Confirmed with Link: Locker Room Exit Interviews Monday May 6 (Players and Keefe) + Pelley/Shanny/Tre on Friday VIDEO LINK PG 57

[Leafsfan74]

Vegas won a cup being shrewd the Leafs should follow suit.

Marner and Tavares would GTFO real quick if they were told 1.Ownership will go public with the request if they refuse 2.They will get sat.

They made their money not performing, they let the city down and then said more platitude nonsense, now is the time for them to do the right thing and leave with an ounce of class or they can become villains, tank their own careers and tank their own earnings.


Did they not want those contracts? Couldn't they have taken less?

Better yet they had all this time to show up in the playoffs, they didn't. It's 100% their fault.

Yeah, the line in the sand has to be drawn if this franchise is going to reclaim any self respect.

It's the nature of the business, "look, you guys (depending on the player) were well paid and were able to stay here x number of years. You and I both know that change has to come, our season ticket holders and advertisers are demanding it. This is a business. We appreciate your service, we will work with you to find a new home. However, we are seeking depth on this team and this depth will receive increased minutes. We cannot guarantee the same dependence on you as we have years past so it is in everyones bests interest to find a new situation with other teams that are looking for exactly what you offer".

The problem is, MLSE will NOT have such conversations with their players, which is what has put them and their sucker fans in this predicament.

 

[egd27]

Let the inmates run the asylum...

Let's do the same thing 8byears straight... Yeah that will work....

There is a significant difference between "letting the inmates run the asylum" and making a ridiculous decision like healthy scratching about 25% of your cap and around 10% of your available roster to run a couple of players out of town.

It's laughable suggestion

 

[Niagara Bill]

And then they created the players association and the players spoke about how bad of an organization the Toronto Maple Leafs are and then they struggled to have any talent that wasn't drafted here for years until that culture changed and hopefully the damage done to the organization was not irredeemable. Yours is a bad way to achieve a winning culture or team.

Many Leafs hated Imlach. Walton, Mahovilich, Brewer etc.
I loved 4 Stanley Cups. It was about team winning, not treating players so they thought they were gods. Many many players also loved Imlach, Kelly, Stanley, Bower, Sawchuk, Bathgate, Pulford. They also loved winning.

 

[Trapper]

Many Leafs hated Imlach. Walton, Mahovilich, Brewer etc.
I loved 4 Stanley Cups. It was about team winning, not treating players so they thought they were gods. Many many players also loved Imlach, Kelly, Stanley, Bower, Sawchuk, Bathgate, Pulford. They also loved winning.

There is a happy medium in there somewhere.
You don’t have to run a military organization and treat people like crap, but at the same time players don’t need to be entitled, squeeze every last cent and then dodge accountability.

 

[NVious]

What does Marner's description of the current treatment by the fan base have to do with how the players would receive your proposed radical shift in treatment by an employer?
And to your second point. What does a past losing culture have to do with your proposal of destroying any likely opportunity to have a winning opportunity in the near/ possibly distant future?

They are treated like Gods by everyone, organization included.

Yeah getting rid of two overpaid underperformers destroys their chance of winning, not the underperformers failing for nearly a decade, but getting rid of them lol.

It's not about accountability in the least... I'm all for accountability.

But treating players in a childish, unprofessional manner, isn't going to get you anywhere, except ruin your organizations reputation.

This is about working with professionalism. There is no room in any professional organization, for reactionary, angry knee-jerk reactions.

There is nothing childish about getting rid of overpaid underperformers. It only ruins the reputation for other losers who have the same attitude.

8 years of failure leading to consequences isn't reactionary knee jerk reactions

 

[Fogelhund]

OverDrive guys (I am with O-dog here btw)


And Pronger with some shots fired (Pronger been reading my HF Boards posts? )

I both agree, and disagree with these guys.

I can get on board with moving on from Tavares and Marner... not a problem. Timing might differ.

I move Marner now... My scenario has him being traded to Seattle, who has a major need at RW, for Shane Wright, and 8th OA 2024 pick. I've also moved parts for McBain from Utah(Arizona).

I keep Tavares for the year, remove the C.. and run Matthews/Tavares/Wright/McBain down the middle. I think Wright becomes a decent 2C. We've got Minten/Quillan on deck....

