The Toronto Maple Leafs are still focussing on the little things, ignoring the larger problems the franchise is currently facing.
The following are the past five news items about the Toronto Maple Leafs: a PTO for Max Pacioretty, a PTO for Nick Robertson, a potential PTO for Mark Giordano, a PTO for Steven Lorentz, and Auston Matthews taking over as captain.None of the improvements is significant enough to improve the team.
The Leafs are making progress on the fringes of the roster, but a lot of questions remain. Why are they focussing on unimportant tasks while neglecting the critical problems the team is facing?
Max Pacioretty and Nick Robertson can’t bring back the things Tyler Bertuzzi left behind. Bertuzzi was a standout attacker, and neither Robertson nor Pacioretty are likely to match his output from the previous campaign.
The main characteristic of Bertuzzi was his drive for play. Anyone Bertuzzi played with improved when he was on the ice. The Leafs were getting most of the shots and scoring opportunities because of Bertuzzi’s ability to keep the puck in their possession. He wasn’t replaced, and nobody on the team performs his abilities.
Regarding the third line centre, what say you? They are a poorer run team than I initially believed if they want to deploy Max Domi there. Domi at the lead, their best 3C option is probably Pontus Holmberg, which means Brad Treliving didn’t have a very good summer.
As this remains unaddressed, the Leafs are adding PTOs.
The Mitch Marner contract dilemma is undoubtedly the most significant issue, the figurative “elephant in the room.”
The only team that would start the season without their future Hall of Fame winger would be one that was utterly unprepared and badly managed. This will become a major source of diversion following each game. Furthermore, Marner only becomes more costly if he has a career year, which is highly likely. He might then depart for nothing in addition to those two items.Letting him begin the season without a contract extension will only cause issues rather than benefits. Therefore, why in the world are they worried about whether Max Pacioretty can replace Jason Spezza when the most pressing issue the team has ever faced is sitting right there unsolved?
