Are Leaf Fans Prepared for What is on the Horizon?

 

Photo From Toronto Sun 

Saturday, April 29^th ended with the Leaf fanbase in complete euphoria as John Tavares broke a 19-year-long curse sending Toronto into the second round of the playoffs. With the Leafs eliminating the Tampa Bay Lightning we all thought our team was over the hump and were set to go on an unforgettable run in the postseason, but then they squared off against the Florida Panthers and the fun ride ended abruptly last night.

All season long Leaf fans have kicked and screamed saying the core needs to be blown up or Kyle and Sheldon need to go… well Leaf fans I think you’ll get what you wished for. In my opinion, you won’t see Kyle Dubas return as GM or Keefe return as head coach and before anyone goes on about how neither person is NHL calibre you’re insane because there are plenty of teams that will be kicking down their door hoping to sign them. Also, trust me when I tell you this core group will be dismantled. All sites should be focused on Auston Matthews right now because on July 1^st the Leafs can officially start negotiating a contract extension with Auston. One thing that needs to be remembered is he also has a full no-trade clause kick-in on this coming final year of his contract. Anyone who follows hockey knows that teams negotiate with players behind closed doors before they are legally allowed to. I mention this factor because we are aware of the relationship Kyle Dubas and Auston Matthews have we know that Auston is a big fan of Kyle’s plan and methods used when running the Leafs. If the MLSE board decides to part ways with both Kyle and Sheldon if Auston tells whoever is next in charge that he doesn’t want to extend his deal with Toronto, then the Leafs will have to look at moving him at this summer’s draft because if they don’t and Auston plays the final year only to walk in free agency then you are in the same situation Islanders fans were with John Tavares. My question to every Leaf fan reading this is simple. Are you prepared for what is about to come? Because the Leaf team we watched this season will not be the one we see in October when the next season begins. There will be drastic changes from the Leafs both in management and on the ice and I strongly believe we fans will be sitting through the next few years wondering who Toronto will draft in the first round instead of who they’ll be playing in the first round. When the management change happens, and the core is torn down I hope everyone who wants change is prepared because there won’t be enough in return to make any trade valuable and keep this team competitive. Trust me I get why fans want to change things and want players traded I mean this series against Florida supports that argument, but I don’t know if fans are willing to sit through another rebuild.

I will never understand the argument that Sheldon Keefe isn’t an NHL coach so many say he belongs in the AHL. Let me let you in on a little secret. 99% of the coaches in the NHL spent years riding buses coaching in the American league. John Cooper who Sheldon Keefe’s Leafs eliminated spent years in the American League coaching the Norfolk Admirals where he won a Calder Cup beating Dallas Eakins and the Toronto Marlies in the final. Cooper when he came up to coach the Lightning, he didn’t have success right away, he had years where Tampa would miss the playoffs or have early playoff exits. No one was calling for his job they were all preaching patience and telling fans to relax and sure enough the results arrived with 2 Stanley Cups in 3 seasons. After last night, Sheldon Keefe collected 166 regular season wins, putting him 6^th all-time in team history with a .678 points percentage leading the franchise, then in the postseason Sheldon has 13 wins for 6^th place in franchise history. All of this has been done in 4 years, but fans want him fired. Part of me is going to be very disappointed when the teardown begins but the other part of me is going to be excited to watch the reaction of the fanbase because when fans watch this team struggle to score and struggle to win games, I’ll be sitting back reminding everyone why patience was needed because Kyle and Sheldon were the right guys for this team.

 

The Leafs going into this offseason have around twenty million dollars in cap space to spend in preparation for October. There is a lot of talk and speculation that Toronto will move on from Matt Murray either via trade or placing him on LTIR if they do the later the Leafs will have 24 million dollars to play with it will surely be an interesting summer for the Leafs and we will likely have an idea of what is to happen in the coming weeks. For now, though, I will take a break from blogging and enjoy the summer watching Blue Jays baseball, and Team Canada at the World Ice Hockey Championships, and of course following Canada Soccer’s international play. Of course, if or when anything Leaf related happens regarding management changes or trades at the draft, I will do my best to cover it and then of course there’s free agency on July 1^st all in all it’s going to be an interesting summer.

I want to thank everyone who followed along and supported my blog this season the support is greatly appreciated and of course the critics who take jabs at me and my writing that’s fine too because at least you’re reading every time I posted something.

 

Lastly, thanks to the Toronto Maple Leafs for another entertaining season.