LEAFS' VETERAN SIGNINGS INDICTMENT OF TEAM LEADERS
Thornton, Simmonds, Spezza are nearing retirement but expected to show the way
The signing of Joe Thornton, not long after the signing of Wayne Simmonds, not long after the return of Jason Spezza, is the Toronto Maple Leafs management's not so quiet indictment of club leadership.
None of the three elders have a whole lot of game left in their marvellous careers. But all three will be expected to show the way in the upcoming Leafs season, whenever that will be.
At 41, Thornton is slower than slow in a fast man's sport, and has had an elite NHL career. Whether he can contribute much as a player — maybe on the second power play, maybe down low in the offensive zone — the thinking of those who know him best is that his contribution will come from his natural leadership skills.
“He will be great for the leadership in that room,” one of Thornton's former coaches said. “He's incredible, really.
He's a vocal leader, who demands perfection in practice and perfection in games.
“He will drive that room. And that I know 100 per cent.”
Other Leafs management groups of the past have gone back to the future without a great deal of success. Hall-of-famers Ron Francis, Eric Lindros, Phil Housley and Brian Leetch all became Leafs late in their careers. Only Leetch, who played 15 regular season games and 13 playoff games, contributed significantly.
The Leafs even brought back legends Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark in their final days and each of those moves were treated with a certain sense of excitement.
The Leafs look at Thornton now as a flexible piece, able to win a faceoff, able to play more than one position depending on circumstances, not really fast enough to be a full-time centre. The value in this inexpensive signing is really in how much influence Thornton can have over the rest of the roster.
The last time the Leafs won a playoff round, Thornton played for the Boston Bruins and Leetch and Francis played for the Leafs.
With the NHL, like all leagues, trying to figure out what next season will look like, the notion of having an all-canadian division is indeed intriguing. Especially considering the array of talent and the apparent flaws in almost every Canadian franchise.
The thought of seeing Elias Pettersson one night and Connor Mcdavid and Leon Draisaitl the next, followed by Jacob Markstrom, Carey Price and Connor Hellebuyck, followed by the kids in Ottawa, and the core four on the Leafs and Johnny Hockey, Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele — well, it's almost a buffet of hockey talent and potentially emerging franchises.
What fun that could be to watch night after night.
And it made me think of the Toronto Raptors and what might be ahead for them when the NBA gets back to playing, whenever that will be.
And we don't know where anything is going with COVID-19 and with quarantine laws and border openings. And we really have no idea when fans of any kind will be back in buildings paying to watch NBA or NHL games.
Is it possible the Raptors will have to pull a Blue Jays and find a U.S. home for the coming season? Is it possible NBA teams won't be allowed into Canada the way Major League Baseball teams were prevented from playing in Toronto this summer?
Everything about sports begins with: who knows?
Nate Schmidt is a better-than-average top-4 pairing NHL defenceman — and a real character player to have around — who became available when the Vegas Golden Knights signed the prized free agent, Alex Pietrangelo.
It wasn't that the Knights didn't want to keep Schmidt.
It's that at almost US$6 million a year, they couldn't afford it under salary cap constraints.
So they looked to trade Schmidt. Give him away, really. And preferably to a team in the Eastern Conference, where they didn't have to see him much during the season.
But no deal was made.
Not by the Boston Bruins, who failed to retain Torey Krug and may not have Zdeno Chara back next season. Not by the cash-strapped Maple Leafs, who signed T.J. Brodie and Zach Bogosian as free agents, neither of whom is the equal of Schmidt. Not by the Buffalo Sabres, who could use help in the back end. In fact, you could go almost team by team in the Eastern Conference and see where Schmidt could have helped just about everybody.
With nowhere else to turn, the Knights traded Schmidt to the Vancouver Canucks for a third-round draft pick in the 2022 NHL draft. In other words, they gave him away.
A defenceman more impressive than Brodie or Chris Tanev or any of those middle-range defencemen who moved in free agency in the past week.
The Canucks were certainly stung by losing No. 1 goalie and likely MVP Jacob Markstrom in free agency. But they bounced back rather nicely by stealing Schmidt.
Why other teams weren't interested is indicative of a rather unexplainable hockey marketplace.