NHL Watcher: Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet: “I do believe in a perfect world Kyle Dubas would give his big 4 one more year…this has been a bit of a strange finish, I think that’s what he would like to do. However, after this and the team as a whole having 3 5v5 goals the entire series. There’s going to have to be a long conversation whether that still is the plan.”
Chris Johnston of Sportsnet: The Toronto Maple Leafs are top-heavy upfront and after another quick knockout out it might be time to change their plan. It may be a little early to make such a big decision given the playoff scenario with the pandemic, but it may be riskier to do nothing.
With the flat salary cap, the Maple Leafs will have many tough decisions.
The Maple Leafs plan as been to load up on offensive talent at forward, but it has come at a cost of defense. The Maple Leafs also ran out a top line that accounted for nearly 40 percent of the cap. Beyond that line, the forwards generated little offense.
GM Kyle Dubas will be under more pressure to fix their issues.
believes that one of their core – Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Frederik Andersen and Morgan Rielly – should be considered a trade candidate, depending on the market of course. Matthews isn’t going anywhere.
Luke Fox of Sportsnet: The Toronto Maple Leafs need to improve their blueline. Yes, they have youngsters in Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren, but they need to add proven defensemen.
They need to find defensemen who cost more than the league minimum, so they’ll need to trade someone from their top-nine forward group.
The flattening of the salary cap for the next few years definitely throws a wrench in being so top-heavy with deals for Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander.
The Tyson Barrie trade didn’t work out for Dubas.
For next season, the Maple Leafs have $52 million committed to their forwards and just $15 million to their blue line so far. The Leafs need to figure out a way to add more depth to their blueline.