Kyle Dubas’ biggest challenge in his second summer as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs is walking over the tightrope of salary cap hell. Two keys in making his life much, much easier this summer are finding ways to rid himself of Patrick Marleau and Nikita Zaitsev’s contracts.
Everyone assumed with his two-year contract expiring on July 1 that the Ron Hainsey era in Toronto was going to be over. But is it?
Have you heard? Kyle Dubas has a lot of work to do this summer. With Auston Matthews’ extension set to kick in and multiple key restricted free agents also in need of new deals, Dubas is going to have to do some tightrope walking to get everybody under the salary cap ceiling.
The Wizard of Oz era in Toronto has come to an end. Defenceman Igor Ozhiganov will reportedly return to the KHL next season.
Since the Leafs were eliminated from the playoffs in frustrating and disappointing fashion by the Boston Bruins earlier this week, many have questioned if Mike Babcock is the proper coach to help lead the team to success.
The Maple Leafs have had a few days to think about their disappointing Game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins that ultimately resulted in the team losing in the first round for the third consecutive year. Today, they cleaned out their lockers and faced questions from the media.
Everybody is going to be watching Game 7 tonight in Boston. This is because it features Canada’s team.
When the Leafs take a penalty, Leafs Nation rightfully gets nervous. The Bruins opened the scoring in the first period on the man advantage and then, early in the second, got another chance on the power play.
Slay the bear. That’s been the Leafs objective all year. Everyone has known for months that Toronto and Boston were going to meet in the first round of the playoffs again.
The Leafs and Bruins played each other four times this season, which is generally a big enough sample size to draw some conclusions about how the two teams stack up head-to-head.
The Garret Sparks saga has a new chapter. The most controversial back-up goalie on the planet is back in the limelight as third-string goalie Michael Hutchinson left the team for personal reasons.
It was under a year ago that I wrote how John Tavares and the Maple Leafs weren’t a good fit. Ah, how quickly things change. Tavares has had an excellent first season in Toronto and many will likely crown him the team’s Most Valuable Player at the end of the season.
