from Jonas Siegel of TSN,

The microscope may indeed focus on Randy Carlyle as Toronto stumbles out of the gate with many of the same troubles as last season, but Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan should also be in the process of taking a long, hard look at what makes up the core of his roster.

Now is the time for him to not only evaluate Carlyle and his fit as the club's head coach, but those cornerstone pieces and whether they'll be good enough one day not just to sneak into the playoffs or win a round, but to win four and an eventual Stanley Cup.

Hired in April, Shanahan took the summer months to refurbish parts of the coaching staff and parts of the front office while tinkering with a slew of short-term roster buys in free agency. But he didn't touch the core at the end of another late season collapse.

No, he left those front-end pieces like Kessel, like Dion Phaneuf and Joffrey Lupul, like David Clarkson and Tyler Bozak, he left those pieces in place, presumably to evaluate them firsthand, get a real sense for the players and personalities from the inside.

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