This season has not been kind to the Toronto Maple Leafs, to say the least. The club is currently one step ahead of the Buffalo Sabres. And that’s saying a lot about how things are going.
But amid all of the hubbub surrounding trade rumors and Craig Berube being in the hot seat, the fact is that the time has come for the Maple Leafs to hold players’ feet to the fire.
In other timelines, it was players who took the fall. Do you recall Jake Gardiner? He was run out of town way back in the day. He misread a big play in the 2018 playoffs and then coughed up a crucial turnover in Game 7 against Boston in 2019.
Nazem Kadri’s head rolled after back-to-back postseason suspensions. He was on the outs in a so-called hockey trade that landed Tyson Barrie in that same 2019 offseason.
Since then, however, the axe has fallen on coaches and management. After the debacle in the 2021 bubble playoffs, Kyle Dubas became the fall guy. He was run out of town in 2023 unceremoniously.
Then, it was Sheldon Keefe. Keefe got pinned for the Leafs failing to get past the second round in his time in Toronto. Last season, it was Brendan Shanahan, the architect of the Shanaplan.
The current helm leading the Maple Leafs, GM Brad Treliving and head coach Craig Berube, deserve their fair share of the blame. But the fact is that it’s time the Maple Leafs held the players’ feet to the fire.
While Berube has publicly called out players several times, calling them out in the media just isn’t enough anymore. There has to be some accountability. That’s why it makes sense that the Maple Leafs’ brass has given Treliving and Berube their blessing for the “roster-for-roster” shake-up Elliotte Friedman talked about in last Saturday’s Headlines.
But there’s a caveat. Friedman stated that the shake-up did not include core guys. Sure, the Maple Leafs don’t want to move William Nylander and Auston Matthews on a whim. But you have to think, what good does it do to move out a bunch of bottom-six guys? Yes, Matthews, Nylander, Tavares, and Knies score. But unless we’re talking about a massive, in-season overhaul, there’s really not much of a chance anything will change.
Perhaps the Leafs may need to accept reality. This season is circling the drain. So, it might be time to strip the roster much the same way the Boston Bruins did last season. Pick their three, four, or five core guys and send anyone of value packing.
Who cares about how much the Maple Leafs can get in return? Anything of value at this point is worthwhile. The biggest benefit would be the cap space the team can utilize to bring in valuable pieces.
Maybe then, the Maple Leafs can retool and resemble more the team that Craig Berube and Brad Treliving envision.
