2025-26 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion

[4EVRLEAFAN]

I know it sounds like a broken record but sorry this team was never built right from day one of the Matthews era, speed and skill but no grit in the playoffs, an absolute waste of 10 years.

 

[Guru Tugginmypuddah]

I know it sounds like a broken record but sorry this team was never built right from day one of the Matthews era, speed and skill but no grit in the playoffs, an absolute waste of 10 years.

Management, or maybe ownership wouldn't pivot off how this team was built. It's hard to blame either one. This team was electric the last 10 years in the regular season. Very fun group to watch. They just couldn't get it done in the playoffs. In hindsight, the right move would have been to trade Marner back in 2021.

 

[mr grieves]

Management, or maybe ownership wouldn't pivot off how this team was built. It's hard to blame either one. This team was electric the last 10 years in the regular season. Very fun group to watch. They just couldn't get it done in the playoffs. In hindsight, the right move would have been to trade Marner back in 2021.

In hindsight, we should've been really worried when they signed Thorton and Marleau.

 

[cw]

Old and slow because of overpayment of our young stars. No $ to add anything of any value. Had to trade assets for retention, taking salary, and shop the bargain bin. It's mostly Dubas who over paid. We try to augment our young stars who never had it in them to take the next step in the playoffs. At the end of the day, the only winners were our young stars' bank accounts.

I do not think the core 4 was grossly overpaid by Dubas.
Tavares was a top UFA and probably could have got a little more.
Marner & Matthews have been top 10 scorers and good defensively since they came into the league
Nylander was a cut below because he was not great defensively and didn't rack up as much offensively.
But their contracts were in line with others in the league when you consider the timing of the signing, the duration, etc.
The NMCs were also common around the league.
Covid threw the cap growth off so they were cap tight to fill in the supporting cast

 

[mr grieves]

I do not think the core 4 was grossly overpaid by Dubas.
Tavares was a top UFA and probably could have got a little more.
Marner & Matthews have been top 10 scorers and good defensively since they came into the league
Nylander was a cut below because he was not great defensively and didn't rack up as much offensively.

I think what we can say is that, while none of them were bad contracts, none of them were deals, and all the teams that contended at least had a deal that allowed them to fill in the supporting cast with quality.