How would YOU tackle this early season slump?

[JT AM da real deal]

 

[barilko05]

Strip Tavares of the captaincy and light a fire under the top players.

Sure. Piss off the only guy who's appears to be giving any effort by taking his C away. Harold, is that you?

 

[All Mod Cons]

I'd wait until Christmas, then I'd make an assessment of the team and work from there

I will say one thing though, I'm not letting these players quit on another coach

Firing the coach is the easiest thing to do but I'd start looking for trades and shipping out players instead

We cannot trust the GM with making those trades though. So who makes them?

 

[PROUD PAPA]

It's up to the players as far as i'm concerned. There are no adjustments, no solutions in the press box or minors, no alterations to the system that will override the lack of competitiveness the players willingly hit the ice with.
I think you'd have to make sweeping changes to the roster or find some psychological means of inspiring the level of commitment needed to maximize their potential.

 

[barilko05]

The play was ALL on Sandin. That puck was in the corner. His ass should have been at the blueline anticipating a pass or a breakout. He pinched, got caught, and left Holl out to dry. He should have been plastered to the bench for the rest of the period. And he should be shipped out today along with whatever else it takes (besides Nies or Robertson that is) to get Chycrun. I suggest Nylander.

 

[WTFMAN99]

The play was ALL on Sandin. That puck was in the corner. His ass should have been at the blueline anticipating a pass or a breakout. He pinched, got caught, and left Holl out to dry. He should have been plastered to the bench for the rest of the period. And he should be shipped out today along with whatever else it takes (besides Nies or Robertson that is) to get Chycrun. I suggest Nylander.

So you want to acquire the Joffrey Lupul of defenseman? He's a left shot that is injury prone AF.

You can do better for Nylander if you're going that route but Nylander has been arguably the most productive forward all year.

 

[egd27]

I agree with that. It's incredibly frustrating and annoying. Losing to crap teams and the way they are losing is awful.

Will they figure it out?

I suppose it depends on what you mean by "it".

I think they will win more often than not, but I'm not as optimistic that they will develop the "will to win" that it takes when they are not at their best, or when things are going their way.

 

[Dreakmur]

Maybe some perspective would help? What do these teams have in common?

• 2021-22: Colorado - 4-5-1
• 2020-21: Tampa Bay - 8-1-1
• 2019-20: Tampa Bay - 5-3-2
• 2018-19: St. Louis - 3-4-3
• 2017-18: Washington - 4-5-1

They fired their coach before winning the cup?

 

[SprDaVE]

They fired their coach before winning the cup?

Did they?

 

[Racer88]

The only realistic thing you could do right now is fire the coach. The time to make serious changes was least off season. The minute ownership realized Dubas was just going to run back basically the same thing he should have been fired and if Shanny refused then he should be fired too. Failing to do it at that time then the minute they realized he was going after Murray he should have been shown the door

 

[DarkKnight]

There are good people out there, go get ‘em. This management group has had ample opportunities, I fail to see the downside giving this organization a big wake-up call. And if certain players don’t like it, BYE!

Pull the band aid, get it over with.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

There is absolutely no reason to wait another 10,20,30 games. This is the team.

The only thing that will possibly change is they start to get back to their winning ways (inevitably they will be better at least) and allow Dubas an excuse to maintain the status quo. And since there is nothing different/better about this team than the one that lost to the Bolts, the status quo is clearly not good enough.

It's up to Shanny to either start planning who the next GM will be now, wait until after Christmas or until after the season is done, I'd just suggest there's no reason to wait on the inevitable.

Do leaf fans trust Shanny to make these decisions? To me he's going to get his ass fired too. Burke was the President and Nonis did the GM day to day stuff. Both were fired. No sorry Shanny shouldn't get a do over. He's been here a long time.

 

[PeE eL DuBoiS]

I would fire Keefe if the team isn't competitive around the 20 game mark, and get a harder-nosed coach. I don't care what the standings suggest. If we can't win games againt the worst teams in the league, how do we expect to have sustainable success against the best? Everyone feels far too comfortable, and it's Dubas' and Keefe's fault for baby-stepping around egos. At the trade deadline, if the boys don't want to play hard for a new coach, I would tear it down before Matthews' NMC kicks in.

