Toronto Maple Leafs Offseason Outlook

What's next for Toronto? After being eliminated in the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, NHL Tonight discusses the upcoming offseason.
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[@dachonabe]

If you want to change culture then you need to get a goalie, couple of strong defensemen, and replace Marner, Tavares, and All the coaches and Shanny.

[@user-oi9bg6fx5t]

Seems like 90% of leaf fans want exactly this.

[@Katie-hb8iq]

We didn't lose any of the series because of the goalie or even the defensemen. Yes, the defense looks bad on paper, but it wasn't their fault. Not even close. Even if you fix the defense on paper, you still haven't fixed 5-on-5 scoring or the pp. We lose every series - every single one - because this team doesn't score enough. Even the guys that are actually scoring are still not scoring ENOUGH. It's not just the guys that aren't scoring at all. it's the entire team.

[@paulgregoriou8520]

"Simon Benoit is a 6/7 defenseman".... Did this guy watch the playoffs? Benoit and McCabe were solid.

[@stangsswang8355]

He means with a good D-core,,,,on this shit team now yeah he's a 2nd pair guy

[@DownsyMB]

On a cup contender, he is a solid bottom pairing dman.

[@Hawk-a-Paw]

Sad these guys don't have a clue about the game!

[@adamCarter20]

Everyone has their 10 minutes of fame, if you think those guys are top 4, then expect more playoff failure.

[@Hawk-a-Paw]

@@adamCarter20 Easy a top 4 maybe not top 2

[@Hawk-a-Paw]

Benoit a 6 or 7 guy! LOL , can't believe he said that with a straight face.

[@mattgauthier7216]

5 or 6 at best. He sucjed in this series and kind of sucked all year.

[@TPMikeJ]

Leafs lost game 7 in OT Swayman held Boston in the games they won that could have gone either way. Does Toronto need changes, yes I believe at Coaching, Defense and Goaltending. Marner is the obvious choice, and a decent return could be a breath of fresh air. Swayman did the same to Florida last night

[@mortaljorma69]

Could have, would have etc. BUT IT DID NOT GO THAT WAY :D Year after year you guys keep on explaining while us, the rest of hockey fans keep on laughing at you.

[@itsgunnabeme]

"Defense, coaching and goaltending." Marner holds none of those positions so how is he the obvious choice?

[@TPMikeJ]

@@itsgunnabeme he is on the last year of his contract, not strong enough to get the net and worth the most in a trade.

[@TPMikeJ]

@@mortaljorma69 ya okay

[@newtron1]

10 years. Enough is enough.

[@mikemurphy8996]

I live in Toronto. Every show is talking about Marner and a trade. The Leafs aren’t eating any money for Marner.

[@googleisshit3220]

Then I'd expect a very poor return on a overpriced expiring contract

[@user-yg1dg6xm2g]

They can trade Marner, but the Leafs are stuck with Tavares for one more year.

[@Dougie-ex1ov]

ya and then trade him as well

[@Katie-hb8iq]

The Leafs should not retain on Marner LOL. There are plenty of young teams that need help making the playoffs with cap space to pay him in full and sign him next year. Why on earth would an NHL team trade for him if they can't afford the 12 million next year anyway is beyond me. We're talking about a guy that is still worth multiple 1st round picks in value here. Marner is not a rental - he is only being traded to a team that is going to sign him for 8 years due to the NTC. Marner will not agree to a rental situation. I can easily see many 3-way deals that make sense. 1. Leafs trade Marner to a team that is finished rebuilding that still needs to make the playoffs and still has plenty of cap space. For all of Marner's issues in the playoffs, there are still 10 teams that would love to have him just to make the playoffs. 2. That team then trades picks and late prospects to another team entering a rebuild. 3. That team then sends useful defensemen and cup-caliber pieces back to Toronto.

[@googleisshit3220]

Why would you expect any other team to make the same mistake the Leafs did 😂

[@TheSchwarzengger]

It’s the culture. Too many players of the same kind. This team needs a Mathew Tkchuk

[@charleslabree75]

Just passing through to see what the experts think?

