Running it back is the right move for the Leafs; the last thing we need is for a major move to backfire right now
As we all know, the Leafs lost in the first round again. For the 6th time in as many years, the second round on the playoffs is happening without our beloved Blue and White. This season saw the Leafs reach new heights, both as individuals and as a team. A 115-point regular season, a 60-goal season from Matthews, 97 points from Mitch Marner, the league's top powerplay and most dangerous penalty kill... the Leafs were good this year - very good.
I've seen a lot of fans calling for the team to be blown up. Fire Shanahan, fire Dubas, fire Keefe. Blow up the core and rebuild around Matthews. Look, I get it... we're all frustrated. The Leafs once again came agonizingly close to going on a run. They fell just short of taking down the 2-time Stanley Cup champions in yet another soul crushing Game 7 loss. This year had a different feel to it though. It wasn't a weak team losing to a superior opponent like the Washington and Boston series, it wasn't a choke job like we saw against Montreal and Columbus. This season it was 2 heavyweight contenders going blow for blow. The Leafs gave the best playoff team in the league all they could handle, and even though they lost, I'm still proud of how they played.
After watching 89 games of Maple Leafs hockey this season, I'm convinced that the core are evolving from promising young players into mature, intelligent, experienced legitimate contenders. Lets keep in mind that Auston Matthews is only 24 years old, Marner is 25 and Nylander is 26. These players are just entering the prime of their careers. You also don't find players like Matthews, Marner and Nylander very often, even with high draft picks. For every one of them there is a Nail Yakupov, a Griffin Reinhart, an Olli Juolevi. Blowing up this core to collect high draft picks for the future could very easily backfire.
The Leafs as an organization could really use a little continuity. Since 2000, the Leafs have had 7 different GM's and 7 different head coaches. That's an average of 2.8 years per coach and GM. As a comparison, Jon Cooper has been Tampa's head coach since 2013. It seems like giving him a little bit of runway has worked out fairly well for Tampa. It's also very hard to fire a coach who, after 185 games behind the bench, owns the highest points % of any head coach in Leafs franchise history.
The Buds as they stand are a very, very good hockey team. They need to find a way to win in the playoffs, absolutely, but at this point nothing good will come of making big changes for change's sake. Dubas will definitely look to improve the team this off season through free agency, and I'm sure there will be several trades to talk about, but refraining from big, reactionary trades is the right move for this group right now, period.
| POLL | ||
MAI 22 | 274 ANSWERS Running it back is the right move for the Leafs; the last thing we need is for a major move to backfire right now Are the Leafs right to run it back this season? | ||
| Yes, they're getting closer every year | 151 | 55.1 % |
| No, 6 years of failure requires a change | 51 | 18.6 % |
| I believe in the front office | 28 | 10.2 % |
| We're cursed, so it doesn't matter | 44 | 16.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
