Maple Leafs "window" officially closed.

[KrisLetAngry]

Just trying to bring a thread about the Leafs on the main boards?

Seems your recent post history is quite doom and gloom for the Leafs.

I don't think it's closed.

You do you

 

[dubey]

We’re winning the cup this year baby. Don’t @ me.

This

Also OP is probably seething now reading that

They just won their division and were a ~105 point team the last several years. They undoubtedly had a window.

It's firmly shut now.

lol this conversation is hilarious

 

[Nihiliste]

At one point, this was a promising team. Looking at the projecting lineup next season, this is a team that might not even make the playoffs. Their refusal to move any big salary in the flat cap has backfired and is mind boggling. They lack any high end prospects with Sandin and Robertson likely on the roster and with 3 picks this year and 3 next year, that won't change.

Utter and complete failure by Shanahan and the rest of the front office turning a promising group into a top heavy roster with AHL depth.

Flat cap crippled Colorado too. Bad timing for teams that were on the brink with expensive contracts signed or due

 

[E D]

Think bossram means Bunting not Garland lmao

Leafs have good talent. Think their top guys will continue to do well in regular season. Can they get over the hump in postseason? Depends what they add at tdl and how their new acquisitions play. PLUS, big names gotta step up more. Tavares injury was a big turning point this postseason and maybe entire playoffs could've been different had that not happened. Still think they'll be a playoff team though.

 

[hockeyisgud]

Dubas couldn't have done worse if he tried

 

[JoemAvs]

I don't believe in windows....

That said. The Leafs aren't constructed very well. And Dubas keeps doubling down on it for some weird reason.
With Tavares and Muzzin aging, it won't get any easier considering that there aren't too many game changing prospects knocking on the door (I count 0 but a few guys are somewhat promising I guess).

 

[FerrisRox]

They lost Hyman but upgraded the goaltending. Apparently this means they're going to miss the playoffs lmao.

Garland is not a bad player. Is he Hyman? No. But he is actually a pretty effective forecheck + net-front player.

First of all, just because you say they upgraded the goaltending doesn't make it true. I don't think many people would agree that Petr Mrazek was an "upgrade" over Freddie Andersen. But even if he were, who cares, their both middling net minders that aren't going to be difference makers.

Secondly, your point about Garland is true. He's a solid player, and he'll make a great addition to the Vancouver Canucks. What that has to do with the Leafs, however, is not clear.

 

[FerrisRox]

That said. The Leafs aren't constructed very well. And Dubas keeps doubling down on it for some weird reason.

I agree with you that the team is poorly constructed but the truly weird part is that Dubas refuses to acknowledge the team's repeated failures.

Because he wants to continue to pretend he has created a "contender" he repeatedly lets talent simply walk away for nothing. He won't trade players on expiring contracts because he continues to pretend his team is going to go on a playoff run.

During his time as General Manager the team has lost, for nothing, Jake Gardiner, James Van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Tyson Barrie, Zach Hyman, Nick Foligno and Fredrik Andersen.

He couldn't afford to re-sign any of them and he didn't trade them because he said they were "own rentals."

The team has won zero playoff rounds in the time that he has lost all of these players for zero return. That is a staggering failure as a General Manager.

 

[Kamina]

At one point, this was a promising team. Looking at the projecting lineup next season, this is a team that might not even make the playoffs. Their refusal to move any big salary in the flat cap has backfired and is mind boggling. They lack any high end prospects with Sandin and Robertson likely on the roster and with 3 picks this year and 3 next year, that won't change.

Utter and complete failure by Shanahan and the rest of the front office turning a promising group into a top heavy roster with AHL depth.

holy overreaction

 

[The Moose is Loose]

I would be really surprised if they missed the playoffs, they’ve been one of the best regular season teams for years so they’ll probably make it.

I don’t know what Dubas was thinking though. They needed massive changes to see if they could spark the team into a series win. They seem to have made no changes and lost a valuable top 6 guy who was one of their only players who played a hard nosed game.

I honestly don’t get it

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

What's with certain fans doing everything in extremes? Pretty sure OP was one of the Leaf fans who was over the top in his/her appraisal of their roster this past season, but now they've swung the complete other direction after the first day of free agency.

