The Toronto Maple Leafs were one of the most disappointing teams in the NHL this past season as they surprisingly missed out on the postseason. They finished last in the Atlantic Division and second to last in the eastern conference with only the New York Rangers posting a worse record.
With Toronto coming up short of expectations, this has led to the removal of former general manager Brad Treliving. There will be a new look Maple Leafs front office in place soon.
The new GM will have their fair share of work to do with this roster when it comes to reloading the lineup and assembling a playoff contending squad. The future’s of some big name Leafs players will depend on what direction Leafs management decides to take this squad.
Auston Matthews and William Nylander Want to See Maple Leafs Management be Aggressive This Summer
The Maple Leafs core group led by Auston Matthews and William Nylander will want to see this team return to contention status next year as opposed to entering a rebuilding phase. According to insider Darren Dreger, Matthews and Nylander told this to Toronto management: “We believe in this team…we gotta add some players, we gotta bring in a couple dogs up front…and we need two mobile defensemen.”
With both Matthews and Nylander in the primes of their respective career’s, it makes sense that they would rather see a quick retool in Toronto versus a full-scale teardown rebuild. Rebuilding in the NHL can often be a painful process that takes years to marinate results on the ice. While it may lead to long term sustained success down the road, Matthews and Nylander likely won’t want to spend this stage of their career toiling away at the bottom of the league.
Both players have spent their entire NHL journey with the Maple Leafs. Nylander still has a long time remaining with the team as his current contract does not expire until 2032. Matthew’s future with the club is the greater question as his deal only has two years remaining beyond this one, fueling speculation about his status with the organization.
The New Maple Leafs GM Will Have Work to Do
Whoever that new Toronto GM ends up being, they will have a busy offseason on their plate when it comes to getting this team back into contention status. That is if they decide to listen to the advice of Matthews and Nylander and go down that retooling road.
Brad Treliving was unable to replace the production that was lost with the departure of Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights last summer. He made a flurry of depth additions to the offense, but that was not able to make up for the deficit.
With Matthews, Nylander, John Tavares and Matthew Knies; Toronto has the foundations of a forward core to build around. It does appear they could use another formidable top-six piece up front as the absence of Marner has been felt.
The Maple Leafs defense also needs a significant upgrade as their d-core did not perform well last season. This led to troubles in net as well as the group had a hard time keeping pucks out of the net. They did not have enough firepower to outscore their defensive problems unlike recent seasons.
It will be interesting to see what Toronto does this summer in efforts to right the ship. If it ends up being a quiet summer, how will that affect Matthews and Nylander’s future with the franchise?
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