Pelley and the Leafs management team have had a couple of weeks to look at things objectively and it seems reasonable that a plan has been put in place and one that he has signed off on. And while the idea of Pelley holding back the details of the plan might not gain buy-in at a time when the team has only shown themselves capable of getting lost in the woods, the Maple Leafs’ CEO not putting all the cards on the table heading into the trade deadline makes sense. The Leafs don’t need to announce that there is a fire sale. The Leafs waited through the Olympic break, the idea of saying they are kicking coaches or other hockey operations personnel out the door right now would actually undermine Pelley’s message. Pelley’s secrecy is in some ways reassuring because it is acting like a competent franchise.
Pelley selling the push for the playoffs is another important part of the message. Scapegoating of the Olympics and injuries aside, this organization isn’t going to be foolish enough to put all their eggs in a going big for a playoff berth and beyond approach in 2026, and instead Pelley’s words should probably reflect that Leafs aren’t going to be breaking of the most significant cornerstones of their franchise and with players like Matthews, Nylander, Knies, Tavares, Cowan, Woll, etc. in place, the Leafs will still be making an effort to push forward.
That’s where the celebration of the nine years of consecutive playoff appearances factors in. While there is a wish for the tenth year to happen, it doesn’t feel prioritized. The belief that this isn’t a completely broken team seems to be the priority and getting it back to status of one of the top teams in the league is the priority over whatever comes in the next few weeks and months.
There might not be a throwing in of the towel, but as much as we talk about the collection of individuals the Leafs could have on the trade block (McMann, Laughton, Carlo, Ekman-Larsson, Robertson, Maccelli, Domi, Roy, Stolarz, Jarnkrok, and Benoit) there is no situation where the Leafs are going to be dealing 11 players.
The team knows what playing Cowan more versus relying on Robertson, Maccelli, or Domi will do. The Leafs have potentially made their peace with Quillan vs. either Roy or Laughton’s spot in the bottom six, and there is a good chance the Leafs have some faith that some of the potential salary dumps that could be coming back to the Leafs will outplay their results those players have on their current franchise or at least might leave the Leafs with the chance to try something different in the remaining games. The tone might not have been “throw in the towel” but it also didn’t sound like “business as usual.”
The NHL is still primarily a gate driven league and MLSE would certainly like to get that money especially after Rogers has sunk a lot more money into their ownership share there. And even though it is a gate driven league, there is no ignoring that more Leafs games is part of how you transition to an increased TV revenue stake. Rogers wants their money and despite not exactly coming up short on profits related to the Leafs even in a down year, the Leafs in the playoffs would be huge for a season that is going to be light across the board on Canadian team content and impact Rogers bottom line. There is no reason to be naive and think that Rogers and MLSE executives haven’t talked about this, but these also aren’t organizations that haven’t conducted risk assessments and looked at the future earnings impacts of the Leafs not getting it done this year and setting themselves up worse for the future as well. I’m willing to bet the long game is being prioritized.
Finally, Pelley’s talk of doing everything they can in the short term is also that he’s laid the cards out on the table for Brad Treliving and Craig Berube, and made it clear they are auditioning for their current jobs. There is a good chance that fear as a motivator is part of the Leafs doing what is in their power for a playoff push and don’t get me wrong, the Leafs in the playoffs is what everyone connected to the team should want, they just can’t mortgage the future to get there.
The vocal silence from Pelley is encouraging and while much of the focus has been on doing whatever they can to win, the words from Pelley’s letter that matter the most are, “in the world of professional sports, protecting competitive advantages is paramount and limits our ability to reveal team strategy until the appropriate time.” It might take until March 6th to see what the Leafs are up to, but it’s hard to imagine they will risk damaging the club long term.