Toronto Maple Leafs 2017 postmortem: Young and wild
Despite a first round loss to the Washington Capitals, the Toronto Maple Leafs have a very bright future.
Back in October, virtually no one thought the Toronto Maple Leafs would be in the postseason. However, led by a quintet of rookies, they made the postseason for the first time since the 2012-13 season. The Leafs got rewarded for their effort by having to play the Washington Capitals, the top team in the NHL. Toronto might have lost to them in six games, but they did a lot better than most people predicted.
There’s some good news and bad news from this, and most of it is good. Toronto has a very promising future. They’re a confident group of players who are resilient and relentless. Mike Babcock proved why he’s the best coach in the league. But the bad news is they aren’t going to sneak up on anyone from here on out. Everyone knows how good they are and they will be taken seriously.
Where do they go from here?
The Maple Leafs have a lot of options this offseason. Their incredible forward depth might force James van Riemsdyk out of town. At the very least, it has rendered him expendable. This says far more about the Leafs’ depth and prospects than it does about JVR. A trade could help Toronto by netting them some much needed defensive help.
While the Leafs were one of the NHL’s highest scoring teams this season, they also allowed the eighth most goals during the regular season. Free agency likely won’t provide them with what they really need – a top pairing defenseman. Sure, Brendan Smith could be a perfect fit in Toronto. Plus, Babcock is familiar with him. Smith’s an underrated defenseman who is very good in his own zone and still capably of chipping in on offense. But Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner saw far more playing time this season than they should have. This showed down the stretch in the regular season, especially with the former (though he was outstanding in the playoffs).
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have jettisoned most of the bad deals inherited from the Dave Nonis era. Once Joffrey Lupul and Nathan Horton are put on the long-term injured reserve list, they’ll have over $26 million of cap space if the current $73 million salary cap ceiling is stagnant. Part of this will go towards re-signing restricted free agents Nikita Zaitsev, Connor Brown and Zach Hyman.
They also need to find a backup goalie, although restricted free agent Garrett Sparks could be a cheap option. Trade deadline acquisition Brian Boyle is someone both old school and analytically minded fans can appreciate, so the Maple Leafs should re-sign the free agent. He did a wonderful job on their fourth line. Matt Hunwick could come back if the price is right, as he’s a quality defenseman. Roman Polak could return as well, though the Leafs should explore other options first. The Leafs are a dark horse to sign free agent Kevin Shattenkirk, who would be a perfect fit for the team.
Hope for the future
The Toronto Maple Leafs have a very promising future. Auston Matthews, Kasperi Kapanen, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Brown, Zaitsev and Hyman lead an impressive roster. Kerby Rychel could see a promotion to the NHL roster. Scoring forward prospect Jeremy Bracco isn’t too far away from being ready for the big leagues. The Maple Leafs were wise to extend Nazem Kadri after an alleged down year, as they now have a legitimate shutdown center at a very reasonable price. His development under Babcock has been a lot of fun to watch. Kadri’s hated by a lot of opposing fans, which tells you how effective he is at being a pest.
Toronto has the cap space necessary to make a splash. They also have a surplus of prospects they can afford to get rid of. Getting a top defenseman is going to require some creativity, as the Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson trade has set a high price for blue liners. However, JVR would be a perfect fit for the Anaheim Ducks, who conveniently need to ship out a defenseman before the expansion draft. Sami Vatanen or Josh Manson would make a ton of sense in Toronto.
For years, the Maple Leafs had an incompetent front office. Now they have a group of professionals who know what they’re doing. For the first time in a while, Toronto is making smart moves and taking advantage of desperate teams. It’s ironic because traditionally, the Leafs have been the desperate team, but now the table has been flipped.
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Maple Leafs fans, you have a great team. Prepare yourselves to have a ton of fun watching your favorite team play hockey. The NHL is at its best when the Leafs are good. This is the start of something special.