The Toronto Maple Leafs are having a terrible offseason. The Toronto Maple Leafs appear to be out of ideas and unsure about their next move.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have largely failed in free agency, positioning themselves to win the Atlantic and compete for the Stanley Cup as long as:
Joseph Woll stays healthy for the first time in his career, a 31-year-old backup can succeed by playing more games than ever before, Mitch Marner has a career year playing for a contract, Matthews and Nylander do not regress, Chris Tanev remains healthy and does not decline, and Morgan Rielly and John Tavares avoid falling off an age-related cliff.
As long as all of this happens, the Leafs may be a contender.
The Toronto Maple Leafs appear to be a team wasting time until everyone is fired.
The Leafs entered the summer with a clear mandate: make significant changes.
They had to either move Marner or persuade their fans that he was part of the solution. They preferred to bury their heads in the sand, say nothing, and let the situation deteriorate. Essentially the lowest possible alternative.
Instead of attempting to hit home runs, they appeared to be more interested with being able to boast they had picked an NHL player. Ben Danford is a good first-round pick, but he lacks star potential.
The Leafs required a top goaltender, a top defenceman, and a third-line centre. Instead, they absolutely failed to get the goaltender and center, while their so-called top defenseman was a wild wager with a very minimal chance of succeeding.
You may argue that they are boxed in, do not have many assets, or have a lot of cap room, but that is simply not true. The Leafs are only limited by their poor risk tolerance and lack of innovation or out-of-the-box thinking.
After a worst-case scenario year, it was clear that Treliving was not a competent general manager, but instead of cleaning house, incoming MLSE President Keith Pelley decided to give Shanahan and Co. another year.
The Leafs required a top goaltender, a top defenceman, and a third-line centre. Instead, they absolutely failed to get the goaltender and center, while their so-called top defenseman was a wild wager with a very minimal chance of succeeding.
You may argue that they are boxed in, do not have many assets, or have a lot of cap room, but that is simply not true. The Leafs are only limited by their poor risk tolerance and lack of innovation or out-of-the-box thinking.
After a worst-case scenario year, it was clear that Treliving was not a competent general manager, but instead of cleaning house, incoming MLSE President Keith Pelley decided to give Shanahan and Co. another year.
The Leafs’ off-season is going terribly. Unless something extraordinary happens.180 This is a team with no genuine plan, and their management is only biding their time until they are all dumped in April.
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