Maple Leafs Regression Fears + 50 in 50 + 50 for Hyman + Robertson Playoffs

T.J Brodie

He stinks and the Leafs are stuck with him. You could hear in Sheldon Keefe's comments (where he eroniously tried to say Brodie was playing better than getting credit for) that he isn't going to put his main guy from the last several years out to pasture just yet.

The Leafs framed the Brodie scratch as a "reset" and, based on their words at least, are obviosly not planning to keep sitting him.

This is unfortunate, because a former star falling off but still getting the benefit of the doubt is an absolute killer.

Hyman Contract

You have to trust the process, not the results. That means even when you get one wrong, you need to know that you followed the right thought process to come to your decision. If you do that, you can trust that over the long-term you will get more right than wrong.

Zach Hyman was 29, he wanted to double his salary and be paid until he was 37. He had had two recent knee injuries and plays a style that doesn't lend itself to staying healthy.

His career high was 21 goals and 41 points. NHL players typically decline as they hit 30, so there was absolutely no reason to think he'd gett better instead of worse.

When he was up for a new contract, he had 5 goals in 31 career playoff games.

So when the Oilers gave him seven years and over $5 million per year, I laughed. I said it was the worst contract in NHL History, and I meant it. I stand by it. It was an idiotic bet. I once saw a guy win a poker tournament by betting everything he had on an unsuited, pre-flop two and seven. That's what the Oilers did.

Brag about it if you want, but it's like bragging to the guy who saves half his paycheck and lives frugally that you won the lottery.

And Don't forget, for the two years before this one, Michael Bunting outperformed Zach Hyman (who wouldn't be on the Leafs power-play) at 5v5 by a signficant margin for 5x less money.

All that said, Hyman is an awesome player, I'm a huge fan of his and I'm glad he scored 50 goals. I wish he did it in Toronto, but the Leafs were right to let him walk based on the information available to them at the time.