The Toronto Maple Leafs - and their next GM - have a big summer ahead. SEllisHockey takes a look at three of the biggest issues the team needs to tackle:
Earlier today, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced they were moving on from Kyle Dubas, who held the most since May 11, 2018. He helped lead the Leafs to five postseason appearances and was the first GM since John Ferguson Jr. in 2004 to be credited with winning a Stanley Cup playoff series.
We don’t know who’ll be the next man in charge, but they’ll have a big task ahead of them in a short period of time. There are mixed feelings in the fanbase about how to tackle the future: are they going to blow things up and try fresh, or just retool once again? There’s no easy answer. The top priority this summer has to be signing Matthews to a long-term deal. He’s already making $11.64 million, so a new deal won’t be a huge increase. So, really, it’s more about fitting Nylander into the equation if they’re going to end up keeping him past next season that could be difficult before giving Marner an increase the following season.
But, you know what they say about insanity. So if the Leafs think it’s best to keep these four for another year, the leash will have to be extremely short. Make sure they’re healthy, give it another go. If it doesn’t work next year, then the next general manager can clean house if needed. Whether that’s trading him outright – which will either require eating heavy salary, or trading their 2023 first-round pick away – buying him out, or burying him on long-term injured reserve, there’s no easy option. Ideally, they’ll get his full cap hit off the books for the one season, but there’s just too much liability there – just like Petr Mrazek a year ago, which also resulted in Toronto moving their first-round pick.
Then there’s Ryan O’Reilly, the team’s big trade deadline addition. There’s no question the 32-year-old brought value, but his best days are behind him. It might just be easiest to move on at this point, especially with tight cap constraints. Noel Acciari, who also came over in the deal, will be much cheaper, but at a lower overall value to the team. So that could make signing him difficult, too.
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