Leafs Post-Mortem and Off Season Plans

He may have been smiling when he was announced as the new "Boss" of the Leafs but there is a lot more work to do before this team is anywhere near what the fans of this city have been patiently waiting to see: A TRUE Contender

 

Part of me still thinks it seems crazy that the Leafs, who were as high in the standings as 4th in the East at one point in the year, found a way to miss the Playoffs this season. But, upon closer inspection, the team was a house of cards waiting to be blown away by the first real sign of turmoil mostly because of a failure of leadership in the dressing room in both the coaching staff and the Captain, Dion Phaneuf.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly until the West Coast trip they went on where they lost Jonathan Bernier for the stretch drive. In his homecoming game against his former team, Bernier tore his groin and his injury tore the team apart mentally.

Coach Carlyle had banked everything on building up Bernier as the #1 goalie throughout much of the season to the point where he was blatantly alienating incumbent James Reimer, the guy who essentially got the team into the playoffs and nearly into the 2^nd round last season. It was clear Bernier was the favoured son and you really can’t blame a defensive minded coach from going with a goalie who sucked in shots as if he was wearing flypaper over his jersey; What came in to his body tended not to go out. With the porous zone coverage of the Leafs “D” men, Bernier was the natural choice.

He kept his job while his assistants were all canned. Let's see if he can turn this team around in 2014-15

 But the problem was when Reimer would go in and steal a game or 2, Carlyle seemed indifferent to him and would instead harp on the Team “D” to get better, choosing not to praise Reimer as much as his confidence clearly needed him to. We have no idea what he was saying to his goalies in the dressing room mind you but if he (Carlyle I mean) was as candid as he was with them as he was with the media, then clearly Carlyle was the cause of Reimer’s loss of confidence. This came back to haunt Carlyle in spades as the team around Reimer clearly took note and followed suit and their confidence in him took a nosedive.

Carlyle mistreated him throughout the year and I would say we have seen the last of him in Leafs Blue

 

At some point, the Captain of the team has to stand up and try to right the ship. Phaneuf has been the Captain almost from the minute he got here and has now overseen 3 staggering collapses under his watch. Clearly, he has no idea how to be a true leader. Either that or he has been surrounded by a bunch of “Yes” men who would rather follow suit to a leader pulling them over a cliff then stop and try to fix things, even if they contradict their “Leader”.

Part of me thinks that Phaneuf was only worried about playing well until he got his big fat contract extension. His 7 year, $49 million deal kicks in this summer but (hopefully), if the rumours are true, he will be joining Roberto Luongo in the Florida sun instead of collecting all that cash here with the Leafs while coasting to yet another 1^st round exit (if they make it this year that is) or 13^th place finish.

The rumour I speak of is the one where the Panthers would send the 1^st pick in the  draft this year and Ed Jovanovski to the Leafs for the 8^th pick, Dion and Kadri (another of the coach’s whipping boys, who miraculously still had a decent year in spite of Carlyle). The Leafs would rid themselves of his massive contract, get a serviceable Jovo-cop in his place and pick Aaron Ekblad with the first choice in the draft. 

Every indication is that Ekblad will be NHL ready come this Fall. If he is a Leaf, that could mean yet another young defender to drive Carlyle crazy

 

They could then re-sign David Bolland and name him Captain (because really, who else orther then Joffrey Lupol would have the balls to do the job any justice) and then possibly sign someone like Paul Stastny to be their #1 Center, slotting Tyler Bozak into the #2 role and Bolland as the perfect fit, #3 (they would also have to re-sign Jay McClement as the #4, but that’s besides the point).

They have some up and coming talent in the minors as can be seen by the Marlies playing in Game #7 of the AHL Final tonight so help would be on the way for the 3^rd and 4^th lines at the very least. Clearly, a balanced attack where you play all 4 lines is how you win in the NHL now as both the Rangers and Kings (as well as the Hawks and Habs) used 4 lines of depth to get as far as they did this year.

Brad Ross, Jerry D’Amigo, Trevor Smith, Spencer Abbott all warrant extended looks up front this fall as do TJ Brennan, Stuart Pearcy and Granberg on Defence. When Reimer gets dealt (To Vancouver, you heard it here first), McIntyre should inherit the back up role as he has been outstanding for the Marlies during this run.

Despite all the problems of the year, a few moves here and there are all it will take to turn this franchise around and wipe away the dreadful ends to the last 3 seasons from out memories….until the next horrific/catastrophic/insanely painful end comes our way again. This is what we signed up for as Leafs fans.

Hey, it could be worse. We could be Cubs fans!