Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup – May 5, 2024
Another early playoff exit by the Maple Leafs is sparking calls for change again from their fans and the Toronto media. Check out the latest in the Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup.
CALLS FOR CHANGE FOLLOWING ANOTHER EARLY LEAFS PLAYOFF EXIT
ESPN.COM: Kristen Shilton pondered possible offseason moves by the Toronto Maple Leafs following yet another early playoff exit. She believes they cannot continue to forge ahead in the same direction yet again.
Shilton wondered if Sheldon Keefe would remain as the Leafs head coach. She also mused over whether there could be changes to the rest of the coaching staff, noting Guy Boucher was in charge of a power-play that went powerless. A decision could also be made to move a member of the roster core.
TORONTO SUN: Steve Simmons wonders what happens with team president Brendan Shanahan when he meets with Keith Pelley, the new CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, to discuss what went wrong this season and his plan to fix it. Simmons believes Shanahan could be shown the door if Pelley “doesn’t hear something reasonable or tangible.”
Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan.
Simmons thinks the future may be more complicated for Keefe than assumed. He pointed to how the Leafs coach adjusted his defense in the final three games of the series. “He brought structure to the group, a game plan, an opportunity to come back. He hasn’t done anything like this in other years,” writes Simmons, suggesting that firing Keefe might be a mistake.
Terry Koshan also pondered what the future holds for Shanahan, Keefe and winger Mitch Marner. He believes general manager Brad Treliving must make a move or two. “That could include firing Keefe and/or asking Marner to waive his no-move clause.”
Treliving can open contract extension talks with Marner, who has a year left on his contract, on July 1. Koshan wondered how those discussions would go after the winger failed to prove his worth in the series against the Boston Bruins.
THE ATHLETIC: Chris Johnston believes time’s up for “The Shanaplan”, referring to the Leafs’ lack of progress over the past five years under team president Shanahan.
The Leafs have invested half their salary-cap space in four core forwards (Marner, Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares). That’s left them little wiggle room to fill out the rest of the roster while stockpiling enough depth to sustain them when one of those four forwards becomes sick, injured or underperforms.
Johnston pointed out the Leafs have stubbornly stuck to their plan under three different general managers and two head coaches. They’ve refused to alter it despite their repeated early playoff exits. “Surely, that game is over now.”
DAILY FACEOFF: Matt Larkin believes it’s the end of an era for the Leafs. “Eight playoff runs since 2016-17. One series win. An 0-6 record in winner-take-all games. Forget keeping the core together. The Leafs as we know it are out of chances. It’s over.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It has to be over. The Leafs can’t come back with the same president, the same head coach, and the same core and expect things will be different next season.
During the first three seasons of those eight playoff runs, the Leafs were a team on the rise led by rising young stars like Marner. Patience was necessary at that time and Leafs Nation happily granted it. They struggled against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the COVID bubble playoffs of 2020 but that was a weird time so it could be written off as a minor setback to be easily overcome.
Things went off the rails for the Leafs when they blew a 3-1 series lead to the underdog Montreal Canadiens in the opening round of the 2021 playoffs. They’ve shown little sign of progress since then. The joy of winning their first playoff round in 19 years last spring by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning quickly soured after being despatched in five games by the Florida Panthers in the second round. This year was just more of the same and there’s little reason to expect that to change next year if they decide to run it back for one more year.
The Leafs changed general managers last year by replacing Kyle Dubas with Brad Treliving. The next change or changes must be elsewhere.
We don’t know right now what will happen but we probably won’t have to wait long to find out.
I’m guessing Shanahan will be allowed to step down as president rather than be fired. Keefe will get his walking papers.
As for the roster, pending free agents Ilya Samsonov, Martin Jones, TJ Brodie, Joel Edmundson, Ilya Lyubushkin and Mark Giordano won’t return. Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi might be willing to stay but that’ll depend on how big an investment the Leafs are willing to make in them.
Matthews and Nylander signed long-term extensions. Unless they want out, they’re not moving.
Marner and Tavares each have a year left on their contracts. Marner is the most likely trade candidate. He will be told they won’t be re-signed, asked to waive his no-movement clause and provide a list of acceptable trade destinations.
They might not have to retain much (if any) of Marner’s $10.9 million cap hit but they won’t get equal value in return. The Leafs won’t be dealing from a position of strength and Marner’s reputation as a playoff underachiever hurts his trade value. However, he could still fetch a decent return that helps them now and over the long term.
