Fixing the Toronto Maple Leafs

It's been 16 years since the Toronto Maple Leafs last won a playoff series. They have three forwards making north of $10M and a fourth forward making $7M for the next four years, a back-end that is inexperienced, they have no goaltending depth, and the team lacks grit. Their first pick in the upcoming draft is 45th overall. Where do the Leafs go from here and how do they take the next step to at least win a playoff round let alone compete for a cup?

I won’t answer because I don’t want them to be fixed

But I’ll answer eventually lol

There's no secret that their D let them down a bit versus Columbus. Andersen is fine as a starter. The odd weak goal now and then, but it's nothing their offense shouldn't be able to make up for.

The Leafs top scorers had a shooting % of something like 2.5% against Columbus...just bad luck coupled with running into goalies playing out of their minds in a couple games. Plus Muzzin was out for a large portion of that series AND they lost another d-man in game 5. Having Cody Ceci playing lots of minutes obviously didn't help them either.

So, they're really not far off. Ideally they would add another good defenceman, but they also have a couple in the pipe in Lilgeren (or whatever his name is) and Rasmus Sandin.

Not tough enough up front, not good enough on D and still have questions in goal imo.

Nylander for a Dman? I dunno. Hard to fix a team that has so much money tied up in a handful of players. You need an amazing supporting cast and you need the stars to outplay the other team's stars.

Heard it mentioned in one of the podcasts that Andersen is Lalime. Outstanding most of the time, then lets in an inexcusable goal or two in a huge game. At this point it's very clear that the team around him almost expects it and so when they get to the elimination game they play poorly. They overcame a 0-3 hole in the first elimination game but don't forget that they got into that hole in the first place (and Columbus effed-up badly in the last 5 minutes).

Well, at least the dodged the bullet of getting the 1st overall and the ensuing need to move another superstar 3 years later.

Andersen is fine. He played very well most of the series. There's zero excuse for the Leafs getting shutout twice in a 5 game series...except the Korpisalo played out of his mind in games 1 and 5.

I hope they blame Andersen. Only Lehner and Markstrom are better and that can easily be debated. Lehner could regress in that market too. And they can’t afford Markstrom. But sure, blame Andersen, keep him and shatter his confidence. Love Toronto.

I think they need to move Matthews personally. Guy is good but I don't buy him as being a good leader. Tavares also had a horrendous series. Isles fans must be thrilled .

Its hard to trade for good defencemen. Maybe they try to sign Krug or someone like that but they need a real shutdown dman.

Maybe they try to package Matthews / Nylander and try to get into the top 10 to draft Sanderson or Drysdale.

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:Maybe they try to package Matthews / Nylander and try to get into the top 10 to draft Sanderson or Drysdale.

wait, what?

they package Matthews to get in the top 10? draft a D-man that won't play for a few years?


you have got to tell us what you're smoking

they will wind up having to trade Nylander. there's really no two ways around it. they could probably get a very good young #2 guy in exchange.

but no way will they trade fo a guy that's not in the league. The leafs time is now. time is ticking. I believe Matthews might exercise his rights when FA comes and DUmbass Cussed it up by getting him right to FA on his last contract. the longer this goes, the dumber Dubas looks in his decisions. we should be seeing calls for him to be fired any day now.

Theyre not going to win with Matthews. It's as simple as that. They need to get away from the three forwards for $30M + thing and ice a balanced lineup. There is also nothing suggesting their time is now. Their core is young. They could get a haul for Matthews that would make the team better

Minnesota could give up the 9th overall, Fiala and Dumba.

Find a way to add Josh Anderson from CLB, and a goalie out of New York (young dman) and all of a sudden you turn around your franchise

Trading Nylander gets you a second pair dman.

If you think they're trading Matthews, you really have great drugs and I'd like some please. I despise Matthews. And there's a reason he doesn't have a letter on his chest. That said, with a solid D addition, they'll be OK. Keep in mind they would have likely beaten Columbus without Muzzin getting injured, and if Korpisalo hadn't played out of his mind.

He has the 'A', doesn't he?

tim1_2 wrote:If you think they're trading Matthews, you really have great drugs and I'd like some please.  I despise Matthews.  And there's a reason he doesn't have a letter on his chest.  That said, with a solid D addition, they'll be OK.  Keep in mind they would have likely beaten Columbus without Muzzin getting injured, and if Korpisalo hadn't played out of his mind.

Not sure I agree. Josh Anderson, had he been healthy, would have run right through their forwards. And how are they supposed to add a d-man? They're against the cap as it is and that's including paying Barrie at 50% and getting Spezza at the NHL minimum. They're now going to be down Barrie, Ceci, Clifford, and need to re-sign Dermott and Mikheyev. They're in a world of trouble.