Do you think this team is better or worse going into next season?

[NJG]

Cowan has a good chance at making the team and so does Grebyonkin, he's been playing against men for awhile now. Minten is a maybe depending on what we do/who we trade:

Domi - Matthews - Marner
Grebyonkin - Tavares - Nylander
Cowan - Minten - A. Nylander
Knies - McMann - Reaves

 

[IPS]

Cowan has a good chance at making the team and so does Grebyonkin, he's been playing against men for awhile now. Minten is a maybe depending on what we do/who we trade:

Domi - Matthews - Marner
Grebyonkin - Tavares - Nylander
Cowan - Minten - A. Nylander
Knies - McMann - Reaves

Cowan/Grebyonkin ahead of Knies??

 

[Nineteen67]

If no coach could have made that team a cup contender (as you said) what would have been the benefit of making an in-season coaching change then?

Also "people are calling for the coach to be fired" every year...even though he was one of the winningest coaches of all time (winning percentage) with a team that is not a cup contender (as you said).

If they hired Berube in January or February, they would have been committing to him beyond the end of the season, I think the smart move was to see who was available make the best choice and the commit...which is what they did.

To move the team forward.

You make a good point about waiting until the off season

 

[NJG]

Cowan/Grebyonkin ahead of Knies??

Yeah I like those lines, our fourth line would be really good and capable of scoring a good amount of goals. I guess you could switch it up a bit it doesn't really matter as long as said players are all in the line-up.

Knies - Matthews - Marner
Grebyonkin - Tavares - Nylander
Cowan - Domi - A. Nylander
McMann - Minten - Reaves

 

[notDatsyuk]

Dubas said it before he was fired.

By all accounts Shanahan wasn’t too receptive to moving any of the three last year and they put themselves is another poor situation. However, if it’s true that they were willing to move Nylander, why didn’t they? Seems like he’d garner a lot of interest.

For the Leafs sake, I hope the new GM makes the necessary roster moves and Treliving.

Sorry - I thought we were talking about Tre.

Yes, absolutely Dubas should have traded Marner several years ago, and for that matter should not have signed Tavares.

"Willing to move Nylander" doesn't necessarily mean wanting to. Maybe Tre saw that he was better than how he'd been used, and didn't like the offers.

For the Leafs sake, I hope Tre makes the necessary roster moves, but we'll likely have to wait until next summer for them to happen.

 

[conFABulator]

To move the team forward.

You make a good point about waiting until the off season

For the record, I thought they should have fired Keefe last off-season. Once they fired Dubas and had to replace him, I understood running with Sheldon for one more year.

The timing of the Dubas departure screwed our off-season last year and I thought Treliving did OK under those tough circumstances.

 

[Nineteen67]

Sorry - I thought we were talking about Tre.

Yes, absolutely Dubas should have traded Marner several years ago, and for that matter should not have signed Tavares.

"Willing to move Nylander" doesn't necessarily mean wanting to. Maybe Tre saw that he was better than how he'd been used, and didn't like the offers.

For the Leafs sake, I hope Tre makes the necessary roster moves, but we'll likely have to wait until next summer for them to happen.

Based on his track record I’m not convinced it’d be best for the Leafs to have Treliving making major roster decisions. I fear if he’s allowed to continue next year he’ll close any hope at eastern final and will set them back years.

For the record, I thought they should have fired Keefe last off-season. Once they fired Dubas and had to replace him, I understood running with Sheldon for one more year.

The timing of the Dubas departure screwed our off-season last year and I thought Treliving did OK under those tough circumstances.

Last off-season was a no brainer.

 

[Hellcat]

Cowan/Grebyonkin ahead of Knies??

Knies looks like he is chopping ice for a cocktail when he skates, it's painful to watch. With that said he is one guy that gives 100% every shift, I think if he wants to stay in the NHL he needs to own the energy depth forward role. I'm not sure he is a legit top 2 LW on a team with depth. I think he is on the top two lines on the Leafs for lack of competition.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Cowan has a good chance at making the team and so does Grebyonkin, he's been playing against men for awhile now. Minten is a maybe depending on what we do/who we trade:

Domi - Matthews - Marner
Grebyonkin - Tavares - Nylander
Cowan - Minten - A. Nylander
Knies - McMann - Reaves

That's disrespectful to both Knies and McMann

 

[weems]

We actually don't have much idea how good or bad of a coach Keefe was.
His first NHL job he stepped into a extremely favorable spot and didn't have any postseason success.
He could go to NJ and show to be an elite coach but if he bombs there, the argument that he is a good coach starts to fade.

Our special teams in the postseason have been weak and a coaching staff needs to wear a decent portion of blame for that.

 

[conFABulator]

We actually don't have much idea how good or bad of a coach Keefe was.
His first NHL job he stepped into a extremely favorable spot and didn't have any postseason success.
He could go to NJ and show to be an elite coach but if he bombs there, the argument that he is a good coach starts to fade.

Our special teams in the postseason have been weak and a coaching staff needs to wear a decent portion of blame for that.

This is true, he could also have great success, including playoffs on NJ and that doesn't mean he was a a great coach here. It could mean the environment in NJ is different or that he learned a lot here that he is no applying there.

I feel pretty comfortable saying it was time for a new voice and for Keefe to go, I felt that last year too.

I am old enough to remember how Burns came in and things were immediately different. We were just a new team, a better one. I am certainly hopeful that Berube can have that kind of impact. A coach can impact not only systems and special teams, lineups and roster decisions, but also compete, work ethic and accountability.

Here's hoping...

 

[notDatsyuk]

Based on his track record I’m not convinced it’d be best for the Leafs to have Treliving making major roster decisions. I fear if he’s allowed to continue next year he’ll close any hope at eastern final and will set them back years.

