Gord Stellick calls this the most disappointing Leafs season ever: Leafs Morning Take
It’s been a long and winding road, but finally, with two games left in this disaster of a season, the Leafs find themselves in the bottom five of the NHL standings.
There’s still plenty of time to mess this up, though, and ultimately, they will need some draft lottery luck to assure Boston won’t get to make the pick in June.
Bruce Boudreau filled in as co-host for Jay Rosehill on the Monday edition of Leafs Morning Take. Firstly, Boudreau hit on Alex Ovechkin, and if he thinks this is the final NHL season for the legendary sniper.
After that, we got into Toronto’s loss to the Charlotte Checkers. Incredibly, despite Florida dressing a roster littered with minor leaguers, the Leafs found a way to lose on Saturday night. And honestly, no one’s really pissed about it. We’re at that point in the season – with two games left – where it would be in the Leafs’ best interest to not win. Ethical tanking is a beautiful thing.
Meantime, the GM search continues. Over the weekend, Elliotte Friedman disclosed that the Leafs are planning to do several interviews this week. He said this won’t be a short process. Of note, Friedman said Toronto’s starting the search with the goal of hiring one person, but it can grow into more. Furthermore, Boudreau threw out the name Chuck Fletcher as someone he think the Leafs should look at. Once again, he mentioned the name George McPhee, but at this point, it probably wouldn’t make sense for McPhee to leave Vegas. He’s an Ontario guy, though.
Gord Stellick then stopped by for a candid breakdown of the Maple Leafs’ season, headlined by a fun debate over the team’s most disappointing player. Stellick didn’t hold back, calling this the most disappointing season in franchise history—even if it’s not the worst roster—while also warning about the risks tied to landing a top-five pick due to next year’s unprotected selection. The conversation also touched on Toronto’s “impressive loss” to a depleted Florida Panthers squad, potential parallels to the Ballard era, and the ongoing GM search, with Boudreau floating a familiar name as a possible fit. They wrapped by paying tribute to legendary broadcaster Joe Bowen ahead of his final call.
Jay Rosehill will be back in the mix for the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. We’ll recap Leafs/Stars. Plus, Joe Bowen will drop by ahead of his final game.