[@scottdellaire4552]

Me too! 😂

[@wainber1]

Brendan Shanahan has for 10 seasons been Leafs' President. Whether Keith Pelley, CEO of Leafs' ownership group Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), agrees with me that Shanny must go, so that the AM34-Marner-Nylander-Rielly-Tavares quintet has a chance of being split up (given how ineffective so many members of that quintet were during the recent Leafs-Bruins playoff series), still remains TBD.

[@Spot67124]

Bruins need Tavares lol

[@datriaxsondor590]

Where do you find the money, he asks. You start by not signing multiple players to $11M+ contracts, to begin with. That's where you find the money. Good luck getting Tavares or Marner to waive their NMC. Sit them in the press box all you want. Marner is all about the money, not about the game. If anyone thinks sitting him in the press box is going to affect him in the least, well, you're in for an eye opener.

[@bryancollins6796]

Keep this front of mind, if Shanahan is fired, everyone below him is gone. Now you're effectively into a rebuild.

[@stangsswang8355]

This team adds 8 new guys every year anyway

[@robm9999]

Tavares isn’t going anywhere and Leafs don’t want to shop him. They will resign him @ $3-$5M at the end of the year for 3 more years I bet. He has small kids, he doesn’t want to uproot them and he will take a team friendly deal to stay. His contact isn’t the problem this year or next as there is limited cap savings if have to eat any of the contract and certainly not going to buy him out. Doesn’t make any sense.

[@Hawk-a-Paw]

If he resigns it's league minimum or he moves on Leafs won't pay him more than 1 mil under any and all circumstances. Just watch!

[@normhudson4982]

Shanahan had the plan. Dubas screwed with that plan and Treliving is stuck with little maneuvering room. The Leafs have the wrong core 4. If you are going to go with core 4 you need strength down the middle. 3 solid centers and a top rate goalie, backed up by quality journeymen, especially on defence. Leafs don't have a top rate goalie. Samsonov gives up too many soft goals and Woll is hurt too much. Keep Woll for backup. Need a number one goalie. You have two solid defensemen in Reilly and McCabe, and possibly Lyubushkin. The rest are disposable. Luke Schenn is not a star but he is a playoff warrior with 2 cups and with him in the lineup last year Leafs went to the second round. We need some Luke Schenns. Up front, too many high scoring poster boys who disappear in the playoffs. My suggestion. Consider next year a rebuild yet again. Let Marner and Tavares play out their contracts and kiss them goodbye. Draft the best players you can in the next draft with the intent of letting them mature in the minors. Move heaven and earth to get a top rate goalie a.s.a.p. One who can steal you a game here and there. If he gets hot in the playoffs it could be a pleasant surprise. Summer 2025 with Marner and Tavares gone go after another top notch center in the free agent market but continue to build through the draft as was supposed to happen.

[@drewdewolf7817]

But Shanny signs off on Dubas decisions! He deserves the blame too

[@pomerlain8924]

It was Dubas that had finally come to the realization that he was going to have to break up the core, and could have traded one of them anywhere before their NMCs kicked in, and Shanahan balked and fired him. And Treliving was brought in with little insight about the core so of course he wasn't going to trade them before July 1.

[@DownsyMB]

Dubas didn't deviate from the plan, Shanahan signed off and vetoed various trades through the years, when Dubas said he wanted to change the plan he was axed. I'm the last person to praise everything Dubas did but to shift the blame on him is disingenuous or ignorant.

[@simchou7828]

Any salary increase for players should be based on the number of goals. For example if you cannot score 70 goals per season then salary needs to be reduced by ten percent.

[@mr.relaxation2930]

Marner gonna sign 8x 12

[@ryancoyte702]

If I am Keith Pelley I fire Shanahan and give Treliving the Senior VP of Hockey ops & General Manager or President of Hockey Ops role. Hire Andrew Lugerner as the Associate GM or General Manager and bring in Craig Berube or another coach with cup pedigree. I would even consider trying to nab Doug Armstrong or George McPhee. Copy the Knights model. Leafs have 95 million in payroll use the knights resources to find sleepers who can compete in the playoffs and lean out your roster. Trade Marner, JT & Rielly. Sign Stolarz and make Woll the starter. Find a goalie who can compete for the starting position and draft them. Leafs roster should look like the Golden Knights not the sens roster.