He's already done better, or at least not as badly, as his predecessor, so I'm willing to give him a fair chance.

 

[Nineteen67]

He's already done better, or at least not as badly, as his predecessor, so I'm willing to give him a fair chance.

That’s a low bar, but has he really done better? Spending 53% of the cap on the same four players seems illogical and may already sending the team back down the hill.

Is Domi his best signing ever?

 

[hobarth]

I can remember when the general consensus was that players needed to do something exceptional to get paid like they are the best, I think that essentially meant winning the Cup or coming very close. Next year Nylander will be tied for 6th on a highest paid list, TO will have 4 of the top 12 paid players in the NHL. I think the key here is that those 4 Leafs are paid like they're the best, the results doesn't support the compensation.

The Top 25 Highest-Paid NHL Players in 2024-25

Auston Matthews of the Maple Leafs is the highest-paid NHL player, earning $13.25 million annually. Here is the complete list.

frontofficesports.com

 

[notDatsyuk]

That’s a low bar, but has he really done better? Spending 53% of the cap on the same four players seems illogical and may already sending the team back down the hill.

Is Domi his best signing ever?

He didn't spend 53% of the cap - a large chunk of that was spent before he arrived.

All you can honestly blame him for as far as those four go is slight overpayments to Matty and Willy.

Let's at least wait to see if he resigns JT and MItch for a combined $22M before we blame him for their contracts.

 

[LeafEgo]

That’s a low bar, but has he really done better? Spending 53% of the cap on the same four players seems illogical and may already sending the team back down the hill.

Is Domi his best signing ever?

It's been one season. Probably Jones, but maybe Domi. I'd rate Benoit/McMann at 1.35 a peice equal value. If the team had of gone further in the playoffs Bert may have made a case by the end of it, he was rolling and that was his purpose.

We haven't seen this offseason signings in action yet. Tanev is in a good spot to take the mantle, and a long shot in Nylander part two. They ranked him 8th this offseason for what it's worth (Pitts 19th). And 4th last year.

How much was out there that he missed on last year? The players he has added are what we needed to start collecting. Next year when cap comes off the books is likely when the best signing comes.

 

[Evilhomer]

It's been one season. Probably Jones, but maybe Domi. I'd rate Benoit/McMann at 1.35 a peice equal value. If the team had of gone further in the playoffs Bert may have made a case by the end of it, he was rolling and that was his purpose.

We haven't seen this offseason signings in action yet. Tanev is in a good spot to take the mantle, and a long shot in Nylander part two. They ranked him 8th this offseason for what it's worth (Pitts 19th). And 4th last year.

How much was out there that he missed on last year? The players he has added are what we needed to start collecting. Next year when cap comes off the books is likely when the best signing comes.

Tanev will be his best signing by a ridiculously large margin.

 

[Nineteen67]

It's been one season. Probably Jones, but maybe Domi. I'd rate Benoit/McMann at 1.35 a peice equal value. If the team had of gone further in the playoffs Bert may have made a case by the end of it, he was rolling and that was his purpose.

We haven't seen this offseason signings in action yet. Tanev is in a good spot to take the mantle, and a long shot in Nylander part two. They ranked him 8th this offseason for what it's worth (Pitts 19th). And 4th last year.

How much was out there that he missed on last year? The players he has added are what we needed to start collecting. Next year when cap comes off the books is likely when the best signing comes.

I meant was Domi his best career signing.

What money comes off the books? Tavares’ is already spoken for

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

For the record, I thought they should have fired Keefe last off-season. Once they fired Dubas and had to replace him, I understood running with Sheldon for one more year.

The timing of the Dubas departure screwed our off-season last year and I thought Treliving did OK under those tough circumstances.

They should have fired Keefe in 2021 after he blew a 3-1 series lead to Montreal.

He should have been fired INSTANTLY after that.

 

[Schennanigans]

There better imo but it’s still the core that’ll fail to deliver again in the playoffs.

 

[conFABulator]

They should have fired Keefe in 2021 after he blew a 3-1 series lead to Montreal.

He should have been fired INSTANTLY after that.

That whole year was weird. The Tavares injury was a thing. Obviously, in hindsight you are correct. We fired him before we win anything so we should have fired him sooner or never hired him.

At the time, however, I wasn't sure he had to go.

 

[Fogelhund]

""

 

[ACC1224]

""

Get out of here with the positivity.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Cowan has a good chance at making the team and so does Grebyonkin, he's been playing against men for awhile now. Minten is a maybe depending on what we do/who we trade:

Domi - Matthews - Marner
Grebyonkin - Tavares - Nylander
Cowan - Minten - A. Nylander
Knies - McMann - Reaves

There is no chance in hell Knies is on the 4th line

Or McMann for that matter.

 

[conFABulator]

Yeah I like those lines, our fourth line would be really good and capable of scoring a good amount of goals. I guess you could switch it up a bit it doesn't really matter as long as said players are all in the line-up.

Knies - Matthews - Marner
Grebyonkin - Tavares - Nylander
Cowan - Domi - A. Nylander
McMann - Minten - Reaves

Cowan has a good chance at making the team and so does Grebyonkin, he's been playing against men for awhile now. Minten is a maybe depending on what we do/who we trade:

Domi - Matthews - Marner
Grebyonkin - Tavares - Nylander
Cowan - Minten - A. Nylander
Knies - McMann - Reaves

What's the return for Holmberg, Robertson, Jarnkrok, Kampf and Dewar? You have a lot of unproven rookies taking the spots of veterans that require waivers.

Also, Knies and McMann are top nine and I don't think McMann is a centre.