During locker cleanout day, Toronto's players might've left everyone with more questions than answers.
During locker cleanout day, Toronto's players might've left everyone with more questions than answers.
One goal could've propelled the Toronto Maple Leafs into the second round. But it didn't. Instead, Toronto, its players, and management are left picking up the pieces of yet another fragmented season.
It's been eight years — six when John Tavares joined the Maple Leafs — where Toronto has struggled ferociously in the playoffs.
They eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round last year before getting nearly steamrolled by the Florida Panthers in Round 2. The Maple Leafs showed fight then and proved this year that they could persevere through difficult moments.
But, again, everyone — the fans, media, and likely the organization themselves — is left asking the same questions, and some of Toronto's players are providing the same answers, time and time again.
"Well, we're right there," John Tavares said on Monday during the team's end-of-season media availability. "I think, obviously, you lose in game seven in overtime against a team like Boston. It just goes to show how small the difference is. And, a lot of things could be a lot different where we stand today, just one shot away."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKUd0QaisoU[/embed]
This team, though, isn't right there. This organization hasn't been right there since arguably 2002 when they were ousted in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Carolina Hurricanes in six games.
When Florida eliminated Toronto last year, yes, they went to the Stanley Cup Finals before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games. It was a similar scenario in 2022 when the Maple Leafs were eliminated in seven games by the Tampa Bay Lightning. That team, too, went to the finals but lost to the Colorado Avalanche.
Four of the Maple Leafs' last six playoff opponents — excluding their play-in vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2020 and this year's postseason against the Boston Bruins — have all gone to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Florida (eliminated Toronto in five games) vs. Vegas in 2023
Tampa (eliminated Toronto in seven games) vs. Colorado in 2022
Montreal (eliminated Toronto in seven games) vs. Tampa in 2021
Boston (eliminated Toronto in seven games) vs. St. Louis in 2019
However, none of those teams that sent the Maple Leafs home went on to win the elusive trophy. Maybe that's what Tavares alluded to by being "right there."
One player who took a different approach than Toronto's captain was Morgan Rielly, the Maple Leafs' longest-tenured player.
"I don't want to stand here and try to tell you that we're on the doorstep of anything because we're sitting here today doing this," Rielly said, bluntly, "but the belief is there that it's attainable but there's work and improvement that has to take place."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY_twbyRC1E[/embed]
The margins might've been razor thin on Saturday night inside TD Garden against the Bruins in overtime during Game 7, but it feels like this Maple Leafs team is as far as ever from taking the extensive leap to the promised land.
This Maple Leafs team will be different next season. There will be new players that come into the organization and there will be familiar faces that leave. That's just how this business works.
However, if the Maple Leafs enter next season believing they're very close to doing something that hasn't been achieved since 1967, we might all be asking the same questions in a year.
"So how close are we? I don't know, we'll see," Rielly added, earnestly. "It feels both attainable and a ways away. And that's what drives you as an individual. That's what drives a team forward to either have success or we'll see."
Related
News from THN.com
NHL Draft Lottery: What Macklin Celebrini Can Bring to the San Jose Sharks
NHL Playoffs: Canucks and Oilers Series Should Be Closer Than People Think
NHL Announces Finalists for Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award and Fan Vote