[@parnilsson6807]

GM Brad needs to create som magic and trade Marner to create capspace for the D. Keep Tavares and re-sign him as a 3rd-line-center for a 2 or 3-year-contract. AAV 4,5 mill.

[@ryanj357]

People might give me shit for this but I really want Adrian Kempe from LA. Guy actually scores in the playoffs and has comparable numbers to Marner. Not to mention Kempe is cheaper and has size with only a 5.5 mil contract and is signed for the next 3 years.

[@electricwhiterabbit]

Marner has a full NMC. He doesn’t want to leave.

[@shakrmakr]

@@ryanj357I love Kempe but the only thing is the Kings don’t have the cap space. But you would have to trade Marner and most likely a goalie prospect as the Leafs have a deep goalie prospect pool and the Kings have two washed up goalies at the end of their careers

[@shakrmakr]

@@electricwhiterabbithe will be traded and asked to waive it

[@ryanj357]

@@shakrmakr Leafs could retain Marner for the last year and they would get Kempe for 3 years. Lots of possibilities available with this one.

[@phillipsheridan8658]

We need a goalie that's consistent with samsanov you never know who's gonna show up and that doesn't cut it in the playoffs

[@Alex18NY]

I know I'm in a minority but I would leave the core four/five alone. Replace Keefe with Berube or Brind'Amour, sign Brett Pesce and find a steady backup for Woll.

[@stangsswang8355]

So your Blue-line is Reilly-- Pesce,,,,,,,,McCabe--Benoit,,,,,,,,Liljigren--Timmins

[@Alex18NY]

@stangsswang8355 No. I would resign Edmundson and Lyubushkin too. Also, I would hope the new coach gives Webber a good look. My defence would be Rielly - Pesce, Benoit - McCabe, Edmundson as 5th, then try Lyubushkin, Mattinen, Webber. Hopefully, new coach plays his bench more than Keefe.

[@stangsswang8355]

OK,,,I see@@Alex18NY

[@kevanallison7009]

They have to move a contract if they want to keep Bert and Max. At least Reilly if not him and Mitch would have to go if you don't want to waste next year.

[@ryanj357]

Marner for Adrian Kempe and some cap space please. He'll get to golf every day in LA.

[@mickhoddy]

Damn… i don’t hate that.

[@ryanj357]

@@mickhoddy He has comparable numbers to Marner but is cheaper and bigger. I love Kempes style. Leafs might have to throw in a prospect to make up for the cap exchange but I think it would be worth it.

[@parnilsson6807]

Adrian Kempe will not leave LA for Toronto

[@ryanj357]

@@parnilsson6807 He might not have a choice if Leafs offer up Marner and something worth while. LA hasn't made it past the first round in 10 years so they are worse off than them.

[@electricwhiterabbit]

Marner has a full NMC contract. He doesn’t want to leave. They are stuck with him next year.

[@dachonabe]

Has Treliving won stanley with any team?

[@v0LcaN_o___]

no

[@stangsswang8355]

There's 5 GM's in the league that have won cups

[@bryanskiffington1868]

Marner and JT get bonus payout of July 1 . Then the get paid 800000 for the season so what cap space will Toronto keep in a trade. 100,000 or 400,000 as 50 % retained. The leafs should get massive amounts of first for this contract as the team getting him paying him less than league minimum and he has 10 to 11 million on your cap to get a new team like Seattle to the floor. Seattle gives Wright Larson and two first round picks for Marner

[@kyleukrainyc7177]

Keep Mathew’s and nylander as the core offense. That’s it. Trade Tavares, Marner, Samsonov. Fire Keefe and Shanahan. Can we PLEASE find a GOOD goaltender? They will never win if they do not have top 10 goalie in the league.

[@stangsswang8355]

Sammy doesn't have a contract

[@nickcicione8455]

The team stays the same, no one is moving because of NMC for one more year lol!

[@pomerlain8924]

Players waive NMCs all the time. And the Leafs can flat out tell him that he's not getting extended and he can either play under the media scrutiny for the next season where he will constantly be asked about his future, in a contract year, or he can give them a list of teams that he'd like to go to. Because if he chooses to stay and again crumbles in the playoffs, that will further decrease his value in free agency.

