For all intents and purposes, the Toronto Blue Jays are going through the same kind of miserable season the Maple Leafs endured in 2025-26.

With that in mind, we kicked off the latest summer edition of Leafs Morning Take by trying to offer a few words of encouragement to Blue Jays Nation. After coming within inches of a World Series last fall, the 2026 season has completely gone off the rails. There are plenty of parallels to last year’s Leafs campaign—even if Toronto wasn’t nearly as close to winning a Stanley Cup. Now, all signs point to the Blue Jays becoming sellers ahead of the August 3 MLB trade deadline.

After venting for a few minutes, we shifted our focus back to hockey and broke down the new contracts for Jason Robertson and Connor Bedard. The sticker shock is real. The NHL’s financial landscape has changed dramatically this summer. We also wondered just how much money the Leafs saved by signing Darren Raddysh when they did. If he had hit the open market, what would his price tag have looked like?

On the Leafs front, things have been pretty quiet. That said, we did touch on the organization rounding out the Marlies’ staff. Chris Bourque was named assistant GM, while Denver Manderson and Greg Moore were added as assistant coaches under Steve Sullivan. Also, we put to bed any ideas of a James van Riemsdyk reunion in Toronto. The Leafs posted a throwback clip of the 37-year-old free agent winger scoring a goal without any context or explanation, and naturally, people started wondering if it meant something. Well, we shut that down. After checking with the van Riemsdyk camp, there’s absolutely nothing going on. It was just an old highlight. That’s it. End of story.

Meantime, Bruce Boudreau took a break from his Atlantic City vacation to break down the Maple Leafs’ busy offseason and share his outlook for the 2026-27 season. He discussed John Chayka’s roster overhaul, how coaches will have to adapt to the NHL’s new 84-game schedule, Sergei Bobrovsky’s arrival, Auston Matthews’ importance to Toronto’s success, and why Patrick Kane could be an intriguing fit alongside Matthews. Boudreau also shared his biggest concern about the Leafs, explaining why he doesn’t believe they’ll make the playoffs, citing an aging blue line as the primary reason.

Catch the next summer episode of Leafs Morning Take on Friday at 11 AM e.t.

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