If you could control the Leafs, what would you do?

[DraftSchmaft]

Fire Shanahan and Dubas day one and bring in a President and GM with experience.

Instruct the new GM to dismantle the core forwards(except Nylander) while resigning Reilly for 5x9.75 or something similar, hopefully not for more than five years. Not that I like him that much but he seems to be more genuine than the rest and we need to hit the cap floor - not to mention we really have no d prospects that have a hope of being top pair d so he's not gonna be in the way. The instructions for dismantling the core would be specific - we must obtain at least one roster player between 22 and 25 and at least one pick and at least one prospect. Minimum two right handed defenseman and two centers coming back in total for Matthews+Tavares+Marner. Retain on Tavares as needed. The players brought in will at minimum have 125 games played, decent potential for growth, skate well and play hard. No perimeter players. Also on the chopping block would be Muzzin, Holl, Dermott, Engval and Micheyev. Might get something decent in return for these five. Emphasis on center prospects.

This will change the culture of the team over night.

Run a forward group of Nylander, Kerfoot, Kase, Bunting, Kampf, Spezza, Simmonds, Ritchie and Amadio plus the new players brought in.

Run a defense of Reilly, Brodie, Sandin and Liljegren plus the new players brought in.

If any GM candidate wants to touch Matthews they won't be hired. Matthews goal scoring is borderline generational. This losing streak has you people losing your damn minds.

 

[HabsInsider]

For those who don't know me, I'm a fan of the Leafs too. Here's what I'd do as GM..

Make it a top priority to re-up Matthews long-term. Keep Nylander who is coming into his own at a relative bargain. Re-sign Rielly!

Make peace with the inevitability of breaking up the 'Big 4.' Probably Tavares should be the first to go, but that's complicated with the Captaincy and a NMC. That leaves Marner who is presently under-performing. Perhaps I'd take the best offer for one of Tavares, Marner or Nylander but I'd never trade Matthews unless he wanted out.

I would look to change the forward group more than anything. IMO the top 4 D is set and my only complaint about goaltending is I'd like someone more durable than Mrazek.

I also think the Leafs would benefit from having a drill sergeant coach the team, except for Spezza. He is exempt.

Shanny HMU.

 

[ANDI P IS CUTE]

the loss of bogo was huge, #2 after hyman.

 

[bigbabybuda]

Bring up Ho-Sang and see if he can add some spark into the top 6. Shake up the rest of the lines. Trade Demott and let Liljgren play. Trade Kefoot and move Rotchie down to the forth line if I can't move him. He's been horrific. See if I could possibly get Kadri back. He may was the heart of this team regardless of his 2 suspensions. The second one I don't even blame him for but won't go into that. Don't panic because of 7 games and reevaluate after the season. If we miss the playoffs or lose in first round again than major changes will be made but I'm not expecting either of those things to happen.

Lol at giving Spezza the captaincy over Tavares. Yes, Spezza has played well so far this year and I'd even like to see him given time in the top 6 but he isn't even nearly as good of a player as Tavares is at this point in his career and a 7 game sample size doesn't change that. It's beyond an absurd notion.

 

[LegChairGM]

If any GM candidate wants to touch Matthews they won't be hired. Matthews goal scoring is borderline generational. This losing streak has you people losing your damn minds.

Letting the first overall pick walk for nothing is what would be crazy.

 

[Folignos Helmet]

When you start to actually make rosters you begin to see the dilemma.

If Marner and Tavares end up clicking on the second line it's lights out. They'll be away from first line defence and rack up their 90 points again. The rest of those guys wouldn't even be worth 20% of JT/Marner clicking on the second line.

Therefore, you can't unload these two without a plan and if that plan doesn't go exactly as planned, they stay.

You can't leave hypothetical (JT/MM money) in your roster after they're gone. These two spots need to be 100% locks if you trade them otherwise we will have to tank to complete our top 6. We got lucky with how quick the trio took off too....so it might be another 2-5 years before the top 6 is beast and suddenly Nylander is 31.

So for example a Marner trade should bring back an Eklund from the Sharks. Or find a team who wants to 1 for 1 swap young stars who need a change of scenery.

If Marner is being traded just so we have cap room to play with we already lost even worse than we're losing right now. It will be nothing but overpaid bandaids until they realize they need to tank.

