SEARCH


Former Toronto Maple Leaf exposes how the front office has failed

PUBLICATION
River Hawk
August 7, 2024  (4:31 PM)
SHARE THIS STORY

Carlo Colaiacovo behind the desk for TSN
Photo credit: Carlo Colaiacovo on Instagram

After years of missing the mark, former Toronto Maple Leaf and current TSN broadcaster Carlo Colaiacovo exposed how the front office has failed by drafting and developing few skilled defensemen.

It is no secret that the Toronto Maple Leafs have suffered at the hands of their leadership. Despite having had talented players season after season, they have not been able to make a serious showing in the playoffs for decades, having recently lost their sixth consecutive Game 7 to the Boston Bruins in the first round.
https://x.com/gpkalltheway/status/1786964401326829884

However, a former Leafs defenseman pointed out in a recent discussion what he believes is the root of all issues the franchise faces. Carlo Colaiacovo, co-host of TSN's 'First Up,' blamed Toronto's current failures come from people like Kyle Dubas and any front-office staff that have persisted in picking up only skilled forwards, and since Morgan Rielly, very few high-caliber defensemen.

"The only thing that I do agree with on these rankings are drafting and development. Like, they deserve a C because, I've stated all along, and this goes to when Kyle Dubas was managing this team. When you put yourself in a position to build a salary structure with your team where you're going to build around four forwards, okay, and it's going to occupy a large percentage of your cap; almost half of your cap: How the heck, organizationally, you did not decide to draft and develop more stud defenseman, is beyond me. Like, that's what has kept this organization back, is that since Morgan Rielly, what defenseman has this team drafted that developed that has been a stud on defense? Justin Holl, Sandin, Liljegren. Like, that's where the organizational failure has been with this— with this team, is that, if built around four forwards and you just continue to draft forwards to play with those guys, it's like: Hey, draft and develop big, stud defenseman so that up at this point here, you got guys that're probably be in their third or fourth years an absolute stud on your blue line. Instead, now, you talk and they get a D+ for trading. Well yeah, they get a D+ for trading because every year they're trying to trade for a defenseman, give up draft picks, and— and patchwork that defense to sort of give them a chance to win instead of drafting and developing these guys and in your system for three— three to six, seven years. That's been the organizational failure for this Maple Leafs team."

Though Toronto has Morgan Rielly and Timothy Liljegren, Coloaiacovo is dead on about the utter lack of defensive depth. Seeing as how they continue to fail at bringing in defensemen during development stages, they tend to lose out on long-term deals, trading for older players who may not be able to keep up with the younger talent. Hopefully, the Maple Leafs take this rant as a piece of advice and start making the necessary changes to end their historic dry spell.


Warning: include(/home//inout/pub_inline.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/marqueur/public_html/news/auto/blogs_id/414388.php on line 37

Warning: include(): Failed opening '/home//inout/pub_inline.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/opt/cpanel/ea-php74/root/usr/share/pear') in /home/marqueur/public_html/news/auto/blogs_id/414388.php on line 37
POLL
AOÛT 7   |   105 ANSWERS
Former Toronto Maple Leaf exposes how the front office has failed

Is Carlo Colaiacovo right about the Toronto Maple Leafs' main problem?

Yes6461 %
No87.6 %
Partly3331.4 %
LIST OF POLLS

TRENDING NOW
2025-2026
NHL STANDINGS
GPWLOLPTS
Sabres8250239109
Lightning8250266106
Canadiens82482410106
Bruins82452710100
Senators8244271199
Red Wings8241311092
Panthers824038484
Maple Leafs8232361478
GPWLOLPTS
Hurricanes8253227113
Penguins8241251698
Flyers8243271298
Capitals824330995
Blue Jackets8240301292
Islanders824334591
Devils824237387
Rangers823439977
GPWLOLPTS
Avalanche82551611121
Stars82502012112
Wild82462412104
Mammoth824333692
Blues8237331286
Predators8238341086
Jets8235351282
Blackhawks8229391472
GPWLOLPTS
Golden Knights8239261795
Oilers8241301193
Ducks824333692
Kings8235272090
Sharks823935886
Kraken8234371179
Flames823439977
Canucks822549858
COMPLETE STANDINGS