The Toronto Maple Leafs did one thing right this season, and it may pan out in the form of a franchise cornerstone defenseman or impact forward, depending on the outcome of the NHL Draft Lottery in early May. The Leafs 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators has their final disposition in 28th place, and has them in the fifth slot with a 41.8% chance of picking first, second, third, or fifth, and a 58.2% chance of picking sixth or seventh, instead of a 15.4% chance had they jumped over Seattle and finished 27th.
It is pathetic that a club that made the playoffs nine years in a row had to stoop to this level to avoid giving up a top prospect to their Atlantic rival, the Boston Bruins, but that is the position that former GM Brad Treliving put them in by only top-five protecting their 2026 first rounder. With that out of the way until the lottery next month, the focus swung back towards the wreckage that was the Leafs season.
The club held locker cleanout media availabilities, and while there were too many storylines to include in one column, we will focus on the top three: team captain Auston Matthews, the longest-serving Leaf defenseman Morgan Rielly, and head coach Craig Berube.
Matthews owned the responsibilities for the club’s failures this season, but did not provide any clarity on his future in Toronto.
“This was a tough year, it was a frustrating year. We didn’t meet the goals and expectations that we set out at the start, and ultimately, that’s on me, that’s on us as players,” Matthews said. I can’t predict the future. There are steps that kind of have to take place.
They’re going to hire new leadership and management and stuff like that. So I don’t really know; I think that’s kind of like I said, I can’t really predict the future……..All that stuff, I mean, there’s always noise and there’s always chatter. I think personally, I really don’t pay attention to all that. I just focus on myself, focus on this team, and trying to be a part of the solution”.
Although some of the more sensationalistic interpretations out there think this is a warning sign that Matthews wants out of Toronto, the Leafs team captain was very careful to be non-committal on the subject. Until MLSE boss Keith Pelley hires a new hockey overseer and that person’s vision for the future of the club is expressed, why should Matthews stick his neck out? From all reports, he loves playing in Toronto and wants to win here, but if the club is ignorant enough to hire someone who wants to tear it down to the studs and rebuild when they do not possess their own first-round picks, then Matthews would rightly say ‘get me the hell out of Dodge’.
Berube, when asked what the main reason was for the Leafs dramatic decline in one year, he curtly answered “goals against” and whether he expects to be back as head coach, he said “Yes”.
Injuries contributed to the Leafs decline, but more than anything, the style that Berube attempted to implement did not match the talent that the club had, along with the lack of talent in other areas. Some of those failings were on GM Brad Treliving, but some are on Berube’s inability to adjust. The head coach also has to be blamed for his failures of roster manipulation when it came to his star players and his lack of use of young players late in the season, when their fate was sealed.
The fact that Berube was not fired outright and that his status in limbo will remain until a new GM or POHO is hired has to strike fear, for it is possible that Pelley will hire someone who is open to keeping him on as coach, because he has two years left on his contract. More evidence of the penny-pinching nature of Rogers.
Rielly was asked about the widespread chatter, whether internal or external, that the organization will try to convince him to waive his no-movement clause to be traded this summer, but the longest-serving Leaf did not sound like someone open to moving on.
“It’s a challenging thing to answer when those conversations haven’t happened yet. After a year like this, after any year, but especially one that can be very disappointing, change is bound to happen. I think as an athlete, you have to be prepared for that. Not the first time that it’s crossed my mind. It’s not that’s not something that anyone believes that they’re not open to, so when that conversation happens, we’ll deal with it accordingly,” Rielly said. “I’ve always wanted to stay. I still want to stay (and) I love playing here. I love being a Maple Leaf and this organization means a lot to me.”
What does this mean? If Rielly says he does not want to go anywhere, even if the organization says they do not want him or that it’s the best for both sides to go their separate ways. If he does not want to go, there’s always the buyout option.
Home › Forums › Leafs Exit Interviews Raise Questions
Tagged: nhl, Toronto Maple Leafs