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

[Rare Jewel]

Ironically, if he leaves it will not be the end of the world, just keeping it real……..

I mean, losing what I think by that time will be the best Leaf ever will be quite a hit.

But he's got a few years to win you over.

 

[Menzinger]

I get where that would come from, general Leaf fan paranoia and such. But we've had him since he was a teenager, and it's now been the better part of a decade.

Leonard was nearly 30 and with one year left on his deal, and now with Arizona not having a team, the likelihood of him bolting is very small.

It's absolutely bizarre lol ,the guy is literally two days into his most recent extension and folks are fretting about made up hypotheticals

I doubt any other fan base does this

 

[rumman]

I mean, losing what I think by that time will be the best Leaf ever will be quite a hit.

But he's got a few years to win you over.

Not even close to the best Leaf ever………

 

[Superstar]

View attachment 891498

The Core Fource, we are...

 

[Racer88]

I’ll bet Babcock is enjoying this, sure he’s a POS, but no one can deny he wasn’t right about the core players……..

100% this

 

[Gordy Elbows]

MLSE: We mean it this time.
TML: No
MLSE: we’ll really mean it next year.
TML: No
MLSE: We will really, really mean it in two years.
TML: No.
Can you see the pattern here?

 

[Moonman]

It's like the other toronto teams. Raptors failed to realize the run was over, despite it being very obvious, and now there's longer term pain.

The jays are trash but will likely not sell because of the renos. Awful situation.

And the leafs just keep running it back, despite it being abundantly clear that this core is unable to get it done.

It's getting pretty bad in Toronto.

 

[TMLegend]

It's absolutely bizarre lol ,the guy is literally two days into his most recent extension and folks are fretting about made up hypotheticals

I doubt any other fan base does this

Depends. Do other fanbases have an ounce of foresight?

Anyway, I realize most people aren't ready to have the tough conversations when it comes to Matthews so I'm basically shouting into the void.

 

[The Masters]

It's like the other toronto teams. Raptors failed to realize the run was over, despite it being very obvious, and now there's longer term pain.

The jays are trash but will likely not sell because of the renos. Awful situation.

And the leafs just keep running it back, despite it being abundantly clear that this core is unable to get it done.

It's getting pretty bad in Toronto.

Masai pivoted from siakam/fred/og core within 2 years lol., and that was with them contributing to a championship. Thats nothing compared to what leafs bafoons are doubling down on. They are clueless

 

[RoadWarrior]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1808224519703699673

They are really going to run this f***ing thing back!!!!

Skinner knows that Drai and McDavid are better than Marner. Hell even RNH is better than Marner.

It's like the other toronto teams. Raptors failed to realize the run was over, despite it being very obvious, and now there's longer term pain.

The jays are trash but will likely not sell because of the renos. Awful situation.

And the leafs just keep running it back, despite it being abundantly clear that this core is unable to get it done.

It's getting pretty bad in Toronto.

The D and G is improved.

 

[Moonman]

Masai pivoted from siakam/fred/og core within 2 years lol., and that was with them contributing to a championship. Thats nothing compared to what leafs bafoons are doubling down on. They are clueless.

I thought they should have moved Fred for assets and not attempted a resign.

 

[Confucius]

I’ll bet Babcock is enjoying this, sure he’s a POS, but no one can deny he wasn’t right about the core players……..

They would have continued to improve under Babcock. What they accomplished as 19 to 21 year olds was amazing. Just as amazingly they haven’t improved and maybe digressed a little already. I still say it’s all coaching.

 

[Peasy]

This franchise is hilarious. The big change is just going to be removing a letter on a dudes jersey

Yeah we're not just interesting in selling jerseys.... Sure....

 

[thewave]

It's like the other toronto teams. Raptors failed to realize the run was over, despite it being very obvious, and now there's longer term pain.

The jays are trash but will likely not sell because of the renos. Awful situation.

And the leafs just keep running it back, despite it being abundantly clear that this core is unable to get it done.

It's getting pretty bad in Toronto.

MLSE is a fat dough boy organization that has all sorts of strange habits.

They self perpetuate this image of having to overpay people to play here.

When they do get good players they spoil them. Does nothing for winning.

When cap is low they routinely trade high picks for playoff help to make it look like we have a shot.

After they blow their cap they always get to a point where they bring big names that are getting up in age on anchor contracts.

Obviously they need to get rid of them eventually and spend assets to trade the problems away.

Then they sell you on we need change and are gonna do it different. Its really similar to politics lol

Pelly or whatever his name is with the big tell... We arent here to sell Jerseys.. Lol... Nothing is going to chage they are selling hope on faith.

 

[Tak7]

One series win, I think that gives a rather important part of the picture. Leaders who’s groups do not accomplish their task are replaced.

In-room leadership is the players. As opposed to the coach, GM, President, or other leaders in the organization.

They have one series win with Tavares as a leader. You don’t have to be in the room to know he’s not cutting it. Militaries replace commanders all the time, the General doesn’t give a shit whether the Major is liked within the unit, the General wants a leader who can deliver results.

Your entire line of argument seems to be that it either doesn’t matter, or that we have nothing better. Great, let’s change nothing and then complain when nothing changes.

If you think "one series win" is down to leadership, you have a fundamental misunderstanding of how dressing rooms work.

If there's a skill / quality issue, likely combined with a leadership group issue, I ask again: how does stripping someone of the C change, or accomplish anything.

I'm not averse to change - I just think the actual change has to come from roster construction, not from whoever wears a stitched letter on their jersey.

