News Article: Mirtle: Maple Leafs Ownership Could Make Massive Changes if 'Really Disappointing First-Round Exit' Happens Again in the Playoffs

[Squiffy]

A blind bat running da Leafs makes $$$$ .. all subscriber and sponsor revenues come in by mid June every single year .. there are contracts in media with nhl on media and gaming revenues .. and merch and food/bev come in because da house is always full .. da main costs are contained cheaply for them due to CAP .. like i said bozo da clown makes $$$$$$ .. it is highly profitable in mid summer before year even starts .. da only serious job for prez is to build a Cup contending team and that job has been failed miserably .. folks on here have zero clue .. i know because i saw file every year while at kpmg and i get annual reports at our sponsor mtgs

If Harold Ballard era teams could make money hand over fist and sell out every night, that’s all we need to know about the economics of running the Leafs.

You’re right, the only thing hockey ops needs to do is frigging win games, the profitability is cooked in.

 

[killer1980]

If Harold Ballard era teams could make money hand over fist and sell out every night, that’s all we need to know about the economics of running the Leafs.

You’re right, the only thing hockey ops needs to do is frigging win games, the profitability is cooked in.

Harold Ballard once told the father of someone I knew very well that he didn't need to pay for high priced talent to win the Cup. He was quite happy with all the money he was already getting so, why pay more?

 

[Brown Dog]

People say they want changes to the core, but we're not moving Matthews, just committed long-term to Wille, and Tavares is unmoveable.

So changes to the core = trading Marner (and even then, with a NMC, he'd have to be agreeable).

I'm all for finding a way to deal Marner, but is there a case to be made for holding Money Mitch in a contract year and looking to position for a true reset in 2025 when Marner and Tavares are both off the books?

I realize blowing another year of Matthews' prime is unpalatable, but with question marks all over the lineup maybe it makes sense to play this out.

 

[3blizzard4]

Berube seems like change for change sake.

Is he really better than Keefe? Maybe it's a new voice in the locker room. I would understand that.

 

[Squiffy]

Harold Ballard once told the father of someone I knew very well that he didn't need to pay for high priced talent to win the Cup. He was quite happy with all the money he was already getting so, why pay more?

Pal Hal was an old school Boss for sure. His stench lingers to this day.

 

[djdev]

Berube seems like change for change sake.

Is he really better than Keefe? Maybe it's a new voice in the locker room. I would understand that.

i think at this point the whole team(coach included) are just too used to losing and have no answers.
the fact they have resorted by default to saying fans/media as "always needing someone to blame" shows me as much.

we need a new direction and a new attitude from the top down, the more these guys feel sorry for themselves, keefe included, the harder its going to get to perform in the highest pressure situations. if it were up to me, 3/5s of this "core" would be gone along with the coach but i doubt thats possible so keefe will have to fall on the sword, i dont even care if its an upgrade or downgrade personally as long as he holds players accountable(and changes the damn pp lol), which i think keefe never did really.

 

[The Masters]

Too much physological losing with keefe. Thats the reason i want a change. How tf these players gonna buy in on another game 7??

Good guy good coach but ZERO HORRIFIC results in the playoffs.

 

[Squiffy]

We’re still boned next year on the cap anyways. 25-26 is our chance to reset and get one last shot at not wasting this generation of Leafs.

I’m less convinced today than yesterday that Shanny comes back, just gut. But then I logic it, and if Pelley wants to move off Shanny, what’s the point in keeping Tre that got brought in to continue the vision?

 

[Leaf Fans]

Berube seems like change for change sake.

Is he really better than Keefe? Maybe it's a new voice in the locker room. I would understand that.

Personally, I want Sutter or perhaps Hunter ( if he can be pried out of London).

 

[djdev]

We’re still boned next year on the cap anyways. 25-26 is our chance to reset and get one last shot at not wasting this generation of Leafs.

I’m less convinced today than yesterday that Shanny comes back, just gut. But then I logic it, and if Pelley wants to move off Shanny, what’s the point in keeping Tre that got brought in to continue the vision?

i feel like shanny must have capitulated to keep his job on the whole "keep the core at all costs" thing. i have a feeling he comes out and says that he was wrong on friday if hes remaining with the leafs.

at the end of the day, hes done alot of really really good things for the organization and as long as hes willing to change im ok with him still being around, but thats just my personal opinion, clearly the majority people wont share it.