The 33-year-old Tavares’ performance has declined to the point where retaining half of his $11 million cap hit probably won’t help his trade stock. A buyout is out of the question for him because it counts as over $10.3 million against their cap for 2024-25. There aren’t any tangible savings to be had.
Those are my best guesses. Feel free to weigh in with your own in the comments section.
LEafs… trading Marner once he agrees gets you?
if they had enough cap to add even Pesche+Skjei who are UFA….where do they get forward depth from?
going to a fun toronto media summer~
Trading Marner gets you cap space. It also leaves a hole that needs to be filled.
Personally I’d like to see a different coaching staff with this roster but, as Lyle pointed out, the UFA’s may likely all be gone.
The Leafs are in a unique situation. They have a coach who coached a team to three 100 pt seasons the past three years but only made it to the 2nd round just once with a few all star and likely first ballot HHoF inductees once they are done playing on this team.
More than the results, the optics or how they looked in some of the post season games wasn’t as impressive. Player deployment and usage was questionable, stars disappearing, scoring drying up, etc are problems other teams deal with and in many cases overcome but not the Leafs and it’s that cause that we need to discuss or uncover.
It’s tough to pinpoint any one thing as I’m of the belief it’s multiple issues but because we don’t know enough to exactly know who’s to blame really.
I do think the Leafs will have a lot that they can change (take a look at who’s signed and not yet for next year) and that Tre has done an admirable job given his restrictions and hopefully he will have more free rein to continue to add to this team.
I can only expect more dumb trade everyone proposals, fire this guy or that and generally how you can’t have x% of your cap on 4 or 5 guys. A more interesting conversation would be who to keep as your core now and who/what do you add or remove and finally, in now the time to do it?
How is the discussion of how much % of your cap you can have on 4 or 5 guys different from who the Leafs keep as their core now and who don’t you keep, Ron?
Because LJ the cap has and probably will continue to rise, if you follow the team, there’s a few very good prospects in the system that could be ready and on ELC so pinning it to that point has it’s limits no matter how viable of a solution it is; I’m not convinced it’s the very best solution or only way to fix this team’s flaws but rather an argument that many find easiest to argue in favor for.
I wonder if LA would entertain a trade for
marner Quinton Byfield (struggled down the stretch) or a package of prospect with a reclamation project of Pierre luc Dubois (risky) and salary retained just throwing it out there Dubois seems to have the potential to be a huge difference maker when motivated
There’s no way the Kings would want Marner. They play a heavy game, and Marner is a weak, perimeter player with an inflated salary for what he brings. Byfield had a very good Season, is a big body that fits the Kings style perfectly.
Hey Brad. Wanna go in a different direction? How about Erik Karlsson for Marner straight up?
Just kidding.
But seriously though…
LOL. Yeah, that would go over like a lead balloon in Leafs Nation.
In 2022-23 the Penguins posted a 40 31 11 91 pts record scoring 262 while giving up 264 for an overall -2.
This past season, with Karlsson added, they finished 38 32 12 88 pts while scoring 255 and giving up 251 for an overall +4.
Hardly an Earth-shattering difference and that’s about what the Leafs could expect if they went that route.
How about some thing like Marner to Ottawa for Chycrun and Batherson!
Nice try. Maybe for Nylander, but why would the Sens want a soft playoff dud, who’s father will want for 12mil on his next contract.
The Shanascam, Shanahasnoplan.
Run it back!!!
repeatedly changing the coaches haven’t had the effect, but it’s the same core of losers for the Leafs. Shanahan should go, and Marner should be traded. Maybe see what they can get for Tavares, use the savings on a goalie (Saros?) and more dmen. Keep Domi and let Bertuzzi leave
You got it mikeP – except trading Marner and Tavares will be problematic from two angles:
1) both have NMC; and
2) both effectively cost $11 mil per off the cap for 1 more season, after which they become UFAs
I doubt either would waive to go to a re-building club – likely the only places where they might have sufficient cap space to take them on – and virtually all of the competitive teams that they might be willing to waive for are smack up against the cap.
The logistics of two of those teams shedding sufficient cap space to take on either just adds to the problem of trying to find a team with the space to take on any cap hits those teams try to move.
Agreed George and even if a contending team could, would they really want a player who has shown they disappear in the playoffs?
Repeatedly changing coaches?
I don’t understand??
Leafs have only had two coaches in the past decade.
Babcock and Keefe.
Shanahan, Treliving, and Keefe all need to go and the new President of Hockey Operations gets to pick his own management group.
Trading Tavares is next to impossible as is buying him out.
Leafs are stuck with him for one more year.
It is not unheard of to trade players with NTC.
