Équipe: 2024-25 Maple Leafs de Toronto

Date de création initiale: 10 mai 2024

Publié: 10 mai 2024

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

I'll preface this by saying I don't think Leafs management will have the patience to more or less punt on a year - despite the fact that fans will still come to games and still buy merch even if the team isn't a 110 point regular season juggernaut.

But at this point, the Leafs need something of a reset. What I'm proposing is not making moves that immediately pay off in 2024-25; what they should do is look ahead to 2025-26 and beyond while still doing their best to ice a good team next season.

+++++ TRADES +++++
The first domino to fall is arguably the biggest move the Leafs should make - finding a new home for Mitch Marner. For better or worse, the relationship feels beyond repair at this point and both sides need to move on. The problem is a combination of Marner's full NMC and the fact that he's basically a rental - meaning that he controls his destination and even teams that he might approve a deal to will bow out for fear of not being able to resign him.

LA, however...LA has the space, LA has the glamour, and LA has a team that's close to taking that next step. Adding a guy like Marner would work wonders for their top 6 without absolutely crippling their cap next year - and it's Los Angeles, baby, and LA loves a superstar. I think it's a solid match - but it'll cost the Kings a good young forward in Quinton Byfield, and another decent roster player in Jordan Spence. I think when you have the chance to land a franchise player, though, you have to make the move - sure, Byfield might turn out as good as Marner, but why wish and hope when you could have the reality, right??

The Leafs would add a very strong young forward in Byfield, and would be able to push Conor Timmins to a permanent 7th D spot by adding Jordan Spence as RD3. They clear some cap, but more importantly they take the first big step into reshaping the team around a new identity.

The second trade is less of an imperative, but I think it's a worthwhile move - Timothy Liljegren is a fine player who feels like a guy the Leafs don't trust (just look at his playoff minutes over the past two seasons.) He's 25 and is what he is at this point - so if a team with a hole at RD2 is offering up a 2nd rounder, I'd take the pick and move on at this point. The farm system needs some revitalization, and I think Lilly is ultimately replaceable in free agency. Speaking of...

+++++ SIGNINGS +++++
Keep the useful RFAs - Gregor, Dewar, & Robertson are all useful pieces in the bottom 6, and Robertson can sneak into the top 6 if he keeps developing and stays healthy. And of course you extend Spence & Byfield since you just traded for them. The Leaf's other RFAs are expendable - maybe I'd keep Alex Steeves, but I think Max Ellis, Max Lajoie, and Keith Petruzzelli are just minor league depth at this point and completely replaceable if you need to.

UFA-wise, I let every expiring Leaf walk. Bertuzzi & Domi were fine players, but I think they've priced themselves out of a short term deal and will both be on the wrong side of 30 by the time I want this team to kick it into high gear. Lyubushkin, Brodie, Edmundson, Klingberg, Giordano? They all put the D in "Don't Need Em Anymore" - best of luck in future endeavors, pals. And Ilya Samsonov will want too much money to stay, and Martin Jones is too mediocre to pay. We're overhauling this team, boys, thanks for the time, see you whenever.

With all those bodies out, it's time to bring some fresh blood in. I'm willing to take a chance on seeing if Joseph Woll can be a 1A this year, since we're not shooting for a Cup, so I sign Scott Wedgewood to a cheap deal to be his 1B. I need someone to fill in one of the wings on the top 6, so I go to an ex-Wings winger - David Perron is 35 and would probably sign a higher AAV one year deal to play top-6 minutes next to Auston Matthews. He's also a locker room guy, and we want to change the culture, right?

Now on the D - we've let a lot of bodies go and we have the cash to make a splash. I like Brett Pesce here - he's a strong defensive defenseman and Carolina probably doesn't have the cap to match a 6x$6M deal here. I'd go 7 years if I have to but I like the idea of being out of this after his age-35 season. I also need another guy on the right side, so I throw a one year deal at Matt Dumba to see if he can rebound to the player he was a year or two ago - if he's not, it's no worry, cuz he's gone in July.

Now look at this team - there's still a ton of offense in the top 6, with a strong veteran in David Perron on the top line, and Quinton Byfield skating next to John Tavares and learning the ins and out of being a top tier Center. The bottom 6 isn't super exciting, but it lets us have long looks at younger players like Bobby McMann, Nick Robertson, and Connor Dewar to see if they're going to be important parts of the next big run. The defense has Morgan Rielly as the main puckmover and fills the depth chart behind him with stout defenders so we can keep our young goalie from being besieged.

You've got a few expiring deals if the season goes south - Perron, Dumba, and Jake McCabe are all great rentals that could bring in future value at the deadline. You have a player ready to step right into JT's slot on the second line, and if Nick Robertson doesn't make the leap to a top-6 threat, you have Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten signed and ready to move into that spot. You have Topi Niemela knocking on the door, so you move out Timothy Liljegren to get his spot ready. You have a young goalie who looked amazing in a short run in the playoffs, so you give him the crease and see what he can do.

There's a chance this is a difficult season for Toronto, but it was always going to be difficult moving on from the Core Four. This lets you keep the guys who seemingly have "it" - Matthews and Nylander - while cashing in Marner while you can and letting Tavares play out his contract without the distraction of asking him to waive an NMC you know he never will. It sets up the future without selling out the present - this team still pushes for a playoff spot as long as the goalies don't go full Grubauer on you, and anything can happen one you're there. But most importantly, I think this lowers expectations for a year so you can actually let players develop instead of always having to worry about trying to find the next Michael Bunting on the scrap heap.

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