TORONTO, ON - JULY 1: Kyle Dubas, General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs speaks at a press conference about signing free agent, John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs, as Brendan Shanahan, President of the Toronto Maple Leafs, looks on, at the Scotiabank Arena on July 1, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
The Toronto Maple Leafs had to surpass expectations in order to finish as the tenth-best club overall. By expected goals %, they were ranked 11th, while by 5v5 save percentage, they were ranked 24th.
In 5v5 attack, the Toronto Maple Leafs placed first, and in 5v5 defense, they came in 19th. They genuinely played true to their reputation as a terrible defensive club that prioritizes offensive; they just covered it up this time by putting a little extra “snot” in the starting lineup. Figures sourced from naturalstattrick.com.
Despite being the underdogs against the Bruins, they forced a coin toss to go to overtime in game seven of the series. Everyone is upset about losses they have had in the past, but by dwelling on the past, they are neglecting the present.
Nylander, Marner, and Matthews were ill, wounded, or still recovering from an earlier injury. I don’t think any of them ever played a game at 100% throughout the whole series. One of the poorest puck movers in the NHL was stuck with Morgan Rielly, while John Tavares was employed as a defensive player.
The GM and the coach are responsible for everything that occurred. It seems sense to blame the players for their performance when it doesn’t happen, but the Leafs did show up. They performed better than what was anticipated of the best possible version of their team, despite some obviously unfavorable circumstances. Once more, they started the season on the road against one of the greatest teams ever, at least according to standings points accumulated over a two-year span. They were ranked tenth overall.
Being Out of the Playoffs Is on Management, Not the Players
Blame Kyle Dubas if you want – but he’s gone.
Treliving had plenty of opportunity to re-make the team as he saw fit. Whatever you think of the job he did, you can’t say he just inherited problems from the old regime. Those were Shanhan’s problems and he co-signed onto them when he was hired to keep the core together. If he traded Nylander, he would have been able to blame the problems he has on Dubas, but instead he clearly just replaced Dubas as Shanahan’s point man.
So how did he do?
Here is the case against Brad Treliving.
