Each time the Toronto Maple Leafs could not hold a lead in the seventh game of a playoff series against the Boston Bruins there was an important lesson for the franchise – painful to be sure, but valuable.
In 2013, it was that the Leafs were not nearly as good as many believed and it was time to take the unprecedented step for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment management: tear the team apart and start from scratch.
In 2018, the lesson is far more hopeful: Management is on the right track and needs to stay the course. Keep working on what is now an admirable record of drafting and developing young players and use trades and free agents to fill in the gaps.
In the wake of such an agonizing loss – the Leafs had the lead and were 20 minutes from advancing – most people are still too emotional to refrain from calling for some heads. But, something must be remembered. This team is still just two years removed from winning the Auston Matthews lottery. It is still a work in progress.
Team management itself is at the top of the list when it comes to what needs to be done over the summer. General manager Lou Lamoriello’s contract is believed to be up. Team president Brendan Shanahan has some choices here.
Apparently Lamoriello has one or two option years on his contract for a senior-adviser role. He may be 75 years old, but Lamoriello is not the retiring type and his work is still at its usual high standard. But Shanahan has two assistant GMs, Mark Hunter and Kyle Dubas, who quite likely want to move up.
Again, it is believed, since the Leafs clamp down harder on information than Lamoriello does on players’ facial hair, Shanahan can maintain the status quo. But if Lamoriello returns as GM can Dubas and Hunter, who are both vital parts of the organization, be convinced to stick around in the same jobs?
Jake DeBrusk of the Bruins battles against Auston Matthews during Game 4 of their series.Claus Andersen/Getty Images
On the player front, a captain is expected to be appointed after several years without one. It is also assumed the job belongs to Matthews. This would be a big mistake. The last thing he needs while he is still trying to find his way around the NHL is the C.
A lot of people are down on Matthews now because he had only two points in the Bruins series and was soundly out-played much of the time by Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. Perhaps, but he is only 20 years old and there were plenty of times in the series when a bounce here or a sprawling Tuukka Rask save there barely kept him from making a difference.
What Matthews needs to do is concentrate on becoming the player he is supposed to be. He does not need to be concerned with giving interviews every day or acting as the go-between with head coach Mike Babcock.
The Maple Leafs already have the ideal candidate for captain – Morgan Rielly. He is 24 but he’s been in the league for five years and has a level head on his shoulders. While media types can never really know the inner dynamic of a team, it is clear the younger players on the team all look up to Rielly.
He also has the playing chops to hold the respect of the dressing room. Throw out the first two games of the Boston series and Rielly did an admirable job of playing against the best line in the NHL – Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak – with a game but elderly Ron Hainsey as his defence partner.
If anyone doubts Rielly’s fortitude, remember he took a Zdeno Chara slapshot to the mouth in the first period on Wednesday night and was back on the ice to start the second. Ask anyone in hockey whose slapshot they would never want to stand in front of and the unanimous answer would be Chara’s.
Morgan Rielly is tended to after being hit by a slapshot during Game 7 against the Bruins on Wednesday.Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
There will be some difficult decisions about the rest of the roster. The easier ones start with James van Riemsdyk, who will be a free agent on July 1 along with fellow veterans Tyler Bozak, Leo Komarov, Tomas Plekanec, Dominic Moore and Roman Polak. It is likely all of them will not return, unless Bozak takes a modest salary and short term in a new deal.
As the regular season ended, there were thoughts van Riemsdyk, who scored a career-high 36 goals, wanted to stay and might take a hometown discount. However, he did himself no favours with his disappearance in the postseason. That plus the emergence of Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen likely mean the end of the line for van Riemsdyk and Komarov.
The thorniest issues are defenceman Jake Gardiner and goaltender Frederik Andersen. The latter was outplayed in the playoffs by Rask, who was himself merely ordinary. But the Leafs are committed with Andersen’s contract, so the question is will the presence of a backup who can both relieve and challenge Andersen push him to play as well in the playoffs as he does in the regular season?
Gardiner, who has one year left on his contract at a reasonable US$4.05-million, is in the same position. He can do wonderful things offensively but seems to save his worst defensive nights for the worst possible times. At 27 that is not likely to change. Gardiner’s contract is tradable but he might also benefit from reinforcements on the defence, which is what Babcock has to decide.
Either way, Lamoriello, Babcock and company still need to upgrade the defence. Look for a trade there since prospects Andreas Borgman and Calle Rosen are not enough to complete the task.