 

[Gabriel426]

I would fire Keefe if the team isn't competitive around the 20 game mark, and get a harder-nosed coach. I don't care what the standings suggest. If we can't win games againt the worst teams in the league, how do we expect to have sustainable success against the best?Everyone feels far too comfortable, and it's Dubas' and Keefe's fault for baby-stepping around egos. At the trade deadline, if the boys don't want to play hard for a new coach, I would tear it down before Matthew's NMC kicks in.

I would not even let it to the 20 games mark.
Honestly if they can’t win the remaining two games this week. Keefe doesn’t need to fly back to TO with the team.
Also start making calls to trade the top guys who just doesn’t have the mentality to scarify to win.

 

[Darcy Tucker]

Sure. Piss off the only guy who's appears to be giving any effort by taking his C away. Harold, is that you?

Tavares should hand in the C at this point.

 

[egd27]

Mine is just an opinion, the same as yours.

But at least your opinion isn't one of complete denial that there are significant problems with this organization.

 

[HoweHullOrr]

Why bother at this point.
You bet your career on this core and legendary coach.
Let them figure it out.
This is the year you either get it, or change it.

Agree with this. Just get rid of Shanny, Dubas & Keefe if they don't win a couple playoff rounds. We have no cap, so hard to find a way to make a difference. I guess if we don't make the playoffs, the moves mentioned here could be made sooner. Winning just one round after all this playoff futility would be a really low bar.

 

[Kiwi]

We cannot trust the GM with making those trades though. So who makes them?

I'm presuming Dubas would be gone by then so the new guy that replaced Dubas

 

[Judas Tavares]

Don't think you can fire one of Shanny, Dubas or Keefe without firing all 3. They all have the same vision, no sense of firing one and bringing in someone else with a different vision as a bandaid solution.

 

[Captain Crunch]

Leafs need a major shake up. Fire Dubas, fire keefe. Bring in new GM asap.

The new GM can decide to move Tavares, Nylander to balance the d-core. The d-core is a joke and will let every fan down in the playoffs. This is on Kyle Dubas. Fire him ASAP.

And Shanahan has to be included too!

 

[stealth1]

How much different can I explain that those teams were not cup winners prior to them winning the cup? They had vastly different playoff experiences as well.

If you can't understand that, then I guess we'll have to move on from this discussion. Seems really simple to me.

Those teams also had better defense and better depth.

 

[Captain Crunch]

My impression is that Shanahan's job is safe no matter what this season brings.

If that’s the case, just wow! To me, Shanahan always has the look of a “dear in the headlights” whenever I see him. When he was first hired I was excited, because I thought he would build a team with a few players who played the game the way he played. Guess not!

 

[Menzinger]

I'd wait until Christmas, then I'd make an assessment of the team and work from there

I will say one thing though, I'm not letting these players quit on another coach

Firing the coach is the easiest thing to do but I'd start looking for trades and shipping out players instead

Yep. It's all a package deal at this point.

We either see them thrive together or multiple aspects of it need to be dismantled from the GM to coach to core.

 

[Kiwi]

Yep. It's all a package deal at this point.

We either see them thrive together or multiple aspects of it need to be dismantled from the GM to coach to core.

Yep, I don't think anybody deserves a pass if this thing starts to spiral

I just hope the boys have enough professional pride to start giving an effort that's in line with there obvious talent

 

[Tak7]

Strip Tavares of the captaincy and light a fire under the top players.

They've tried:
1 - A coaching change
2 - Letting a coach go that the core doesn't like
3 - Hiring a coach that the core does like
4 - Letting pieces go that the core likes
5 - Bringing experienced pieces in to influence the core
6 - Blasting the core publicly
7 - Coddling the core publicly
8 - Removing all responsibility for past defeats from the core
9 - Putting all their trust in the core

What makes you think a stitched letter on a jersey is going to fire the top players up, when none of the other things have worked?