Where do the Leafs go if they blow it yet again?

[Hockey4Lyfe]

Is it really the GMs fault?

I think the moves he made improved the team.

How can you say they improve the team if they continue to lose in game 7’s before even the conference finals?

Sometimes good players just don’t mesh and it’s up to a GM to do something drastic to change that up. They have already tried the retooling with the same core. It isn’t/hasn’t worked.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

The fan and media pressure stuff is incredibly overblown. The size of the market and the noise allows the Maple Leafs to be a bohemeath, who can give players everything they could want and then some in terms of their day-to-day experience. It allows them to fill their jeans with even more money through ads and sponsorships. Care about a cause? RT that Go Fund Me or hold a golf tournament with more eyeballs and more sponsors than they'll get anywhere else. Players in Toronto are able to leverage the market and its fanbase to their benefit, so I don't have a ton of time for complaints they catch a boo or two in the low moments. The truth is as wildly neurotic as the fanbase can be, one good week, hell one good game, has them back in the fans' good graces. In G5 they puked on themselves and shit their pants at the same time and then did a faceplant into the vomit. They won G6 and that arena was as loud as it's ever been when G7 kicked off, and stayed behind them through the first half of a nonsense first period. The Leafs stopped skating before the fans stopped cheering. I don't like the jersey tossing, not because I find it offensive, but because it's performative losers hoping someone from the TV networks catch them, but the notion booing like that wouldn't happen in any other market with this team's track record is absurd.

It's not overblown, there's articles about how a lot of players don't want to play for Toronto because it's such a circus. You even have a recent example of a hometown guy wanting nothing to do with the team in Ryan O'Reilly.

It also for sure has an impact on-ice. Leafs fans hate Mitch Marner, but do you think his teammates hate him? How do you think they'll feel seeing their friend get beer thrown at him and booed out of town? Do you think these guys will want to play for the fans that hate them? They were getting booed at 3-0, with a period left to go. That's a winnable hockey game, but the game was over as those fans opened their big mouths. The players count on the support and energy from their fans, the energy in Toronto is a toxic and antagonistic one.

 

[Nothingbutglass]

lol am I sensing some political projection here? All of a sudden MLSE needs to save money on hockey ops by streamlining? What a bizarre take.

One of the things Toronto has going for it to attract FA’s is first class everything. Support staff, catering, facilities, etc.

But sure, they should eliminate that advantage by worrying about cutting corners and pinching pennies.

Not sure what political projection is supposed to mean. Weird take. MLSE is owned by a bloated corporation that doesn't give a shit. This 1st class myth hasn't done anything besides provide extra jobs for friends. No one wants to go to Toronto unless its for the money. Its a sinking ship.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

I don’t think what happened will make Toronto any less of a UFA destination than it was before. It’s not like Toronto being a high-pressure market is news to anybody. They’ll probably do fine in UFA, especially with their cap space.

But there is a 37 year old Marchand asking for 8 mil. Are you sure you want to do that?

 

[HabzSauce]

Matthews is so much more useless than Marner yet Marner gets all the hate. I genuinely don’t get it. Watched every single Leafs game this playoffs and didn’t see Matthews make a single dangerous play the whole time. He’s opportunistic as hell but barely drives play at all.

If I was toronto I’d get rid of Matthews and Tavares, re sign Marner, make Rielly the captain, and add Bennett in UFA. The player you get back from Matthews trade should be a decent 1/2C, or just try Nylander at C.

Matthews & marner are both bums the leafs need to dump both of them. I didn't think I could dislike marner anymore than I already did but his rant yesterday at the bench while he did jack shit all series took it to a whole new level. Then the passenger comments after their lucklaster performances was just....wow....

 

[Bandit]

I don’t think what happened will make Toronto any less of a UFA destination than it was before. It’s not like Toronto being a high-pressure market is news to anybody. They’ll probably do fine in UFA, especially with their cap space.

But there is a 37 year old Marchand asking for 8 mil. Are you sure you want to do that?

