"Toronto Maple Leafs" bywili_hybrid is licensed underCC BY-NC 2.0
For a team that is co-owned by two of Canada’s tech giants - Bell Media and Rogers - operating on the same wavelength continues to remain an issue for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Despite being the home team in the NHL’s COVID-19 protected Stanley Cup Eastern Conference playoff bubble and skating on their own rink at the Scotiabank Centre, the Leafs were ousted from the play-in round in five games by the Columbus Blue Jackets. In two of Toronto’s three losses to the Blue Jackets, the offensively-loaded Leafs couldn’t download enough of a charge to register a single goal.
It’s back to the drawing board again for this team that hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967, when rabbit ears were considered high tech. That’s the longest drought of any NHL team. To make matters worse, the last time the Leafs won a playoff series, smartphones weren’t even wise, a stream was somewhere you went to catch fish and tablets were a thing Moses brought down from the mountain.
Toronto’s last postseason success was in the spring of 2004. Only the Florida Panthers (1996) are dealing with a longer drought in this area.
The First Shoe Drops
The Leafs didn’t waste time following another early playoff exit to begin working on plans for next season. Toronto traded forward Kasperi Kapanen, along with journeyman winger Pontus Aberg and defense prospect Jesper Lindgren to the Pittsburgh Penguins for forwards Evan Rodrigues, center Filip Hallander, defenseman David Warsofsky and a 2020 first-round draft pick (15th overall).
Kapanen is a skilled forward. He was a 20-goal scorer in 2019-20 but slumped to 13 this season. He’s also an effective penalty killer and a speedy skater.
However, he was expendable in Toronto because the Leafs are top heavy with skill guys like him. As was displayed frequently during the loss to the Blue Jackets, Toronto is lacking in the type of bottom-six forwards who can win puck battles, play a heavy game and wear down opponents, the style of hockey that generally succeeds in the playoffs.
Oddly enough, the Leafs acquired Kapanen from the Penguins in 2015 as part of the trade that sent forward Phil Kessel to Pittsburgh. Kapanen was Pittsburgh’s 2014 first round draft choice.
Setting Up Other Opportunities
Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas pointed out that this deal was likely the first domino in a series of moves the team will seek to make during the offseason. The Leafs must rebuild their defense and reshape who they are if Stanley Cup contention is something that they hope to dial up in the near future.
“Certainly, I don’t think this is going to be it for us as we go along,” Dubas told Sportsnet.ca.
Before he could put his new blueprint into action, Dubas first needed to create salary cap space for the Leafs. He removed a $3.2 million cap hit by excising Kapanen from the roster.
“We wanted this (cap) flexibility so that we could be flexible inside the marketplace for either free agents or for trades,” Dubas said.
Two of Toronto’s top-four rearguards - Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci - are unrestricted free agents and won’t be signed by the team. That will leave further cap space to pursue help for the club’s overmatched back end.
There’s a bumper crop of 2020 UFAs on defense, headed by Alex Pietrangelo and Torey Krug. Sami Vatanen, T.J. Brodie and Travis Hamonic are other blueliners the Leafs might consider.
The Faithful Will Follow
Toronto’s Twitter hashtag is #LeafsForever and that’s basically the approach of the team’s fanbase. No matter how many heartbreaks are dealt their way, Leafs fans are in it for the long haul.
That loyalty is evidenced in the annual Stanley Cup future odds at online sports betting sites. At the best sportsbooks, the Maple Leafs’ odds to win always seem to be shorter than they realistically should be. This is thanks to those dutiful servants who don their blue and white colored glasses, drink the Kool-Aid the team is serving and happily put their hard-earned money down on a team that has displayed no indication that they will be a legitimate Cup contender anytime soon.
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