Hold the GM announcement until after the draft lottery
Ideally, the GM candidate who makes sense for the Maple Leafs is the one that you’d go with if your team were contending, rebuilding, or retooling, but the reality is that not all GMs would excel at each of those tasks equally. For example, Brian Burke was effective at finding the final pieces for contenders, but was not the person you would want to rebuild a franchise. Don Sweeney has proven to be effective at retooling the Bruins this season, but finding high-end prospects in a rebuild might not be his strong suit (the opportunity to draft Kyle Connor and Mat Barzal and whiffing is part of his legacy) As for rebuilding masters, Kevyn Adams found a lot of useful players for the Sabres, but he wasn’t the guy to put everything together properly in Buffalo. At least these are the easy names to grab for my narrative.
The Maple Leafs have two very different outcomes with the draft lottery. They’ll either have the positive outcome of picking first, second, or fifth, in which case the Maple Leafs look at a retooling of their roster. Or the Maple Leafs will end up with a negative outcome, and their pick will transfer to the Boston Bruins. In that case, despite not owning their first-round pick next season (unless it’s in the top ten), a rebuild and complete overhaul of the Maple Leafs might make more sense.
The concern is that on Chayka’s watch in Arizona, the Coyotes only advanced to being a bubble team in the window he was with the club; it felt like year one or year two of a rebuild on repeat, similar to Kevyn Adams’ run in Buffalo.
Mats Sundin’s legacy
The idea of Mats Sundin as a Maple Leafs executive is concerning for one reason. I really want to still like Mats Sundin, but this threatens that.
Not all situations are the same, but if you look at the Detroit Red Wings today, the question needs to be asked about how many seasons of mediocre teams can Steve Yzerman produce before his legacy as a Red Wing is tarnished.
Or look at the Canucks and their decision to make Trevor Linden their President of Hockey Operations. A beloved former player was at best considered a flawed Hockey Ops lead and at worst a PR mask for ownership. Given that Mats Sundin comes in without any previous experience, there is a risk that he will be the friendly face of Keith Pelley and the Rogers-led board.
That’s not to say that Mats Sundin can’t be successful in his role, and perhaps it’s wrong of me to assume the worst despite the Leafs training us to always expect the worst. He will have plenty of resources available to him and no shortage of people who want to see him succeed.
It just seems like, before this even starts, there needs to be a separation of Mats Sundin the person, the player, and the executive. The person and the player are great, and Mats deserves his reputation, but judging Mats as an executive should come with a clean slate, and in this regard, he’s a complete unknown.
Asking players about their future as Maple Leafs is premature
Nick Robertson is a recent example of a question that is too early to ask. The question is, “Will they be a Leaf next season?”
Aside from John Tavares, there isn’t a definitive answer on any Leafs player. The Leafs don’t know who their GM will be yet, they don’t know if Craig Berube will still be the coach, and they don’t know the outcome of the draft lottery. All of these factors are important to consider for the Maple Leafs.
A draft lottery win, or maintaining their fifth overall pick, is a rubber stamp for a retool over a rebuild. A talented player on an entry-level contract goes a long way in improving the Maple Leafs.
This week will bring answers. The draft lottery will answer that question. A GM announcement seems imminent. And a GM decision means the coaching decision isn’t far behind. Give it seven days, and then we can talk about where Nick Robertson.
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