Sasha Barkov was carved up as a captain after the 2021 and 2022 results. Did he all of a sudden become a better captian? Did the "leadership accountability" improve?

Or did Barkov, and the rest of the roster, just simply improve, get better, and win?

 

[KapG]

 

[LeafGrief]

If you think "one series win" is down to leadership, you have a fundamental misunderstanding of how dressing rooms work.

If there's a skill / quality issue, likely combined with a leadership group issue, I ask again: how does stripping someone of the C change, or accomplish anything.

I'm not averse to change - I just think the actual change has to come from roster construction, not from whoever wears a stitched letter on their jersey.

Sasha Barkov was carved up as a captain after the 2021 and 2022 results. Did he all of a sudden become a better captian? Did the "leadership accountability" improve?

Or did Barkov, and the rest of the roster, just simply improve, get better, and win?

Zzzzzzzzzzz, come on man, everyone and their mother knows that one series win comes down to a lot more than just the single issue of leadership, but leadership is an important piece of the puzzle. No kidding that there are roster issues at play, but at the same time, we have been favourites in several series and managed to choke those away. We didn't lose to Columbus or Montreal because of our roster construction.

Stripping the C from Tavares means that he is no longer the captain. The change is that now someone else is the captain. I've captained hockey teams before, nothing other than beer league, but I have been explicitly told by my players that my leadership style has effected the team and how they play. I'm nothing special, I'm not my team's captain any more and we're fine under the next guy, but different people have different leadership styles and skills, and leadership skills make a difference in games, especially when you just sucked ass and are down 3-0 after the first. Leaders in groups are EXTREMELY important, and while changing a leader won't cover up your most glaring holes, it might help the boys dig in deep rather than collapse in every single friggin' game 7. You don't fire the leader every time you lose, replacing Barkov after two disappointing seasons would have been a mistake, but at some point around the six years futility mark, you do make that change.

Your third paragraph in particular points out that you really don't think that who wears the C is important. I fundamentally disagree in the strongest possible terms, based on my experience both as a hockey player and as a leader in the workplace. Changing the captain is actual change, even if it's only one change of many that need to happen, and I'm not particularly interested in arguing the point further. You don't have to agree, but I've made my case.

 

[Tak7]

Zzzzzzzzzzz, come on man, everyone and their mother knows that one series win comes down to a lot more than just the single issue of leadership, but leadership is an important piece of the puzzle. No kidding that there are roster issues at play, but at the same time, we have been favourites in several series and managed to choke those away. We didn't lose to Columbus or Montreal because of our roster construction.

Stripping the C from Tavares means that he is no longer the captain. The change is that now someone else is the captain. I've captained hockey teams before, nothing other than beer league, but I have been explicitly told by my players that my leadership style has effected the team and how they play. I'm nothing special, I'm not my team's captain any more and we're fine under the next guy, but different people have different leadership styles and skills, and leadership skills make a difference in games, especially when you just sucked ass and are down 3-0 after the first. Leaders in groups are EXTREMELY important, and while changing a leader won't cover up your most glaring holes, it might help the boys dig in deep rather than collapse in every single friggin' game 7. You don't fire the leader every time you lose, replacing Barkov after two disappointing seasons would have been a mistake, but at some point around the six years futility mark, you do make that change.

Your third paragraph in particular points out that you really don't think that who wears the C is important. I fundamentally disagree in the strongest possible terms, based on my experience both as a hockey player and as a leader in the workplace. Changing the captain is actual change, even if it's only one change of many that need to happen, and I'm not particularly interested in arguing the point further. You don't have to agree, but I've made my case.

Changing the captain doesn't change anything.

Literally, it's a different letter stitched into a different jersey - that's all it is. There might be a symbolic change, but they aren't all of a sudden going to start winning series because the letter has been moved.

The most recent examples of high profile captaincy stripping / changes that come to mind are Thornton in San Jose, and Brown losing the captaincy to Kopitar in LA.

San Jose? Nothing changed.
LA? They missed the playoffs in 5 of the next 7 years, and haven't won a playoff round since.

All Together Now - The Captaincy doesn't matter, if you're team isn't good enough.

 

[Trapper]

Leafs Massive changes:

 

[The Masters]

I thought they should have moved Fred for assets and not attempted a resign.

Ya probably but at the deadline he wasnt being offered anything. Point is he moved off from the post kyle lowry core within 2 years. Leafs brass dont want to attempt to do anything major

 

[WTFMAN99]

Yeah short of a major move no one saw coming, this is basically the same roster all over again.

My wallet is safe.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

The media should have never bought it, and the fans know better.

On paper Toronto is still a playoff team. Why strip it down just to satisfy angry/cynical Leaf fans.

You think this team is bad? Just you wait and see what it looks like when they have 6 mediocre (3rd/4th liners) NHLers playing 82 games in your top 6. We saw it after the JFJ/emergency Fletcher era. It was horrible.

You'll need a line of credit to be able to afford all the waffles you'll want to throw on the ice.

I too wanted some change, but the fact that Shanny still remains was a reminder that there won't be very much.

 

[keonsbitterness]

The big change was revealed earlier this week: sturdier bathroom stall doors.

 

[darrylsittler27]

This franchise is hilarious. The big change is just going to be removing a letter on a dudes jersey

Yeah we're not just interesting in selling jerseys.... Sure....

I think the Leafs options on big changes is more limited than many think. But if Johnny isn't coming back why not make the switch now? If Tor losses first round he won't be back. Like it or not but Mathews has to lead us.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Yeah we're not just interesting in selling jerseys.... Sure....

That was a tell.

That's their main intere$t.