News Article: Mirtle: Maple Leafs Ownership Could Make Massive Changes if 'Really Disappointing First-Round Exit' Happens Again in the Playoffs

[Stephen]

Every good team has that skeleton. Do you think other teams have olympic rosters? The team was able to set the tone physically and defend strongly. Can't ask more than that. The change is needed to the top end as I said.

Not sure how people are arguing with me. People seriously think this team needs to be ripped down to the studs to win? They are a yearly playoff team and have a lot of good qualities. It is a handful of players not stepping up each year

Well, deep down my belief is all of our core players are basically duds. Nylander is alright but compared to all the playoff choke artists looks like Wendel in 1993. Matthews is respectable in the playoffs, but basically more dud than stud, health, injuries, history all factored in. Everyone else, Tavares, Rielly and Marner need to be flushed.

So by the looks of things, we don't have a foundation. But we have some good character support that can do some damage as a darkhorse team. That's not a great position to be in as a franchise.

 

[notbias]

You have 16 playoff teams. I have Vegas, Dallas, Edmonton, Florida clearly ahead. Likely Carolina, NYR and a healthy Van too. So a middle of the pack playoff team aka mediocre.

They lack scoring, their D is shallow but Swayman is solid

I disagree with your assessment of a few teams, mostly Vancouver/Edmonton, not sure Carolina or the NYR are ahead, so that leaves 3 teams...

Doesn't seem mediocre.

How is their D shallow? McCavoy, Lindholm, and Carlo is one of the best top 3 (they are on the ice for 45+ mins a game probably).

They have 2 reliable young D filling in the last 2 spots and Shattenkirk who is hit/miss.

Their D is great, trying to change the narrative now is weird.

 

[Stephen]

You have 16 playoff teams. I have Vegas, Dallas, Edmonton, Florida clearly ahead. Likely Carolina, NYR and a healthy Van too. So a middle of the pack playoff team aka mediocre.

They lack scoring, their D is shallow but Swayman is solid

Current Boston is a classic Lou Lamoriello special. They could crap out in the first round or go on an ugly finals run like the 2012 team on the strength of some goaltending and just mediocre everything.

 

[Gallagbi]

I disagree with your assessment of a few teams, mostly Vancouver/Edmonton, not sure Carolina or the NYR are ahead, so that leaves 3 teams...

Doesn't seem mediocre.

How is their D shallow? McCavoy, Lindholm, and Carlo is one of the best top 3 (they are on the ice for 45+ mins a game probably).

They have 2 reliable young D filling in the last 2 spots and Shattenkirk who is hit/miss.

Their D is great, trying to change the narrative now is weird.

Edmonton is clearly ahead. I'd throw at least NYR/Car ahead too, so middle of the pack which is mediocre.

Shallow means depth. McAvoy and Lindholm are solid. Carlos a good middle pair guy. Then it falls off. Stack on the scoring and C depth and you're left with a middle tier playoff team.

 

[Sypher04]

I would say at the bare minimum, if you could, you’d want to get out of the Tavares contract this summer. But given you can’t move him without him okaying it, that doesn’t seem overly likely.

We’ll see what happens but I think people should prepare their expectations for change with the reality they likely can’t change anything amongst the core for another year.

Plenty of other stuff we can fix in the meantime if that’s how it goes down, starting with coaching. What an absolute disaster our special teams were this year.

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

*licks chops.

Make changes the majority of the fanbase has wanted since the Montreal series.

I personally don't care about all the people saying that "Change for the sake of change doesn't work"....at this point what is the worst that could happen? We lose again? I want this team gutted with only the guys you think can help (AM+Willy) and build it around them. All of the Dubas and Shanny supporters that kept saying that it's hard to acquire skill drove the bus for too long. We just proved a team playing tight defense can do the same as the team with a high flying offense that gets shot down every year. Do what we have been begging for...change the mix.

 

[JKG33]

People don't want to hear it but the team is close. It needs tweaks not to be blown up. Marner is a clear problem, he is ineffective in the post season. Tavares is also old. Having that 22M is going to make a big difference.

2 years from now we have Knies and Woll (and maybe Robertson) solidly established in their NHL careers and Cowan and others coming up to give cheap depth.

We need a new coach and we need to retool. Our defense is too old, needs to be made in the same style but younger and we need a few good young centers. And a good goalie who can compliment Woll.

Could be worse than using next year as a transition year.

This team has the most well paid top 6 forward group in the league, and they can't score in the playoffs. The only thing they're close to is early tee times

 

[BraveCanadian]

Well, deep down my belief is all of our core players are basically duds. Nylander is alright but compared to all the playoff choke artists looks like Wendel in 1993. Matthews is respectable in the playoffs, but basically more dud than stud, health, injuries, history all factored in. Everyone else, Tavares, Rielly and Marner need to be flushed.

So by the looks of things, we don't have a foundation. But we have some good character support that can do some damage as a darkhorse team. That's not a great position to be in as a franchise.

Yeah the big problem remains that the best players are not the best players in this or any series.

This includes ALL of Matthews, Marner, Teflon Willy, and Tavares. Rielly too but his contract is less of a problem.

I remember the olden days when a Gilmour or Roberts type would take over a series with less talent than these guys but 1000x more willpower.

Matthews had one game this year that you could kind of say that about and the rest of them none. Even Willy, although people praise him like he’s some kind of captain clutch has just been opportunistic a few times.. it isn’t like he went and to end or drove through a couple of defenders to make a statement.

I’m not sure that moving any one or two of these guys will be enough. We may have a few Joe Thorntons to get rid of to reset the whole culture.

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

They overpaid all of them, yes all of them first Dubas then Treliving.

