Leafs looking for ways to be more competitive
There are no plans to ask Mitch Marner to waive the notrade arrangement on his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But that doesn’t mean the Leafs don’t have serious interest in dealing Marner, possibly closer to the NHL draft or into the summer.
Here’s the plan, much as there is one. The Leafs have basically let it be known in the hockey world they are in trade mode. Just about anyone and everyone is for sale except Auston Matthews and William Nylander.
The idea, according to those close to general manager Brad Treliving, is to build a Leafs team that can be more competitive come playoff time, better and tougher to play against, both stronger defensively and steadier in goal.
It’s a tall order for the GM, considering the Florida Panthers are playing for the Stanley Cup for the second straight year and Tampa Bay was in the Cup final the three years before that. Whatever the Leafs need to do to proceed in the future means going through Florida, Tampa and Boston, teams they’ve struggled with in the past.
The NHL knows that it’s open season on Marner offers. How often is a 95-point penalty-killing winger available?
The Leafs won’t put the cart before the horse here. They will listen. If one of the offers meets their needs — then, and only then, will they involve Marner in the process and try to convince him why it’s in his best interest to look elsewhere.
If no deal for Marner can be completed — or he doesn’t allow one — it makes next season a greater challenge than expected. The Leafs need help in goal and on defence and with next to no money to spend, what’s Treliving to do?
One year from now, Marner’s contract and the contract of captain John Tavares expire, opening up US$22 million in payroll and with an increasing salary cap and only $40 million committed, that’s when Leafs management — and not players — will be in control of the payroll and by extension, the team.
But not until then.
The Hockey Hall of Fame will announce its class of 2024 later this month. Personally, I’d like to see exleafs Curtis Joseph and Alex Mogilny acknowledged. After that, Pavel Datsyuk. After that, maybe Shea Weber. It’s the first time eligible for Datsyuk and Weber.
How long has it been since the best offensive player in the NHL went head to head with the best defensive centre for the Stanley Cup? This year, it’s Connor Mcdavid versus Sasha Barkov. Last time it happened came in 2008 and 2009 when Sidney Crosby and Datsyuk went head to head in Cups won by Detroit and then Pittsburgh.
Want to know why Canadian TV networks kowtow to the Maple Leafs, flaws and all? Game 7 in the Leafs-boston series did more than five million viewers. Game 6 of the Western Conference final between Edmonton and Dallas got half of that audience.
These numbers are sad, but true. It is 57 years since the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup and 57 years since they last played in a Cup final. Since then, 20 different teams have won NHL championships; 26 teams have played for the Cup. The only other teams not to play in a final besides Toronto post-1967 expansion: Arizona/salt Lake, Minnesota, Columbus, Winnipeg and Seattle.
In those 57 years, the Montreal Canadiens have won 10 Cups and been to the final 12 times.
True story about Panthers coach Paul Maurice. Years ago, he was coaching in an NHL all-star weekend when a famed broadcaster approached him. Because Maurice looked so young back then, the broadcaster mistook him for Teemu Selanne, who was playing in that allstar game.
Maurice was with his parents at the event when the broadcaster asked, slowly and deliberately: “Teemu, do your parents speak English?”
Maurice, not wanting to embarrass the man, answered: “Yes, yes they do.”
The conversation continued. He did his best Selanne impression rather well.
This doesn’t happen often in baseball: Daulton Varsho has batted in every spot 1-to9 in the Blue Jays lineup this season. ... The way the season has gone, the Jays could use Varsho hitting in all nine spots most nights. ... Why I don’t care for underlying numbers in baseball: I like reality. I believe in what I’m seeing, not what I hope to see. ... So who screwed up on pitcher Alek Manoah? Manoah himself? The Blue Jays medical staff? His off-season training? The Jays need to understand how they’ve wasted two — now maybe three — of Manoah’s seasons. And what comes after that? ... Reminds me of an old sign I saw in a boxing gym: “Wasted talent is the oldest story in boxing.”