How much could the Toronto Maple Leafs be considered for sale?
Sportsnet: James Mirtle on the JD Bunkis Podcast on the Toronto Maple Leafs and why they should be sellers at the trade deadline, but the level of sales may depend on how they do in the six games before the trade deadline.
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Bunkis: “I think, in my opinion, we have enough of a sample that they are not contenders, and that the idea that they can make the postseason is an impossibility for me.
But the idea of a team with as many mistakes as this one, whether it’s their blue line or their inability to shoot the puck. Even if it was an injury up and down. Even if it was, I would say that it’s another game that goes forward consistently from its many different parts. Although, honestly, like some of their strikers, it has not been as sharp as it was last year.
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Whether you’re banking on this team to make some kind of deep run, or to catch the trade deadline, instead of making sure you can bounce back as much as possible, to prevent, you know, really affecting your long-term future or your ability to compete next year, I think that would be a mistake.
So the first question is just kind of that, which is, you know, Elliotte Friedman reported that the winning streak didn’t change things. Do you hear the same thing about Toronto still looking to be a sellout at the deadline, regardless of the outcome of the games they play ahead of them? “
Myrtle: “I’m still standing, I’m still standing a little bit, I think if they keep winning games, it will change the level at which they are willing to sell. If that makes sense.”
Bunkis: “Yes.”
Myrtle: “I think you’re right. I think, I think your reading is right. Like Bobby McMann, you idiot, get away from him.
But if they come out of this break, there are actually six games until the trade deadline. So there is time here. That is, I have it in front of me. It’s in Tampa, Florida on the road. Ottawa at home, then you’ve got Philly, who has been struggling, New Jersey, and the Rangers. “
Bunkis: “It’s really hard, like a hard slate, in terms of, if you want to sell, they’re not the teams you want to see outside of Tampa.”
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Myrtle: “Yeah. I mean, I think they could win, they could win easily…”
Bunkis: “Zine.”
Myrtle: “4-1-1”
Bunkis: “Yes.”
Myrtle: “They can go 4-1-1 in those six games, and you’re going to be blowing the whistle on them because, now we’re only three points away, or, like you said, Boston is in danger.
The Leafs chances of making the playoffs right now are like 20, 21% depending on which model you look at. So I guess what you’re saying is right there, 20% chance of getting in, but what are your chances once you get in? You’ll probably get Tampa who beat him in the past, but at best that’s a 50-50 series, and it’s going to be tough after that.
So, you’ll be betting on a hopeless plan if you don’t do some kind of retooling, rebalancing here.
And what I would try to do with the deadline is to remove some pieces that you feel will be part of the solution next year. Is there a country where you can trade Simon Benoit or Anthony Stolarz, Dakota Joshua? Maybe not, but at the end of the day, that’s what you want to watch, right?
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You go to a GM who’s desperate for a goalie or that, looking for an obvious winger who’s missing out on other available pieces, and you say, ‘Hey, what do you think?’ And maybe you can free up some extra cap space. Maybe you can get a third or fourth rounder, and you have even more flexibility next year.”
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