Now, that type of retool is already off the table for the Maple Leafs<\/a> because of Brad Treliving\u2019s inability to accomplish anything of note at the trade deadline. He acquired zero players and moved off three solid veterans for a collection of picks, none of which are marquee selections.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the bigger picture, though, it got me thinking: Who are the Leafs<\/a> looking to emulate? A team should pick its role models wisely.<\/p>\n The Bruins, for one, strike me more as first-round fodder than a serious threat. Their 46.66 expected goals rate is only slightly better than the Leafs<\/a> 46.1 mark, but Jeremy Swayman has been excellent in goal this season.<\/p>\n While Keith Pelley didn\u2019t go into detail about the Bruins outside of a brief mention \u2014 potentially because he was too busy putting Buffalo and Montreal on a pedestal \u2014 he did discuss the other teams under the MLSE umbrella. And all\u00a0of those victory laps he was proclaiming were premature at best.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pelley triumphantly noted, \u201cWe have just completed a complete rebuild of TFC, all using data combined with cultural checks. That is what we will do\u2026 I was very involved in rebuilding TFC, realizing very quickly that with the two Italians playing for us, we had a cultural challenge. We moved 14 players. We changed a number of structural things at TFC. Jason Hernandez, who is the GM, is now running that on a day-to-day cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n While I\u2019ll avoid a deep dive on MLS soccer, TFC is six games into the season. They are a solid 3-1-2, good enough for a tie for fifth place in their conference and tied for 12th league-wide. The season has only just begun, and proudly proclaiming it a complete rebuild when the team hasn\u2019t even made the playoffs, or won a playoff game \u2014 let alone won a championship \u2014 is quite the statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Toronto Raptors were also mentioned, as Pelley noted that he did not attend their trade deadline (by contrast to the Leafs<\/a>), while adding: \u201cWhen you look at my involvement right now with the Toronto Raptors, the job Bobby Webster and Darko are doing is remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n The Raptors are clinging to the final playoff spot that would avoid the play-in, with a roster full of high-priced veterans. They are seemingly pretty good \u2014 and again, I\u2019m not going to get into a whole basketball review \u2014 but they certainly aren\u2019t among the top 10 contenders this season unless something drastically changes over the next few weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Jays will be held up as the crown jewel, but we can\u2019t remotely compare a league without a salary cap to a league with one.\u00a0<\/p>\n In fairness to Pelley, he did mention two other teams in his scrum availability:<\/p>\n \u201cTo be successful, you need a fully rounded team, and Florida is a perfect example of it. Tampa is an example of that. You can\u2019t just have one or two superstars and expect to win a Cup. Everything has to be firing on all cylinders. That means everything from on ice to off ice. We\u2019re not there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Florida and Tampa won over a decade after drafting first overall. Both teams made a series of bold trades, developed unheralded players at the time, and built elite coaching staffs. If we\u2019re talking about franchises to emulate, those are the two that should be held up. Neither ever looked to blow it up; they just kept trying to add talent wherever they could until they found the right formula, and both won back-to-back Cups.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s understandable why Boston has been mentioned, and even why Pelley tried to use other MLSE examples. But none of them are really worth aspiring toward, and the Leafs should be aiming higher.<\/p>\n Notes \u2013 Heading into the Olympic break, John Tavares produced one goal and three points in the Leafs\u2019 last six games. Over the past few years, we have seen him return from time off rejuvenated. Following this break, he did record five points in eight games, so it certainly wasn\u2019t horrible, but most of that production came in trying circumstances: scoring while down 3-0 to both Florida and Tampa, and picking up an assist against the Rangers. Those game situations weren\u2019t exactly his fault, but he wasn\u2019t particularly effective coming out of the break, like the rest of the team, which was new for him coming out of the pause. <\/p>\n Starting from that Anaheim game, Tavares has been tearing it up. Tavares has eight goals, 16 points, and 27 shots on net in his past 12 games. Yes, the season is effectively over, but he\u2019s producing at a high level while centering the only line opposing teams are even thinking twice about. He\u2019s receiving all the attention and still managing to lead offensively.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2013 The shine has really come off Troy Stecher as the season has gone along. He\u2019s now been outscored 46-36 through 54 games as a Leaf, and he\u2019s well below water in terms of shot share and scoring chances. When he first arrived, he was fairly active, looking to make plays with the puck and jumping up into the rush. Now, weeks will go by where he\u2019s hardly noticeable. In his first 29 games with the Leafs, before the team came home for their fateful five-game homestand, he was up 28-20 at even strength. Since then, he has been outscored by 17.<\/p>\n \u2013 Incredibly, from the five-game homestand onwards, which was effectively the end of their season, only two players on the Leafs have a positive goal differential at even strength, at +1, and those two players are Philippe Myers and Bo Groulx, who have only played 12 games each in that span. Two regulars have an even goal differential: Morgan Rielly and Dakota Joshua. For the season, Max Domi has the worst even-strength goal differential on the team at -24.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2013 For what it\u2019s worth, Domi has a long way to go to catch current green jacket leader Brock Boeser at -39 at even strength.<\/p>\n \u2013 The Leafs are set to lead the league in shots against this season, as they average 32.5, a full two shots below the next lowest team, the Chicago Blackhawks, at 30.4. The Blackhawks are closer to the top 20 in shots against per game than they are to the Leafs in dead last. It\u2019s just a whopping gap and speaks to how badly the team has played. It would be nearly impossible not to believe that there are significant systemic issues at play when they are lapping the field with a roster that really shouldn\u2019t have been that bad.