[@nickcicione8455]

@@pomerlain8924 Yes they do but not these two guys! JT not a chance he's got two young kids and Marners agent is one that takes contracts to the end. Also Marner is a great hockey player, what stinks is his personality and drive. Also they're both from T.O and the other two are foreigners, go figure.

[@stangsswang8355]

Yeah and Shanahan's from Toronto too,,,,,WTF@@nickcicione8455

[@russell-di8js]

Hey Toronto have you seen how good proper play-off teams actually are? & you really thought 69 goal Matthews was the NHL story of this year?

[@rogersalles200]

Marner will go to Chicago, you heard it here first, wanna know why? Marner loves to be in the spotlight playing with another superstar like Matthews as exemple, he is great in the regular season and will be trilled to pair with bedard.

[@jeffreyadams648]

The leafs are a monopoly. They do not need to do anything. The only pressure is from fans (who keep on paying) and the media, who keep on earning.

[@generalimlerith8356]

If they can dump marner and Tavares they could start building a championship roster

[@VapedTalon]

What two centres are on the market that they can pick up if they drop Tavares?

[@electricwhiterabbit]

Both contracts are unmovable. Both have NMC’s.

[@VapedTalon]

@@electricwhiterabbit Unmovable without player consent is much different than being unable to move them at all.

[@electricwhiterabbit]

@@VapedTalon They have NMC's. They are in full control if they even want to go at all. They can be asked for a list of teams, it doesn't matter. They can just say they want to stay and Toronto cannot do anything about it.

[@electricwhiterabbit]

@@GospelTestimony Doesn't work that way. What team is benching/press box a player that gets 100 points in a season? Just creates more problems. Again, they have NMC in their contracts. Doing what you mentioned creates a number of issues: 1. Creates more drama for the club. They don't need any more of that than there already is. 2. Treating players like crap just results in no other UFA's wanting to sign with the Leafs. So forget about getting any good players then. Players drafted won't want to stay because it is obvious that the NMC means nothing to the club. 3. Due to the players high cap hits and a hard cap, they would not be able to dress a full lineup. So your suggestions just will not happen.

[@user-qo1gk2kj3e]

They should put the Leafs in the PWHL...see how they do against other girls.🤣🤣🤣

[@rickmather7062]

Find a way to trade Tavares and Rielly

[@applepieclub5012]

You keep Marner and you find a way to get rid of Tavares. Samgoalnov needs to go too

[@kevanallison7009]

The only way to do that is to write off next year and lose Bert and Max in the process. Tavares won't approve any trade and if he does, Leafs eat money to move him. And because his last year is paid in bonuses, not even sure how that would work to save cap space. Dubas and Shanahan are responsible for Marner being odd man out signing JT. Well, that and Marner not making any impact in this series. Then his God comments.

[@PS-vc2yz]

Would he go buy some Islanders pajamas??

[@PineapplePokopo]

why would they eat any $? bad assumption

[@Glennstestsite112]

B's fan. This team is closer than you think. Marner to Anaheim for Gibson and 2nd pairing D-man. Marner wants to "the man," let him be the man. Gibson paired with Woll in a B's-type rotation seasons Woll for the starting role and reduces Gibson's workload, making him fresher. You have to pay for a quality goaltender; it would be a money in, money out deal.

[@dadum634]

How smart are the agents? Marner gets out, taveres can go, Matthews is short term and nylander is long term: ALL AFTER fleecing the leafs because they are ALWAYS desperate 😂 Mark Hunter is close to another Memorial Cup; just saying...

[@stangsswang8355]

Well he wasn't part of the shit plan. He's old school and would have an old school coach and some bottom 6 guys and some D-men that would knock your fkn teeth out.

[@MadcapFive]

Buy outs and change coach and president

[@alanbenyamin487]

Lol almost all those goals were the goalie out of position.

[@user-gk7ri1em4x]

Lame excuses! Just blow it up, end of the story! Fire Shanahan and the entire coaching staff, get rid of Samsonov, Liljegren, Rielly, T.J.Brodie, Giordano, Tavares, Marner and Matthews, bring in a new coach and start all over again. That's the only right way to fix it! Anything else will only make it worse!

