Time to End the Shanaplan

 

Photo From CTV News

 

Sorry for the huge gap between articles on this blog but sometimes life gets in the way, and you have to deal with more important things. The blog is back so let's talk about some things. The Toronto Maple Leafs were in Boston for game 7 of their first-round series and once again Toronto sees their season end in the opening round of the playoffs. The Leafs managed to give us a sense of hope by forcing a seventh game thanks to two unbelievable games from Joseph Woll. Going into last night’s game we got the news that Matthews who had been dealing with some illness would be available to play. Great news, right? Well then there were rumblings surrounding the status of Joseph Woll. Nick Kypreos was the first to suggest something was up about Woll but then when Elliott Friedman started tweeting about it, it pretty much confirmed that Ilya Samsonov would be starting. My reaction to Samsonov starting? I was fine with it he was the starter going into the series and in his last start in Boston, game 2 he was a huge factor in the Leafs leaving Boston with a split.

I’m not going to break down each period we all watched the game we all know the outcome, but with Toronto being eliminated last night I have some thoughts on what needs to happen to the Toronto Maple Leafs. First changes need to be made at the very top. Shanahan has been the team President since 2014 he has been here for 10 years. Leaving out the teardown and tanking season under Shanahan this team has won one series in eight years. This core has stayed the same the entire time. Kyle Dubas in his media conference after losing to Florida hinted at breaking up the core and lost his job. Brad Treliving was brought in by Shanahan and for his first season, I think Brad did a decent job. Sure, there were questionable signings, but you can say that about every GM in this league the simple fact that the Leafs have one series win in 8 years is enough to fire him.

Next to go is Sheldon Keefe and his staff. Now anyone who has followed this blog knows I am a Sheldon Keefe fan, and you can’t deny he has done well as Leaf coach in the regular season but unfortunately couldn’t find success in the playoffs. I have defended Keefe many times, but I don’t think I can do that anymore. Last night Keefe was asked about Toronto’s struggles to get out of the first round and his response was “Opponents set up gameplans for the Leafs to beat themselves”. No Sheldon your opponent’s set up game plans to beat you and your players that’s how coaching works. If your team loses a game, it is usually because your opponent in this case the Bruins designed a game plan to beat your Toronto Maple Leafs and guess what? it worked They play Florida on Monday while you pack up your office after another season.

The Leafs need to move one of the core players, but the question is who? Because they are all locked into their contracts. Matthews starts his extension next season, but you aren’t moving him he is going to be one of the franchise's greatest goal-scorers and even though he missed a few games this series he was still a factor regardless of what line he was on. Nylander starts his 8-year extension this summer, so he isn’t going anywhere, and he has been the team's most consistent playoff player. Nick Kypreos suggested the Leafs buy out John Tavares. Tavares finished with 29 goals and 65 points…no he may not be performing up to his salary anymore, but he is still an impactful player. John Tavares, I call him the little thing king because he does so many things that won’t show up on a score sheet, but they are a key factor in a big goal for the team. A great example would be his faceoff success or even his drive to the net in game 5 leading to the Knies overtime goal.

That would now just leave Mitch Marner, it would be difficult for the Leafs to move him because his no-trade clause is intact, but I think a change of scenery would benefit Marner because I think his getting out of the spotlight in Toronto would be beneficial for him. I don’t know Mitch on a personal level, but he gives me the impression that he reads what the media says about him, and the team and he lets it get to him so maybe leaving Toronto would be the best thing for him.

One very frustrating thing for Leaf fans was the team’s power play. Sure, they finished 6^th overall in the regular season but they went 1-21 for an embarrassing total of 4% Toronto for a few years has had special team issues as soon as the playoffs start. They don’t seem to be able to handle a team with an aggressive penalty kill and when they run into an aggressive team they don’t know how to adjust. This series exposed that because there were many times when Toronto couldn’t even enter the Bruins zone. Guy Boucher was brought in by the Leafs to manage the power play but my question to that is simply why? Guy is a good coach don’t get me wrong, but he has always been a defense-minded coach. So, my question why would you bring in a coach whose strength is defence and have him run a power play when Toronto could have used his strengths and had him manage the blue line?

This summer has the makings of an eventful one for the Leafs, but I want to give fans a heads up that changes are going to be coming but be prepared for this team to likely take a step backwards.

Thanks as always for reading.