Has the Leafs rebuild failed?

[Canovin]

Hell cap will hit them hard for 2 years like the Oilers then they will be back for a 3 years window

 

[McFlyingV]

Yes it has. Babcock needs to be fired and Andersen is trash. The Leafs need to get a #1 goalie this offseason.

This is almost as good as your "Matthews > McDavid" hot take.

 

[WJCJ]

No, their rebuild has not failed. They were better than last year but so is Boston. When two of the top 5 teams face off in the first round, one team is going to be disappointed and feel that they should have gone further.

If Toronto lost to Boston in 7 games in the second round would it be a failure? Of course not if it was this year.

 

[Makar Goes Fast]

the rebuild had not failed, but the leafs season was nothing short of a failure. As echoed when Tavares signed, he and company were supposed to get them past the first round it didn't happen.

 

[WJCJ]

Yes it has. Babcock needs to be fired and Andersen is trash. The Leafs need to get a #1 goalie this offseason.

Andersen was their playoff MVP. Without Babcock and Andersen this team probably allows more regular season goals than they score.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Yes it has. Babcock needs to be fired and Andersen is trash. The Leafs need to get a #1 goalie this offseason.

Weren't you one of the over the top posters making it sound like the Leafs were an unstoppable powerhouse and tossing around the "AINEC" to any player comparisons between the Leafs players and other teams? Now that they lost you're throwing their series MVP under the bus?

 

[4thline]

This is the first season that they failed to meet or exceed start of season expectations.

They have a high end core of elite talent.

At the outset of the rebuild a non-trivial number of main boards posters didn't project them making the playoffs until next year.

No.

 

[Puck Dogg]

Again what rebuilt?

Leafs had 68 points in 2014-15 and didn't have a single player with 30 goals. Their 1st line center (Kadri) back then is now third in their depth chart with both leading scorers back then (Van Riemsdyk and Kessel) gone. They also have new starting goalie, added three d-men (Zaitsev, Hainsey and Muzzin) and brought in Babcock. I'd call it a rebuild.

 

[34]

This is almost as good as your "Matthews > McDavid" hot take.

How did the playoffs go for the Oilers the last few years. How many playoff points did McDavid score.

 

[smitty10]

Future is potentially bright. Welcome to the NHL.

I think it's safe to say that they're going to be a good team for a while. I'm definitely not making any predictions regarding a Cup though.

 

[34]

Leafs need a new coach and goalie who doesn't choke elimination games. The real failures are Buffalo and Edmonton.

Yeah Edmonton is the #1 failure in the NHL. Trash organization from the top down. I love watching them lose.

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

Actually if they do lose players due to the cap, it might take some of the pressure off. There won't be as much expectation. Might be a more dangerous team.

 

[DanM]

Was waiting for this thread lol

Yep, the Leafs will never draft or develop a player again, never spend money on a free wallet, or make a trade ever again.

The Leafs should just fold the franchise.

 

[topshelf15]

Over reaction at its finest...Lol

 

[Morbo]

Again looking for a general consensus

yeah, that's what you're looking for

 

[Morbo]

Andersen is beyond fine. He's literally the least of our problems. Probably our best player.
.

Is this a joke? Please tell me this is a joke.

He has crapped the bed in THREE consecutive playoff series.

 

[AfroThunder396]

To answer the OP question, no. They went from a cellar dweller to perennial playoff team. Their core is young and with the right pieces they can become legitimate contenders for a while.

They need to get some better defensemen though. Andersen played out of his mind this season and that masked a lot of problems they have on the back end. Reilly is great, Muzzin was a good add. Gardiner is what he is, a useful but flawed player. The rest are dime-a-dozen guys.

 

[smitty10]

Is this a joke? Please tell me this is a joke.

He has crapped the bed in THREE consecutive playoff series.

Crapped the bed? The guy just had a .922 s% (6th in the playoffs of guys who have played more than 1 game) in the 7 playoff games and made massive save after massive save. He let in one bad goal in the final game off of a bad turnover. It was a fluke. Otherwise, he was fantastic.

 

[La Bamba]

The Leafs are gonna be paying Marner at least 11M next year so that's ~34M tied up between 3 guys. The Leafs are gonna have to deplete some of their depth to accommodate Matthews' and Marner's new deals kicking in. It looks like Gardiner, Kapanen, Johnsson, and even Hainsey may not fit in under the cap. These past 2 years were the Leafs' greatest chance to make a deep run IMO.

I don't think the Leafs will be a better team going forward the team couple of seasons compared to their last 2. They have their fair share of not so great contracts (Zaitsev, Nylander, Marleau, Kessel ) and their D which has been a weak spot likely wont improve unless Dubas makes a trade involving one of his higher cap hit guys.

