans might be happy that Kyle Dubas is no longer running the Toronto Maple Leafs, but regardless, this hurts the team in ways that will haunt them for years.

They have replaced a fiercely intelligent, progressive, creative thinker who had fresh ideas about the sport with what seems to be a generic hockey lifer indistinguishable from the average hockey executive.

And the first thing Treliving did was betray the Leafs longstanding policy of not giving term and money to replacement players by handing out over $11 million to Max Domi, John Klingberg, Ryan Reaves and David Kampf.

It’s worse than anything Dubas ever did, and all Dubas’ bad moves were at least things where you could see that the thinking behind them made sense (Kadri, Foligno).  Treliving’s errors are so depressing because they’re the errors that most other teams make but which you could at least rest comfortably knowing the the Leafs wouldn’t.

Oh Well.  Here then is the revival of our trademark Plus/Minus format where we decide what’s good and what’s bad in the world of the NHL by using the league’s most outdated and useless stat.

Toronto Maple Leafs Plus/Minus

PLUS: Tyler Bertuzzi Contract. 

Despite the fact that hockey is a game that constantly has all these cliched narratives about leadership, the reverence for players who play a certain way but whose off-ice behavior shows absolutely zero leadership proves these clichés to be absolutely phony and hypocritical.

That said, I never bought into ’em, don’t care about ’em, and I fully support the signing of Bertuzzi because no one should hold the fact that he isn’t an educated man against him.

This is a cheap deal that can pay off big-time and it’s a very smart use of the Luke Schenn Proposition (where you earn a major contract based on playing well briefly for the Leafs).

MINUS: No Room to Promote Kids 

The Toronto Maple Leafs gave out big contract to so many forwards that right now there doesn’t seem to be any spot for prospects to breakthrough.   Other than Matthew Knies, the other 11 spots seem to be going to veterans.

Of course, someone good enough can always force their way on, but making it so hard seems unwise. Especially in light of….

MINUS: Inability to Develop Low Drafted Star

The Leafs haven’t drafted a star player outside of the first round since 1999.  That player was Tomas Kaberle.  If the Leafs had developed any kind of star player between the time they started paying Auston Matthews real money, and right now, they’d likely have a Stanley Cup.

Whether it’s Duncan Keith, Kris Letang, Patrice Bergeron or Nikita Kucherov, developing a star player from below the first round is basically a prerequisite to being a top team.

PLUS: Catalan Lit Classic Finally Available in English

The Garden of Seven Twilights has long been a book I wanted to read, and this week I finally received my copy of the new English Translation.  It’s already one of the coolest books I’ve ever read.   

PLUS: The Drive In 

I love the drive in, and the only complaint I have is that so far they aren’t putting the new Mission Impossible with Oppenheimer. 

PLUS: Treliving Delivers on Goalies 

I’ve been critical of the Toronto Maple Leafs new GM (with good reason) but having 2 potential star goalies for under $5 million and getting Matt Murray off the books is a huge win for the Leafs.

PLUS: Lady Gaga

I don’t generally listen to pop music and I must have been in a coma for the last decade, because I wrote this artist off as garbage, but I recently discovered the song “Paparazzi” and it’s wonderful.

PLUS: My Dog Benji 

I recently taught him to pass me specific items on command.  He’s a genius!

MINUS: Not Understanding How Good Erik Karlsson Is

It’s alright if you don’t want the Toronto Maple Leafs to get him because he’s old, he’s expensive and he’s an injury risk.  However, saying the Leafs “don’t need another offensive defenseman” is pure ignorance.

That is because in hockey, it doesn’t matter how you achieve your results, at the end of the day, the results are what they are.  Karlsson’s teams dominate when he’s on the ice. It is completely irrelevant if he fits your idea of what type of player the team needs.

If your team already have 5x puck movers, and you then had to choose between the best non-puck moving defenseman and Erik Karlsson, your team would improve more with Karlsson because he’s one of the best players alive and how he achieves that doesn’t matter.

MINUS: Bucket Hats

What is even happening?

PLUS: Auston Matthews 

He’s still a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, so it doesn’t really matter what the team does on the periphery.  He’s going to ensure the Leafs are a contender next year, and, hopefully, for many years to come.