In the grand scheme of things, moving Tavares at his cap hit may not get you any assets at all, might cost you. Under my plan, you give Wright a sheltered year, and then move him to 2C the year after, and do Matthews/Wright/McBain/Minten/Quillan the year after...

I also don't think Tavares would waive... Marner might.

Noodles is correct here as well... if you go to him, and say there won't be the pay increase here, he may just decide to go elsewhere... of all the teams out there, Seattle does have the biggest need for a RW...


Notes... I appreciate people want to trade for a D... but IMO, there are plenty of UFA D, who can help us now... but there aren't quality C's available after we move on from Tavares... In addition, with 8th OA, I pick Sam Dickinson, with our pick I'm grabbing Elick, and in my mock, I also grabbed an early 2nd, and drafted Emery. All 6'3" D men, who can become a critical part of our core in a few years. So we'd have young C's, and young D's, with which the team could be competitive for years.

They are treated like Gods by everyone, organization included.

Yeah getting rid of two overpaid underperformers destroys their chance of winning, not the underperformers failing for nearly a decade, but getting rid of them lol.


There is nothing childish about getting rid of overpaid underperformers. It only ruins the reputation for other losers who have the same attitude.

8 years of failure leading to consequences isn't reactionary knee jerk reactions

Your approach is a childish, unprofessional one... you can move on from a guy, in a far more professional manner... if you can't see that... I mean good luck.

 

[NVious]

There is a significant difference between "letting the inmates run the asylum" and making a ridiculous decision like healthy scratching about 25% of your cap and around 10% of your available roster to run a couple of players out of town.

It's laughable suggestion

That would never happen because they would leave, but I guess that will never happen either because people are scared it looks mean.

It's not mean for them to fail and get paid handsomely for it, it's mean for the failures to have consequences lmao.

I both agree, and disagree with these guys.

I can get on board with moving on from Tavares and Marner... not a problem. Timing might differ.

I move Marner now... My scenario has him being traded to Seattle, who has a major need at RW, for Shane Wright, and 8th OA 2024 pick. I've also moved parts for McBain from Utah(Arizona).

I keep Tavares for the year, remove the C.. and run Matthews/Tavares/Wright/McBain down the middle. I think Wright becomes a decent 2C. We've got Minten/Quillan on deck....

In the grand scheme of things, moving Tavares at his cap hit may not get you any assets at all, might cost you. Under my plan, you give Wright a sheltered year, and then move him to 2C the year after, and do Matthews/Wright/McBain/Minten/Quillan the year after...

I also don't think Tavares would waive... Marner might.

Noodles is correct here as well... if you go to him, and say there won't be the pay increase here, he may just decide to go elsewhere... of all the teams out there, Seattle does have the biggest need for a RW...


Your approach is a childish, unprofessional one... you can move on from a guy, in a far more professional manner... if you can't see that... I mean good luck.

No your approach is childish, you live in fairy tale land where there are no consequences to failures because that would be mean.

 

[Eternal Leaf]

So your plan is to sit $22M worth of cap in the press box replace them with league minimum players, while destroying what chemistry does exist amongst the remaining players?

Then you tell AM34 and 88 that we're not going to ice our best possible line up because we want to show up a couple of your best friends? Never mind the folks shelling out a few hundred bucks each game.

Did you even consider the probable impacts or consequences for this hair brained scheme?

I agree sitting them like that is unnecessary. After all, the Leafs gave them those contracts.

Although I do wish they had been benched a few times over the years. Keefe and company never had the courage to do this when they were developing.

 

[PromisedLand]

Ferraro: I want to be fair. I thought Marner was either hurt or uninterested throughout whole series. In game 7, to me he looked like disconnected to it all.

 

[Fogelhund]

That would never happen because they would leave, but I guess that will never happen either because people are scared it looks mean.

It's not mean for them to fail and get paid handsomely for it, it's mean for the failures to have consequences lmao.


No your approach is childish, you live in fairy tale land where there are no consequences to failures because that would be mean.

I know you are but what am I... I mean, I rest my case.

 

[sunstersun]

I don't think being top heavy is why we lost. I don't think it's goaltending or defenceman.

Ultimately when 2/4 of your core 4 aren't worth a spit in the postseason, yeah you're gonna decline and lose.

Tavares this year was hardly 3C level on the ice. Marner has 0 space to do anything in the postseason.

If these two guys were really good instead of really bad, our team would win many more series and games.