 

[killer1980]

Pal Hal was an old school Boss for sure. His stench lingers to this day.

Loved to see him in his bunker with his old pal King Clancy. Couple of old farts out on a Satueday night.

 

[Squiffy]

Franchise is well run, infinitely better then 10 years ago, and by some exponent not conceived of yet better then 35 years ago.

They scout well, the drafting with lower picks has been hitting mostly. They run the Marlies like a NHL operation, good for them figuring that out, they have the resources to out-compete every other team in those departments. All the other stuff behind it, the medical, the analytics, all the support stuff by all accounts is second to none. And for a franchise that once fired gm’s by rescinding parking spots, or paper-bagging not-really-fired coaches, or not signing Gretz because the building is full already, in the grand scheme, that’s coming a long way.

From a low bar.

Just failing in the only thing that matters most lol.. they have not gotten the exec staff together yet that pulls off the combination. They are going to pull it off at some point before I die. Gonna be pissed if they don’t do it before my old man goes though, I wanna celebrate one with him and they need to hurry up. You hear that Pelley?

 

[Superstar]

Franchise is well run, infinitely better then 10 years ago, and by some exponent not conceived of yet better then 35 years ago.

They scout well, the drafting with lower picks has been hitting mostly. They run the Marlies like a NHL operation, good for them figuring that out, they have the resources to out-compete every other team in those departments. All the other stuff behind it, the medical, the analytics, all the support stuff by all accounts is second to none. And for a franchise that once fired gm’s by rescinding parking spots, or paper-bagging not-really-fired coaches, or not signing Gretz because the building is full already, in the grand scheme, that’s coming a long way.

From a low bar.

Just failing in the only thing that matters most lol.. they have not gotten the exec staff together yet that pulls off the combination. They are going to pull it off at some point before I die. Gonna be pissed if they don’t do it before my old man goes though, I wanna celebrate one with him and they need to hurry up. You hear that Pelley?

Yes, but seems like we have the opposite extreme now...instead of really blowing up the team by kicking Sittler and McDonald outta here, which was atrocious management that set the team back a decade, Shanny is giving big smiles while running back the same core over and over again...let's hope we see some meaningful changes this summer.

 

[Mr_Fun]

We’re still boned next year on the cap anyways. 25-26 is our chance to reset and get one last shot at not wasting this generation of Leafs.

I’m less convinced today than yesterday that Shanny comes back, just gut. But then I logic it, and if Pelley wants to move off Shanny, what’s the point in keeping Tre that got brought in to continue the vision?

I think major changes occur next year (as opposed to this year). Tre hasn't really had a chance to put a lot of his mark on this team yet so I'm guessing he'll keep Shanny around one more year so that so that he can get a better evaluation. Again, this is just my own speculation and something completely opposite could be in the works. If Shanny is fired in the next couple of weeks, all bets are off.

 

[Squiffy]

Yes, but seems like we have the opposite extreme now...instead of really blowing up the team by kicking Sittler and MacDonald outta here, which was atrocious management that set the team back a decade, Shanny is giving big smiles while running back the same core over and over again...let's hope we see some meaningful changes this summer.

Ya, but the opposite extreme seems more likely to figure it out. At least they are trying. Trying and failing is better then not trying and accepting failing, hence the believe they’ll fluke in to getting it right one year eventually at least.

 

[Buds17]

Berube seems like change for change sake.

Is he really better than Keefe? Maybe it's a new voice in the locker room. I would understand that.

The Cup win should at least make Berube the more accomplished coach. As we've unfortunately seen with an assortment of both coaches and GMs (Carlyle, Babcock, Fletcher, Burke, Lamoriello) over the years though, winning elsewhere is never going to provide a guarantee of replicating that same level of success at a future stop.

 

[mcleex]

OKC Thunder went from having Durant, Westbrook and Harden all in their prime and blew it up
Now they have SGA and Chet and arguably the best young core in the NBA that is up and coming

It's not always doom and gloom to blow it up. The core 4 has not been able to get us to the next level

 

[colchar]

Tavares is unmoveable.

