Former Leaf calls out current generation of players, including those in Toronto, for being soft

We saw it with the Leafs this post-season when Sheldon Keefe called out the "Core 4" and said they needed to be better and play like stars, but the following day, he backtracked on his previous comments a bit. On the latest episode of Missin' Curfew, former Leaf Joffrey Lupul discussed today's generation of athletes.

"It's a different athlete now. In every sport, everyone says it. They got more power. They don't handle criticism, guys will cry if the coach yells at them," said Lupul.

Former NHLer Scottie Upshall took Lupul's statement a little farther and said, "If players cried like they do today back then, you would've been gone."

In a sense, neither of them are wrong. Look at the Pierre-Luc Dubois situation in Winnipeg. He has already said he won't sign long-term and it has now put the Jets in a tough position as they won't get anything close to a quality return if they trade him. Matthew Tkachuk did the same in Calgary last off-season, although the Flames and Brad Treliving managed to salvage that situation and turn it into a fair trade, to an extent.

In terms of players not handling criticism, everyone responds differently and it is up to the coaches to figure out the most effective way to communicate what they want or are hoping to get out of a player. Keefe has done it numerous times with William Nylander by calling him out publically and Nylander has gone on to respond very well. The same can't be said for players like Mitch Marner, who seem to be bothered when criticized. It will be interesting to see how things change in Toronto with Kyle Dubas now gone and Brad Treliving leading the front office.