The Maple Leafs shall be eradicated within the second spherical of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Cease me for those who’ve heard this one earlier than. Whereas Toronto continues to be technically competing, there’s nothing to point this group can flip issues round towards Florida after an absolute embarrassment Wednesday night time which noticed the Leafs lose 6-1 at residence, which allowed the Panthers to take a 3-2 collection lead and take management to their residence ice to shut this out.
It’s not a lot that Toronto misplaced. That half might be forgiven. The reigning Stanley Cup champions are robust opponents, and Florida’s forecheck physicality matches up nicely towards the Leafs extra finesse-based prime traces. The issue that actually introduced itself on Wednesday is that Toronto’s gamers simply stopped caring. They stop.
That may appear to be a harsh evaluation, however Toronto gamers and coach Craig Berube saw it too.
“I don’t assume they got here any tougher than they’ve. I believe we allow them to come tonight. We stood round and watched,” Leafs coach Craig Berube lamented.
“They outskated us, actually. They’d the puck, received the races. Like, we simply performed sluggish. They have been quick. They have been on us. They have been hungrier. That’s the primary interval — and that units the tone.”
It’s completely staggering to listen to the phrase “they have been hungrier” come from a coach after Sport 5 within the playoffs, at residence, with the potential the Leafs have, and the expectations of not only a metropolis, however a whole hockey-loving nation. You nearly have to actively attempt to care much less in situations like that, however Toronto discovered a approach.
“Sloppy play. Not arduous sufficient working. Gifting away too many alternatives round our internet. There’s an excellent record of it,” [Mitch] Marner stated. “I don’t assume anybody’s comfortable about it.”
P.Okay. Subban went on a blistering tirade post-game after Toronto’s struggles on ESPN — and in a uncommon second of readability on the saying desk: He wasn’t mistaken.
Subban’s take is conceptually right — one thing has to vary. The issue is what, and the way? It’s not as if Toronto hasn’t tried to proper the ship over time. The franchise has persistently tried completely different tacts to search out success, however nothing is working. This isn’t just like the Dallas Cowboys, an identical group mired in mediocrity for the final 30 years, however with a typical thread of Jerry Jones interference. In the meantime the Leafs have gone by means of 5 basic managers within the final 15 years, six head coaches in the identical timeframe. They’ve pivoted star forwards from Phil Kessell and James van Riemsdyk to Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. The group has made changes on protection, rotated by means of goaltenders.
So whereas Subban saying the well-trodden axiom of “madness is doing the identical factor again and again,” that doesn’t apply to the Leafs. They’ve performed quite a bit. The issue is that nothing has labored.
The true frequent thread with regards to the Leafs is desperation, and the burden of expectation. There’s a “too huge to fail” ingredient with regards to Toronto, and that’s pressured administration over time into making far too many small changes in an effort to keep aggressive, moderately than accepting the necessity to do a full rebuild. That has led to a pervasive, incorrect perception that Toronto is much nearer to profitable a cup than they really are, and their commerce historical past over the previous 5 years exhibits it.
- 2025: Traded for Scott Laughton, sending away a 1st spherical decide and 22-year-old prospect Nikita Grebenkin
- 2025: Traded for Brandon Carlo, sending away a 1st spherical decide and 20-year-old prospect Fraser Minten
- 2024: Traded for Joel Edmunson on a rental, sending away a third and fifth spherical decide
- 2023: Traded for Luke Schenn on a rental, sending away a third spherical decide
- 2023: Traded for Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty, sending away 1st and 2nd spherical decide
- 2022: Traded for Matt Giodano and Colin Blackwell, sending away two 2nd spherical picks, and a third spherical decide
- 2021: Traded for Stefan Noesen, sending away 1st and 4th spherical picks
This whole disregard of the draft and growing their prospects has put the Leafs ludicrously far behind with out something to indicate for it. Forward of the 2024-25 season The Hockey Writers rated each farm system within the NHL, and Toronto completed twenty fifth due to Grebenkin and Minten — now each are traded away. Groups that completed decrease for all of them superior additional within the playoffs, exhibiting there’s one thing occurring in that entrance workplace the place not solely is Toronto handing out picks like they’re sweet, however incorrectly selecting the targets to accumulate, as a result of no one within the above commerce lists have panned out.
What we now have proper now’s a rudderless franchise with none clear aim. There’s no semblance of a plan behind constructing the Leafs aside from “get good skaters,” and with out an id to construct to they’re simply throwing crap on the wall and hoping it sticks.
The true disgrace is what’s about to return (and what ought to occur). Toronto wants to just accept that Marner isn’t a bit that may win them the cup and let him go away in free company. The temptation shall be to spend huge, however as an alternative this group wants to tug the BandAid off, and it’s going to harm: Toronto must commerce Auston Matthews.
Sure, he’s top-of-the-line gamers in your complete NHL — however proper now his commerce worth won’t ever be larger. It’s an opportunity to get a number of first spherical picks, restock their farm, and attempt to course right to change into nice, moderately than proceed hovering at superb. At this level there’s no quantity of retooling with Matthews because the centerpiece that may convey a Stanley Cup to Toronto within the subsequent 5 years, which is principally his window to stay an elite participant with a excessive price ticket.
Will Toronto try this? No, completely not. There isn’t any planet through which this group, with this braintrust, locked on this mind-set will commerce one of many NHL’s largest superstars. It will take an excessive amount of of a backbone to make a transfer like this, however it’s what this franchise wants. Till one thing huge occurs we’ll be again right here subsequent yr, questioning why the Leafs are flaming out within the playoffs as soon as extra.