If it keeps him from eliminating the leafs for a 6th game 7 in a row? Maybe.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

I don’t think what happened will make Toronto any less of a UFA destination than it was before. It’s not like Toronto being a high-pressure market is news to anybody. They’ll probably do fine in UFA, especially with their cap space.

But there is a 37 year old Marchand asking for 8 mil. Are you sure you want to do that?

It's not just the pressure, it's also that they're about to become a significantly worse team because they're losing Marner. That combined with another embarrassing playoff failure (after fans kept saying "this year's different" only to lose in the most spectacular fashion yet), combined with the fans displaying a new low of toxic behavior towards their own team will absolutely make Toronto a less desirable market.

 

[Transplanted Caper]

The Leafs have pooched themselves in a lot of ways because for 5 years they actually have tried to go out and get grit and playoff guys and sacrificed scoring depth to do it. Now they clearly got the wrong playoff guys and blew assets to do it, but the philosophy was what it was. So now Marner is leaving and people are musing (i can't imagine it happens) about Bennett. You can't replace a 100 point winger with a 50 point one and think you're solving what ails them, no matter how many broken glasses and nails Bennett is willing to eat for breakfast. I do think you either make a trade or call Ehlers or Boeser and hope there's enough left over to go and get a decent other forward as well.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

The Leafs have pooched themselves in a lot of ways because for 5 years they actually have tried to go out and get grit and playoff guys and sacrificed scoring depth to do it. Now they clearly got the wrong playoff guys and blew assets to do it, but the philosophy was what it was. So now Marner is leaving and people are musing (i can't imagine it happens) about Bennett. You can't replace a 100 point winger with a 50 point one and think you're solving what ails them, no matter how many broken glasses and nails Bennett is willing to eat for breakfast. I do think you either make a trade or call Ehlers or Boeser and hope there's enough left over to go and get a decent other forward as well.

Tbh it reminds me of how people tried to build their teams after Boston won the Cup. The difference was Boston’s core players were gritty while teams were just trying to find big grinders to play on their 4th lines.

But it’s a bit different here I guess. Tanev is a gritty guy in a very important role.

 

[winnipegger]

I have a leafs friend and he actually wants them to resign marner and retool the bottom 6. It's just insanity. Mitch disappeared in the biggest moment in his professional career. All I remember of him in that game 7 was getting pushed off the puck along the boards. He did literally nothing in that game. You can't win with this guy.

 

[The don godfather]

I don’t think what happened will make Toronto any less of a UFA destination than it was before. It’s not like Toronto being a high-pressure market is news to anybody. They’ll probably do fine in UFA, especially with their cap space.

But there is a 37 year old Marchand asking for 8 mil. Are you sure you want to do that?

Hope the leafs do. Bruins fan.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Is it really the GMs fault?

I think the moves he made improved the team.

Trading two first round picks for Laughton and Carlo should be a fireable offense imo.

 

[Transplanted Caper]

Trading two first round picks for Laughton and Carlo should be a fireable offense imo.

Laughton was.......fine.....but so was Kampf in previous years. It's never the 4th line's fault, but bringing in Laughton was getting a guy for the sake of getting a guy. Carlo was terrible in G7, but on the whole stabilized the pairing with Rielly in a way that was needed as Morgan was basically a mess all year. Definitely an overpay, but one that had more logic to it than the Laughton move given the ripple effects. They really needed to try and find a 2C/3C hybrid in the offseason to take some pressure off Tavares. Laughton was never going to be that.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Lawson Crouse would be interesting on the Leafs.

 

[Crosby2010]

Let's put it this way, the Leafs were rolling the first half of the series. They almost had a 3-0 series lead. No one was complaining and there was a quiet shock from people that the Leafs might have actually gone all the way. Let's face it, we all heard that media silence about them during this time. That being said, we can't just act like this never happened. To nearly be up 3-0 in a series and then to go from 6-1 losses at home in Game 5 and 7 is very much two polar opposites. We know the Leafs aren't as bad as those losses showed. This is why those knee jerk reactions of "blow it all up" is too premature. Is a day after a stunning loss the time to make rash decisions about what this team ought to do?

