GDT: End of Season Address + Locker Clean Out (Dubas says he can't guarantee Babcock back next season)

[hector morrison]

Same here man, the day this ahole gets fired and I never have to see that ugly face behind the bench again, I will hit the bar and celebrate!

I don't even want to hear him talk anymore,let alone have to look at him...he's a walking blarney stone!

 

[The Masters]

Brian Burke identifies the top 4 key issues facing the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Thanks for posting. Who would have though Burkie would be a better anaylst than GM one day? Actually he didnt really set the standard high after his perfoamnce as a Leafs GM lol

but boy he hit it on the head. The Leafs will take this on the chin this year and Dubas will take it upon himself to improve the club first and foremost. He will give Babcock another year. Once Kyle does his job to improve the club, he will be asking Babcock to improve his in game adjustment and not be so stubborn. If Babs doesnt agree, he will be fired but he will agree. Babs knows he made mistakes he just doesnt like to announce them publicly.

Leafs will give this another shot, if they lose in the 1st rd again, Babs is gone and Keefe will be up.

 

[GoldenGOOSE]

Lets take our hats off to a great coach from Boston. And lets shout out out to Shanahan re: our coaching staff..

The Bruins played well, didn't play dirty, cept for maybe one game and played us well.

We were out coached and maybe their two best players are two of the best players ANY of us, have ever seen.

Anyone ever acknowledged that? Well I do. First Before anyone else. Bergereron and Marchand are the best two Bruins I have seen since Espo and Orr.

Great players. And Rask played well. He did his job.I imo we lost to a great great team.

 

[GoldenGOOSE]

And I was the first guy on any hockey board to despise Mike the joke BabCock. Most overrated over paid guy in the history of the NHL imo. Besides Nylander.

 

[Blanche Blanche]

Brian Burke identifies the top 4 key issues facing the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Might as well just say

Babcock &...
Salary Cap issues

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Maybe they are? I mean taking it to game 7 two years in a row...some would say that was unlucky,or the Boston team were pretty good...if you wanted to be sympathetic and all!

Mostly,for me is Babcocks attitude...losing should cause some reflecting in your methodology, but he seems unwavering ,too proud to admit that maybe he steered the ship wrong . He is passing the blame on to his players or GM for not getting him better players. I can see the benefit of having a confident coach,but he seems to think he is above criticism...and yet he hasn't done anything noteworthy in a decade!

During the regular season they definitely were not prepared for much of the time.

Even in the playoffs, we should have been able to shove that series down Boston's throats. They were not playing that well. For the most part, our players outperformed theirs. Had we been more prepared, we could have won in 5 or 6 with the way Boston was playing. Instead, we let them come back from being down 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 and eventually win. That is not being prepared.

I do get your overall point though. I just don't think Babcock is the reason for the success, and I do think he has a large share of the reason why the team is not as successful as it should be. With the number of top teams that lost, we had a good chance to go a lot further than originally expected... But ended up just falling flat again.

 

[ToMaLe]

I don't even want to hear him talk anymore,let alone have to look at him...he's a walking blarney stone!

same here, hate his voice, hate his ugly face, hate his personality and hate the way he coaches. He keeps saying do GUD things and GUD things will happen, well he has been here 4 years and not one playoff series win (6 years straight for him now) so I guess he is not doing GUD things. The sooner that ahole is fired the better.

 

[Blowfish]

Brian Burke identifies the top 4 key issues facing the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Burke nailed it...and lucky for leaf fans Reilly was signed to a great contact - They should have held onto Lou.

 

[GoldenGOOSE]

Burke drafted Morgan Rielly.l Pretty good draft choice if you ask me.

 

[GoldenGOOSE]

Btw, I think we lost to an excellent hockey team. Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron are just phenoms. Legends. Top 100 of all timers. Marchand just came out of nowhere and became a hall of fame player. Crazy. We have a pretty good hockey team finally.

Something that is watchable. But we weren't good enough to beat the Bruins. But definitely a watchable team.

 

[therealkoho]

honestly again. if we are going to get a new coach, i'd like to actually interview and not just be "Here, Keefe, have at'er."

the thing with SK is he know's the players and has coached many of them and maybe they trust him, all except for Willie of course SK benched him several times as a Marlie

 

[deletethis]

Jeez, Brian, say one thing I disagree with. Truth bomb after truth bomb.

My personal favourite that contradicts some of the online narrative: Mike Babcock and Kyle Dubas are actually on the same page in terms of team style that he referred to as Greenpeace style. This is exactly true. But Burke did get on Babcock for not coaching and tinkering enough in game. That should please Babcock's critics.

 

[therealkoho]

Get over yourself.

What did he say to confirm it ?

maybe the part in the presser where he blamed himself for not being more direct and allowed the negotiations to linger far too long, until he panicked and gave in to that idiotic contract

 

[therealkoho]

i honestly believe that the "guarantee" was "I won't sign and trade you this season."
i don't think anyone worth their salt would make a promise they couldn't in good conscience keep in this business.

there is a clause in the CBA that states, and I'll paraphrase, that the club cannot make any promises, inferred nor implied, nor anything that counters the rules as outlined in the CBA. and RFA's are not eligible for NMC's, LTC's or NTC's. Not only could the Leafs be heavily fined, but they also would have to forfeit a draft choice, if somebody had done so. Nylander has a big mouth, he opened it then and has recently opened it again in regard to Marner's, negotiations. He is done.

so no, Dubas did not make any promises and if he did the NHL would be all over this like a fat kid on a cupcake, remember the RW/Sedin's radio thing, or the deal with the Swedish Dman that cost them a pick. The CBA is sacrosanct

 

[Shanwhatplan]

