It appears the Toronto Maple Leafs' philosophy has slightly shifted in a year's time.
Last offseason, in the first year under its new regime led by Brendan Shanahan, Lou Lamoriello, Kyle Dubas, and Mike Babcock, the Leafs' promised pain - which definitely occurred over the course of 82 games - but their re-furbished approach at chasing skilled players and acquiring draft picks was promising.
This offseason, Toronto was handed a golden ticket by winning the right to draft Auston Matthews first overall, but a series of curious draft picks following the 18-year-old wunderkind set the bar for what has been a strange sequence of acquisitions during the free-agency period.
Toronto's first free-agent signing was Matt Martin, the NHL's trailblazer in hits. He was brought in to protect the kids, but ultimately the Leafs added another body to a crowded forward group, and gave a four-year contract to a player whose career high in points is 19.
As much as Leafs fans want to see a lineup full of youngsters, it just isn't possible. Matthews will be there, William Nylander will be there, but Toronto's prospects will have to do battle to crack the roster with limited spots available.
| Player | Age | Position | GP last season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joffrey Lupul | 32 | LW | 46 |
| Nazem Kadri | 25 | C | 76 |
| Brooks Laich | 33 | C | 21 |
| James van Riemsdyk | 27 | LW | 40 |
| Tyler Bozak | 30 | C | 57 |
| Milan Michalek | 31 | LW | 13 |
| Leo Komarov | 29 | C | 67 |
| Colin Greening | 30 | LW | 30 |
| William Nylander | 20 | C | 22 |
Martin being added to the players listen above leaves two forward spots available. Nikita Soshnikov, Connor Brown, Brendan Leipsic, Kasperi Kapanen, and Zach Hyman all showed promise with the big club last season, not to mention the newly acquired Kerby Rychel or 2015 No. 4 overall pick Mitch Marner who can only play for the Leafs or in the OHL next season.
Sure, injuries occur and trades can happen. But as advanced as the rebuild seems to be, the Leafs don't have the space for a complete youth movement this upcoming season.
On the defensive side, the Leafs brought back Roman Polak on a one-year deal, creating an unnecessary log jam on the blue line as well.
Jake Gardiner, Morgan Rielly, Frank Corrado, Martin Marincin, Connor Carrick and new addition Nikita Zaitsev fit the mold of a swift, possession-positive D-corps, and bringing in Polak - a brute force rather than an analytics darling - likely puts the younger Corrado out of a job.
No matter what stage of the "Shanny-Plan" Toronto is at, the Leafs appear to have contradicted what they've created. At this point, it's difficult to gauge what year two of the Leafs' most recent rebuild will yield, but it's easy to label their offseason work as unexpected.
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