At the beginning of the season/offseason I wasn't pleased with keeping the core around given they had collapsed the 3rd straight season.
However The poor quality and overuse of bottom line players (Mcclement) and the use of Orr/Mclaren nightly were a big contributor to the demise of that season as well. Polak,Santorelli,Komarov were brought in to address these issues, and provide the core with much better support. Gardiner was just signed to a contract where it would be expected he show improvement, there was no way Clarkson could have another season SO BAD.
At the beginning of the season I really thought the team had improved with their additions, at least to the point of being competitive with a realistic chance at making the playoffs and possibly more.
The big blow is more the realization now about just how far the team is away from being competitive, the "building" from 2009 onward never had a foundation and is just a mess. Not only this season but all seasons since then have felt like a waste in hindsight.
Leafs management is at a "Y" in the road, and they have 2 choices.
- There is a smart choice and a foolish choice
- There is a difficult choice and an easy choice
- There is a right choice and a wrong choice
- There is a choice that is a big blow, and one that is a bigger blow¸
- There is a
choice, and a
choice
Starting with the TD (then draft, offseason) it could one of the most defining periods in Leaf history. At this time there will be no more doubt about which path was chosen.