The Toronto Maple Leafs’ season ended in about as humiliating a fashion as any fan had feared.
In the days since falling 6-1 to the defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers in Game 7 of their second-round series Sunday night, the question on everyone’s minds is what’s coming next for this team.
There’s been plenty of talk this week about the future of pending UFAs Mitch Marner and John Tavares, with some reports and speculation about Brendan Shanahan’s future as the team’s president.
Let’s look at 30,000 feet and examine three changes the Maple Leafs should make this off-season.
Change No. 1: Move On From Mitch Marner
Heading into this season, we knew the Leafs – and Marner in particular – would be judged by whether they go deep in the playoffs. Not only did they fail to do so, but the way they went out likely spells the end of Marner’s time with the Blue & White.
Marner was screaming in vain at his teammates when the result of the game was no longer in doubt and when he had a total of two shots and a minus-two rating. Proven winners let their play do the talking, and Marner’s 13 points in 13 playoff games don’t matter much when he had one point in their last four games.
After so much disappointment, there’s no way the Maple Leafs can run it back with Marner for the next seven or eight years. It’s not going to happen.
Now, the Leafs can use the $12 million to $13 million in salary cap space Marner leaves behind on other players this summer. Toronto always spends to the salary cap ceiling, and that isn’t going to change in the wake of Marner’s departure.
Marner may well succeed in a different market, but for nearly a decade, the Leafs have turned to Marner to be a playoff difference-maker, and no matter how the supporting cast around him has changed, the results have not. It’s time for him to take his talents elsewhere and for the Leafs to change the core mix of star players.
Change No. 2: Trade Veterans And Underperformers
We’re well aware that 11 Maple Leafs players under contract next season have some sort of no-move or no-trade protection. But when teams want to end a relationship with a player, they often get their way, and the player uses their no-move or no-trade clause to have control over their next destination.
With that in mind, Leafs GM Brad Treliving should quickly go about finding new homes for some Leafs veterans.
Defenseman Morgan Rielly could be one of them. He’s got another five years left on his contract, but Rielly has clearly lost a step, and finding him a new home should be a priority for Treliving.
But that can’t be the only trade the Leafs make this off-season. Whether it’s well-paid forwards Calle Jarnkrok and David Kampf, or young left winger Nick Robertson, there must be a few players that get moved this summer for draft picks, prospects or bargain-basement assets.
The Leafs are still firmly in win-now mode, but every GM must balance the needs of the moment for the needs of the long haul.
Toronto’s organizational depth will be tested in the coming weeks and months, but if the Leafs are to hang onto star center John Tavares and get budding star left winger Matthew Knies’ signature on a long-term contract extension, they need to clear out some veterans who are making too much money for their current role.
Whatever The Maple Leafs Were Going To Pay Mitch Marner, Give It All To Sam Bennett
The National Hockey League’s rules on tampering are pretty clear: no team is allowed to talk to pending free agents before July 1. By doing so, they risk being fined and potentially losing draft picks.
Change No. 3: Develop Toronto’s Next Generation Of Players
The prospect of organizational renewal is beginning to come into sharp focus for the Leafs. When Marner moves on, there will be bigger opportunities for Toronto’s next generation of players.
We’re talking first and foremost about Knies as well as OHL phenom Easton Cowan, but the Leafs also have to open up chances for other youngsters in the organization and see who rises to the challenge.
With high-end money stocking the shelves at the upper tier of the Leafs’ competitive pyramid, it makes sense that they need cheaply paid youngsters to fill out the roster – and maybe, just maybe, prove themselves worthy of larger investments the way Knies has done.
We’re not here to convince you that Cowan can step right in and replace the offense Marner brought, but so long as Toronto has superstars Auston Matthews and William Nylander lighting it up, they can ease the expectations on up-and-comers like Cowan.
But there’s no question the Leafs’ developmental system has to do its share of the heavy lifting, and Treliving should turn to his draft and development teams to deliver some players who aren’t yet household names but could be with the right amount of investment in them.
The Maple Leafs don’t need someone to be the next Matthews or Nylander, but they do need affordable assets to ease the financial strain on the rest of the system.
Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.