I still can’t believe the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t blow up the Core Four after the 2021 playoff choke

In the 2017–18 NBA season, the Toronto Raptors set their franchise record with 59 wins and finished as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. The team was a regular season juggernaut, finishing near the top of the East consistently and improving year over year until peaking in 2018.

But in the height of LeBronto, the team had playoff demons almost as bad as the Toronto Maple Leafs. After years of horrid playoff exits, failure was not an option in 2018. Stars Demar Derozan and Kyle Lowry had to show something, at least a good fight, against Lebron and the Cleveland Cavaliers or something was going to change.

And of course, they got absolutely smoked by the Cavs, being swept with ease in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. It wasn’t close. Something had to give.

Toronto fired the eventual 2018 Coach of the Year winner Dwane Casey, then traded Derozan to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard. Clearly, they weren’t good enough. Masai Ujiri knew it just like everyone else, and decided the franchise needed to make some moves.

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, as a Leafs fan, the most crushing loss (of many) during this Auston Matthews era was easily the 2021 Round 1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. That Habs team was not good, and after going up 3–1 in the series, Toronto had zero business losing that series. 

But they did, and all they’ve done since is continue to lose. It was, and has been, obvious to everyone that this core is not good enough. And yet, they’ve been given chance after chance after chance to prove themselves.

That Montreal series should have been the last straw. Why wasn’t it?

Excuses, excuses

Yeah, losing John Tavares in Game 1 isn’t ideal. He was the Leafs third-leading scorer during the shortened season, posting 50 points in 56 games.

But the Leafs went up 3–1 without him, and that Toronto team still would have been heavy favourites going into the series if Tavares was out.

I’ve also seen Sheldon Keefe mention the amount of two-on-ones the Leafs had in Games 5–7, which they converted none of. And some of this could be chalked up to luck, sure, but the sample size is big enough now. The team choked, as they always do, when it mattered. 

Even four years ago, this was obvious. The fact nothing changed after such an awful, awful loss remains mind-boggling.

What could they have done?

Not to pick on the easy target, but after 2021 Mitch Marner did not have a no-movement clause on his contract yet. 

He led the team in scoring during the regular season, potting 20 goals and 67 points in 55 games, but once again ghosted in the playoffs with just four assists in the seven-game series.

He is the very easy answer. With four years still left on his deal at the time, an offseason trade would have netted Toronto a haul. 

And at this point, Marner’s disappearing playoff acts weren’t his reputation. He’d been the best Leaf in both Boston Bruins series. A Marner trade would have completely changed the trajectory of the team if done right.

I know the Marner talk is so overblown now, but the time to trade him was the 2021 offseason. Full value, time left on his deal, and a pretty solid playoff reputation would have meant a package of at least a great defenceman, an A-tier prospect, and picks.

But who else didn’t have any trade protection? William Nylander.

Nylander was not the player he is today—he put up 17 goals and 25 assists in 55 games in 2020–21. But the playoffs were a bit of a coming-out party for Willy.

In seven games, Nylander scored five times and added three assists. No one else scored more than twice, and that was Jason Spezza. 

After the loss, Willy had three years left on his deal with a cap hit of $7.51M. At the time, his contract seemed pretty fair. Trading him would have given Toronto a nice return, but knowing who he is now, trading Nylander at the time would have bit the Leafs in the butt.

That doesn’t mean Leaf Nation wasn’t calling for it at the time, but yeah, a Marner trade would have been a better idea for Toronto.

Did Sheldon Keefe deserve another chance?

Heading into the Montreal Canadiens series, Keefe had won 62 of 103 regular season games as head coach of the Leafs. He turned the team around after Mike Babcock’s final few months, and is no doubt a good coach in the NHL.

But coaches have been fired for a lot less than the Montreal series, even if he hadn’t coached a full, 82-game season at that point.

Toronto turned a corner after Keefe came in, but his playoffs played out the exact same way as Babcock’s did. No matter if he stacked the first line or played Matthews and Marner 25 minutes a night, the team never scored enough in important games.

In my opinion, Keefe should have been gone after the Game 7 loss. Heck, Dubas could have even been canned, too.

That team needed a giant wake-up call after 2021.

Looking back

After Game 7, there was no doubt in my mind something was going to happen. Keefe, Marner, Nylander, it didn’t matter. Everything (except Matthews) was on the table.

But giving these stars another chance, after all their history, was a disastrous choice. The worst part is the signal it sends to the locker room—it’s okay to lose, it’s okay to disappoint. If the players aren’t scared of losing, what is their motivation?

Looking back, it’s no wonder these guys haven’t won a thing. The message was sent loud and clear: if you succeed in the first 82, it doesn’t matter what you do after that. Matthews, Tavares, Nylander and Marner are stars. Matthews and Marner are superstars. But together, they don’t work.

And they should have been split up years ago.