What has been the Leafs biggest mistake?

[Dekes For Days]

Top guys not being like Nathan Mackinnon:

Not sure how that would qualify as a mistake by the team, but also:

"If you miss a pass in practice, he would skate over and literally scream at you... If the puck ends up in his skates, not even his skates, if it misses his stick like a tiny bit, like 15 cms... he doesn't move his stick to catch the puck. He stops everything, turns around, and slaps the puck back at you. He is not going to receive any pass he doesn't like... Just to show you that you made a ****ty pass"

Boy, I can picture all of the positive comments about Marner, if this was about him. Not like people would rip into him for being a diva and terrible teammate and leader who blames everybody else. No sir. We would just have sunshine and roses here.

 

[Stephen]

I would tell my players negotiating new contracts that both UFA contracts and Dubas contracts are irrelevant.

If I worked contracts, I would probably put up a plaque on the wall of my office that reads "I don't pay in Dubas dollars. Don't ask."

It's pretty clear the Leafs were worried about any possible offer sheet to Matthews and locked him up in season, paying him a McDavid/Eichel level salary which is probably a salary structure outside off even most UFA contracts. The big wrench in the plan came in the form of his teammate who stayed healthier than Matthews and put up more complete raw numbers, and the rest is history.

The silver lining here is when we go to re-sign these guys we'll have already committed so much cap to them that an incremental raise is going to be relatively easy to accommodate vs any other team that has to purge itself of 15% of its salary or whatever just to fit in one guy.

 

[meefer]

None of the above. The failure has been having superstars that don't play like superstars past game 82. You can contrive whatever reason for that you want, but whether the result of one thing or another, it is the problem.

Succinctly put, and worthy of inclusion in the poll, imo.

 

[danny90]

Yeah that last part of your post is just an opinion. Destroyed their offense? Maybe it's Trotz's system but either way, destroyed or not, they've made us look dumb with all their success despite losing their supposed leader and best player.

Carried by elite goaltending

 

[Racer88]

Carried by elite goaltending

They can afford elite goaltending because they are not paying Tavares 11 million

 

[socko]

It's pretty clear the Leafs were worried about any possible offer sheet to Matthews and locked him up in season, paying him a McDavid/Eichel level salary which is probably a salary structure outside off even most UFA contracts. The big wrench in the plan came in the form of his teammate who stayed healthier than Matthews and put up more complete raw numbers, and the rest is history.

The silver lining here is when we go to re-sign these guys we'll have already committed so much cap to them that an incremental raise is going to be relatively easy to accommodate vs any other team that has to purge itself of 15% of its salary or whatever just to fit in one guy.

You know these agents already have zero respect for Dubas. Not that respect matters, a "no" from a guy you don't respect is just as powerful as a "no" from a guy you do. But Dubas has his reputation for a reason and I'm sure these agents would love a 2nd crack at him. Liking taking candy from a baby.

 

[Dekes For Days]

They can afford elite goaltending because they are not paying Tavares 11 million

They haven't really been spending any differently on goaltending than the Leafs, for the record.

 

[Mess]

None of the above. The failure has been having superstars that don't play like superstars past game 82. You can contrive whatever reason for that you want, but whether the result of one thing or another, it is the problem.

Leafs success and failure is always going come down to this ultimately, and as the leagues highest paid players its imperative they're among the playoffs leading scorers or its game over, simply because of C.H.%.

 

[danny90]

They can afford elite goaltending because they are not paying Tavares 11 million

They could have signed Varlamov and Tavares and still be under cap.

 

[ShaneFalco]

None of the above. The failure has been having superstars that don't play like superstars past game 82. You can contrive whatever reason for that you want, but whether the result of one thing or another, it is the problem.

It is. And the contracts - minus Nylander. All on Dubas

 

[Racer88]

They haven't really been spending any differently on goaltending than the Leafs, for the record.

Then why do they have elite goaltending and we do not…….are they just better at identifying talent

 

[Racer88]

They could have signed Varlamov and Tavares and still be under cap.

If you are talking about the Islanders it would be because they are not paying 3 players 11-12 million dollars.
You can have 1 player at that and build a good team but not 3 of basically the same player

 

[Racer88]

They haven't really been spending any differently on goaltending than the Leafs, for the record.

I’m pretty sure the Leafs starting goalie for the playoffs didn’t make as much as the Islanders

 

[BlueForever75]

I’m pretty sure the Leafs starting goalie for the playoffs didn’t make as much as the Islanders

And still played as well if not better!!!!

 

[The don godfather]

Shananaplan

 

[Fixxer]

Having a GM who might not have gotten the concept that to win in the playoffs, you need grit and character. Talent yes, but talent alone won't get you far.

