The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to work on the small things while the big issues the team faces are being ignored for now.
The Toronto Maple Leafs last five news stories are as follows: Signing Max Pacioretty to a PTO, re-signing Nick Robertson, possibly re-signing Mark Giordano, signing Steven Lorentz to a PTO, and Auston Matthews becoming the captain.
Not one of those things is a signifcant upgrade that makes the team better.
The Leafs are working on the edges of the roster, but there are so many unanswered questions. Why are they working on things that don't matter and ignoring the important issues facing the team?
As Toronto Maple Leafs work on the edges of roster, big questions go unanswered
Neither Nick Robertson or Max Pacioretty are replacing what Tyler Bertuzzi took with him when he left. Bertuzzi was a star forward and there's little chance of either Robertson or Pacioretty replicating his numbers from last year.
The big thing about Bertuzzi is that he drove play. When Bertuzzi was on the ice, whoever he played with got better. Bertuzzi made it so the Leafs had possession of the puck and were getting the majority of the shots and scoring chances. They didn't replace him and no one on the team does what he can do.
What about third line centre? If they plan to use Max Domi there, then they are a worse run team than I thought. With Domi on the wing, their best 3C option is probably Pontus Holmberg, which means Brad Treliving didn't have a very good summer.
As this remains unaddressed, the Leafs are adding PTOs.
But obviously the biggest situation, the proverbial "elephant in the room," which is the Mitch Marner contract situation.
Only a completely unprepared and poorly run team would enter the season with their future hall of fame winger unsinged. This will be a huge distraction that will come up after every game. On top of that, if Marner has a career year, which he most likely will, then he only gets more expensive. On top of both of those things, he could then potentially leave for nothing.
There is no upside to letting him start the season without a contract extension, only problems. So why the heck are they concerned with whether or not Max Pacioretty can be the new Jason Spezza when the biggest issue the team has ever faced is sitting right there unsolved?