It’s official: The Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers will square off in the Stanley Cup Final.
Firstly, it’s okay to be jealous, especially when looking at the Oilers’ run. If anything, it should give Leafs Nation hope that anything is possible.
We kicked off the Monday edition of Leafs Morning Take by dissecting Edmonton’s 4-2 series victory against the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final. For once, they played as a team, and most importantly, they got saves at the most important time. Everyone pulled their weight, and ultimately, that’s why they’re headed to the Stanley Cup Final. Naturally, we compared their run to what the Leafs need to do to finally get over the top. Hopefully, they can finally get the job done under Craig Berube.
Presented by Greta Bar YYZ, we started things off by debating Tyler Bertuzzi. Over the weekend, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta disclosed that Toronto has started contract discussions with the 29-year-old pending UFA. It’s too early to tell which way it will go, but there’s no doubt both sides are trying to make it happen. With that in mind, the Leafs need to be level-headed here. Just because they have money to play with, it doesn’t mean they have to be reckless with it. It will be fascinating to see how this all goes down.
After that, we also discussed another David Pagnotta report. According to his sources, the Leafs have expressed interest in re-signing Joel Edmundson. That said, it sounds like Edmundson plans to test free agency. He hasn’t ruled out a return to Toronto, however. Not to read too much into that, but it’s a fair assumption to think Edmundson could be bolting. It is what it is.
Join us on Tuesday at 11 AM ET. Recently retired NHL head coach Rick Bowness, who spent the last two years in Winnipeg, will join us. Incredibly, the 69-year-old spent 38 seasons coaching in the NHL. We’re going to pick his brain on that. Additionally, now that he no longer has any skin in the game, we’ll get his thoughts on the Leafs moving forward.
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