This is going to be a truly fascinating offseason in Toronto. Buckle up.
theathletic.com
There’s a ton going on with the Maple Leafs right now, so much so that it’s hard to know where to begin dissecting their offseason.
A lot of attention is, understandably, on what’s happening at the GM position with Kyle Dubas. The only update I have at this point is that Dubas has met with ownership to try and hammer out an extension, but it remains to be seen if the family reasons he cited on Monday impact those conversations.
It’s possible we get a resolution on that front in the next few days, and if we do, we’ll be back with more analysis of the front office situation.
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1. They need another winger to play in the top six, unless you’re excited about more of Calle Jarnkrok there. This is the role vacated by Michael Bunting, who is almost definitely moving on, as outlined here.
2. They have to shift John Tavares over to the wing after his performance down the middle in the playoffs, which was another exclamation point on his limitations there.
3. Tavares to the middle, combined with Ryan O’Reilly, David Kampf and Noel Acciari all going UFA, means there’s a big chasm at the center position on this roster. If (or, realistically, when) you’re trading one of the big-name wingers, you’re going to need someone who can play down the middle coming back.
4. The Leafs need another top four defenseman, too. And it’s worth debating whether Mark Giordano should be in the top six at this point, given he’ll need a helluva lot more load management next season.
5. Joseph Woll absolutely earned the backup role. And the Leafs wisely signed him for a bargain prior to his breakout season.
Assuming the salary cap rises by only $1 million (which is not guaranteed at this point), this Leafs roster is just shy of $20 million under the salary cap, with 15 players signed: eight forwards, six defensemen and one goaltender.
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That said, what I find fascinating about the challenge here for the Leafs GM in the coming weeks is that the canvas is somewhat blank. If they move one of their big-ticket players, they could be reshuffling close to 40 percent of their cap allocation in a single offseason. They are not, as has been the case in the past, capped out.
The trick, however, is going to be doing all that shuffling while keeping this a contending, 110-point team next season. And, more importantly, evolving them into a contending team that performs more convincingly in the postseason.
As I said off the top, there’s a long way to go here, and the biggest questions revolve around Dubas’ future and moving out top-end talent. But even down the roster there are some intriguing questions that need to be addressed. And some of the most important openings in the lineup are directly related to the big swing transactions they’ll need to attempt in the next six weeks.
It almost goes without saying at this point, but this is going to be a truly fascinating offseason in Toronto. Buckle up.
Hopefully that all makes sense.
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