WHAT’S NEXT ON THE LEAFS OFF-SEASON CHECK LIST?

WHAT’S NEXT ON THE LEAFS OFF-SEASON CHECK LIST?

joined by Brian Hayes here in studio Craig Button joins us from his home office in Calgary for years now we’ve heard the same thing at the end of another disappointing season by the Leafs we believe in our core we’re going to do some tweaking but we want to give this group another chance dramatically different talk today Buu Shanahan Tran all sang the same tune it’s now all about the team what did you think when you heard them all say that I think it’s an admission that in the past it was about star players it was about the core four but I also think this is positive PR the police front office they understand this is what the fans want to hear it’s been eight years of Matthews Marner neander and a lot of it has been positive I understand the playoff lack of success and that stands out and ultimately that’s the legacy of these players in the organization but for eight years they made the playoffs lot of individual success playoff series win though a lot of jerseys being sold fans are happy fans love these players Kelly said this is not about selling jerseys well listen it was in the past right and again I think this is a change of tune but I think the fans are done with that they’re done with the window they’re done with individual success they’re done with believing that it could be done and it could actually win in the end there’s a conclusion here it can’t win the core four as it’s currently constructed especially the amount of money that is constituted to these players it can’t win so it’s got to come to an end actions will speak louder than words though right it’s one thing to say it in a press conference uh a statement look good sound good feel good you have to follow through on this and that’s ultimately the pressure here all right you brought in baru last year you brought in TR living that wasang change but the players are still here you still have the same playoff record it’s really time to get down to work now so Craig the new philosophy is now team first how do you think that plays out in terms of the types of decisions that leadership make this summer and then moving forward listen I’m going to pick out one word that Brian just used the money the money has created an imbalance with the roster there is nothing wrong with Austin Matthews there’s nothing wrong with Mitch Marner there’s nothing wrong with William neander but the problem is is that the money allocated to to those three plus John tovaris plus Morgan Riley has created a roster imbalance and when you have roster imbalance you can have lots of success during the regular season the regular season is not the playoffs and when you get to the playoffs 16 of the bottom teams are gone and now you get to the playoffs and you’re playing against really good teams and when you play against teams that have balance it becomes harder to win and when you get to the playoffs and you’re relying on less players to help you win guess what it becomes a lot harder to win so for Brad TR Le in the Toronto Maple this is about creating Financial flexibility they never had that there’s nothing wrong with believing in the players and they performed brilliantly this has been a decision made by management the previous management Brad TR has come in and inherited that that clearly hasn’t worked they thought it could work I never thought it could work and the results have clearly shown it’s not going to work so when you want to win win it’s a team that wins and this team hasn’t been constructed properly I think your spot on Craig I will say Brad TR living was here when Matthews got his new deal neander got his new deal now those are Justified numbers but Brad is involved in this as well right he committed to those two guys and they’re big numbers but you’re right Craig I think if you’re a leaf fan right now and you’re bracing for what’s coming this summer money they have to figure out how you’re going to allocate the money right in a in a hard salary cap it’s a finite number Gino you know what you have to spend and if you’re going to move off to vars if not this year definitely in the future you got to find a second line Center I think they need a third line Center I think they need at least three new defensemen and possibly a number one goalie that’s a lot of player Personnel turnover that’s going to cost a lot of money okay so that’s all down the future that is who’s coming into the team what about the guys who are currently on the team it was made clear Craig baruba is going to demand and will not accept anything less than accountability can this group handle that yes I I think they can I mean let’s be clear here Craig baru is not coming in to fight the players right he’s not the boogeyman this idea that he’s going to come in and start bullying guys he’s going to love his players if they work hard and they play the right way and they win he’s he’s going to love his players he played over a thousand games in the NHL he knows what it means to be an NHL player so I think it’s being overstated a little bit this accountability issue like he’s lurking in the corner in Arizona right now watching Austin Matthews to see if he’s working out Matthews I think has to buy in nander has to buy in Riley has to buy in and if it’s tovarus and Marner sticking around ultimately those guys have to lead by charge the coach can only do so much right he can only do so much right Craig it’s got to be on the star players they got to buy into this too so Craig’s got to get the message across baru not button and then the players have to be the ones that ultimately play it out hey hey Brian I get my message across and the message is real simple okay okay 69 goals first team allar right wing consistency in terms of playing at a high level that’s William neander Morgan Riley John tovaris has played really well I I don’t have any issue if if what do you want now you want to make Austin Matthews accountable so he can get 89 goals B I’m line is Austin Matthews he he was a finalist for the Cy Trophy this year I had him in my top three in my voting he he’s committed to being a better player William neander Mitch Marner and and certainly when you’re making that much money the spotlight becomes brighter the burden becomes a little bit bigger and that’s fine and dandy but the team is not constructed good enough and Craig buuy who I love as a coach I love as a person him coming in here if if it’s still the same roster and balance guess what when they get against good teams in the playoffs they’re going to have the same results I also believe this is a 12mon exercise you’re not going to be able to do everything you want to do in my view in the immediate future here yes you may be able to move some dollars out you might be able to make some trades but I think this has to be looked at as 12 months M Craig buuy gets comfortable with the players the players that are going to make up this roster the core of this roster are going to get comfortable with Craig buuy but the but but the machinations of the roster are going to be a result of the work by Brad trillin in his group to get roster balance and if they get that I’m not worried about the the top players if they don’t get it I guess you can blame whoever you want but for me it always starts at the top as a point of reference Craig buub finished his playing career with 3149 penalty minutes seventh all all time on the NHL list and 303 fights that ranks fifth on the NHL’s alltime fights list so anyone that may have problems with him making them accountable good luck with that

Gino Reda and the host of Overdrive Bryan Hayes, are joined by Craig Button to discuss the legacy of the current Toronto Maple Leafs roster, the hiring of Craig Berube, and the direction the organization is seemingly heading in.

#NHL #TorontoMapleLeafs #CraigBerube #StanleyCupPlayoffs #AustonMatthews