The Toronto Maple Leafs are more than one or two players away from being a serious playoff contender in coming seasons. Frankly, fans should focus on 2016-17 rather than this upcoming season, as the club will be hard-pressed to be competitive next season.
Young players like Morgan Rielly must be nurtured, and players like Nazem Kadri and Jake Gardiner deserve more time to continue in their development. Younger players like Josh Leivo and Frederik Gauthier are going to be knocking on the door to get regular NHL duty soon, but patience must be the order of the day for the entire organization.
Complicating the improvement process is the fact that the Leafs do not have a lot of salary-cap space unless some players and contracts are moved. Decisions must be made on aging veterans like Joffrey Lupul, Dion Phaneuf and Phil Kessel. Deciding to move them and actually doing it are, of course, two different things.
There are some younger restricted free agents on other NHL teams who may be eligible to have offer sheets made this summer. The Leafs may be in a position to do this if they can gain some salary-cap room in the next few mo ...
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Article written by James Onusko
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