Dubas who being so smart frankly outsmarted himself putting them, and if we stick with them us, into another 50+ year funk.

Auston Matthews has never been a captain, period. He was never a USHL captain nor a Swiss League captain. There is a reason for that, stop convincing yourself he has leadership qualities because he can score goals. Anybody remember Ricky Vaives tenure as captain?

At least Vaive would fight and show some guts. Can't say that about this core.

 

[notbias]

Edmonton is clearly ahead. I'd throw at least NYR/Car ahead too, so middle of the pack which is mediocre.

Shallow means depth. McAvoy and Lindholm are solid. Carlos a good middle pair guy. Then it falls off. Stack on the scoring and C depth and you're left with a middle tier playoff team.

Boston has better F depth than us in that case, and Carlo is more than a good middle-pair guy.

Edmonton is not ahead in my opinion, they beat up on some terrible teams in the first round every year and then lose to a good team when they play them.

 

[Sypher04]

They overpaid all of them, yes all of them first Dubas then Treliving.

Dubas who being so smart frankly outsmarted himself putting them, and if we stick with them us, into another 50+ year funk.

Auston Matthews has never been a captain, period. He was never a USHL captain nor a Swiss League captain. There is a reason for that, stop convincing yourself he has leadership qualities because he can score goals. Anybody remember Ricky Vaives tenure as captain?

Not being a captain previously in no way means you lack leadership qualities.

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

The worst thing to happen to the maple leafs since the unprecedented dramatic overpayments was winning game 5. That was a DISASTER for the team. Now they've lost in OT in game 7 with injuries to key players. They have their f***ing excuses again. Nothing will change. They'll run it back and say Tavares is off the books after next season which is when the shuffle should happen.

The leafs winning game 5 means we'll have 1 more season of this bullshit. A complete write off season.

They kept running it back because they were afraid of looking bad and over reacting by trading one of the core....they were terrified that whomever they traded would suddenly start playing well in the playoffs. This backfired and made them look even sillier by not even trying to do something.

 

[Gallagbi]

Boston has better F depth than us in that case, and Carlo is more than a good middle-pair guy.

Edmonton is not ahead in my opinion, they beat up on some terrible teams in the first round every year and then lose to a good team when they play them.

You're welcome to think what you want. I've explained my position and it seems pretty obvious, but it's fine if you think the B's are a top tier team. Guess we'll see how they look vs. Florida

 

[Mr. Fancy Pants]

People don't want to hear it but the team is close. It needs tweaks not to be blown up. Marner is a clear problem, he is ineffective in the post season. Tavares is also old. Having that 22M is going to make a big difference.

2 years from now we have Knies and Woll (and maybe Robertson) solidly established in their NHL careers and Cowan and others coming up to give cheap depth.

We need a new coach and we need to retool. Our defense is too old, needs to be made in the same style but younger and we need a few good young centers. And a good goalie who can compliment Woll.

Could be worse than using next year as a transition year.

So pretty close. We just need coach, goalie, defence and centers.

 

[Stephen]

So pretty close. We just need coach, goalie, defence and centers.

I don't know what the Leafs are close to. They won 3/16 games to become cup champions. That's 18% completion rate.

 

[HockeyVirus]

So pretty close. We just need coach, goalie, defence and centers.

No, we need tweaks to those areas. My point is we have the skeleton of a winning roster in those areas. A few pieces need to move around

 

[The Masters]

lets see if myrtle is right

 

[sunstersun]

Well, deep down my belief is all of our core players are basically duds. Nylander is alright but compared to all the playoff choke artists looks like Wendel in 1993. Matthews is respectable in the playoffs, but basically more dud than stud, health, injuries, history all factored in. Everyone else, Tavares, Rielly and Marner need to be flushed.

So by the looks of things, we don't have a foundation. But we have some good character support that can do some damage as a darkhorse team. That's not a great position to be in as a franchise.

Yeah our team doesn't have a lot of talent or young prospects. Outside of Cowan, it's empty.

Defensively we have 0 upside guys. Rielly sucks now. Lilly is looking 3rd pair at best.

Idk? It's not exactly surprising we haven't won. After we found the core 4 we've added no one of note.

 

[fahad203]

Yeah our team doesn't have a lot of talent or young prospects. Outside of Cowan, it's empty.

Defensively we have 0 upside guys. Rielly sucks now. Lilly is looking 3rd pair at best.

Idk? It's not exactly surprising we haven't won. After we found the core 4 we've added no one of note.

Really don't know what happened to Reilly. His game just dropped. He was our best player last year

Some people have been selling Niemala.

I was told Dubas greatest strength was finding prospects

 

[The Masters]

I think Keefe is fired by Wednesday

 

[Moonman]

If you extrapolate matthews goals in playoffs over 82 games he'd have 29 goals.

Trash

 

[TorMapleJays]

Really don't know what happened to Reilly. His game just dropped. He was our best player last year

In the play offs yes. Not the regular season.

 

[Dale Gribble]

When did this whole Dubas wanted to trade one of the Core 4, and Shanahan said no, and then told Dubas to take a hike because of it start ?

Sounds like a story Dubas would tell people to save face...

 

[TheTotalPackage]

There is no better time than now for Pelley to be swift and assertive in his young tenure at the helm by completely overhauling the management hierarchy.

Say what we will about Shanahan, but he laid a solid foundation for the franchise in the last decade. However, now it is time for a new vision and someone who can hopefully take the franchise to the next step.

Change needs to be made, and it needs to be done ASAP.

 

[keonsbitterness]

When did this whole Dubas wanted to trade one of the Core 4, and Shanahan said no, and then told Dubas to take a hike because of it start ?

Sounds like a story Dubas would tell people to save face...

Came out around the time he was fired.