The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Lou Lamoriello's Time With The Toronto Maple Leafs
By Gordon Munro
The Bad
As with every GM, “you can’t win ‘em all” as the saying goes. There will inevitably be a bad trade or signing but sometimes there can be strange philosophical moves. That was definitely the case with Lamoriello.
Inconsistent Moves
Despite just getting the first overall pick, Lou Lamoriello quickly declared the rebuild over, without actually saying it. The same day that the Leafs selected Auston Matthews, they then traded away a first and second round pick for goaltender Frederik Andersen.
This wasn’t a bad trade in and of itself but it is the perfect encapsulation of how this regime would operate here on out. On one hand, the team won the ultimate prize of their rebuild in getting the first overall pick. Although this may signal the end of the rebuild, it would seem to be hasty to make a big “win-now” type trade that same exact day.
That trade was ultimately a win as Andersen proved himself to be a flawed but mostly consistent top-10 goaltender throughout his tenure. However, he struggled mightily when it mattered most; in the playoffs but specifically in elimination games. In 2017-18 and 2018-19 the Leafs lost in seven games to the Boston Bruins with Andersen playing his worst hockey of those respective years.
Outside of the Andersen trade, in both 2017 and 2018, Lamoriello traded second round picks (along with depth players/prospects) for fourth-line center rentals. These trades did not destroy the team by any means but trading draft capital in this way harmed the depth and the team's ability to surround their core in future years for marginal gains.
There was also the issue of the team not going far enough with their win-now moves. They would make those trades at the deadline but fail to make tangible upgrades in areas of weakness instead opting to throw away assets on players that won't log much more than 10 minutes a game. If they focused more resources on shaping up their D-core and supporting cast, the team could have reached new heights much quicker.