Free washer | The (many) errors of the Leafs

The poor coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, not only does his relationship seem strained with his stars, but many have been calling for his head since his team’s recent defeats.

Mathias Brunet
The Press

There are, however, other men to blame in Toronto. GM Kyle Dubas is already sitting on a barrel of nitroglycerin, having refused to renew his contract, but chairman Brendan Shanahan seems surprisingly immune to criticism.

However, Shanahan has veto power over hockey decisions, and the sum of the blunders committed by management can no longer be counted on the fingers of both hands.

The Leafs’ five-year regular-season success has relied heavily on three players drafted in the top five overall, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly. The rest is a disaster on all levels.

Tavares contract

The 77 million seven-year contract offered to John Tavares, a decision taken in concert with the owners, no one doubts, was a bad idea at the start and it still is today. She put the team in a weak position at the dawn of negotiations with young stars Matthews and Marner and cornered the management on the salary plan. This signature will affect a majority of bad decisions later on. Tavares, for his part, had a splendid first season in Toronto, with 47 goals and 88 points, but since then injuries, among other things, have prevented him from reaching the 30-goal and 80-point plateau. He has offered just 14 points in 20 playoff games since joining the team.

Talent drain

We had to get rid of several talented players to comply with the salary cap, but we also very badly misjudged the talent of some others. We wanted to better distribute the forces by exchanging Nazem Kadri for a defender, Tyson Barrie, and a forward, Alexander Kerfoot. Barrie was kicked out after just one year. Kerfoot has become a decent forward, but Kadri produced more than Tavares last year in Colorado.

Strong supporting players Ilya Mikheyev, Kasperi Kapanen, Zach Hyman, Andreas Johnsson among others have been sacrificed over the years to conform to the cap. Only Kapanen brought something back.

Mason Marchment, 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, was traded for Denis Malgin in February 2020, after playing just four games in Toronto. He had 47 points in 54 games last year at Florida, just 26 years old. Another example of an awkwardly traded player is Connor Brown.

Exodus of draft picks

Brendan Shanahan and Kyle Dubas have traded four first-round picks, two second-round picks and six third-round picks in recent years to get playoff back-ups. Of all the assets obtained in return for these choices, only today remains Jake Muzzin, too often on the injured list, and Mark Giordano, a defender who surprises at the start of the season despite his 39 years.

Young defenseman Sean Durzi was also traded to one of those top picks to get Muzzin at the time. Durzi, 24, is now entrenched in the Kings’ defensive top four. He averages 21 minutes per game and has already had six points in ten games this season.

We also wasted a first-round pick in 2019 to get rid of Patrick Marleau. The Hurricanes drafted Seth Jarvis with that pick. Jarvis, 20, is already a member of the first line in Carolina.

poor development

Since Auston Matthews in 2016, Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren are the only draft products to settle in Toronto. But still, these two young defenders did not even play 17 minutes per game last year. We just called back Nick Robertson, 21. It was time. Robertson has four points in six games. But he would still be in the minors had it not been for the injury to goalkeeper Matt Murray, due to salary constraints.

The Maple Leafs have drafted just three first-round picks in the last six vintages (and three overall picks in 2021, in 2^e5^e and 6^e round), it does not help the regeneration of a club, but two third pair defenders in six years is too little…

No established guardian

The acquisition of Frederik Andersen for late first-round picks in 2016 and second-round picks in 2017 was a pretty good move…by Lou Lamoriello. Andersen was solid for the Leafs for four years before having a tough injury-plagued final season. We let him enjoy his autonomy in 2021 and he has since joined the Carolina Hurricanes, where he had a magnificent season last year.

Shanahan and Dubas replaced him with one-year number one Jack Campbell last season before joining the Edmonton Oilers this summer as a free agent. Petr Mrazek had to put together a quality plan B. He was even offered 11.4 million for three years, but had to be offered a first-round pick (25^e in total) to the Maple Leafs, against a second-round pick (38^e in total) to the Blackhawks to get rid of his contract last summer…

Dubas took a risk with a goaltender he knew from his years as a junior manager by trading the Senators a third-round pick to get perennially injured Matt Murray and his annual salary and $6.2 million for another two year. At least Ottawa is withholding 25% of his salary, which eases the amount on the salary cap for Toronto (from 6.2 million to 4.6 million, but unsurprisingly Murray was placed on the injured list after the first Let’s see if Ilya Samsonov, acquired for a pittance, can do the job. His start to the season is promising.

In short, by accumulating these blunders, and given the Leafs’ failures in the playoffs since the arrival of Brendan Shanahan in 2014, and the lack of relief, one wonders why Coach Keefe seems like the sacrificed sheep today…

A profitable exchange for both teams

Without Ryan O’Reilly, the St. Louis Blues would never have won the Stanley Cup in 2019. O’Reilly had 23 points in 26 games and earned the Conn-Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

But to get it, the Blues had to sacrifice a promising prospect, their 2016 first-round pick Tage Thompson, a 2019 first-round pick and a 2021 second-round pick.

Thompson had just 28 points in 145 games in his first three seasons at Buffalo, but the Sabers could afford to be patient as they were rebuilding. This young giant finally exploded at 24 last year with 38 goals and 68 points in 78 games, at the center of the first line. He had six points Monday in the Sabers’ 8-3 victory over Detroit, to bring his total to 12 points in 9 games. A profitable exchange for the two clubs in the context of each organization.