By any informed account, the Toronto Maple Leafs were one of the biggest losers at the NHL Trade Deadline.
However, long-term, this no-show could pay off for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the long-run.
Big time.
First, this year: The current core can win as constructed. It's not likely, as the goalie and defense positions are pretty bad for a playoff team, however it is possible.
Leafs GM Redeems Himself by Not Trading Liljegren or Robertson at Deadline
Marner and Matthews aren't inherently bad at the playoffs, it just seems like it. In reality, their bad playoff results are a result of bad luck. It is not possible that anyne could rise to their levels as a pro, and then not be good when the games count.
Given that absolute certainty, we know its just been bad luck. That means they are due for a hot spring. Combine that with even average goaltending and the Leafs could win the Stanley Cup.
Obviously this is a better argument for augmenting the team, but it does make the risk-reward of what they did somewhat sensible.
To whit: They likely couldn't have added stars at three separate positions (which is what it would have taken to make them a top-contender on Colorado or Las Vegas' level) without compeltely destroying their ability to compete in the future when they will have a better situation.
Let's say that next year Easton Cowen, Frasor Minten, Topi Niemela, Pontus Homberg, Nick Robertson, Bobby McMann and Timothy Liljegren are all on the team.
And let's say that after being shown faith by management, Joseph Woll appears to be a star in the making.
Suddenly you have a mosterous amount of capspace. Suddenly your team is what you envisioned when you committed to the core four in the first palce - i,e a star studded team augmented by a ton of cheap talent.
The Leafs "core four" strategy suddenly looks a lot better when you have so many young players contributing on the cheap. The fact is, it would have been really easy for the Leafs GM to trade Robertson or Liljegren at the trade deadline.
While it's downright idiotic to trade useful cheap players in a cap-system, these were two players listed in almost every Leafs trade deadline article. Obviously the Leafs don't have a ton of assets, so the rumours were understandable, but thankfully saner heads prevailed.
Not trading Liljegren and Robertson is the best move Treliving has made since he's been here.
In fact, with Brodie and hopefully also Kampf and Domi coming off the books next year and all these guys making so little, the Leafs could add a star player or two and make it the Core Six.
Regardless, with Nick Robertson proving to be a solid NHL scorer, and Timothy Liljegren looking to be, at the bare minimum, a solid #2 defenseman, the Leafs future is looking almost as bright as their present.
The Leafs are already a great team, but if a couple of their potential star players take a couple steps in the right direction they could become a power-house.