5 bold offseason predictions for the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs face an interesting offseason after once again falling short of the Stanley Cup. Here’s what we think will happen this offseason in Toronto.
The Toronto Maple Leafs had a huge offseason in 2018. They signed John Tavares, yet still couldn’t get past the Boston Bruins in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is a critical offseason for Toronto, perhaps even more so than the last offseason. The Leafs are facing a cap crunch and must make the right moves.
Assuming Toronto uses the LTIR properly, they have about $14 million of cap space to play with. They’re listed as having less than that on CapFriendly, but keep in mind this number is without Nathan Horton on the long-term injured reserve list. He’ll likely be put on the LTIR to start the season.
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Still, the Leafs will likely have a different look to start the season. At least one major player will probably be traded, depending on your definition of “major”. Here’s what we think will happen this offseason in Toronto.
5. A Promotion
Mike Babcock will remain as the Toronto Maple Leafs head coach. However, the coaching staff will likely look different. Even if assistant coaches D.J. Smith and Jim Hiller don’t leave the organization for an NHL head coaching job, the failures of the power play and penalty kill mean the Leafs will likely move on from at least one of them.
Should this happen, I believe it will be Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe replacing whoever leaves. Some might think this is a bad idea since Babcock and Keefe couldn’t be more different. However, this could be general manager Kyle Dubas’ way of reminding his head coach who the boss is. Babcock would likely be far more open to changing the way he does things if he knows his replacement is next to him.
Also, I think the Maple Leafs will have to promote Keefe to keep him away from another NHL team. It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if the Buffalo Sabres and other teams looking for a head coach view him as a serious candidate. Promoting him and giving him a fancy “associate head coach” title would be one way for the Leafs to hang on to Keefe. Dubas, by the way, is a huge fan of the Marlies head coach.