That lineup is too old and doesn’t have a 1 D, but might make the playoffs. If the plan is to do a proper rebuild, trading Matthews wouldn’t be the end of the world, or the worst thing the franchise has ever done.
I don't see it happening. They just went all in for this season and I expect more of the same for the next couple of years. They'll start a rebuild (hopefully a rebuild, not a retool) when the D is so old that even the biggest optimist understands that the window is closed.
Bleak indeed. I don't think I'm far off when I say we had a ton of high picks, and picked BPA every single time. Kadri, Rielly, then Nylander, Marner and Matthews, all very good picks and close to BPA (not sure what we missed besides not taking Rantanen over Marner). We were also extremely lucky to have someone as good as Matthews even available when we had the 1st overall pick, you could hardly ask for a better scenario to kick off a rebuild. And after all that, we have one playoff round win to show for it 8 years later. It's been an absolutely mind blowing failure up to this point, and there's not many chapters left in this story either.
The window is basically 3-4 years, unless they are able to extend it by turning over the defense, which may be asking too much.
A bit too optimistic considering how old they are. And good luck turning over the entire defence, how is that supposed to happen?
I'm pretty sure we're basically agreeing with one another. You're saying 3 years, I can maybe see it extending to 4 if they can add a couple of defensemen that push everyone else down the pecking order. I see the window lasting basically as long as Matthews' current deal. After that, if they have to start over, so be it. Happens to all teams. But why worry about 3 or 4 years from now? They can win this season.
I think you meant obsession. when you start to realize that whether they win or lose has no bearing on your life you'll feel much better. i understand the frustration but just let it go. i was there one day as well.
So, by the end of the week the Leafs will likely be in first place in their division and top 5 in the NHL...and dark days lay ahead? Sigh. You want dark days, walk over to the Jays thread.
There is no future for this team. It's all in with Mathews and Nylander. Marner and Tavares could be gone. When you trade for a Carlo and then Laughton it's this year and next then Mathews walks and another tank and 5 yr. build starts. The entire management could be gone this summer.
Mitch only wants like 50% of that.
He would accept 5 if we give him term, perhaps with a handshake agreement for a future spot on Robidas Island.
Right - there's no guarantee that letting them go and bringing in other players will make the team better (or worse), but if we don't consider 'the same' to be good enough (another discussion entirely), and don't expect a sudden improvement from them, then why repeat what isn't working?