Similar things happened with Chicago and Edmonton.

If I'm the Leafs GM, I try to add some grit without sacrificing much skill so guys like Kassian, Matt Martin (lol) fit that bill. I think gritty D man like Adam Larsson would be a good fit on the Leafs.

 

[WHISTLERNATE]

No team has ever won a playoff series in the salary cap era with a $10 million player on the roster. The Leafs are likely to have 3 next year.

I don't think Dubas is a good GM, and now he has a very challenging off season ahead of him. Leafs will be up against the cap, have a few bad contracts, an awful D unit, a mediocre prospect pool and no 1st round pick. This years team was not very good since the midway point of the year, 22nd best in the league, and got bounced in round 1. I don't know how they ice a team next year that is better than this year. Dubas has his work cut out for him.

With that said, they should be consistently in the playoffs for the foreseeable future. Many rebuilds never get to that point, so I have to say it has been a success so far. It's the jump from playoff participant to legit cup contender that will be the most challenging for TML, but I don't think that should be the bar that measures the success of a rebuild.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

It depends on what the measure of success is.

They should be a playoff team almost every year. That is a huge accomplishment given they only qualified for the playoffs once in eleven seasons prior to 2016.

They aren't going to be a contender year in and year out, which is something they had potential to be. That ship has sailed. They screwed it up. They just can't do it with their cap situation. Matthews is making over 11M on a 5 year deal, and Marner is in a position to get the same if not more. 5 years is not a long enough term for those kind of contracts to settle in and give the Leafs more room. Even if they trade Nylander, they'd be looking at almost 35 million between Marner, Tavares, and Matthews. Not to mention that Zaitsev contract taking 4.5M.

I just think it's going to be very difficult for them to progress to the next level with how they've botched their cap situation. I think they could still win the cup by virtue that every team in the playoffs has a chance to go deep, and I expect them to consistently make the playoffs - but if the rebuild being a success is dictated by building a consistent contender, the Leafs have failed.

 

[NetflixandPhil]

It depends on what the measure of success is.

They should be a playoff team almost every year. That is a huge accomplishment given they only qualified for the playoffs once in eleven seasons prior to 2016.

They aren't going to be a contender year in and year out, which is something they had potential to be. That ship has sailed. They screwed it up. They just can't do it with their cap situation. Matthews is making over 11M on a 5 year deal, and Marner is in a position to get the same if not more. 5 years is not a long enough term for those kind of contracts to settle in and give the Leafs more room. Even if they trade Nylander, they'd be looking at almost 35 million between Marner, Tavares, and Matthews. Not to mention that Zaitsev contract taking 4.5M.

I just think it's going to be very difficult for them to progress to the next level with how they've botched their cap situation. I think they could still win the cup by virtue that every team in the playoffs has a chance to go deep, and I expect them to consistently make the playoffs - but if the rebuild being a success is dictated by building a consistent contender, the Leafs have failed.

You just contradicted yourself when you said that every team in the playoffs can contend and that the Leafs should make the playoffs every year but then saying they won't consistently contend.

 

[A4T1L6]

Leafs had 68 points in 2014-15 and didn't have a single player with 30 goals. Their 1st line center (Kadri) back then is now third in their depth chart with both leading scorers back then (Van Riemsdyk and Kessel) gone. They also have new starting goalie, added three d-men (Zaitsev, Hainsey and Muzzin) and brought in Babcock. I'd call it a rebuild.

I had a fat double take when I read that guys post lmao

 

[danielpalfredsson]

You just contradicted yourself when you said that every team in the playoffs can contend and that the Leafs should make the playoffs every year but then saying they won't consistently contend.

No I didn't, you are making inferences that aren't in my post.

There is a difference between being a contender, and going deep in one playoff run. The Senators were a goal away from the Cup final in 2017, they were never a contender.

The Lightning are a team that is universally expected to be at the top of the league every season, they are a contender.

The Leafs have built a team that should have a very good chance at making the playoffs every season. By virtue of that, they can win the Cup because the way the playoffs are, even subpar teams (like the 2017 Sens, or the other examples of late seeds going on runs) can go deep.

I don't think they will ever be a year in/year out contender because they've botched their cap situation so badly, and the contracts aren't long enough that they can settle in and go from above or at market value contracts to below market value contracts. By the time Matthews contract starts giving the Leafs breathing room via the cap rising, it'll be just about expired.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

all these Pejorative Slured posts by people regarding window closure, leafs rebuild failure, babcock overrated, etc

when the real reason is the f***ing standings when you have 2nd and 3rd facing each other so you get games like TO vs BOS that should happen later in the playoffs

ultimately, Toronto is a good team, Boston is just better and they're unlucky enough to have faced them three times, that's it that's all