Articles in Toronto Maple Leafs

from David Alter of The Hockey News,

There appears to be no movement when it comes to contract negotiations between the Toronto Maple Leafs and William Nylander.

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman was a guest on the NHL Network and updated the very latest on what's going with both Nylander and Auston Matthews.

"I think that's kind of at a standstill," Friedman said on Tuesday. "I think that they aren't close. Unless someone really budges (on) their position, that one is going to stay at a standstill."

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Watch the Friedman segment below, other topics are discussed too.

from Nick Barden of The Hockey News,

It appears as though contract negotiations between William Nylander and the Maple Leafs aren't going as everyone would have hoped.

According to TSN hockey insider, Chris Johnston, on the Chris Johnston Show, the negotiations between both sides aren't "going well."

"There were a lot of discussions down at the draft in Nashville between the team (Toronto) and his agent," Johnston said. "And they just see the world differently at this point in time."

Johnston goes on to report that Nylander believes he's a $10 million dollar player, while the Maple Leafs are trying to get him at a lower number.

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At a time when other Canadian teams — Calgary. primarily — are having trouble getting players to stay. and when there is a widespread belief that tax differences between Canada and certain U.S. states is creating a problem for Canada’s seven clubs, being able to lure players like Bertuzzi away from American clubs is a useful process.

It might be a short marriage. But Leafs aren’t looking for love. Just a Cup.

-Damien Cox at the Toronto Star where you can read more on the signing of Bertuzzi.

from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,

Down in the count Sunday, Treliving knocked one deep by signing Tyler Bertuzzi — the best UFA available following the initial 24 hours of madness — for significantly less term than the power forward and agent Todd Reynolds were hunting on the open market.

The 28-year-old, top-six winger signed a one-year pact for $5.5 million and should have no issue eating the minutes and potting the goals lost by Michael Bunting, who joined Carolina for four years at $4.5 million per.

Bolstered by the deep pockets in Toronto, Treliving was allowed to hand Bertuzzi $4.725 million of his salary upfront and threw in a no-movement clause for good measure.

While Bertuzzi preferred term in the wake of multiple injuries and an expiring bridge deal — and told both former teams, the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins as much — the one-year bet with a contender is a smart play.

The Sudbury native and Guelph Storm graduate returns to Ontario to play in front of a large media market and fanbase that can boost one’s profile to financial gain. (Ask Zach Hyman or Luke Schenn or Jack Campbell or Ilya Mikheyev or Justin Holl or…)

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$5.5M

from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic,

My understanding is that the Sharks have talked to several teams, among them Toronto, Seattle and Carolina.

New Leafs GM Brad Treliving is notorious for wanting to check in when big names are in play, and it could be that that is all he’s done here. Or maybe he’s really intrigued by what Karlsson at a reduced salary could bring to the Leafs’ blue line.

One thing’s for sure: Treliving needs clarity on the Auston Matthews and William Nylander contract situations as soon as possible so he understands what exactly he has to work with and whether that will allow him to make other moves. Leafs fans shouldn’t sweat the Matthews situation. He’s going to sign an extension at some point. He’s not going anywhere.

It’s the Nylander situation that could go either way. I’m told Treliving did meet with Nylander’s agent, Lewis Gross, here in Nashville over the past few days. It’s going to be important for Toronto to understand what Nylander has in mind for an extension, so they can know if they can afford him. Treliving in meeting media here in Nashville on Tuesday said the team’s only priority is to sign Nylander, but obviously it’s his job to take calls and listen to possibilities that could improve the team.

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from Jonas Siegel of The Athletic.

3. Tyler Bertuzzi

Age: 28
Position: Left/right wing
Evolving Hockey and AFP Analytics contract projections: $5.5 million cap hit/4-year deal, $5.3 million cap hit/6-year deal

Let’s look at two similar players for a second.

Player A had 46 goals, 66 assists and 112 points over 161 games the last two seasons. Player A turns 28 in September. Player A is 6 feet and 192 pounds.

Player B had 38 goals, 54 assists and 92 points over 118 games the last two seasons. Player B turned 28 in February. Player B is 6-1 and 186 pounds.

Player A is Michael Bunting.
Player B is Tyler Bertuzzi....

2. Connor Brown

Age: 29
Position: Left/right wing
Evolving Hockey and AFP Analytics contract projections: $2 million cap hit/1-year deal, $3.3 million cap hit/4-year deal

Brown feels like the right kind of buy for the Leafs for a variety of reasons.

One, he missed all but four games last season with a torn ACL, which means bargain potential as he looks to rebuild his value. And yes, we’re told Brown is now back to 100 percent....