Not necessarily. A team like Chicago can afford him and could use his veteran experience with Bedard.

Berube seems like change for change sake.

Is he really better than Keefe? Maybe it's a new voice in the locker room. I would understand that.

Of course he is better, what has Keefe ever won?

 

[WillNy29]

OKC Thunder went from having Durant, Westbrook and Harden all in their prime and blew it up
Now they have SGA and Chet and arguably the best young core in the NBA that is up and coming

It's not always doom and gloom to blow it up. The core 4 has not been able to get us to the next level

or we could blow it up and end up like buffalo missing the playoffs year after year. its not always sunshine and rainbows either to blow it up. People really want to go back into the decade of darkness

 

[Apex Predator]

What’s this blow it up conversation coming from. Firing Keefe and trading Marner isn’t blowing it up.

 

[Gabriel426]

I don't think the team needs to blow it up.
1. Shanny, what exactly is his role with the Leafs?
Is he like Masai that recruits Players and stuff? Or is he like Shapiro, who is more on building the brand, stadium and stuff?
If he is like Masai, he needs to be more Shapiro from now on.
2. Need Tre to have that conversation with both JT and MM. It is tough but it needs to be done. Both probably want to stay but break it down what will happen. As much as I like the idea of JT getting the Spezza deal, that can't happen. MM is a different case.
3. Rebuild that defense
4. Need to start focusing on drafting and developing. Even without draft picks, there will always be plenty of young guys without contracts, sign them and try develop them.

 

[hullsy47]

Berube seems like change for change sake.

Is he really better than Keefe? Maybe it's a new voice in the locker room. I would understand that.

john cooper maybe ,berube is going to jersey IMO

 

[LeafsFan89]

Berube seems like change for change sake.

Is he really better than Keefe? Maybe it's a new voice in the locker room. I would understand that.

Agreed. My issue with all of this is that it's also the players that need to change. The mix of guys have not worked for 8 years.

This upcoming year might be the second year in my life that I do not watch any hockey (the first was when I quit hockey and wanted nothing to do with it).

 

[CapspaceKiller]

I think the Leafs are a textbook case for a re-tool. Move Tavares and Marner out and add defense, grit and depth with the money.

I don't agree at all with blowing it up. I want to see what these versions of Matthews and Nylander can do surrounded by an actual team. With the microscope only on them. I think over the last 18 months both of them have made improvements to their games that I like.

I like that Brad wants a team built around grit with size on the back-end. I'm seeing the beginnings of positive change. Which is something I can't say about the entire Dubas era.

 

[conFABulator]

I think the Leafs are a textbook case for a re-tool. Move Tavares and Marner out and add defense, grit and depth with the money.

I don't agree at all with blowing it up. I want to see what these versions of Matthews and Nylander can do surrounded by an actual team. With the microscope only on them. I think over the last 18 months both of them have made improvements to their games that I like.

I like that Brad wants a team built around grit with size on the back-end. I'm seeing the beginnings of positive change. Which is something I can't say about the entire Dubas era.

I don't disagree with the sentiment, I don't see us moving out both Marner and Tavares. You can't move JT and he doesn't deserve to get run out of town. A perfect scenario would be that that he signs an extension on July 1 for 3 x $3M and he trades his C for Austin's A. It's one more year of too much money but we knew that when we signed him. He see a hometown discount coming and he graciously makes this AM's team and NEXT year have $8M new dollars to play with on his pay reduction alone.

As for Marner, he has to go. We need the cap space, we need the assets he could get back in a trade, and we need to change the culture on this team. Moving out Marner, Keefe and making AM the captain is a very good start.

How about...

Marner
Liljegren
Kampf

- for -

Oleksiak
Larsson
Wright
Conditional 1st

That allows us to re-sign Domi and Bertuzzi and leaves us about $8M to spend on a goalie and another dman. Tanev? Broissant? Nedjelkovic?

We replace Marner with Domi (as AM's wing man), Knies, McMann, and Robertson (chipping in more offense as they grow), and opens a spot for Cowan (who could be our Marner replacement one day, though we ease him in and protect him for now).