Early Musings on the Toronto Maple Leafs Off-Season
After absorbing yet another metaphorical punch in the gut via Saturday night’s Game 7 loss, this long-time Toronto Maple Leafs fan decided to wait a couple of days before even trying to form an opinion on what just happened and what might happen next.
It’s like I saw David Pastrnak’s overtime shot go in, I numbly watched the handshake line, I said to myself “such is the life of a Toronto Maple Leafs fan”, and sadly turned off the hockey part of my brain before self-pity could ruin the rest of the weekend.
Now that I’ve enjoyed some barbecued burgers, the lawn has been cut and the second round of the NHL playoffs have begun, various Maple Leaf-related thoughts have started percolating to the top of my mind.
Being a kind and generous sort of person, I thought I might share these nuggets of wisdom with you.
To anyone questioning the desire or courage of William Nylander or Auston Matthews, both of whom missed multiple playoff games, I offer to you colorful language that cannot be published.
Both of these guys want to win, badly, and should be praised for putting their health on the line by coming back and playing when they clearly aren’t 100% healthy.
Who Should Be Back Next Year for the Toronto Maple Leafs?
Ilya Samsonov also deserves kudos for coming back from rock bottom earlier in the season, when it looked doubtful that he’d play another NHL game this season. That said, it makes no sense to bring him back next season, at any price. He just isn't good enough.
Joseph Woll could be “the guy” the Toronto Maple Leafs so desperately need in net. Except that he can’t stay healthy. Woll seems to have developed great mental calm, and his positioning and athleticism are exceptional. But until he demonstrates that he can stay injury-free for a whole season, he can’t be relied upon to be the number one guy.
The Leafs Off-Season Plans for Management
That means GM Brad Treliving, assuming he remains the GM, has to acquire a genuine first-rate goalie. The cost will be high, but until this hole in the roster is filled, playoff disappointment will continue to haunt the Leafs.
Speaking of Treliving, does he deserve to stay?
Yes. Give the guy a chance, people. I have to admit, I was not overjoyed with his arrival or with the early returns on his off-season acquisitions. But in the end, Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi rounded into guys I would consider re-signing, and the band-aid defense held up much better than expected.
What about Brendan Shanahan? Mixed emotions here. Of course, I’m disappointed with the results over the term of the “Shanaplan”. On the other hand, Shanahan runs a class organization, which means something to me.
I think he’s smarter than people give him credit for. If he and Treliving have a clear plan moving forward (which can’t be the status quo), I say let them stay.
Next on the list is head coach Sheldon Keefe.
I’ve been a Keefe supporter all along, as I think he’s a good coach and a good person. However, sometimes things just don’t work out, and this is one of those times.
Someone from outside the organization needs to come in and start fresh with this batch of players. Are there any Barry Trotz clones out there? I’ve always like Barry Trotz.
The Core Four
Finally, what to do about the Core 4? Ideally, what I’d like to see happen is for Mitch Marner to be traded for a stud defenceman. Highly unlikely, that’s why I said “ideally”.
Unfortunately, the Toronto Maple Leafs are in a tough spot here. This core of highly paid forwards, for whatever reason, have shown too many times that together, they do not equal a successful combination of talent. So, they must be broken up. How soon can this be accomplished?
Auston Matthews is the best player on the team, the NHL’s leading scorer, and the cornerstone of the franchise. He’s not going anywhere.
William Nylander found a new level of play this season, almost hitting 100 points. He discovered backchecking, started killing penalties and even threw a couple of hits. After signing an extension last fall, he’ll be a Leaf for many years to come.
John Tavares suffered a significant decline this season in his level of play, and has one more year left on the 7 year, $77M (per CapFriendly.com) deal he signed to come home to play for his childhood dream franchise. The Toronto Maple Leafs would likely deal Tavares now if he would waive his no-trade clause (NTC), but most feel that is not going to happen. Tavares loves Toronto, why would he want to leave home now?
That leaves much-maligned Mitch Marner as the most likely candidate for breaking up the Core 4, especially if the goal is to accomplish the split this summer. Although Marner also has one year left on his contract, and he too has an NTC, his situation is different than Tavares’. If Marner can’t or won’t sign an extension with Toronto this summer, he will become an unrestricted free agent after next season and will command big bucks on the open market.
If Marner wants to leave Toronto, or if Brad Treliving makes it clear to Marner that he won’t be re-signed as a Leaf once his contract expires, Marner may be open to waiving his NTC now to start putting down roots somewhere else. Then, it would be a matter of seeing what kind of return he would bring with only 1 year left on his current contract.
It’s unlikely the Leafs would get equal value in return, so there's an obvious problem with this plan. I don’t see Marner in a Leaf uniform after next season, as I think it makes sense to let him walk, and use the cap space to sign the top defenseman they badly need. That's a big "if". Treliving must replace Marner with another star, or letting Marner leave will go down as a big mistake.
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What will actually happen with the Core 4? I really have no idea. Remember, these are simply the ramblings of a distraught Toronto Maple Leafs fan still in the early stages of playoff elimination recovery. For now, I’m off to grab another burger.