[@canadianelite]

I think you Keep Riley, he just needs better Dmen surrounding him so he dosent have to carry all the weight of the Leafs Defense, I think you keep Tavares as well. The rest I agree with, you probably sign Domi as well.

[@electricwhiterabbit]

Tavares, Marner, Rielly and Mathews have full NMC’s. They aren’t leaving. They have full control.

[@user-gk7ri1em4x]

@@canadianelite Hi! If you are a highest paid D (Rielly) you have to be prepared to carry a big load! Unfortunately, Morgan can't do that! Benoit, Edmundson or McCabe, the guys making a fraction of Morgan's salary, were way better! The point is, that Rielly is not a 7 mil D - not even close! Tavares? Why would you want to keep him? What for? Too old, too slow, has nothing to offer as a top six forward, useless as a bottom six forward. There is no room for him! He's just gonna be slowing down his line next season if he stays.

[@user-gk7ri1em4x]

@@electricwhiterabbit Sit them in the press box for couple of weeks or send them down to Marlies and you'll see.

[@electricwhiterabbit]

@@user-gk7ri1em4x Again, they have NMC in their contracts, they cannot be sent to the Marlies. Do you even know what NMC means? It means NO MOVE CLAUSE. So they cannot be moved. If you sit them in the press box, then that creates multiple more problems. 1. Creates more drama for the club. They don't need any more of that than there already is. 2. Treating players like crap just results in no other UFA's wanting to sign with the Leafs. So forget about getting any good players then. 3. Due to the players high cap hits and a hard cap, they would not be able to dress a full lineup. So your suggestions just will not happen.

[@carminelombardi9575]

You simply do not get rid of elite players, which are so hard to find, Tavares can be renegotiated after next year for substantially less, or you can move him. Leaf's have very good prospects that can be brought up. The Leafs' took the Bruins to 7 games and overtime, and they just beat the Panthers 5 - 1, everyone in L:eaf's Nation is very emotional now, lets simmer down and not over react and destroy what's here.

[@mortaljorma69]

ROFL

[@stangsswang8355]

LOL,,,,what's here is a team with no bottom 6,,,,,no Blue-line,,,,poor goaltending,,,,no leadership from it's star players or any players really,,,and they get bounced in the 1st round every fkn year !!! What's gonna be destroyed???? FEK !!!!! Let's not destroy 10 years of having Austun Mathews.

[@stangsswang8355]

LMFAO@@mortaljorma69

[@carminelombardi9575]

@@mortaljorma69 I'm glad I made you laugh, but this is the reality.

[@DanielDimarco-mg4vc]

shanahan is directly responsible for not getting rid of rielly and marner 2 of the most overrated players in the league and if you follow the leafs we have studs coming up on defence but you know how long it takes a defenceman to develop very few make the lineup within the first couple of years so in that being said im thinkin 2027 we will be fn bulls so i was 1 when they win there last 1 so i better start laying off the beer and burgers if im gonna be around for the next one go leafs go

[@stangsswang8355]

Sam bein' nice cuz' he's on the American network,,,,,,c'mon Sam just say it,,,,Shanny should be fired along with the whole coaching staff. Marner's gotta go and other guys with term on their deals to let people know the party's over. Try to sign Montour and Pesce. Loose Liljigren,,,Robertson,,,Jarnkrok,,,Kampf. Bring in big bodies. Hire Berube to coach. Develop a new identity on your 3rd and 4th lines. ETC ETC ETC

[@RR-hu9ht]

Where they go after every season. The Tin Cup series awarded to the first one playing golf AKA Matthew’s Open.

