How Long until the Leafs make the playoffs again?

[jazzeyman]

How long do you think it will take for the Leafs to make the playoffs again?

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[disgruntleddave]

4 years.

 

[Kurisu]

about 20 years.

 

[jazzeyman]

Funny, but you could be right given the total mess we are in.

 

[Quarter]

Never, duh.

 

[thewave]

If they are really smart and lucky 1year. Realistically I would say 3 but this team has the money to make a bubble at will so.

 

[Pi]

Pessimistic 4 years. Optimistic 2 years (involves the impossible with Stamkos signing with us)

 

[SprDaVE]

If we're really lucky (lol), within 2 years.

If everything goes according to plan, between 3 to 4 years.

If not many things go according to plan (development, trades, etc), over 5 years and beyond.

 

[Al14]

With not one single core player traded at the deadline, I predict it'll be at least five years until we make the playoffs.

Playoffs will come about in 2020!

 

[johnny_rudeboy]

We will miss it next season for sure. But I reckon we will be a bubble team if we do this right the season after that. Getting into the playoffs is really not that big of a deal in a league where more then half the teams make it. It is just that we have had teams so poorly built in the last decade we failed, they did however make it in the shortened season but that should really tell us that making it is not that big of an accomplishment.

If or rather when we move out our flawed core, perhaps we need to lower the asking price a little to get it done, we can move forward and hopefully have a more hard working team with a bit more character and pride that fight their way into the playoffs.

Much also depends on who we draft and what we get in return for our core.

 

[officialmark*]

You people are in for quite the surprise.

 

[Al14]

You people are in for quite the surprise.

Oh! Do tell, yes, please do tell!

 

[thewave]

We will miss it next season for sure. But I reckon we will be a bubble team if we do this right the season after that. Getting into the playoffs is really not that big of a deal in a league where more then half the teams make it. It is just that we have had teams so poorly built in the last decade we failed, they did however make it in the shortened season but that should really tell us that making it is not that big of an accomplishment.

If or rather when we move out our flawed core, perhaps we need to lower the asking price a little to get it done, we can move forward and hopefully have a more hard working team with a bit more character and pride that fight their way into the playoffs.

Much also depends on who we draft and what we get in return for our core.

I could honestly see them doing a 2 tier rebuild. Basically...

Tier 1: priority set to rebuilding the Marlies.

Tier 2:, getting best draft picks and prospects for Bozak Kessel Dion and Lupul while also getting an aging player who is good to a point and can support JVR Kadri Rielly Gardiner Bernier.

They are really trying to get a lot of 22+ year olds at this point so I believe it's accelerated rebuild because we can afford to use all cap unlike a lot of teams doing rebuilds.

 

[Nithoniniel]

If we're really lucky (lol), within 2 years.

If everything goes according to plan, between 3 to 4 years.

If not many things go according to plan (development, trades, etc), over 5 years and beyond.

Yeah. Something like this. I hope for 3 years, expect 4-5 and is preparing myself for longer.

 

[jazzeyman]

How can we trust that the guy who was instrumental in getting us into this mess is going to get us out of it?

I know people say he is a puppet and will be gone, but there he is on every press conference making all the deals still. And with Shanahan at his side at the games.

If Shanahan doesn't see how Nonis is responsible, then he will just be one more lamebrain in a long line of incompetent management.

 

[thewave]

Yeah. Something like this. I hope for 3 years, expect 4-5 and is preparing myself for longer.

They will be back in the bubble quickly which is the right choice depending how you look at it.

We have our high picks to work with. Rielly, Nylander, Kadri, JVR and this years. I am sure they will pad the 1sts with trades from Kessel etc and continue that process in the background while spending about to the cap annually.

 

[Joey Hoser]

We're making the playoffs next year, cause that's just the way things work around here.

 

[thewave]

We're making the playoffs next year, cause that's just the way things work around here.

Serious question. Do you think they will do a real deal tank or shuffle the deck?

 

[Joey Hoser]

Serious question. Do you think they will do a real deal tank or shuffle the deck?

I think they're guininely going to do the rebuild thing.

We'll make the playoffs because we dont intend to. As I said, that's just the way things work here.

 

[Mess]

Depends entirely on how long the tear down takes and who will be doing that from the GM chair. This currently is a bottom 5 lottery team based on current player personnel.

The current intended direction is down by trading vets for futures picks & prospects and based on TD results we are just at the early days of this process.

