There’s been a lot of talk about the media in Toronto these past few weeks.

Through another playoff collapse for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the same old questions began to rise about the pressures of playing in this market. Is the media too hard on the players? Is our overly critical ecosystem hindering the success on this star-studded team? Regardless of how you would answer these questions, there does seem to be some trouble in paradise between the Maple Leafs and the media that has been brewing for some time now.

Having been on the Leafs beat for years, TSN’s Mark Masters joined Leafs Morning Take on Tuesday following a series of year-end press conferences, giving his perspective on the staleness of the relationship between the team and reporters in its current form.

“I feel it’s very sanitized, the relationship right now,” Masters said. “I’m a TV reporter, so a lot of my stuff is scrums, but you like to talk to guys that are in the room, even off camera, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be about hockey. It’s just nice to get to know guys a bit more on a personal level. I think it makes it a lot easier, it humanizes everything, so it doesn’t look like I’m just shoving a mic in someone’s face.”

It wasn’t always this way, Masters said.

“I think coming out of the pandemic it’s changed a little bit,” he continued. “When I first started many years ago, I just remember we’d go into the dressing room and there’d be a lot of guys there. It would open up a little bit earlier and we would have a chance to just talk and shoot the breeze with somebody … if there’s a way to generate more opportunities just to humanize the relationship a bit more, I think that would be great.”

Having played in Toronto and dealt with media, co-host Jay Rosehill gave his own take on how things got the way they are now.

“I understand why they want to be the way they are at times,” Rosehill said. “You say one thing and everyone goes off, and they’ve learned from that.”

At the same time, he added that it often goes too far to the point where players aren’t given the space to speak freely, which might make it seem like they are indifferent. Masters acknowledged that he sees both sides of it, but still hopes to see a more casual relationship form that would allow better access to players and would generate more positive pieces.

“I just find that there’s a lot of great stories,” Masters said. “I know we focus a lot on the playoffs, but the majority of the season and the coverage is during the regular season and the team has won a lot of games in the regular season over the years. There’s been a lot of positive stories and I think there’s an opportunity to tell them more and just not have it be as adversarial as it sometimes feels like it is.”

As changes loom for the Maple Leafs, that has the potential to extend beyond just the rosters and staff, and apply to the overall culture as well. Take it from a veteran like Masters: a healthier, more human media relationship might be another needed adjustment in a summer of retooling the Leafs are putting together.