TLN Roundtable – Rebuild, Retool or Regroup?

The importance of the upcoming trade deadline and the upcoming offseason can’t be stressed enough. The Maple Leafs organization is at a crossroads – they’re not good enough, they’re out of cash, and they don’t have a lot of assets. The next decade of Leafs hockey largely hinges on whether Brendan Shanahan, President of the Maple Leafs, decides to strip down the roster and rebuild, shake things up a bit and retool, or stick with what he has and attempt to regroup.

We asked our TLN writers what Shanahan should do…

It’s being reported from the trustworthy insiders that the Leafs are looking to move on from Phaneuf, which says to me they’re either retooling or rebuilding. I have a hard time believing they go full-on tank and burn it to the ground, but I think they might keep Kessel and cut it off there, then do whatever they can to ditch guys like Phaneuf, Clarkson, Lupul and Bozak as they’re in decline. 

Returns on those players will be minimal, but they really need to get things rolling and see where they stand, so they can try to accumulate some picks in the top sixty of this draft – right now they only have one. Clearing out some dead weight cap hits and bringing in a good haul at the draft this summer would be a nice start to the turnaround, and I think they’re capable of that with Dubas, Hunter and Shanny calling the shots.

While nothing would make me happier than to argue for the much needed rebuild, I’m going add a dash of reality into my expectations are say they will go the retool route. Unfortunately, the much needed rebuild would overlap with the 2017 Leafs centennial, and I can’t see MLSE wanted the celebration spoiled by being out of the playoff hunt by November. So odds are we are looking at about a year and half of legitimate attempts of improving the hockey team before the mandate is changed to signing Lucic to a horrible UFA deal if he hasn’t already been acquired for an excessive number of high draft picks.

The downside to the retool is the speed at which it needs to happen, and building a nice prospect pool will give way to acquiring serviceable NHLers. It also means major moves need to start happening yesterday. The upside is the untouchables of the organization are still extremely limited. Rielly and Nylander shouldn’t be going anywhere in any situation, but with a retooling, it’s also much more obvious you don’t trade Phil Kessel. Beyond that, you’re still burning it to the ground.

MLSE may not want to admit it to themselves, but the Leafs need a full rebuild. They’ve been trying to retool and regroup for a decade and it hasn’t worked. Sure, a couple of players could make the Leafs a bottom-half playoff team (maybe). But long-term success and chances at a Cup are going to involve some time and a lot of work. Maybe fans would be upset for a bit, but they’ll be just as upset if they continue to feel as hopeless as they do now. It’s going to suck to have a team in the basement, but draft some talented kids and people will be excited – hell, I was at a Nylander’s first preseason game for the Leafs this year and the crowd was buzzing all game long. In addition to the kids, ship off some veterans for some picks and prospects, and even look at what you can get for Kessel, JVR, and the like. You could start a nice rebuild with the returns for those guys. And let’s be real – there are very few untouchables in this organization.  

MLSE isn’t going to lose money if they rebuild – the ACC will still sell out. But build this team properly and MLSE will see the $$$$ in their eyes when the Leafs are consistently in the playoffs. It benefits the companies and the fans to finally do this right. Rip the band-aid off and let our healing begin. 

The Leafs need to rebuild.  At the end of the day, the only goal should be a Stanley Cup. With the way the team is constructed now, they’ll be hard-pressed to turn themselves into contenders. The team has tried to take shortcuts and ignore hard truths, and in the process have wasted away some of the better years of guys like Lupul, Phaneuf, and even Phil Kessel. The team is in a bad salary cap situation with contracts like David Clarkson and to some degree Phaneuf’s holding the team down. The prospect pool is thin with very few players serving as legitimate threats to make an impact for this team one day and the Leafs have only made 11 draft picks in the last 2 years. Only two of those picks were made in the first 2 rounds.  And maybe above all else, the Leafs are still largely inadequate down the middle and on the blueline. The Leafs lack a first-line center and Morgan Rielly is the team’s only hope at a franchise defenseman. 

Simply put, the puzzle is missing pieces. And given the wavelength that some of the players are on, and considering the lack of young talent coming up through the system, there’s no way the Leafs can scrape a contender together. The reality is that they need to start again from scratch and do this thing the right way. No shortcuts, no panic moves, no boat anchors. Be honest, be critical, and be creative. It won’t be easy, but it’s the road the team needs to take.