Why fans can't seem to grasp there's middle ground between "we are the greatest team ever!" and "we suck! Blow it up!" is beyond me.

 

[capfit9]

One injury to one of the core players, which is likely given history, this team won't make the playoffs. Too many teams they are competing with have gotten better.

 

[JT Kreider]

Ironically the best chance they had for a deep playoff run was Marner and Matthews rookie years. That was the deepest and hardest to play against lineup the Leafs had. That was before they had to let Bozak, Komarov and JVR walk and then bring in Tavares and blow up the entire structure of the roster.

 

[JAK]

Tavares signing doomed the Leafs.
It set a salary benchmark that Nylander, Matthews, and Marner all compared themselves to.

Had Mr.Pajamas signed a reasonable deal like $7.5 x 7 with NMC. The three young forwards would have been signed for less, or similar at worst. That would have created so much more cap space that would have solved a ton of depth, defense, and goaltending issues.

Pajamas wanted to go home to try and win a cup? He should have told his agent that.

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

Tavares signing doomed the Leafs.
It set a salary benchmark that Nylander, Matthews, and Marner all compared themselves to.

Had Mr.Pajamas signed a reasonable deal like $7.5 x 7 with NMC. The three young forwards would have been signed for less, or similar at worst. That would have created so much more cap space that would have solved a ton of depth, defense, and goaltending issues.

Pajamas wanted to go home to try and win a cup? He should have told his agent that.

 

[razor ray]

It’s never closed:

 

[RickChartraw]

Nineteen Sixty Seven

 

[unicornpig]

ownership so dumb to continue to roll with shanahan and dubas

 

[holy]

Someone open the window, I can’t breathe. Smells too much like overexaggeration in here.

 

[JAK]

Plenty of stars take pay cut to join a team they want to be on.

Fact is, Tavares signing doomed the team, and any non Leafs fans are pretty happy about it.

 

[FerrisRox]

They lost a valuable top 6 guy who was one of their only players who played a hard nosed game.

They were already arguably the softest team in the league and now they have lost Foligno, Hyman and Bogosian making them considerably softer.

Dubas continues to refuse to acknowledge the flaws in his roster. I truly feel bad for Maple Leaf fans. Kyle Dubas has destroyed what I truly believe was a very good chance for Leaf fans to win a Championship. The minute he signed Tavares, who blew up a golden opportunity and everything that has happened since has been so sadly predictable.

 

[MikeK]

It goes deeper than what's on the surface. They didn't do themselves any favors by rushing their rebuild a few years ago. They were on track to be another legitimate powerhouse through drafting but as soon as they drafted Matthews they changed course and decided they were contenders. That is where things went south. They started making bad signings and bad trades in an attempt to fast track things and it didn't go as planned. Had they stayed the course they'd be in a much different and far better position than they are now.

I don't think their window is closed but they are nowhere near the dominant team they could have been. It's very likely in a few years time when Matthews signals his intention of testing free agency that they will have wasted his time with the organization. My opinion though.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

They lost Hyman but upgraded the goaltending. Apparently this means they're going to miss the playoffs lmao.

Garland is not a bad player. Is he Hyman? No. But he is actually a pretty effective forecheck + net-front player.

Garland?

 

[JT Kreider]

Ironically the best chance they had for a deep playoff run was Marner and Matthews rookie years. That was the deepest and hardest to play against lineup the Leafs had. That was before they had to let Bozak, Komarov and JVR walk and then bring in Tavares and blow up the entire structure of the roster.

Also Marner was such a buzzsaw his first two years in the league, he was ferocious every time he was on the ice and it's unacceptable he has now regressed and gotten weaker with the puck than he was as a rookie.

The only explanation is that the John Tavares syndrome wore off on him and now it's all about putting up the most points while simultaneously putting in the least amount of effort possible and always coming away feeling like he was capable of so much more.

 

[MNRube]

This is complete BS. They will still dominate during the regular season and could ride a hot goalie to a Cup like any other playoff team. Trash thread.