[@odonaldcoaker6892]

Its such a crock of crap ...wondering what went wrong...its like the Leafs have committed a Felony by not winning the Stanley Cup....why would any player want to play for Toronto...they have the most distractions and pressures in Toronto than anywhere by far in the NHL....ITS A GAME! Marner has avearaged 95 pts this past 3 or 4 years . Maybe let the owners and management make the neccessary moves...and if fans dont like their moves ..then they should go first. NO need of the fans rideculing Marner after his contributions to make it to the playoffs for so long..after the leafs couldnt make it to the playoffs for well over a decade. If the leafs went 3 rounds ..the fans would still Trash Marner & the team. There are no gaurantees in the playoffs..but because there isnt a cup every year....they almost demand it in the following year. It do not work like that ...each year there is a 3 % chance of a team winning the cup. Most fans do not know math. Trades yes....but constant ridecule and trash talk of the team you are suppose to support is a big NO

[@stephencruse6525]

Get rid of Tavares and marner

[@discoveryman59]

Nylander SUCKS!! Do these people watch the games?? Both Marner and Nylander need to go, Both do not compete hard enough for the salaries they get. Even if you lose both trades they are both massive liabilities when the games matter.

[@leslieterry7532]

maybe? keefe wasnt even a good regular season coach, he should have been gone, well, he should never have been hired, not built of the stuff., new career period.

[@charlieb308]

The coach isn’t the problem, Matthew’s always hurt can’t score much in playoffs makes league highest money soon, Marner soft never shoots or likes to get hit, Taveres is slow and playoffs are fast paced. Nylander is ok but for 11.5 million no thanks

[@jayboo8495]

just getting rid of marner and not getting bent over again is what needs to happen. teams will want to do a sign and trade so they will have to give up the goods to get him. if he comes back and gets an extension that is a wrap for the matthews era

[@stangsswang8355]

It could've been a wrap last year if he didn't sign the extension. They could've moved Marner last summer before his no trade kicked in. Some team would've wanted him with 2 years left on his deal. Imagine getting a 6ft2 220 lb center that plays a 200 ft game and is the best goal scorer in the world at the age of 18 and having him until he's 31 and never coming close to contending.

[@jayboo8495]

@@stangsswang8355 i wanted him gone before the nmc kicked in. now they are stuck with him unless they just let him walk....remember...HE IS A GOD. just get the toxic pos and his dad away from the team and take the cap space. i just want him gone

[@jamesmccormick7657]

Matthews is a bust. Less than 0.5 goals over 8 years of playoffs. 1 goal in last 10 playoff games, bailed over the sniffles when others play with punctured lungs, punctured sternums, dislocated shoulders, torn ACL'S and your boy jumped ship. He's highest paid player, this is all on his failed butt.

[@billrowen9417]

Bullshit! Won't be eating anything! Off season lots wiggle room. A bunch arm chair TV analyst that are guessing

[@tylerdurden4006]

You people need to learn that no team is gonna trade for any of those team breaking/cap destroying contracts for players who refuse to play in the playoffs. 🤷 😂

[@cackoocacho1629]

It's funny that each of their albatross contracts (and make no mistake, they are albatross contracts), used to be look upon with such glee and delight by "leaf nation". Now, they wanna run half of the "core fore", out of town, because they finally understand what we all understood years ago. 😆 Never change, leaf fans. Never change.

[@willsk7068]

I was the Leaf dude pointing out why the hell they are paid more then a Crosby?

[@bradbradbury8561]

Where do they go from here? Not to the Stanley cup finals, that's forsure.

[@el222]

This is a bad look for Shanny as an executive in every which way. The real question is does he even give a shit despite being so wrong? Doesn't appear so.

[@snakuvudu]

Outlook: Grim. The only solution is Mitch Marner for Pierre Luc Dubois.

[@mortaljorma69]

1959, lets leave it at that lol

[@PatFrenchLeafsFan1]

If Don Cherry survived the poppy outburst, he would accuse Shanahan & Treviling of advocating slavery by having the players play soft.

[@manicimprov5792]

Marner doesn’t deserve to be getting Sh!t on the way he has been over the last week. Nobody scored for the leafs in the playoffs! He plays the PP the PK top line, from his draft year he is behind one player in points….. Mcdavid…. Toronto doesn’t deserve him. The fans treat him like garbage. Leafs fair weather fans are the worst

[@MosquitoMurderer]

lmao, the Leafs' defense is what almost won them the series... yet buddy here thinks they need to address the defense? I'm not saying it looks good on paper, but based on playoff results it's the forward group that needs to be addressed...