The next piece will determine which direction the Toronto Maple Leafs go
The Fourth Period’s Dave Pagnotta joined SiriusXM NHL Network Radio with Steve Kouleas and Anthony Stewart to discuss the Toronto Maple Leafs. Pagnotta states that if the road trip doesn’t go well, the Maple Leafs should consider moving pieces.
NHLRumors.com Transcripts
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Steve Kouleas: “We’re going to talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs and the realism of not making the playoffs, as opposed to making them. And I know you’ve discussed that if that’s the case, there could be a sellout, including blank players.”
What are you hearing about in terms of filling the blanks of players who could be available, as the Leafs could be sellers at the deadline for the first time since March 2016?
Dave Pagnotta: “I think this four-game road trip will really determine what this team does between now and now at the deadline. There’s still a little bit of runway before the roster freeze on the fourth. I think their last game is the second, they play back-to-back in Edmonton and Calgary. Before that, next Saturday, they have Vancouver, and tonight they have Seattle (lost 5-2). These are winnable games for them, as they should be. If you look at it, at least on paper, you’d think three out of four should be achievable, and maybe you can get a point in the Edmonton game.
But if this doesn’t go the way they want, then I think they should seriously think about moving some pieces here. As of today, there are still 29 games left to play in the season. You lose four more. You’re so much further away from the play-off spot, you’re eight points behind. Now they’ve had discussions with Bobby McMann’s camp about an expansion, but nothing to report; nothing has happened so far.
They plan to talk to Scott Laughton’s side, but they haven’t done so yet. These are separate discussions that may have taken place on both sides, but in terms of actual negotiations with Laughton, that hasn’t happened yet.
They have some other pieces. And if they do take this road trip in Seattle and Western Canada, and they don’t, it’s not a coincidence for them; you need to start having serious conversations about some other pieces.
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We know they’ve left guys like (Brandon) Carlo and (Max) Domi and (Matias) Maccelli dangling before, but that was at a time where they were trying to pack guys to improve and go from there. Maybe they still do. It may be more long-term thinking, someone who can help them next season, but they will have some serious questions that need to be answered.
I think one thing they might come back to is Morgan Rielly’s future in Toronto. He has a no-movement ban and a casual offseason discussion with him. After their season ended last year, there were a lot of high expectations for him coming to camp and starting the season, but he wasn’t there yet.
He still has one term left. He’s at $7.5 million, which is a solid number for a runner-up. It just wasn’t the number one presence here in Toronto, and I’m very curious to see if they come back to him and say, ‘Hey, let’s talk about some options.’
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