Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. As long as they have star caliber players, they’ll always retool and not tear it down. With no first rounders of their own, for two years, why bother tearing it down. It should be acquire assets and build the farm system. They didn’t bring Chyka in to not win. He’s there for a more modern look on how the NHL works. The Leafs have been running back retreads and not looking forward. If the Leafs do get David Carle, as Coach, there will be a changing of the guard. A deep retool with other teams prospects works too. They still need to field a competitive team so UFA’s would allow them to move players like Rielly and Nylander and still be relatively competitive. We can’t allow our next two first rounders to rebuild our opponents. We can’t have Boston with another top 5 from us and Philly should be kept out of the top 10 as well.
Wrong. They had “star” players and are drafting 1st overall. Bad defense, bad goaltending and a tough division can crumble this team quickly.
Why bother tear it down? Because Matthews can walk like Marner did leaving the Leafs with dick on a stick for a huge asset. Yes, they don’t have a 1st round pick but if they blow it up correctly, that won’t matter, they’ll have so many 1st round picks they can draft the entire team in the 1st round in 2 years. Then tank in the 3rd + 4th year and be ready to compete in the 5th year.
They brought in Chayka because he’s the only idiot who said he would try to retool. Chayka’s track record is horrible in trades. So he can try but he will fail and then the Leafs will be forced into a rebuild.
If the Leafs hire Carle as an NHL coach, they’re risking he comes in as a rookie and blows it. When was the last time a coach in his 30s from the NCAA turned a team into a contender overnight?