<\/p>\n \u2013 Contextualizing the overall volume the Leafs give up is a little trickier, though. If they hold their 32.5 shots against per game rate, it would also have been the lowest mark for last season. Beyond that, it gets muddier, as the league has changed its shot-tracking, seemingly becoming much more diligent with it due to betting ramifications. You have probably noticed shots constantly taken away\/added in the course of a game. Before this season, every year, there were teams averaging 35+ shots against, but given the shift at play here, it would be foolish to compare. Either way, the Leafs are tracking to be the worst team in the league over two years in terms of giving up shots.<\/p>\n Quotes \u201cI wanted Pezzetta in there for physicality. I figured it would be a physical game. I thought he had a pretty good impact.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Craig Berube on playing Pezzetta over Jacob Quillan against the Kings<\/p>\n I have no real issue with giving Michael Pezzetta opportunities \u2014 he is signed through next season and is trying to make an impression \u2014 but Pezzetta played 5:05 against the Kings while Jacob Quillan watched from up top. This is not accomplishing anything in what\u2019s already a lost season.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re treated like an NHL team. It\u2019s beautiful. I was in shock at how well we were treated.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 New college free agent signing Brandon Buhr on joining the Marlies<\/a><\/p>\n It can never be understated how significant an advantage the Leafs should have in recruiting college free agents. The Marlies<\/a> practice out of the same facility as the Leafs and are located in the same city. A player not needing to move depending on whether he is in the minors or NHL is a massive selling point, and that\u2019s before getting into all the off-ice resources. The Leafs have generally been able to add from the college free-agent pool each year, but it has been a long time since they added a cream-of-the-crop, highly coveted player. It remains to be seen whether their GM situation will impact them as they reportedly pursue TJ Hughes, one of the highly coveted options.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time you touch somebody it\u2019s a penalty? Come on. Let the teams play. That\u2019s why everybody filled this building tonight. It sucked the fun out of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Jon Cooper, after a game against the Buffalo Sabres this week<\/p>\n Regular readers will know that for years now, I\u2019ve had an issue with the Leafs\u2019 approach to handling officiating \u2014 which is to say, they do nothing at all \u2014 as they\u2019ve been amongst the bottom feeders when it comes to power plays year after year. It seems like taking the high road, and lots of people have asked me what it will even accomplish\u2026 except other teams do it regularly! Cooper complained during a game in which his team went to five power plays. The Leafs have received five-plus power plays three times all season.\u00a0<\/p>\n When the Leafs played the Panthers in the playoffs last year, Paul Maurice was all over the officials publicly throughout the series, especially after Scott Laughton tagged Evan Rodrigues.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is a lot more common throughout the league than I think people realize, unless you are the Leafs. It is compounded even further with suspensions, where the Leafs draw the short end of the stick every single time.\u00a0<\/p>\n The goal isn\u2019t to suggest the Leafs should complain about officiating all the time \u2014 that is a waste of time, too \u2014 but there\u2019s a difference between complaining and standing up for yourself. The players rightfully get a lot of attention when they don\u2019t stand up for each other, but it\u2019s not like the rest of the organization stands up for them. I hope this is something that the organization reviews internally moving forward. <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Tweets of the Week<\/p>\n Leafs have five games left. Four opponents in playoffs, one two points out, so, good teams trying to win. <\/p>\n The other? Ooo buddy, the tank bowl, which may determine if they can drop to the bottom-5 or not: pic.twitter.com\/yWeHqtDMwu<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Justin Bourne (@jtbourne) April 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n This is what it comes down to, seemingly. Keith Pelley made headlines for suggesting he disagrees with tanking, but really, why else would they have kept Craig Berube through all of this? The only way they can really justify it is to tank and keep the pick; otherwise, it would have been far more beneficial to look at this team under a different voice if they\u2019re not going to keep their pick anyway. It\u2019s no coincidence that the players the Leafs moved at the deadline are finding success and\/or prominent roles elsewhere, while most of the players on the Leafs performed below expectations this season.<\/p>\n We cannot stress enough how beneficial it would be for the Leafs to keep their pick and hopefully select one of the top defensemen in this class in an attempt to find a blue line cornerstone. They already have a few good young forwards and a strong goalie pipeline. On defense, they basically have Ben Danford and a lot of question marks. The Leafs already own a first and two seconds for the following draft.<\/p>\n #Isles<\/a> News: New York Islanders General Manager and Executive Vice President Mathieu Darche announced today that Patrick Roy has been relieved of his coaching responsibilities. Peter DeBoer has been named Head Coach of the New York Islanders.<\/p>\n \u2014 New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) April 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Other teams in the league fire their coaches for far less than what Craig Berube has done this season.<\/p>\n The Toronto Marlies have signed forwards Tyler Hopkins and Harry Nansi to amateur tryouts for the remainder of the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n \u2014 Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) April 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto: Dan Hamilton-USA Today Sports\/Imagn Images <\/p>\n
Photo: John E. Sokolowski\/USA TODAY Sports <\/p>\n
Photo: John E. Sokolowski\/Imagn Images <\/p>\n