 

[Fixxer]

Salary negotiations, especially MM's

2017*

 

[fahad203]

It is. And the contracts - minus Nylander. All on Dubas

Nylander contract was bad. It looks good now because of point in time
But at the time that started the chain for Marner and Matthews

He set the precendent with Nylander. Eventually everyone's contract is going to look better in time

For me, I would have no problem with anyone's contract if they at least tried. Beside Nylander, nobody really tried to win. That's the problem I have with this team. They can't seem to elevate their game

So, what do I think was the biggest mistake?

Hands down the coach. You get a superstar in Tavares, a good offensive D in Rielly, a 60 goal scorer and great playmakers in Marner and Nylander

Yet, you lose to two teams that couldn't score. Giving up 3-0 leading against Columbus in a game. A team that can't score
giving up 3-1 lead against Montreal...... A team that was done and has no depth

Somehow your answer to ur pp problem is Simmonds and Joe T

You thought you could play Sandin who played 20 games instead of Dermott who played all season and physically ready in game 1 that cost you and again in game 5 that cost you

Keefe only looks better because he has players that keeps bailing him out. He's a terrible terrible coach in every sense of the word

 

[Dekes For Days]

Then why do they have elite goaltending and we do not…

Because Andersen was bad.

I’m pretty sure the Leafs starting goalie for the playoffs didn’t make as much as the Islanders

Because we went with the better goalie. Last year, Leafs spent 6.65m on goaltending. Islanders spent 7m. Contrary to your claim, Tavares and his cap hit have nothing to do with the goaltending results both teams have gotten.

 

[ShaneFalco]

Nylander contract was bad. It looks good now because of point in time
But at the time that started the chain for Marner and Matthews

He set the precendent with Nylander. Eventually everyone's contract is going to look better in time

For me, I would have no problem with anyone's contract if they at least tried. Beside Nylander, nobody really tried to win. That's the problem I have with this team. They can't seem to elevate their game

So, what do I think was the biggest mistake?

Hands down the coach. You get a superstar in Tavares, a good offensive D in Rielly, a 60 goal scorer and great playmakers in Marner and Nylander

Yet, you lose to two teams that couldn't score. Giving up 3-0 leading against Columbus in a game. A team that can't score
giving up 3-1 lead against Montreal...... A team that was done and has no depth

Somehow your answer to ur pp problem is Simmonds and Joe T

You thought you could play Sandin who played 20 games instead of Dermott who played all season and physically ready in game 1 that cost you and again in game 5 that cost you

Keefe only looks better because he has players that keeps bailing him out. He's a terrible terrible coach in every sense of the word

A regular season coach and an absolutely abysmal PP

 

[Cotton]

Other than that Ive really liked how Dubas has managed this team. Not afraid to take chances and shuffle pieces around the core, solid drafting.. but the Tavares contract... that paved the way for the bloated kids contracts and the expectations that came with those contracts.. too soon.

They were mutually exclusive.

Bob Mackenzie had been talking about it for a year, about players looking to get paid coming off their ELC’s. Marner specifically asked to go last because his camp wanted him to get whatever Matthews did, there was never any mention (reported) in either negotiation about Tavares. JT actually took less than he was offered by two other teams as a UFA, M&M were RFA’s and looking for bags, just like how Rantanen and Aho went from ELC’s to about 8.5M-9.5M the same off-season… times were changing regardless of JT becoming a UFA.

 

[daethfromabove1979]

I blame a lot of our issues on signing Tavares. Because of his contract, we had to pay Matthews and Marner outrageous salaries because they view themselves as better players than JT and wanted to be paid accordingly. Tavares hasn't been good enough so now we have three overpaid players and can't really build anything else. Our drafting/development is also trash and we haven't been able to get other players to produce on rookie deals.

 

[Racer88]

Because Andersen was bad.

Because we went with the better goalie. Last year, Leafs spent 6.65m on goaltending. Islanders spent 7m. Contrary to your claim, Tavares and his cap hit have nothing to do with the goaltending results both teams have gotten.

All that is irrelevant. I wasn’t talking total goalie package because the way it played out. In the playoffs they had better goaltending because the guy they spent the money on performed better then our bargain bin guy.
I don’t mind Campbell because for what he is paid he is decent value but he isn’t likely to take us far.

 

[Dekes For Days]

All that is irrelevant.

It's not irrelevant. You said "They can afford elite goaltending because they are not paying Tavares 11 million", but we have Tavares and we were spending essentially the same amount on goaltending. Tavares' cap hit was not a factor in the goaltending each team received.

In the playoffs they had better goaltending because the guy they spent the money on performed better then our bargain bin guy.

Except he didn't.

 

[7even]

It is. And the contracts - minus Nylander. All on Dubas

The contracts are buying a Panamera that you've watched drive around only to get into and realize the upholstery's been stripped. What's been purchased is not what was advertised, and it's for that reason that I don't feel particularly vindictive towards Dubas. I would've signed contracts at least in the same ballpark. Why? Because having two superstars produce at Ross finalist levels and then flip a switch as soon as the postseason starts to combine for sweet f*** all against mediocre competition is not typical.