Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs closed a brutal season quiet on the trade front, and Elliotte Friedman says that was the plan all along.
Friedman raised it in the July 6 edition of 32 Thoughts, and the clip started circulating again Saturday afternoon.
His read is blunt. Toronto did not give up its futures. If anything, the cupboard got a little fuller.
Friedman put it plainly. The Maple Leafs kept their powder dry, holding assets back instead of cashing them in for a quick fix.
That is a real shift for a franchise that has spent years mortgaging tomorrow for a shot right now.
Elliotte Friedman: Re Maple Leafs offseason: They didn't give up any of their futures really...and they even re-stocked some; I think they kinda looked at it as, we kept that powder dry to stay alive in any opportunities that might arise.
The season behind it explains the temptation to blow things up. Toronto finished 32-36-14, good for 78 points and 28th overall.
A minus-46 goal differential and a seven-game losing streak to close the year would push most front offices toward drastic action.
Toronto's road record and goaltending tell the real story
Toronto also went just 14-21-6 on the road, the kind of split that erases whatever the power play or the top six manage to build at home.
Part of the problem was in net. Sergei Bobrovsky posted an 876 save percentage across 52 games at a 10,000,000 dollar cap hit.
Instead, Toronto walks into next season with Jim Hiller behind the bench, hired June 17, and the core mostly intact.
Matthews is still there at a 13,250,000 dollar cap hit. William Nylander is still there at 11,500,000.
Nylander led the team with 79 points. Matthews missed time and still finished with 53 in 60 games.
John Tavares added 71 points at age 35, and Matthew Knies broke out with 66 points on a 7,750,000 dollar deal.
So the pieces are there. What is missing is proof any of it translates into wins when it matters.
Friedman is essentially saying management passed on a fire sale and bet the group can be better with the same names plus a new coach.
Is that patience or is it a front office hoping last season was an outlier? Toronto fans have heard that before.
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The powder is dry. Whether ownership actually spends it before next trade deadline is the part nobody can answer yet.
Should the Maple Leafs have blown it up instead of keeping the core intact?
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