Honestly, you have a team that has the longest current playoff streak in the NHL, correct? You know with this core what you will get in the regular season. And in a league where half of the teams miss the playoffs that is half the battle. You know you'll get over 100 points. You know you could get a division title. There are not many teams you know will do this from the get go. And while I am not the type that says "next year is the year" the honest truth is while I'd tweak here and there I wouldn't blow it all up. Marner can be gone and how do you replace his worth? That's over 100 points, penalty killing and a defensive two-way winger with elite playmaking skills. I am not saying that eventually this core will figure it out, but Tampa was losing before they got some more sandpaper in guys like Maroon and such. It honestly could just be something like that. For example, would it have killed them to at least let Reaves play in a game against Florida just to see what he could bring? The best answers are the simplest.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

Chris Johnston just spoke about how Marner has been personally harassed multiple times by Leaf fans over the years, and that another incident occurred after last night's game too. How the hell can anyone hear stuff like this and not think that Toronto as a market isn't a big part of the problem? How can anyone think that players aren't going to hear about Marner and his family being personally harassed by fans consistently throughout the years and not think twice about coming to play in Toronto? You actually have to be delusional to think this garbage doesn't make an impact.

 

[Voight]

Let's put it this way, the Leafs were rolling the first half of the series. They almost had a 3-0 series lead. No one was complaining and there was a quiet shock from people that the Leafs might have actually gone all the way. Let's face it, we all heard that media silence about them during this time. That being said, we can't just act like this never happened. To nearly be up 3-0 in a series and then to go from 6-1 losses at home in Game 5 and 7 is very much two polar opposites. We know the Leafs aren't as bad as those losses showed. This is why those knee jerk reactions of "blow it all up" is too premature. Is a day after a stunning loss the time to make rash decisions about what this team ought to do?

Honestly, you have a team that has the longest current playoff streak in the NHL, correct? You know with this core what you will get in the regular season. And in a league where half of the teams miss the playoffs that is half the battle. You know you'll get over 100 points. You know you could get a division title. There are not many teams you know will do this from the get go. And while I am not the type that says "next year is the year" the honest truth is while I'd tweak here and there I wouldn't blow it all up. Marner can be gone and how do you replace his worth? That's over 100 points, penalty killing and a defensive two-way winger with elite playmaking skills. I am not saying that eventually this core will figure it out, but Tampa was losing before they got some more sandpaper in guys like Maroon and such. It honestly could just be something like that. For example, would it have killed them to at least let Reaves play in a game against Florida just to see what he could bring? The best answers are the simplest.

Thats why I dont think they will just let him lave for nothing. If he wants to stay I think they'll re-sign him. You can't just let a top winger like that leave and get nothing in return. You definitely won't find a replacement in free agency and they are short on assets like draft picks and prospects so trading for one is out of the question.

Backstrom & Ovechkin made the playoffs nine times before making it past the second round in their tenth try. People forget how hard it is to be one of the final four teams, I think blowing it up and losing good players for nothing is very dumb and I also doubt MLSE is even considering that.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

Thats why I dont think they will just let him lave for nothing. If he wants to stay I think they'll re-sign him. You can't just let a top winger like that leave and get nothing in return. You definitely won't find a replacement in free agency and they are short on assets like draft picks and prospects so trading for one is out of the question.

Backstrom & Ovechkin made the playoffs nine times before making it past the second round in their tenth try. People forget how hard it is to be one of the final four teams, I think blowing it up and losing good players for nothing is very dumb and I also doubt MLSE is even considering that.

There's zero chance he wants to stay dude, the city flat out hates him lol.

 

[ahmedou]

Rinse...

And...

Repeat...

 

[John Mandalorian]

Let's put it this way, the Leafs were rolling the first half of the series. They almost had a 3-0 series lead. No one was complaining and there was a quiet shock from people that the Leafs might have actually gone all the way. Let's face it, we all heard that media silence about them during this time. That being said, we can't just act like this never happened. To nearly be up 3-0 in a series and then to go from 6-1 losses at home in Game 5 and 7 is very much two polar opposites. We know the Leafs aren't as bad as those losses showed. This is why those knee jerk reactions of "blow it all up" is too premature. Is a day after a stunning loss the time to make rash decisions about what this team ought to do?