The problem is the core 4 set the behaviour of the team, and collectively they have no will, so I think you need to break it up, maybe its just trading one, ie Mitch, or two, but one of the pieces coming back needs to be a leader with some will, we've seen depth with experience or jam doesn't work, it needs to come from the core like it was with Roberts, Sundin, Tucker, leading the way. I think someone like Roberts added to the leadership group helped give Sundin more confidence. I don't know who that modern day Roberts is but right now none of our 4 have it. If that behaviour comes from the top then it cascades through the team.

Marner and JT can start racking up points and then wither in the playoffs again.

I don't see success driven by those 4, so in some order Dubas - who is committed to them, and one of the 4 need to go.

 

[Niagara Bill]

listen I am no fan of the way the team is constructed but GD takes like this is why we get laughed at on here...really my dude you're gonna fix all sickness in 14 days...considering thats maybe 4 games...someone sign this man up for an NHL contract...he apparently has the 6th sense

No, but the first thing you have to decide is who wants to play the game. Marner is obvious that he has lost the love when the girlfriend and money came. Ritchie wants to play like Marner, not like the hard winger he can be, Dermott is a coward and defence is terrible.
Keefe zoned out, he is escaping and knows players have zoned out. You do need time to judge the room. So yes, make a few decisions that gets attention, then sit and watch.

 

[JayfromNB1219]

No, but the first thing you have to decide is who wants to play the game. Marner is obvious that he has lost the love when the girlfriend and money came. Ritchie wants to play like Marner, not like the hard winger he can be, Dermott is a coward and defence is terrible.
Keefe zoned out, he is escaping and knows players have zoned out. You do need time to judge the room. So yes, make a few decisions that gets attention, then sit and watch.

fair, misread your statement, thanks for clearing that up

 

[JayfromNB1219]

The problem is the core 4 set the behaviour of the team, and collectively they have no will, so I think you need to break it up, maybe its just trading one, ie Mitch, or two, but one of the pieces coming back needs to be a leader with some will, we've seen depth with experience or jam doesn't work, it needs to come from the core like it was with Roberts, Sundin, Tucker, leading the way. I think someone like Roberts added to the leadership group helped give Sundin more confidence. I don't know who that modern day Roberts is but right now none of our 4 have it. If that behaviour comes from the top then it cascades through the team.
Marner and JT can start racking up points and then wither in the playoffs again.

I don't see success driven by those 4, so in some order Dubas - who is committed to them, and one of the 4 need to go.

If you could ever pry him out of St Louis a Ryan O'Reilley type would be the player you're looking for because unfortunately with this group it just can't be any old leader (Spezza would fit the bill in that instance) you need someone who has won it all and brings that gritty 2-way leadership who is vocal and doen't take sht from anybody on his team or any other team

 

[HamiltonNHL]

I don't like the team, i'm rebuilding.

Sad but true.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

No, but the first thing you have to decide is who wants to play the game. Marner is obvious that he has lost the love when the girlfriend and money came. Ritchie wants to play like Marner, not like the hard winger he can be, Dermott is a coward and defence is terrible.
Keefe zoned out, he is escaping and knows players have zoned out. You do need time to judge the room. So yes, make a few decisions that gets attention, then sit and watch.

FYI Dermy would take a puck in da head for da team .. he may not be strongest Leaf but he is not afraid of anyone .. he is struggling to learn positioning in NHL game for sure and he often gets mixed up still in his assignments which is something he should have learned under Bogo .. but he is far from a coward .. and he has speed to cover up for lack of foot speed issues with Sandin which everyone now sees with Sandin playing regularly

 

[ShaneFalco]

Fire Shanny and Dubas
Bring someone in who won't coddle these guys and has no ties or emotional attachment to them
Then you look at the core and how it is poorly constructed

 

[Stigma]

the loss of bogo was huge, #2 after hyman.

I agree with this. What a stabilizing presence he had. Such a good defensive d-man, with a physical presence and leadership qualities. I'm not faulting Dubas though. It was just a bad situation for Bogo and he had to go. Freakin' Covid.

 

[notbias]

A lot of suggestions are basically saying we need to reinstate Lou and Babs.

 

[Havoc]

delete. quoted wrong guy

 

[Havoc]

The problem is the core 4 set the behaviour of the team, and collectively they have no will, so I think you need to break it up, maybe its just trading one, ie Mitch, or two, but one of the pieces coming back needs to be a leader with some will, we've seen depth with experience or jam doesn't work, it needs to come from the core like it was with Roberts, Sundin, Tucker, leading the way. I think someone like Roberts added to the leadership group helped give Sundin more confidence. I don't know who that modern day Roberts is but right now none of our 4 have it. If that behaviour comes from the top then it cascades through the team.