1. Dmitry Orlov

Age: 31
Position: Left/right defence
Evolving Hockey and AFP Analytics contract projections: $6.3 million cap hit/5-year deal, $6.3 million cap hit/5-year deal

The thorny elements with Orlov are going to be his age — he turns 32 in July — and the large contract he’ll demand and get in free agency. Somewhere between five and seven years, in all likelihood, at more than $6 million annually on the cap....

more ($) on the above plus 9 more names...

“It’s the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s one of the premier — not just hockey franchises — sports franchises in the world. That doesn’t come along very often. You combine that with the relationships that I had with Brad and some of the other guys, it made it so it was something that I couldn’t pass up.

“I don’t care if you love the Leafs or hate the Leafs, which a lot of people do, you can’t ignore the fact that it is where hockey is so huge and … is special.”

-Shane Doan, special adviser to the general manager in Toronto. Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun has more on Doan.

via the Toronto Maple Leafs,

Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brad Treliving announced today that the club has hired Shane Doan to serve as Special Advisor to the General Manager. In his role, Doan will assist on all day-to-day matters of hockey operations as assigned by the General Manager.

from Justin Bourne of Sportsnet,

So now it’s Auston Matthews’ moment here. His actions and ultimate decision in the next few weeks ahead will be part of what defines his legacy, both in Toronto and for the first half of his career. It will reveal his priorities, which have always been a little hard to read with him.

Every player will have their own priority list of factors to consider when it comes to signing a new contract, particularly with a UFA superstar in their prime. But it’s safe to say that three of the biggest factors are often: maxing out money, potential to win with a team, and the city itself.

So, for Matthews, what are his priorities?

Unfortunately, in a hard salary cap system, it’s not always possible to prioritize Nos. 1 and 2 on that list. The salary cap for the 2022-23 season is going to be something like $83.5 million (maybe higher with some NHLPA/NHL negotiating, but let’s use that as a baseline here). A single player can be paid no more than 20 per cent of that total, which means Matthews can be paid no more than $16.7 million season on his new deal.

I’m not suggesting Matthews should get that amount; that’s just his pay ceiling. But make no mistake, if he were hitting free agency this summer, there would be teams willing to offer him close to that number (overpaying Matthews and getting an elite 1C at the cost of not losing an asset is a lot easier to accept and more certain than trying to bottom out in the right year and hoping to win the draft lottery).

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from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

There is no shortage of problems and issues for Treliving to immediately deal with, which is a touch unusual when taking over a team that finished with 111 points.

This isn’t the way most new GMs have to work. Normally, the team is replacing a GM when everything goes bad — the way it did with Brian Burke or John Ferguson Jr. or Dave Nonis, or any of those who came after Pat Quinn. Those firings were expected and hardly questioned.

The chain of events that led to the dismissal of Kyle Dubas was full of drama and speculation and pathos, the way so many Toronto hockey decisions seem to be made amidst difficulty.

A case can be made today that keeping Dubas over Treliving was something that should have been further considered. But once a replacement had to be made and that experience was prominent on Brendan Shanahan’s list of requirements, he made the easy and convenient hire.

He brought in a GM with as many warts as the GM he let walk. He brought in a GM with little history of playoff success, cutting loose the GM who had a similar resume. He brought in a GM who had 219 points worth of Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau on his Calgary roster a year ago and lost one to free agency and the other in a deal for the disappointing Jonathan Huberdeau and defenceman MacKenzie Weegar.

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Toronto Maple Leafs press release,

Toronto Maple Leafs President and Alternate Governor Brendan Shanahan announced today that Brad Treliving has been named the hockey club's General Manager. Treliving becomes the 18th General Manager in Maple Leafs history.

"I'm very pleased to welcome Brad into the Maple Leafs organization," said Brendan Shanahan. "Brad brings a wealth of knowledge from his years of experience as a General Manager and hockey executive in Calgary, Arizona and beyond. He has earned tremendous respect amongst his peers throughout his years in the NHL and has built excellent relationships at all levels within the game. We are confident that Brad's leadership and strategic vision will elevate the Maple Leafs in our continued pursuit of a championship."

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic looks at a few candidates for the GM position in Toronto.

One interesting name...

That brings us to Doug Armstrong. The Leafs’ GM search was about five minutes old this past weekend when people began to mention Armstrong’s name as a possible candidate.

The Blues GM certainly checks all the boxes as far as experience and a Cup ring — not to mention the kind of confidence and wherewithal to withstand the pressure-packed demands of the Toronto market.