A patient draft rebuild process that is fueled by high draft picks and development is a 5-7 year process in general.

 

[thewave]

Depends entirely on how long the tear down takes and who will be doing that from the GM chair. This currently is a bottom 5 lottery team based on current player personnel.

The current intended direction is down by trading vets for futures picks & prospects and based on TD results we are just at the early days of this process.

A patient draft rebuild process that is fueled by high draft picks and development is a 5-7 year process in general.

You have to think we already have part of a rebuild going the past years.

Kadri Nylander Rielly, this years draft pick and JVR are all rebuild type selections. They represent 5 years of rebuild collectively.

I would not be surprised they just further this along with a Kessel trade, Dion etc. at that point the rebuild is almost complete and they will just change the makeup of the team and worry about the new acquisitions developing while Nylander and this years pick probably see ice within 2-3 years.

I can't imagine a proper rebuild considering they likely would like to keep JVR Kadri Rielly Bernier Etc. this isn't some Buffalo team going forward. If that's to happen Bernier will be traded as you don't rebuild with a goalie like him.

 

[Suntouchable13]

If they are not in the playoffs in 3 years, then something is wrong.

 

[613Leafer]

Rielly + Nylander + 2015 1st rounder arguably gives us a trio of young guys the same calibre as ~Huberdeau/Barkov/Gudbranson (hard to say until we know who we get in 2015). We're NOT starting from scratch here.

We have JVR to show for a 2008 top 10 pick, Kadri for 2009, Kessel for 2010/2011, Rielly for 2012, Nylander for 2014, and ??? (Strome, Marner, Hanifan, Provorov, Barzal) for 2015.

Even if Kessel isn't going to be part of our core going forward, we still get his trade value back. It won't be equal to a 2nd + 9th OA pick, but it should still be fairly substantial.

I think we're going to be in a pretty solid position by the summer of 2016. The only thing we're really lacking is that complete stud prospect. We don't have any Ekblad, Stamkos, etc calibre guys. But the overall organizational depth should be solid by then, with a number of high potential young pieces, and there's a chance the 2015 or 2016 1st rounder could become that stud type of prospect.

I think the "rebuild" will be shorter than many expect. I don't think it will be 5 years, I think it will be 3, maybe 2 if we got incredibly lucky (savvy Kessel/Phaneuf trades, solid UFA signings, and a 2015 1st that could contend for the Calder).

 

[666]

Depends entirely on how long the tear down takes and who will be doing that from the GM chair. This currently is a bottom 5 lottery team based on current player personnel.

The current intended direction is down by trading vets for futures picks & prospects and based on TD results we are just at the early days of this process.

A patient draft rebuild process that is fueled by high draft picks and development is a 5-7 year process in general.

This is nonsense. Mess you should know better. The Leafs already have some pretty strong assets and depending on what they do with them it could turn out that a core turnaround could result in a pretty quick rebuild.

The real question is how long will it be before the Leafs contend and that depends almost entirely on what the core looks like in the future.

Of course the very real possibility that the core doesn't get much change in the near future could mean a decade or more of misery for us.

 

[Hotel Mario]

You have to think we already have part of a rebuild going the past years.

Kadri Nylander Rielly, this years draft pick and JVR are all rebuild type selections. They represent 5 years of rebuild collectively.

I would not be surprised they just further this along with a Kessel trade, Dion etc. at that point the rebuild is almost complete and they will just change the makeup of the team and worry about the new acquisitions developing while Nylander and this years pick probably see ice within 2-3 years.

I can't imagine a proper rebuild considering they likely would like to keep JVR Kadri Rielly Bernier Etc. this isn't some Buffalo team going forward. If that's to happen Bernier will be traded as you don't rebuild with a goalie like him.

The Leafs have a good head start in the rebuild, as noted in your post. A partial foundation is present to build upon with the exception of a potential #1 Center. Obviously the only realistic way to acquire one is through the draft where the Leafs have sucked in the correct year to be in a position for one. The Marlies also have good players to fill out the roster in Brown, Leipisic, Loov, etc.

If the Leafs listen to Mark Hunter, in three years they can make it back to the playoffs. This is the same prediction that Don Cherry made, and he is very rarely wrong. I will add that the continued presence (esp beyond 2015) of Lupul, Kessel, Phaneuf, and Bozak will lengthen this interval considerably as they are spoiling the true foundation.