The new GM has Murray to get rid of somehow
An 11M Tavares for two more years
A questionable goaltending and defense situation
Missing at least 2 centers, probably 3 because Tavares can't drive play now
A broken core that can't get it done who are all about to get NMC and modified NTC clauses kicking in
That's brutal, Tavares is also a long term unmovable problem
Your being very nice about how bad this situation is, there's worse jobs around but this isn't a good situation and we've burned through a lot of our picks
The fact our core are entitled brats who pout when they don't have gobs of money thrown at them isn't exactly ideal either
This team needs a GM who's not going to take any ****, this is a business
Murray is hardly a difficult move. Honestly, wouldn't even be surprised if a team wants him in a trade if you retain 50% on him. UFA goalie market sucks and there is a lot worse you can do than him at 2.3 mill as a potential 1B. It is certainly better than a buyout, and the Leafs probably do not care about 2.3 mill in dead cap for next year as much as the 2 mill the year after when Matthews/Nylander expires. Not even worth whatever cost to dump him over the 2.3 mill in dead cap either, especially when you can probably a mid-round pick out of him at 50%.
I don't think the goaltending is a big issue. I mean 3/4 of the teams in the Conference Finals right now had massive goaltending question marks at some point this year. Florida started the playoffs with their 3rd stringer over their 10.5 mill goalie who has since taken back the job and is practically pulling a Price. Vegas has been running a carrousel of goalies all year. Carolina started with Raanta only to go with Andersen mid-way through the Islanders series. Meanwhile, likely Vezina-winner Ullmark crapped the bed in the playoffs again. Vasilevsky was beat by Samsonov. Hellebuyck, the only guy who could possibly be available to potentially improve our goaltending situation, crapped the bed. Good goaltending is important but we've also seen on many occasions that getting a top-notch guy could mean jack squat. It's not a total crap shoot, but Samsonov-Woll have earned enough trust to not make that any kind of concern for the next GM.
I guess defense could be a concern if the way they played in the playoffs is the new normal. Although they were excellent in the regular season and it would not be difficult for the new GM to make a splash in that area if they really wanted to. Likely would involve moving Brodie, and if he was made available, you can bet there would not be a shortage of potential suitors for him. Also a good number of solid UFA defensemen available too.
Tavares is around for 2 more years. That is hardly a "long term" problem. He was also still a PPG guy in the regular season, which made him 11th in the league out of centers (despite playing 1 minute less than the next lowest TOI of the bunch, and most guys playing 2-3 minutes more per game than him). Also one of the best faceoff and PP guys in the league last year. Let's be honest, if he was on the open market and chasing top dollar, he may not be making double digits but that number is easily starting with a 9 and likely goes longer than 2 years. So we are complaining about a PPG 1C caliber guy who is, at most, 2 mill overpaid for the next 2 years? I can guarantee you, there are very few, if any, teams that do not have at least one guy who is overpaid by at least that much, if not multiple guys and those guys are probably bottom 6 plugs you can easily find for cheap in UFA each year. He is also a guy who can easily still play at center full time next year... Worst case, you have to put a guy like Jarnkrok on there to compliment him and cover some of the pure speed responsibilities like Kerfoot did, and that is hardly the worst scenario in the world.
Meanwhile, Tavares is the only guy the Leafs would really have "trouble" moving if they ever wanted salary out... And it is really only trouble because he has a NMC that he almost certainly won't waive. Matthews, Marner, and Nylander would not be short for suitors and certainly gives whoever is taking over a ton of options to radically change this team. Brodie would not be either, although obviously not in the same way as the aforementioned 3. Muzzin is on LTIR and ARI or someone else would easily take him off our hands at practically no cost to us if we decided it was worth it. He makes 2 mill in real salary next year after July 1. Murray shouldn't be hard to move. That literally leaves Rielly as the only guy making over 2.1 mill, and Rielly is going nowhere.
This is certainly a "good" situation. Better than pretty much any situation a GM has walked into in the past except for maybe Tampa and Brisebois. The only "tough" part is figuring out where this team is going with the core. Certainly not understating the importance and difficulty of that decision, but at the same time, we are talking about 3 premier players in their primes and a team that mostly needs to act on its potential more than needing to build on it (even though the latter is arguably more preferable to some).