For starters, I do not believe Armstrong has an actual “out” in his contract with the Blues. He signed a five-year extension in September 2021 that runs through the 2025-26 season.

But I also think Armstrong has the kind of strong relationship with Blues owner Tom Stillman that if the Maple Leafs approached Stillman about it, maybe he would be OK with it if it’s something that Armstrong really wanted. Maybe, maybe not. Pretty hard to know exactly how Stillman would react.

Would Shanahan see that as too many hoops to go through? It’s pretty unusual for a GM to get pried away when still under contract for multiple years.

But Armstrong might be worth the hassle.

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from Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun,

Eight years to the day after hiring Mike Babcock to coach the Maple Leafs, Brendan Shanahan has the Original Six club in a state of disarray.

Shanahan, the Leafs president, continues on in his position more than nine years after he was hired in April 2014, with nothing more than one playoff round win to show for the time he has been running the storied franchise.

Under Shanahan, the Leafs have become a team that wins regularly only if it’s the regular season, before annually falling by the wayside in the playoffs. This year, finally, came that first-round victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Then came the Florida Panthers, who threw a rink-sized bucket of ice-cold water over the Leafs’ dreams in a mere five games.

Under Shanahan, the Leafs talk every year about the desire to win the Stanley Cup, and if that stated wish was all that was required, the parade route would be worn out by now. Instead, the Leafs have never matched their skill, and expectations of themselves, with actual success in the post-season.

At some point, Shanahan is going to have to get it right with his hirings, isn’t he? How many more presentations have to be made to the MLSE board before someone peers over their reading glasses and realizes that with Shanahan running the show, the Leafs haven’t won?

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via the Toronto Maple Leafs,

Brendan Shanahan, President and Alternate Governor of the Toronto Maple Leafs, announced today that the club has decided to part ways with General Manager Kyle Dubas. Dubas's contract is set to expire on June 30 and he will not return as Toronto's General Manager next season.

"I would like to thank Kyle for his unwavering dedication over these last nine seasons with the organization, including his last five as General Manager. Kyle fostered a great culture within our dressing room and staff, and consistently pushed to make our team better season over season. We wish Kyle and his family the best moving forward and thank him for his valuable contributions."

E60: Little Choices

via the YouTube page of the NHL on ESPN,

Before he was a Stanley Cup Champion and Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Toronto Maple Leaf forward Ryan O’Reilly was just another kid from the tiny Canadian town of Seaforth, Ontario. The man who ran the local rink in Seaforth, Graham Nesbitt, used to open the arena early on school days to let Ryan practice for free before class. It was a selfless act of kindness that fueled the passion of a young hockey player. Two decades later, Nesbitt fell ill with kidney disease and required a transplant.

Watch below.

The fluid odds.

from Cathal Kelly of the Globe and Mail,

Eventually, they all get to the same place. They dislike the pressure. They resent the questions. They hate the media and the daily grind. They despise that one loose comment can become a week of headlines.

They start snapping or giving non-answers or become permanently surly. Recall Mike Babcock’s constant sneer near the end.

Their look grows vacant. They aren’t having any fun.

Because the Leafs have tried everything else, how about trying fun?...

You know what can be done by the Toronto Maple Leafs? Anything they want. Stop thinking like some podunk club from the back end of nowhere and start thinking like Manchester United. If everyone agrees you are “a different beast,” act that way.

The Leafs spent seven years acting like things happen to them – good things (they win the draft lottery) and bad things (the refs job them in the playoffs again). Before this all falls apart, try making things happen for a change.

A new centreman isn’t going to change much. A new leader might.

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from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

The time has come for change. You can’t wait any longer on this failed plan. The question that Bibic, the CEO of Bell, and Staffieri the CEO of chief rival Rogers and the sporting voice of Rogers, the ubiquitous prodigal son Edward, need to deal with first is the status of club president Brendan Shanahan....

If Shanahan is kept as president, he will then have to present something of a new plan to Bibic, Staffieri and the rest of the board of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. That involves general manager Kyle Dubas, whose contract expires shortly. That involves the status of head coach Sheldon Keefe, who like his team has had terrific regular season success and a lack of production when it mattered most.

If Dubas is back, he may want Keefe back as coach. But in fairness, you can’t do that now. The Leafs finished the playoffs winning one of five games at home, scoring 14 goals in their final seven games, outplaying the opposition in maybe three, possibly four of the 11 playoff games the Leafs played.

Yes, Toronto was fortunate to come away with a Round 1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. That was something to celebrate. This series took the celebration out of the most ardent of Leaf followers. This was a kick in the gut for the Leafs. Another year to look the possibilities of it all, and wonder what might have been.

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from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,