Nylander is good in the postseason. Matthews can't create for himself with speed or dangles so it's harder for him when his linemates aren't self generating passing chances.

 

[egd27]

I agree sitting them like that is unnecessary. After all, the Leafs gave them those contracts.

Although I do wish they had been benched a few times over the years. Keefe and company never had the courage to do this when they were developing.

That's fair

 

[NVious]

I know you are but what am I... I mean, I rest my case.

You have no case, your way of doing things lets them off the hook and will produce the same results as the past 8 years.

I am suggesting change and you don't want to even try because it's mean. We have to keep overpaid losers because it would be mean to tell the guy earning 11 million he can't stay.

 

[Shanwhatplan]

I would like to see the house cleaned... Shanahan, coaching changes, one of the core... for sure.

Me too, but I don't believe it's reasonable to expect all of that to happen this offseason.

 

[egd27]

That would never happen because they would leave, but I guess that will never happen either because people are scared it looks mean.

Or they call MLSE's bluff and make them look like bigger fools than they appear to be.

It doesn't look mean, it looks stupid.

 

[NVious]

Or they call MLSE's bluff and make them look like bigger fools than they appear to be.

It doesn't look mean, it looks stupid.

The biggest fools would be old man Tavares sitting out a year during a contract year and Mitch sitting out a year after one of the worst playoff performances for 10+ million dollar players in NHL history.

So they want to stay so badly in a market that doesn't want them here they're going to ruin their own careers to screw the team that paid them 11 million to fail? Right.

I guess the good thing is is that we saw what this team would look like without Marner and Tavares this playoffs.

 

[rumman]

Shanny and co. just ok with being “very good”. They don’t care about being “great”. Masai Ujiri had a very good team in 2018. But he wanted to be great, so he traded DeMar. Not afraid of his players feelings or caring about friendships or selling jerseys.

Too bad I’m not a basketball fan…….

 

[mikeyz]

Reading this thread yesterday, I saw it said numerous times, so I guess I’ll ask today:

What about NMCs do you want asked? Do you think you get an answer? Why do you think, for even a second, that a question about an NMC is productive?

It’s not about getting an answer from them. You’re completely missing his point. His point is, the Toronto media is being accused of asking hard hitting questions. Which they never ever do.

 

[rumman]

I do wonder if we end up, eventually, with a scenario where the president's role is either removed or consolidated into the GM's role, and that person reports directly to the CEO.

It's the way many organizations now run

Let’s hope they erase Shanahan’s position, how many million does he make a year?

 

[ACC1224]

Or they call MLSE's bluff and make them look like bigger fools than they appear to be.

It doesn't look mean, it looks stupid.

Yep, they seem to be confusing mean with idiotic

 

[Fogelhund]

Me too, but I don't believe it's reasonable to expect all of that to happen this offseason.

I don't see any barriers to removing Shanahan from his role, Keefe from his, and trying to move one of the core... the first two should be easy. Why don't you believe it would be reasonable to move on from Shanny and Keefe?

 

[Just Rude]

You have no case, your way of doing things lets them off the hook and will produce the same results as the past 8 years.

I am suggesting change and you don't want to even try because it's mean. We have to keep overpaid losers because it would be mean to tell the guy earning 11 million he can't stay.

I think we are all saying the same thing. Changes have to be made, and it's not about being "mean." We all know it can't go on this way. They will likely approach Marner and JT and ask them to waive, but those players are well within their right to say no. Don't blame the player. Blame the idiot front office that gave out the contracts.

Sitting $22 million of cap space in the press box as some kind of flex is seriously something Ballard would have done in a salary cap era.

 

[Aashir Mallik]

Ferraro: I want to be fair. I thought Marner was either hurt or uninterested throughout whole series. In game 7, to me he looked like disconnected to it all.

Well he definitely wasn’t hurt….

Disconnected in a game 7….only in Toronto do you hear that

 

[Racer88]

Ferraro: I want to be fair. I thought Marner was either hurt or uninterested throughout whole series. In game 7, to me he looked like disconnected to it all.

Yup everyone in the dam hockey world knows these 5 guys can’t get it done and you can’t build a team with that cap structure. 8 years have proven that. It still boggles my mind that some would argue to the contrary

 

[capfit9]

It’s crystal clear. Brendan Shanahan is out of his depth.