Trades, trash talk may spur Leafs to greatness
When autumn fairs return to Ontario, midway barkers might cash in with a row of Whack-a-leaf games.
Grab a padded mallet and, like most of the hockey world these days, pound away at the bobblehead of your least favourite; Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, Kyle Dubas, Sheldon Keefe, Brendan Shanahan ... maybe Freddy Andersen for oldtime’s sake.
With the sting of another first round playoff flop, a self-determined skinny draft and more notable free agents going than coming, three bops a buck would let fans channel some anger. There is lots of omnipresent anti-toronto sentiment on social media, but losing a 3-1 series lead to Montreal still stings and stirred some revolt right in the heart of Leafs Nation. After the cap-crunched club had nothing much for major signings this week, most media outlets piled on with dire warnings for a barren 2022.
Just two months after high hopes of getting to the Final Four, the brand took a further hit the past few days when perennial Mr. Nice Guy and civic booster Zach Hyman had to bow out of town, hailing his new Edmonton team as more Cup ready. Corey Perry, who was on the Leafs’ radar before last season, flew right over the CN Tower to join Tampa Bay on Thursday. And not that Nick Foligno meant to diss his previous team, but he was pumped to be recruited for the rival Bruins by Patrice Bergeron’s phone call.
“They’re a team I’ve admired from afar,” Foligno bubbled after signing in Boston. “Their culture, their structure, topped with the conversation that I had with Bergy, that excites you.”
Foligno was also the latest rent-a-leaf to saddle the club with a trade/draft hangover, two picks in a threeteam deal with Columbus and San Jose, including last Friday’s first rounder Corson Ceulemans. On Wednesday, Calgary sent Toronto’s third rounder next year, a pick it held for the now-abandoned David Rittich, to Chicago for defenceman Nikita Zadorov. Toronto is already without a few mid-round selections for this coming June.
It all added to the forecast the Leafs will struggle to reach playoffs in the Atlantic Division, given they face the back-to-back champion Bolts, the Bruins and that Montreal will have a psychological advantage on them if nothing else. It could also be the year Florida finally gets it right. If Toronto survives as a wild card, pick your poison of any team that emerges from the Metropolitan, starting with Washington, Pittsburgh and the Islanders.
Yet by the time October rolls around, all of this negativity actually could work in the Leafs’ favour. Don’t think they’re deaf and blind to the trash talk and how often they must have replayed those last three playoff games in their heads, two that were an overtime goal shy of a very different summer narrative.
For further incentive, the Core Four, specifically Marner and Matthews, know they’re being skewered as overpaid, overrated, not to mention underwhelming in clutch games. If not to restore their own self esteem, as William Nylander did to a degree last year, surely they want to reward the faith of Dubas, who signed their fat cheques and must sing their praises in defence of each playoff defeat.
We get that as national broadcast darlings, with an Amazon Prime crew following them last year and as lead story ahead of many local teams, the Leafs are easy to loathe. But if Matthews and Marner were all-stars last year, Matthews leading the league in goals, there are enough beatable Eastern teams to repeat those numbers. What if coach Keefe finally gets his desired full training camp and to cut even more shots and goals against to take heat off goalies? What if John Tavares plays seven playoff games instead of seven shifts?
The sports world still likes an underdog, as the Habs showed, and when the Leafs have done well in playoffs, it’s often unscripted. Fans still revere the team that battled the Broad St. Bullies in the ’70s, overcame the Islanders in ’78 and pulled a few Norris Division upsets during the ’80s, Two of their four trips to the semifinals since ’93 were preceded by multiple years out of playoffs.
Maybe this time they shine when the spotlight isn’t always on them. It not, whack away.