Leafs go to Marner, explain that the team is going in a new direction.
That he is not part of that direction.
Would he consider waiving his NTC for a trade to a team of his choice.
He either agrees or doesn’t.
You don’t know until you ask!
Allan, since a decade takes you back to 2014, technically the Leafs have had 4 coaches – Carlyle in 2024, Horachek (interim in 2015), Babcock and Keefe.
But I get your point, that’s hardly “repeating changing coaches.”
Repeatedly changing coaches?
I don’t understand??
Leafs have only had two coaches in the past decade.
Babcock and Keefe.
Shanahan, Treliving, and Keefe all need to go and the new President of Hockey Operations gets to pick his own management group.
Marner will perform much better once he is paid $13M a year.
x8
Oh no give him 15m…he needs a raise so he makes more than MacDavid, Draisaitl and Mathews
Seriously, what would Toronto i expect in a return for Marner?
The whipping boy of most leaf fans.
One year remaining with a cap hit of $10,903,000 going to want an increase on his next contract.
You don’t want him Toronto because he doesn’t perform in the playoff this year. Last year playoffs 3 goals 11 assist 14pts 11gp +7
I don’t see any scenario where Toronto wins a trade or breaks even.
Maybe the biggest gain would be in cap space and what the leaf’s do with the cap space.
There would be a lot of demand for Marner but i don’t think Toronto would get equal value.
Time for Change in Leaf Land…
Presedent B. Shanahan
Time for him to Go, the ShannyPlan has not worked for 10 years❗️
GM, Brad Treliving, is New and needs to stay,
after a year in the job he know what need to be done
Coach Sheldon Keefe has 2 years left on his deal
let him stay and with the GM Tree,
1/
Trade Mitch Marnier out for a top 4 offencive RD d/man & pick
Marnier is a failure in the playoffs & played like he did not want to be there No Effort, MM has became Very Un-popular with leaf fans
2/
Ask Tavares to wave his NTC, He will say No…..❗️
if he wants to come back for the 2025 season bring him back on a 1 year deal for no more than $3.M. Max………..not even sure they should do that….
Bring Domi back,
Bring Ilya Samsonov,
Bring RD man back Ilya Lyubushkin,
Give the kids a look…?
Cowan, Miten, Woll in as back up….
Leafs need to spend $$ on the d and fix it,
Its the Same as the last 6-7 years, Add a 3rd and 4th d/man
use Benoit & Lyubushkin as the 3rd pairing
Really Domi…he has played for 10 teams or so…sign him for 8 years at 8m and we are good…TSN and Sportsnet can sing his praise all of next year
Like Kelly Hrudy who always reminds me of someone pimping for a job in the Leafs organization with his enthusiastic views on every aspect of their game.
williew
Under no circumstances can they bring Samsonov back.
His poor goaltending in Game 1, 3 and 4 likely cost them the series. He easily could have taken 1 stride out of the net to disrupt the carom off the boards on the winning goal.
They can thank themselves for mailing in the last 5 seconds of Game 6 for Woll’s injury. They all stopped playing with a few seconds left on the clock.
I wonder if trading Marner becomes an “addition by subtraction” scenario? He seems to disappear when the games get physical.
Again, they had trouble getting offence from the defence. Rielly looked awful during the series. Not close to the play from last year Vs. Tampa.
Changes are coming. It will be interesting to see
Why argue with a Leafs fan when you can just wait.
lol
It would be criminal to run back the same thing another year. But in my opinion the Leafs don’t have another choice. No one wants a $11 million player who will be an UFAin a year seeking more – and he is not worth it – with that playoff history. Taveras is not moving. Matthews and Nylander were just signed, and they are the players you want to keep. You can change the coach, and he will be the one to pay the price. But I do not see a coaching change make much of an impact, he has to play the players he has and this core four play a certain way. So another year of misery and then Taveras is gone to free up some money for Dmen and goalie help. So nothing happens with this team until 25-26. Enjoy the regular season I guess.
I wondered about going that way too, redmonsters.
The most obvious is that stated above, Marner doesn’t come through in the playoffs. He has 11 goals in 57 playoff games. In a few years the % allocated to Matthews, Nylander and a re-signed Marner will go down, but you will still be paying top dollar for a player who underperforms when it matter most.
And surely the Leafs are at a point where their fans are going to stop buying tickets and merch if the same ol’, same ol’ is offered next year.
Every option the Leafs have has pitfalls.
They didn’t during the ultra-lean Ballard years.
Carlton Street Cashbox….
If games 5,6 and 7 are indications of how this team must play play overall then you have identify what will work and not work.