I am finding it very difficult to stay a Leafs fan. I have bled blue and white since the 70’s, when I first started watching hockey. Loved Sittler, McDonald, Salming, Tucker, Roberts, and especially Gilmour!
I cannot stand Babcock! During the regular season, how often did the Leafs start the game prepared? Not very often! That’s on the coaches! And making in-game changes, Babcock was one of the worst, if not THE worst, coach in the league!
However, he’s not their only problem. Who do we blame for the cap hell that we are now in? Dubas has to be partly blamed, but he’s not the only one. Everyone who played a part in figuring out what their future cap situation would be like by signing Tavares and Nylander has to be blamed as well.
Should Shanahan shoulder some of the blame as well? I believe so.
My hope is that Babcock is fired ( him stating they needed heavier players was bullshit! How much playing time was Matt Martin being given, yet Trotz has no problem finding playing time for him, as well as how best to utilize him!). I also want to see Nylander gone. I don’t even care if it’s for a 7th rounder. It’s funny how well we were playing before he was signed, and what happened after he was signed. I’m also not certain we should hang onto Kadri. Whether you think it was a selfish play or not, can he be depended on to be “available” during the playoffs, or will he continue to do those bone-headed things in the heat of the moment?
It’s going to be a very interesting summer in Leafland!

 

[Trapper]

This organization is not on the same page.

You have Shanahan it’s take a discount to stay together, the Leafs aren’t for everyone and then disappear.

You have Dubas selling Tavares on we won’t lose good young talent for his salary. And at the same time if that was so important to Tavares, why didn’t he take a 9.1 million contract instead of 11? The team is going to lose good young talent. Maybe not the Marner level but guys like Kapanen/Johnsson or important depth will be lost.

Then you have Dubas and the 2 month Nylander debacle only to overpay. Yeah maybe it’s not that much to some but an overpayment is an overpayment. It doesn’t make anyone else cheaper.

Finally you have a coach that doesn’t seem to be in the same page with the GM, providing little digs about depth and other things.

Interesting summer for sure.

 

[rumman]

He did.... And it is pure BS

it better be, but I don't doubt the level of stupidity Dubas possesses.

 

[Dayjobdave]

I think it’s very telling that in the days since some of these explosive things were said at locker clean out the entire organization has been radio silent.

There has to be a battle going on behind closed doors.

 

[deletethis]

There's one thing completely overlooked about letting Nylander sit for an entire season. We would still be staring at Mitch Marner's 90+ point season while Nylander would still be that 61 point player in the same season that Marner put up 69 points. How much more money would Nylander been able to demand comparing his last active NHL season to Marner's previous season?

 

[rumman]

There's one thing completely overlooked about letting Nylander sit for an entire season. We would still be staring at Mitch Marner's 90+ point season while Nylander would still be that 61 point player in the same season that Marner put up 69 points. How much more money would Nylander been able to demand comparing his last active NHL season to Marner's previous season?

having Nylander sit would: A- put: Mathews/Marner/Johnsson/Kappy on notice that fair contracts are a priority to the Leafs, B- Nylander would lose considerable leverage in contract talks, and C- in hindsight Nylander's value would incredibly be higher if he sat out after a season of "mail it in" hockey.

Dubas created a perfect storm of contract hell for the forseeable future, this is what happens when you hand the car keys to a teenager.

 

[hector morrison]

During the regular season they definitely were not prepared for much of the time.

Even in the playoffs, we should have been able to shove that series down Boston's throats. They were not playing that well. For the most part, our players outperformed theirs. Had we been more prepared, we could have won in 5 or 6 with the way Boston was playing. Instead, we let them come back from being down 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 and eventually win. That is not being prepared.

I do get your overall point though. I just don't think Babcock is the reason for the success, and I do think he has a large share of the reason why the team is not as successful as it should be. With the number of top teams that lost, we had a good chance to go a lot further than originally expected... But ended up just falling flat again.

Basically,it would of been refreshing to hear him accept responsibility for 3 straight first round exits...instead ,we hear Dubas try to protect everyone by shouldering the blame...which ,really doesn't make much sense to me. Perhaps indirectly,but Babs is the one failing at game time!

 

[IBeL34f]

having Nylander sit would: A- put: Mathews/Marner/Johnsson/Kappy on notice that fair contracts are a priority to the Leafs, B- Nylander would lose considerable leverage in contract talks, and C- in hindsight Nylander's value would incredibly be higher if he sat out after a season of "mail it in" hockey.

Dubas created a perfect storm of contract hell for the forseeable future, this is what happens when you hand the car keys to a teenager.

Your posts would be so interesting without all of the bullshit ageism.

 

[MyBudJT]

having Nylander sit would: A- put: Mathews/Marner/Johnsson/Kappy on notice that fair contracts are a priority to the Leafs, B- Nylander would lose considerable leverage in contract talks, and C- in hindsight Nylander's value would incredibly be higher if he sat out after a season of "mail it in" hockey.

Dubas created a perfect storm of contract hell for the forseeable future, this is what happens when you hand the car keys to a teenager.

The thing is, had we not signed Nylander, it could have created MORE leverage for Matthews/Marner etc...

There would be a lot more pressure on Dubas to get those guys signed...

 

[Sweet Leaf]

all except for Willie of course SK benched him several times as a Marlie

I just decided i should have more confidence in Sheldon Keefe.

 

[Dragao6]

Anyone else under feel that even though this was the year to take advantage of top teams losing, our ending is gonna be a positive long term?

I just get the feeling dubas is really feeling it, the pressure. The entire year everything was just going too well, he tried to make moves but in the end he trusted what he put together. Now with this experience of getting knocked out how they did and everything I get the feeling from his press conference that he has realised how hard he has to push for improvements, harder on contracts and how to approach them? NOt only relying on skill?

My sense anyways...and hope