We are approaching the conference finals and I couldn’t be happier. The last thing anyone should want is playoffs without drawing cards. Let’s go out of season. Obsession! Draft picks! Qualified offers! Arbitration! It all sounds like a lot more fun than a Dallas Stars hockey game. Anyway, we’re now through the first week of GM-less in Toronto and it’s safe to say everyone is freaking out. If this continues another week, I would expect the Scotiabank Arena and Carleton Arena to have all the copper wire stripped to start off completely and start attracting tourists to take pictures at Legends Row. The Maple Leafs hockey community generally does not handle adversity well.
Here are some other ideas…
Lesson of the Panthers: Anyone can win
Sergey Bobrovsky’s return to Bobrovsky’s heyday was certainly unexpected and there may be a lesson in not writing off goaltenders who once proved themselves worthy of the $10 million AAV contract. Maybe it’s a bit of a stretch, but it seems like a better lesson than believing Paul Morris is above anyone or that every team needs Matthew Tkachuk.
There’s a lot to be said about toughness, and Sam Bennett’s tough play combined with his first six skills has been an asset for the Panthers but it’s not the only recipe for victory. The smarter teams will sit on lessons learned from the Panthers and try instead to learn from the Golden Knights.
The Golden Knights do not have a unique formula either to emulate but there is something to be said for the fact that they have had a lot of success but are never quite satisfied with it. They’ve always been looking to get better. After an unexpected Cup run they could have been happy with what they had but since then they have added Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Alex Pietrangelo etc. They fired their coach when they thought a better option was available. They’ve had their ups and downs, but it’s paying off again, and their upward trend from not accepting a status quo approach is a rare learning to make in the playoffs.
Leaf pressure needs (on ice)
As I mentioned above, modernity’s bias towards what works out for the Panthers as an unlikely Stanley Cup Finalist will fuel plenty of anecdotes. Please seat them. The Leafs’ urgent need is simply to upgrade.
Toronto will have cheap NHL-caliber luxury next season. They’ll have the luxury of instilling cheap NHL options like Matthew Knies, Nick Robertson, Bobby McMann, and Pontus Holmberg into their lineup, too, before someone pops out of nowhere and jumps into the conversation, too. The Leafs need to find a way to use their available cap space to do a better job than Bunting or Kerfoot. Find another defenseman who puts them on top, and capitalize on where your mid-level players have failed with them instead of talking about moving on from their quality players who haven’t had the chance to post in a best 9 vs best 6 format.
The Leafs are in the rare position next year that they can promote their top nine players, it seems odd to think of stripping him unless an absolute sweetheart of the deal comes their way.
GM’s suggestion is off the radar
Darren Dreger suggests the job is losing Brad Treliving. (He’s losing a lot.) To a lot of Kyle Dubas’ support, it seems to be Eric Tolsky, Brandon Pridham, or the statue. Sprinkle in some other interesting names like Matthew Darsch, Jason Bottrell, Mike Gillis, Doug Armstrong, Scott Mellanby, and Lawrence Gilman and you’re about to round out a GM-free field of Jim Benning, Mark Bergevin, Dale Talon, and Peter Chiarelli. Replacing Dubas doesn’t have to be a disaster unless LIVES turns it into a disaster.
Time is of the essence and I guess that’s why expanding the field even further wouldn’t be popular, but I thought I’d highlight an option that might not be a popular one but might come with a bit of justification. This option is David Boyle.
The suggestion of an elderly GM immediately brings flashbacks to Lou Lamoriello, and it’s certainly not a positive experience for many Leafs fans. Poile isn’t someone who’s going to take a Dubas-type innovation and culture approach to the Leafs, he’s just coming in and trying to win now. More importantly, he’s someone who would likely come up with a short-term contract to try and win now, and potentially give the Leafs a few years to either develop their successor internally or explore the GM market more thoroughly in that time window while certainly addressing the desire for experience in the role.
I know a lot of you hate this idea because I also kind of hate this idea and this is more about throwing an idea out there to see if it sticks rather than one that I really believe in. If Poile isn’t a name you like, suppose I write Ray Shero or Dean Lombardi instead because it all falls into the same concept of immediate appeasement of a plate while buying time to find the best long-term option.