While most of the best hockey players in the world battle it out in Milan over the next two weeks, Toronto Maple Leafs‘ top brass has been engaged in their own Olympian-like decisions. To sell or not to sell? To stand pat, retool, or rebuild?
The argument for the former is pretty lame: A three-game win streak going into the break leaves them “just” six points out of a playoff spot. The ‘Hey, we can still make it’ crowd brings a pretty weak argument for standing pat. Just getting into the postseason as a wild card and then getting thrashed by Tampa Bay in the first round does absolutely nothing to advance this team’s future. Or to save GM Brad Treliving’s job, for that matter.
The “retool” camp would see the trade of a couple of their pending unrestricted free agents, like Bobby McMann and/or Scott Laughton, plus maybe even another player, like a Max Domi, if at all possible.
The “rebuild” would be a blow-it-up scenario. At that point, just about anyone is on the table.
Analyst: Blowing it up is ‘crazy talk’ for Maple Leafs
Former Toronto Maple Leaf player, now TSN analyst, Frankie Corrado, said on the Ray & Dregs podcast this week that he doesn’t think a rebuild is in order.
I don’t think the foundation is broken… They fall into the category where I think they can retool it… I’m sorry, the foundation can’t be broken when you have a guy (Auston Matthews) who’s (two) years removed from scoring 69 goals, and one of the best wingers in the NHL in William Nylander. And you have a pretty promising young goalie in Joseph Woll.
So where does that leave the Toronto Maple Leafs? That leaves them with a bit of a heavy lift, for me.
He goes on to suggest that Oliver Ekman-Larsson—Toronto’s best defenseman this season—needs to enter the conversation in the inner sanctum of Scotiabank Arena. They need to assess if they can get enough back on the trade market for OEL to give them a giant step forward for next year. Same goes for Laughton.
Not, ‘You gotta tear it down to the studs’. That’s crazy talk. But they need to get real with where they’re at, and if they can bring pieces back that set them up for success next year, then you make the moves now.
Certainly, teams are communicating during the Olympic break, and Treliving & Co. need to evaluate exactly where they want to go once the roster freeze is lifted on Feb. 22nd. At that point, the entire future of the franchise could be decided over the following two weeks.
