Apotheosis
Registered User
Before I proceed, I'd like to say that this is my first thread made on the HF Boards and I'm happy to finally join this site, as a devout hockey fan.
Now, on to business...
What this thread is meant to discuss is, how can we turn the Leafs in to a contender in the future, and who do we move going forward? This team is plagued with many problems, many being a result of bad defensive play, plain inconsistency, and lack of two way play (and that can be simply attributed to the sheer lack of two way players on the roster). I've talked with many people, and observed many posts, not just here, but in other forums, and people like to talk about this "core" that we possess and players like Phaneuf (who I've been a defender of for a while) and Lupul are brought up... But it simply does not fit. This team never went through a proper rebuild. The minute that Burke pulled the Kessel trade, the rebuild ended (although, Kessel is paying dividends, so I have no qualms with that). All this team has gone through in the last 10 years is constant retooling and over-reliance on seemingly overrated and overpaid players *cough* Clarkson *cough*. Lack of good coaching and no solid foundation for ethics or playstyle has hurt the team as well, and this current iteration of the team is no different at all. It pains me as a leaf fan to be thrown back and forth with winning, and losing, lack of rebuilding, retooling and everything of the sort. We haven't drafted well, and our two best offensive players came from trades, rather than built through and through, through the leafs farm system. It's common knowledge by now, but this team isn't contending at all, and any defenders of "oh a few pieces here and there and we can contend" can simply leave the fan base or not bother reading this thread. There are definitely solid core pieces on this team that stepped up this season, most definitely. And those are the pieces moving forward that we establish as a core, and with good drafting and FA pick-ups as well. But this constant retooling will not work...
So here's my proposition:
Dump - Phaneuf (lack of leadership and defensive inconsistency at times), Lupul, Franson, Clarkson, Kadri, Bolland and any other dead weight that you consider a plaguing to this team.
Keep - Rielly, Gardiner, Kessel, Van Riemsdyk, Bernier and Bozak.
And by dump, I mean try to get the best trade possible and for certain players, draft picks.
This season, if we continue on this downward final stretch and do indeed fall lower, we can expect to draft well in to the top 10, closer to the top 5 (and depending on the lottery ball we might draft even better hopefully). That will net us a solid piece for the future.
Next season; GONZO. GOODBYE. Let all the young pieces like Rielly, Gardiner, Percy etc. Develop. In a season where you don't want the pressure to make the playoffs so high, and where losing isn't as bad as it initially is. The following draft is the draft that changes teams for the future. The prophet (inside joke) Mcdavid resides in said draft and he's the key. If we were to ever possibly get the first round pick and draft him, WE CAN ACTUALLY BUILD A CONTENDING TEAM. We won't be able to retool through FA due to our terrible contracts that we have on budget right now, so building through the draft is arguable the only option. Assuming we get Mcdavid, the core we possess is set for years.
Mcdavid, followed by Rielly, Gardiner, Kessel, Van Riemsdyk, Bernier and Bozak is beautiful going forward and we can be in contention for the cup in a couple of years, rather than continue in relative mediocrity for the foreseeable future.
I don't see it as entirely implausible to hope for Mcdavid for this team, as the management has to finally see that this core and current iteration of the team will not contend (and it was largely assembled through trading and FA anyways) the way they primarily built it, so it is time to build through the draft.
Now, on to business...
What this thread is meant to discuss is, how can we turn the Leafs in to a contender in the future, and who do we move going forward? This team is plagued with many problems, many being a result of bad defensive play, plain inconsistency, and lack of two way play (and that can be simply attributed to the sheer lack of two way players on the roster). I've talked with many people, and observed many posts, not just here, but in other forums, and people like to talk about this "core" that we possess and players like Phaneuf (who I've been a defender of for a while) and Lupul are brought up... But it simply does not fit. This team never went through a proper rebuild. The minute that Burke pulled the Kessel trade, the rebuild ended (although, Kessel is paying dividends, so I have no qualms with that). All this team has gone through in the last 10 years is constant retooling and over-reliance on seemingly overrated and overpaid players *cough* Clarkson *cough*. Lack of good coaching and no solid foundation for ethics or playstyle has hurt the team as well, and this current iteration of the team is no different at all. It pains me as a leaf fan to be thrown back and forth with winning, and losing, lack of rebuilding, retooling and everything of the sort. We haven't drafted well, and our two best offensive players came from trades, rather than built through and through, through the leafs farm system. It's common knowledge by now, but this team isn't contending at all, and any defenders of "oh a few pieces here and there and we can contend" can simply leave the fan base or not bother reading this thread. There are definitely solid core pieces on this team that stepped up this season, most definitely. And those are the pieces moving forward that we establish as a core, and with good drafting and FA pick-ups as well. But this constant retooling will not work...
So here's my proposition:
Dump - Phaneuf (lack of leadership and defensive inconsistency at times), Lupul, Franson, Clarkson, Kadri, Bolland and any other dead weight that you consider a plaguing to this team.
Keep - Rielly, Gardiner, Kessel, Van Riemsdyk, Bernier and Bozak.
And by dump, I mean try to get the best trade possible and for certain players, draft picks.
This season, if we continue on this downward final stretch and do indeed fall lower, we can expect to draft well in to the top 10, closer to the top 5 (and depending on the lottery ball we might draft even better hopefully). That will net us a solid piece for the future.
Next season; GONZO. GOODBYE. Let all the young pieces like Rielly, Gardiner, Percy etc. Develop. In a season where you don't want the pressure to make the playoffs so high, and where losing isn't as bad as it initially is. The following draft is the draft that changes teams for the future. The prophet (inside joke) Mcdavid resides in said draft and he's the key. If we were to ever possibly get the first round pick and draft him, WE CAN ACTUALLY BUILD A CONTENDING TEAM. We won't be able to retool through FA due to our terrible contracts that we have on budget right now, so building through the draft is arguable the only option. Assuming we get Mcdavid, the core we possess is set for years.
Mcdavid, followed by Rielly, Gardiner, Kessel, Van Riemsdyk, Bernier and Bozak is beautiful going forward and we can be in contention for the cup in a couple of years, rather than continue in relative mediocrity for the foreseeable future.
I don't see it as entirely implausible to hope for Mcdavid for this team, as the management has to finally see that this core and current iteration of the team will not contend (and it was largely assembled through trading and FA anyways) the way they primarily built it, so it is time to build through the draft.