1- Defense: McCabe and Benoit were incredible and should be the cornerstones of revamping the back end. They hit consistently, block shots, keep opponents on the periphery and although limited offensively drove the play and were okay on the point unlike the soft figure skaters Rielly and Liljegren. Rielly is predictable, has a muffin shot, never shoots and is eating up TOI that needs to be given to others who produce results. Liljegren needs to go. He’s reached his ceiling, a ceiling of you were building an outhouse.
Lyabushkin and Edmundson need to be re-signed. They can’t make the same mistake they did by letting Schenn walk away. They paid a price for them. Pay them and then you have another solid pair. That’s four blueliners built to defend.
So you need two offensive defenders who are not liabilities or play with eggs in their pockets like Rielly and Liljegren.
Giordano will retire. Timmins is soft. Brodie will take his listless non-contact game elsewhere.
Forwards:
Offer Bertuzzi a 1-yr minimum league salary or show him the door.
Resign Domi and play him in top 6. Keefe misused him and took 3/4 of a year to figure it out.
Strip Tavares of his captaincy once he refuses to waive his NMC. My Aunt Sally can skate faster than this guy. He’s not going anywhere so I’m one year 11 million comes off the books, which they’ll need for players like Knies and Woll.
Not sure what to do with Marner. Him and Rielly need to be stripped of their A’s to start with. If they both agree to waive their NMCs they can be packaged for a return that benefits the team short term. However let’s hope Cowem and Minten are not busts as there’s not much left in the cupboards.
Keefe’s welcome to become the Jackets head coach. It’s not his fault that the Shanaplan called for spending half the cap space on four forwards while all but totally ignoring the blueline and goalies.
Hell, I’d take him in Ottawa too. Has he made strategic mistakes in past years? Yes. What coach hasn’t in his early years? I think his handling of a severely-depleted team (no Nylander for the first 3 – no Matthews for essentially the last 3 (whatever his problem is, he wasn’t in top form last night) and a mysterious injury to Woll in game 6 (but not severe enough to keep him out of game 7 as the back-up) that forced him to use Samsonov in game 7 (who played well).
George woll did not dress for game 7 jones was the backup. Just keeping the information correct.
Thanks David … I just assumed he was on the bench
Trade Nylander before his full nmc kicks in on July 1st. He’s signed for 8 years which gives the acquiring team cost certainty. See if the Islanders would give you Dobson and one of there aging top 6 forwards who can still score as a salary dump. Someone like Brock Nelson. Makes the dollars almost work especially considering what it will cost to sign Dobson on his next contract. I think everyone is forgetting that at the beginning of the year the conversation regarding Tavares was hiw well He’s doing. It’s not a coincidence his production declined when Keith decided to throw him on the 3rd line and removed him from the top power play unit. Tavares will age well. It’s his hickey iq that makes him who he is not raw skill. Either way you’re stuck with him. I have a feeling Robertson is going to be traded and he will light it up once he gets top 6 minutes with top power play time. He has always had better numbers than his brother Jason till they hit the NHL. Difference is Jason got a legit chance. Keefe has to go it’s time for a different type of hockey in Toronto.
I don’t think Dobsons going anywhere. Even Lou isn’t that dumb. Then again it is Lou. So I’ll go 70% chance it doesn’t happen.
Islanders have 5 million in cap space. I don’t think Marner is a fit, even with an additional cap dump. Dobson is their clear cut #1 guy and he’s 24 and cheap. Teams don’t trade those kind of d-men.
Toronto should be looking for a young guy with potential to be a top pairing guy. In other words, find the next Faber from a team in need of scoring help.
By all the press you’d think the Leafs were the only team to lose in the first round….
The one thing that is true is the Leafs can not ever win both on the ice and obviously on any discussion board.
My lack of love for the TML’s has been noted previously, but today I have to admit that they deserve some credit for the Boston series.
The past 3 games, Toronto played almost flawless playoff style defense. They defended the net front like it was their bank vault. They allowed only 4 goals in 3 full games plus 2 OT’s. In short, they defended well enough to win this series, and perhaps more. I also feel that, if Matthew’s and Nylander were healthy for the entire series, they would have defeated Boston. And was Marner 100% healthy ? He didn’t look it.
If I were Treliving, I’m bring back McCabe, Edmondson, Lyubishkin, and Beniot…probably keep Reilly. Let Giordano , Timmons, and Brodie go, and see if you can find a veteran to fill in. I don’t know Toronto’s prospect pool well enough to understand if they have a viable option there for next season.