Honestly, you have a team that has the longest current playoff streak in the NHL, correct? You know with this core what you will get in the regular season. And in a league where half of the teams miss the playoffs that is half the battle. You know you'll get over 100 points. You know you could get a division title. There are not many teams you know will do this from the get go. And while I am not the type that says "next year is the year" the honest truth is while I'd tweak here and there I wouldn't blow it all up. Marner can be gone and how do you replace his worth? That's over 100 points, penalty killing and a defensive two-way winger with elite playmaking skills. I am not saying that eventually this core will figure it out, but Tampa was losing before they got some more sandpaper in guys like Maroon and such. It honestly could just be something like that. For example, would it have killed them to at least let Reaves play in a game against Florida just to see what he could bring? The best answers are the simplest.

While Tampa was doing that, Toronto had three guys making over 10M while TB had none.

 

[goflyakite]

Leafs were incredibly foolish to move on from Kadri. He’s a playoff performer along the lines of Bennett. Huge mistake by the Avs too losing him.

As a Bruins fan I was also disappointed to see the Leafs move on from him. I enjoyed seeing him get suspended in the playoffs.

 

[Crow]

How can you say they improve the team if they continue to lose in game 7’s before even the conference finals?

Sometimes good players just don’t mesh and it’s up to a GM to do something drastic to change that up. They have already tried the retooling with the same core. It isn’t/hasn’t worked.

He inherited pretty much every problem player who consistently underperforms and has a NTC on the team. I thought he did a pretty good job with the coaching choice and upgrading the roster before the season began.

Trading two first round picks for Laughton and Carlo should be a fireable offense imo.

That’s really going to f*** them hard in the future I agree. Not going to be able to add much in coming deadlines and if they happen to get much worse, like let’s say by losing Marner and injuries on top of it, they don’t even get their picks.

My point was more that I don’t blame the GM for the series loss very much. A bit, but it’s mostly on the president and the players who have been there doing the same shit for far too long.

 

[Drytoast]

You do realize the Leafs will lose Marner for nothing, are likely to lose Tavares, have an extremely old and immobile D core, and have few top picks left right?

Yes the world is over as we know it. Bud. I've survived the Ballard era. You can't scare me.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Toronto needs to go all in on McDavid 2026.

If you want the Toronto Maple Leafs to never again win the Cup, then they should sign McDavid.

 

[Oscar The Grouch]

Let's put it this way, the Leafs were rolling the first half of the series. They almost had a 3-0 series lead. No one was complaining and there was a quiet shock from people that the Leafs might have actually gone all the way. Let's face it, we all heard that media silence about them during this time. That being said, we can't just act like this never happened. To nearly be up 3-0 in a series and then to go from 6-1 losses at home in Game 5 and 7 is very much two polar opposites. We know the Leafs aren't as bad as those losses showed. This is why those knee jerk reactions of "blow it all up" is too premature. Is a day after a stunning loss the time to make rash decisions about what this team ought to do?

Honestly, you have a team that has the longest current playoff streak in the NHL, correct? You know with this core what you will get in the regular season. And in a league where half of the teams miss the playoffs that is half the battle. You know you'll get over 100 points. You know you could get a division title. There are not many teams you know will do this from the get go. And while I am not the type that says "next year is the year" the honest truth is while I'd tweak here and there I wouldn't blow it all up. Marner can be gone and how do you replace his worth? That's over 100 points, penalty killing and a defensive two-way winger with elite playmaking skills. I am not saying that eventually this core will figure it out, but Tampa was losing before they got some more sandpaper in guys like Maroon and such. It honestly could just be something like that. For example, would it have killed them to at least let Reaves play in a game against Florida just to see what he could bring? The best answers are the simplest.

Run.

It.

Back.