Though it's been reported that Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews is the only player not available for discussion, it doesn't mean the team isn't immune to a rebuild under GM John Chayka.
Toronto Maple Leafs GM John Chayka is willing to listen to trade offers on any player other than captain and star center Auston Matthews, per a report from Chris Johnston. That means anyone - including star right winger William Nylander and left winger Matthew Knies – is in theory up for grabs.
Regardless of who moves out of Toronto, the report certainly suggests a full team rebuild is a very real possibility, even if Matthews doesn’t want to be part of it a year or two from now.
This past season may have been a blip on the radar for the Maple Leafs. But who knows, maybe the Leafs get back on track next season with the first overall pick in this year’s entry draft, some better fortune on the health front, and a bounce-back performance from their goaltenders. Toronto might sneak back into the Stanley Cup playoffs.
But is that enough for Leafs Nation – just getting into the playoffs, and being cannon fodder in the first or second round?
To be a team that’s on the rise, the Leafs need a new generation of young players – and if it means dealing Nylander to a team willing to give a young, up-and-coming defenseman, so be it.
The Maple Leafs have long lacked a true No. 1 defenseman, and the only way you get that is to either draft at the top of the draft or acquire one via trade, the way the Vancouver Canucks received youngster Zeev Buium in the trade for star defenseman Quinn Hughes. You have to give something to get something, and the Leafs need to give up something to get the balance on ‘D’ that they’ve lacked for ages.
After about a decade of not getting past the second round, it might be true that this core just doesn't have it. Now that Chayka is coming in with a clean slate, he’ll never have a better chance at embarking on a full rebuild with this Leafs team than the chance he has right now. He’s got a core that includes Knies, Easton Cowan, Ben Danford and their No. 1 pick, and that’s a solid amount of talent to build around.
If Toronto isn’t listening to offers for Matthews, that’s a good sign. Matthews can be part of the solution for the Leafs. If not, Chayka can look at trading Matthews during the season.
But if he moves Nylander for a king’s ransom of picks and prospects this summer and comes out of it with a better-balanced Leafs team that can contend - not just for the playoffs, but be a legitimate Stanley Cup threat – then the pain of dealing Nylander would be worth it.
Getting a chance to draft first overall makes it a good time for Toronto to turn the page. Nylander has said he would be fine staying through a quick retool but not a full rebuild, and that could make it more likely he waives his no-move clause if Chayka wants to get younger and rebuild.
But that’s the other key here – the Leafs could be stuck if their players with no-trade or no-move clauses dig in their heels and refuse to accept a deal out of Toronto. If that’s the case, Chayka won’t be able to get as much done as he otherwise may have hoped to.
Still, there’s no harm in Chayka trying to take big swings out of the gate. He’s already fired coach Craig Berube and assistant GMs Brandon Pridham and Derek Clancey, and sooner than later, he’ll turn his attention to significantly changing the Leafs’ roster.
How much change he creates will be mostly up to him, but it says here that Chayka should take the most proven road to creating a year-in, year-out Cup-frontrunner Maple Leafs team by implementing a full rebuild.
Toronto's held onto its core for a decade now with limited success, so it’s time for a new era in Leafs Land.
And that means being patient as Toronto embarks on the long road back to relevancy.
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