I don't see the "same thing as Dubas".
He didn't sign a unnecessary player to a huge crippling contract. The new contracts for Matty and Willy, while high, weren't near as much overpayment as Dubas' (with the exception of the bargain he got with Willy).
He filled holes with rentals - but at a lower cost (as you said, he kept our high picks), and they performed at least as well. The idea that 'both failed so they are equal' is disingenuous at best.
Do you think that two of the three players who led the team in points in the playoffs "didn't come through"?
How much of the failure of the system lies with the head coach, and how much with the assistants? Do you have any evidence that Tre forced the new assistants on Keefe, and forced him to use their systems?
Our third and fourth lines weren't great, but they were better than previous iterations.
Our biggest problems were with injuries in net, the continued decline of JT, and the usual disappearance of Mitch in the playoffs - none of them fixable beyond him bringing in Jones, which worked very well.
Reaves wasn't terrible, and his replacement was Gregor, who was another Tre signing.
He did a lot of things differently than Dubas - more worked than didn't, and the overall team was a bit better.
Let's be fair and give him a chance to deal with the 1D, Tavares, and Marner situations.
Im not saying to not give Tre a chance. Im not Dubas apologist either. I have no favorites.
I just want the leafs to win the cup. Nothing else matters. Sure Dubas set the standard in pay right before covid. He was expecting salary cap increase.
Should of we not signed Taveras and set the bar? Probably so....but thats all water under the bridge now.
I dont really care who led the leafs in points ....we needed more scoring and once again we failed.
Getting Reaves and Murray were bad...... I dont mind the Domi and Bert signings. They filled in nicely even tho they are players that dont like playing defense. I would take them back at a reasonable price tho.
Our 3rd and 4th lines offered little.....they didnt even help the PK.
Lets see how he handles the Marner situation and how he fixes the D and PK.
Boucher (sp?) wasnt a good hire.....just wasnt. Thats on Tre.
Im not sure Keefer wanted to change his defensive scheme as we were always pretty good there over the years with not alot of talent back there.
Nothing changed for years. We added grit and still failed....Edmundson and the Bear are 5 or 6th defenceman in this league. Sure they look better in playoffs when the whistles are thrown away and they can be more effective. But they are slow...offer no first pass to get offence....cant shoot on the PP. Basically they bounce pucks off the boards and clear the net with crosschecks.
We need to be better than that on the back end in our top 4. McCabe is great....and I like Benoit but even Benoit doesnt have the offence ability to see the ice to get the offence going.
injuries sucked....and it hurt us.
In Tre we trust for the next few years....
Alot of good teams lose in the 1st round.....same in the 2nd and 3rd rounds.
In the end those winning rounds are great for the fan base to cheer but if you dont win the cup.
Its all the same. Your name is not written anywhere....and I dont see any rings for most playoff wins.
We have a good future still because we do have some great talant and some young kids that will continue to improve. Just wished we had something to look forward to on D. Reilly , Sammy and Marner sleeping on the OT goal is just typical way for the leafs to lose.
Sammy had a brain fart and let the puck come out. Easy to shoot it back into the corner or lay down around the puck. Reilly was looking at the stands waving and out of position while the puck was shot in. Marner was watching something....other then the player beside him. The Russian bear was looking for a picnic
