The Continued Case Against Brad Treliving
- The Toronto Maple Leafs iced a blue-line with quite literally five of the ten worst puck-handling players in the NHL. They did not have to do this, this was another huge unforced error.
- A sixth of the ten worst puck handlers in the league was on their fourth line, making more than the league minimum and inexplicably signed for three years at 37 years of age. Signing Ryan Reaves was embarrassing from day-one and he personally caused the Bruins opening goals in games one and three, half of the Leafs total losses.
- They entered the NHL playoffs with a starting goalie they had recently put on waivers. This is a miscalculation of epic proportions. In the long history of the Toronto Maple Leafs, ignoring the fact that it was one of only a few possible seasons in which Auston Matthews is in his prime and letting Samsonov continue you on as the starter is one of the worst decisions in team history.
- Their $11 million dollar Captain was used primarily as a defensive centre in the series against Boston even though the team made the offensive black-hole known as David Kampf the highest paid 4th liner in the NHL.
- The team was too heavy with one-dimensional players (Domi, Edmundson, Kampf, Dewar, Lyubushkin, Edmundson) and this severely hampered Sheldon Keefe's ability to ice workable options with the lines and pairings.
- The team's inability to score in the playoffs was obvious ahead of time and surprised no one. Their bottom six didn't have any offense and their blue-line couldn't' skate, pass or handle the puck. They had two lines that already couldn't score and used some of their best scorers to match against Boston's first line.
- Going from Ryan O'Reilly to Pontus Holmberg at 3C is bizarre when you write it on paper.
- Not only was the team wrong to stick with Samsonov, and not only was this an easily foreseeable problem, but Joseph Woll is known to be injury prone, so as good as he is, the Leafs knowing had zero reliable goalies on the roster.
- With Marner, Matthews and Tavares all locked in with no-movement clauses, the Leafs could have altered their approach with a Nylander trade. I love Nylander, but given where they are right now, that flexibility sure would be nice.
- Finally, the power-play was problematic towards the end of the season and they never figured it out. Then it lost them their season. This is a combination of the players and bad luck, but it's on the coaches to figure it out.
For me, coupling this list with the current state of the Calgary Flames makes me incredibly hesitant about moving forward with Brendan Shanahan and Brad Treliving at the helm.