I would think long and hard about trading Marner. He’s still only 27. For reference, it took Scotty Bowman 4 years to get Steve Yzerman play the right way to win his first Cup at age 32. Marner is talented like few in the league.
Let Bertuzzi walk, unless he is willing to sign a 1 year contract for $2M max. Keep Domi. Knies looks like the goods.
And I would keep Keefe and the coach of the D. Need a new PP coach though.
Anyway, be careful making wholesale changes when you are this close. Toronto’s Cup window opens up when the Tavares contract expires. He should only be resigned if he is willing to take a 50% salary haircut.
All good points there Iago. Most importantly how much time it took others to finally win if at all. I think the Leafs will be ok if Tre can do his job. So far it seems even his failures worked out for the team.
How will you keep Marner? He’s going to ask for prob 11-12 million. They don’t have the cash for everyone if they want to even out a balanced team.
There will be more answers , as the playoffs wind down
There will be other disgruntled teams under pressure to make changes .
1. Woll is the presence of the Leafs , a compliment 1A goaltender would be a nice addition
2. Lyabushkin and Edmundson should stay – Learn , as per Schenn exit ..
3. McCabe and Benoit are more than fine
4. I don’t consider Reilly , a “stud” defenseman – under review and should be available in trade talks
5. Domi wants nothing more than to end his career as a Leaf
6. Keith Pelley hopefully has the Leafs best interest moving forward
7. The Florida Panther team should be a benchmark , as per what’s required to go deep into the playoffs
8. Specialty teams failed miserably , who is to blame , assistant coaches , or a complete new menu behind the bench
9. .. …
10… ..
Ken, the failure of the pp – in my opinion anyway – against Boston stems directly from the fact they couldn’t find someone even 50% of Nylander over the first 3 games and someone anywhere close to 50% to replace Matthews over the last 3 games (that wasn’t a 100% Matthews last night – he’s still recovering from what ailed him).
Take Marchand and Coyle out of the equation for the same amount of games and Boston is off to the golf courses now.
Domi 3 million & Bett 5.5 million both 29 years old will probably want $ & years to take them close to their mid 30’s in age … can’t see them signing both will have to choose one or none
I understand what you are saying Captain but the islanders tradeba number 1 offensive defensman for a top line offensive winger. Both are young and Dobson is going to be 9 or 10 million on his next contract. Anders Lee makes 7 million against the cap so if someone like that is the throw in it works. I’m sure Barzal would love Nylander. Not to mention that Lou likes more physical defensive defensman. Nylander comes with cost certainty for 8 years as well. That is of course provided that the Islanders aren’t on Nylanders 10 team no trade list.
Everyone in management will be fired, but they’d be dumb to try to fetch anything in return for Marner and/or Tavares. Try one last time, with a different coaching staff, BUT GET A GOALIE WHO CAN STOP PUCKS THIS TIME, and things might be very different. If not, let the UFAs walk, and retool.
Where can I find information on injuries that players had in game seven?
Now all the Sportsnet staff will have to talk about something different in hockey. They talk non stop about the leafs. Nobody in western Canada cares!
The answer:
To New York Islanders:
Marner, Rielly, Liljegren, Holmberg, Robertson and 1sr round draft 2024 or Topi Niemela
To Toronto: Barzal, Dobson, Pellech and Pageau
Thoughts?
Are the Leafs the worst run sports franchise ever ?
is Marners contract the worst contract in NHL ?
Will Matthews ask for a trade out of this mess ?
Is Shana plan working ?
It’s working better than 16 other teams which didn’t make the playoffs
Well, I suppose if just making the playoffs is your goal, then you’re right – there’s no counter-argument to that. They do that very well in recent seasons.
But if being crowned champions is the goal, the fact they haven’t been able to repeat that in 57 years does suggest there may be something lacking in terms of team compilation with which to handle the very different rigors of playoff hockey.
All season every season all we hear is leafs are the best, the best Canadian team. Playoffs come. Reality check. Results, leafs loose again. Looks fabulous on them. Fans media need to get out of the TORONTO THE GREAT BUBBLE and see what the reality is.
If I’m Marner after fan abuse etc. why would I ever do the leafs a favour and waive my NMC. I stay one more year and walk as a UFA. LEAFS GET NOTHING. I’m smiling all the way out the door.
In defence of Marner, he had 11 goals and 39 assists in 56 play off games. That’s not far off of a point per game pace.
I would love to see Marner in Buffalo. The Sabres have the assets to get it done.
How about Marner (extended)-Power as the main part of the deal?