John Matisz of theScore: Looking at three paths the Toronto Maple Leafs could go.
Major Changes – We’re talking Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares and Mitch Marner and not Alex Kerfoot, Justin Holl or Nick Robertson. Matthews isn’t going anywhere. Nylander’s stock is high and on a good contract. Tavares’ contract may not be tradable. That leaves Marner, who has zero goals in his past 18 playoff games. He has a $10.9 cap hit and there would be teams interested. Morgan Rielly has a year left and is their No. 1 defenseman, but he could be used as a trade piece if they are looking to make big changes.
Minor Changes – Changes could include a new power play coach, a new crop of depth forwards, and a new goaltender to partner with Jack Campbell.
Staying the course – Won’t be appealing to most fans. They are one of the top five talented teams. Forward John Tavares was out for basically the entire series. Defenseman Jake Muzzin has hurt in Game 6 and forward Nick Foligno was playing hurt.
Luke Fox of Sportsnet: Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe.
“Our guys were quite devastated,†Keefe said. “Despite not having John , despite not having Nick , we were in a good spot and didn’t close it out. We added enough pieces and depth and things like that to be able to deal with those types of situations. There’s zero excuses.â€
The Maple Leafs have eight pending UFAs who were in Game 7 last night, and another three that weren’t.
Jason Spezza is worth re-signing, and they’ll likely take a run at Zach Hyman who will get outside interest. Would Zach Bogosian be willing to re-sign?
Forward Alex Kerfoot could be an option for the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft.
If they believe Jack Campbell can be their starter next year, having him at only $1.65 million will allow them to spend in other areas.
Â