Marner and JT can start racking up points and then wither in the playoffs again.

I don't see success driven by those 4, so in some order Dubas - who is committed to them, and one of the 4 need to go.

Yeah now this I like. If we're trading Marner for a prime Roberts, you're hired

 

[DraftSchmaft]

Letting the first overall pick walk for nothing is what would be crazy.

Rebuilding teams right now can't even get their hands on a Matthews. You want us to rebuild and also trade the piece to rebuild around?

Put the Xbox down.

The fact you'd even debate this is scary. People need a week or so away from this site losing a grip on reality

 

[Darcy Tucker]

2 coaches at the same time.

 

[57 Years No Cup]

If any GM candidate wants to touch Matthews they won't be hired. Matthews goal scoring is borderline generational. This losing streak has you people losing your damn minds.

Matthews is a paycheque player who only cares about his individual stats and the "prestige" a high paid hockey life brings. He doesn't care about winning, and he doesn't like being under the microscope in Toronto. He will bolt at the end of his current deal for somewhere in the Southern US where he can still get paid and where hockey is an afterthought.

You heard it here first.

 

[DraftSchmaft]

Matthews is a paycheque player who only cares about his individual stats and the "prestige" a high paid hockey life brings. He doesn't care about winning, and he doesn't like being under the microscope in Toronto. He will bolt at the end of his current deal for somewhere in the Southern US where he can still get paid and where hockey is an afterthought.

You heard it here first.

Matthews played with one wrist in the playoffs and changed his game to a bruiser in order to give Marner a lot of room to work with. How do you think Marners fancy possession stats look so good?

Your opinion is feelings based. Not hockey based.

 

[57 Years No Cup]

Matthews played with one wrist in the playoffs and changed his game to a bruiser in order to give Marner a lot of room to work with. How do you think Marners fancy possession stats look so good?

Your opinion is feelings based. Not hockey based.

We'll see.

 

[DraftSchmaft]

We'll see.

We'll see at least means a part of you is rooting for him lol. I'll take it.

 

[Twine Tickler]

If I were GM, I would wait until Christmas time to evaluate the current group. If we are not firmly in a playoff position by then, and with the arrow pointing upward I think I would pull the cord on this core group. Ie. if this Group does not present themselves as a true top 5-7 team in the NHL, I think we can say they won't win the cup. Or at least not likely.

I'd begin my cleaning of house by moving Morgan Reilly with retention to maximize his return value.

I'd also move Kerfoot, and try to move supporting pieces like Ritchie, Kase, and Engvall.

I would keep KD and Shanny in charge for another year, with firm orders to liquidate Marner's 10.5 Million for a futures heavy package.

I think this core is extremely talented, but its becoming more clear that they might not be the right mix of players. If we remember When Boston traded Lucic in 2015, they were stuck in the mud a bit. They acquired Martin Jones, Colin Miller and 13OA. They then went on to flip Martin Jones to SJ for another 1st. They went on to select 3 of the worst players in a completely stacked draft clast (Zboril, Debrusk, Seshnyin).

Had they selected any of the following with those picks, they would have been a dynasty:

Barzal, Chabot, Connor, Boeser, Samsonov, Erikson Ek, Konecny, Aho, Beuvillier....etc

Long story short, we can turn our franchise around in short order with High picks from the returns or Marner and Reilly. Combine that with the continued maturation of our current pool, we could really have a team in the years to come.

2022-23 season

I'd keep A-Matts for the 2022-23 season, use the Marner capital to fill additional voids. Should the team come out again and fail, I'd begin phase 2 of this modified rebuild in the offseason thereafter (2023) which would include:

Move A-Matts for a kings ransom and JT @50% retention to another team. Yes JT has a full-NTC, however he is likely not down for a rebuild either.

I will say my hope is to have A-Matts a leaf for the remainder of his career, I just cannot see him resigning at this point, especially if a failure of 2021-22 is followed by yet another failure in 2022-23.

After A-Matts and JT are gone, we will firmly be in a full rebuild, however we'd have a promising young cast of prospects from the Marner/Reilly Hauls as well as the JT and A-Matts returns. Starting from scratch seems to be the only way to the top

 

[Throw More Waffles]

I think it's too late. The unprecedented dramatic overpayments ruined what was at one point a very very promising rebuild.

The problem is, right now, the Shanahan team aren't going to make decisions that are best for the leafs. They're going to make decisions to try and save their jobs.

 

[57 Years No Cup]

We'll see at least means a part of you is rooting for him lol. I'll take it.

I would love love love him to prove me wrong.