Toronto Maple Leafs fans were left heartbroken on Saturday (May 4) night after the Maple Leafs lost in Game 7 to the Boston Bruins with an overtime winner from David Pastrnak which sent him and the Bruins to Round 2. With that loss, the Maple Leafs have yet again failed to find a way to defeat the Bruins in the postseason and will have to go back to the drawing board for the 2024-25 season. With fans looking for someone to blame and hoping their team can come back next season and finally make a deep playoff run, they are expected to make some moves this offseason, and Pierre LeBrun added fuel to the fire when he suggested there will be changes coming.
These changes that are being hinted at are something that Maple Leafs fans have been expecting for a while. Unfortunately, it seems to be the same story after every failed season, so finding out whether these claims are true or not is going to take some time. With the Maple Leafs having several massive contracts against their salary cap for a while, it doesn’t give them much flexibility to make the massive change that many fans and analysts think they should be making. Auston Matthews and William Nylander are both locked up to solid contracts, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly likely won’t be moved due to their high cap hits and lack of interest from other teams, leaving them with very few options.
Many fans have been quick to point the blame toward head coach Sheldon Keefe, who has consistently failed to help bring the Maple Leafs over the hump and help lead them to a strong postseason run. While a coaching change could be something the they consider this offseason, LeBrun’s tweet gives the idea that the team is going to try and make some trades and change the way their lineup looks instead. As he mentioned, it’s going to be tough to “blow it up” because of the no-trade/no-move clauses involved with some of the contracts they have signed, but it still isn’t impossible to get something done.
What Options Do the Maple Leafs Have?
As mentioned already, the Maple Leafs could consider making a coaching change and relieving Keefe of his duties. Having a fresh face behind the bench could be a nice change of pace and could lead to having a team that is more accountable and plays hard in the postseason, instead of just the regular season. Names such as Jay Woodcroft, Craig Berube, and Todd McLellan all come to mind as potential fits if Keefe is let go, but that’s just one option for the team.
Another option they could consider this offseason is embracing a full rebuild and slowly starting to move out some big contracts in hopes of focusing on the future. While this is something many teams consider when they can’t find any success in the playoffs and aren’t quite as close as some other contenders, this option doesn’t seem likely. With the major contracts the team has locked in long-term and the lack of available cap space combined with a less-than-impressive prospect pool, a rebuild doesn’t seem like a smart idea at this stage.
The final option we will look at, which seems like the most realistic, is making a massive hockey trade with another contending team to change the scenery for both franchises. Mitch Marner seems like the most tradeable asset that has some big value and can bring back a massive return, despite his no-movement clause (NMC) that gives him the decision as to where he gets traded. If the Maple Leafs decided to trade Marner, they could surely get back another star player and some future pieces on top of it in exchange.
At the end of the day, it seems like changes are coming in Toronto. For the team to start succeeding, they will need to do something different and finally pull the trigger on a big move. While their 2023-24 season is now complete and they will shift their focus to the offseason, there will surely be plenty of news and rumours to report from the Maple Leafs in the coming weeks.
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