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He said “that would be a goal.” Not “my” or “the” or “the goal for me.” Here’s Marner on the in-year situation with the Leafs, from when he joined Vegas: You can parse that muddle however you’d like, but it’s muddle and that’s what’s telling. I’m not sure what’s so difficult about accepting...

This isn't that complicated, cw. He didn't want to leave Toronto before his contract was up, and he didn't want to sign another contract with Toronto.

The transcription is wrong. He doesn’t say it’s “the goal.” He says it’s “a goal.” Marner knew he was done here. I think Dubas knew he would be done a year earlier.

Obviously.

I don’t think Treliving was eager to see Marner walk. And, all things being equal, sure, I would rather have a player like Marner than one like Nylander, but the important thing here is that Nylander wanted to be in Toronto, whereas Marner didn’t (and maybe that’s just because Marner is smarter...

It is a bit of a straw man to say anyone was eager to see Marner run out of town so the Leafs could hit the UFA market. Marner was not, as you say, the problem, but trading him after 2021 or 2022 was probably the best solution available to solve the problem created by shedding all the...

Yeah, I agree. He and Dubas came to the same conclusion at about the same time -- the team wasn't built right to succeed in the playoffs -- and I think Dubas was the only guy in the organization sensible enough to see how it was going to play out (a couple more seasons of futility during which...

I think he won't because of all that and the ownership thing. Those American teams with a smaller group seem better positioned to recruit such a guy than a suit with a board.

Well, they lost an elite talent for nothing. Seems to me like a good time to bumble into a tank.

Yeah, should be: trade it for a guy who was once one of a draft class's top 5 or 6 guys who could eventually be the best player and then became it. Ideally, this player is a defenseman.

Who are the coaches that you'd trust to do all of (1) work with superstars both peaking and peaked, (2) successfully develop younger talents, (3) get the most of the roster by adopting whatever play style or systems suit the talent available, and (4) be someone players would want to come to...

who are our preferred prospect evaluators? It’s been so long since the Leafs have had picks, I don’t really know who has a good record at projecting

Is this thread just for reflecting on the Berube years and how he went out? Or do we also start speculating about the new coach here?

My only problem with it was he wasn’t more direct in challenging ownership. “Best city, best hockey fanbase, and best goal scorer in North America deserve the best run team in the sport. Toronto isn’t going anywhere, but the other two might. Ownership should get serious”

I don’t know if it’s unanimous that they’ve really been a contender since he became the centerpiece. Their results over the last 4 seasons could support another argument.

what contending teams have had a player like McKenna (assuming he reaches his potential) as the centerpiece? I don’t normally put much stock in the idea of fickle Leaf fans running their best players out of town, but… the few posts above sure do have the whiff of it.

Impossible to know that until the team’s free of Berube.

I dunno. I don’t think I’m that down on where they are right now. Like, this puzzle doesn't seem as impossible to solve as it did before the draft lotto: