The 2026 Olympics are behind us, and we are now back to following the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs returned to action last night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the first game of a back–to–back. Ahead of the game, MLSE CEO Keith Pelley issued a statement to the season ticket holders saying that they “will do whatever is needed” to contend. Does this mean Keith Pelley is going to ruin the Leafs retool?
Before the trade deadline, it seemed that general manager Brad Treliving was going to go down the retool option. However, reading Pelley’s statement, it seems that MLSE is going down the same old beaten path of prioritizing profits over building a Stanley Cup-winning team.
Game over, man
With the 4–2 loss against the Lightning last night, the Leafs are still six points out of a playoff spot with 24 games left. Six points doesn’t seem that much, however, it’s about the teams ahead of them. The problem is that teams in the Atlantic Division are not losing. MoneyPuck has the Leafs’ odds of making the playoffs at 5.9%. Game over, man.
The smarter play is to try to be like the Boston Bruins last trade deadline and retool for next season. The Leafs have a number of assets that they can sell high on, such as Bobby McMann, Oliver Ekman–Larsson, or Nicolas Roy. Will trading these players make you worse for the remaining 24 games? Absolutely. But can you recoup assets and/or younger roster players and make trades in the offseason to be better next year? Absolutely.
Let’s play devil’s advocate. For some stroke of divine Hockey God intervention, let’s say the Leafs make it into the playoffs. After what we have seen this season, and all the previous seasons where the Leafs have iced “better” playoff teams, do we think that this roster could go on a deep playoff run?
I think we know the answer. No.
Socialize the losses, privatize the profits
Some may say that Keith Pelley simply doesn’t know better. It’s very possible he has no understanding of the nuances of hockey or what it takes to build a championship-winning hockey club. Afterall, his sports experience is related to football and golf and is why there is the general manager underneath him.
But I can’t believe that Pelley is so unaware of the team’s situation and operational reality that he blindly sends this letter out. Pelley negotiated a $5.232 billion contract between Rogers and the NHL. I just can’t see him being this unaware.
Besides the point, his letter reeks of prioritizing profits over performance.
It reads as to placate the season ticket holders and not without reminding them that they will be able to purchase season tickets for the 2026–27 season. It reads as doing whatever they can to ensure that the Leafs make the playoffs so MLSE can reap the playoff revenue. Does this mean they are going to trade what few promising assets they have left, such as Easton Cowan and Ben Danford, for a couple of veterans to make a playoff push?
Keep in mind that the Leafs are not currently in a playoff spot. So even if they empty the cupboards, they can still miss the playoffs.
There’s always next year
Have injuries to key players on the roster derailed the season? Yeah, I don’t think that’s completely unreasonable to say. Did anyone predict that the Leafs would be where they are right now at the start of the season? No, I don’t think we anticipated this much of a step back.
But to say “that’s professional sports” and “we will do whatever is needed for this team to make the next step” is insulting to the fans who have supported this franchise throughout the eras of mediocrity.
As we say in Leafs’ land, “there’s always next year.” And in this case, there is a level of realism to this. This is not the Leafs’ year. The Leafs can do a successful retool and build up better for next season. MLSE just has to prioritize winning, which they never seem to be willing to do.
If you’re not a Leafs fan you should find another hobby than this having a.i. write this spiritless spittle for you.
I can assure you this is not AI…we do not support using AI in our writing whatsoever
Firstly, this isn’t AI, loser and second, everyone would be happy if you went away.
It’s not just 6 points as in 3 wins though. It’s 3 more wins than all other teams with the same points as the Leafs today! Additionally, it could be more points needed for those teams that have played less games which the Bruins, Senators and Blue Jackets have. E.g. The Leafs have played 58 games and Bruins 57 so if the Bruins win their 58th game then the Leafs actually need 8 points, not 6! For more perspective, there are only 6 teams out of 32 with lower odds than the Leafs of making the playoffs.
Pelley’s statement comes across as waving off Leaf fans as sheep. The injuries excuse is not credible. The Lightning have had just as severe injuries this season and are on top. Know why? They’ve built a good team while the Leafs simply haven’t. The real way to fix that is what the Leafs have insisted on not doing for 10 years: trade some to all of the fall down core. Their top paid players must be good leaders and Matthews and Nylander are NOT leaders, let alone good ones! Of those, Matthews is the worst for several reasons starting with him disappearing in challenging and important games. He has a bad attitude toward media and fans at times. He’s not worth near 13.25 and not in the same league as McDavid and Crosby. Matthews has been MIA the first half of the season for two seasons now then suddenly was twice as good a few weeks before 4 Nations and the Olympics. He is the biggest reason the Leafs will probably miss the playoffs this season. As for injuries, 12 of the Leafs regular lineup have played 50+ of 58 games including the core except Nylander. He has played 41 of 58 which is still just 16 games, not 32! At 52 of 58, Matthews has played in as many games as usual. Tanev is 36, has a huge injury history and so comes at a reduced price of only 4.5. Them relying on him so much and not properly replacing his defensive capabilities for 47 games has been foolish. The same goes for using 2 backup goalies who get injured lots as main goalies! I was OK with Treliving but, after those two extremely bad trades for Carlo and Laughton, he should have been gone before this season began! If he was then maybe the new GM would have addressed these other concerns!