In recent years, the Maple Leafs have failed to live up to expectations in Toronto. Despite the talent in town, they’ve been unable to make long runs in the playoffs, only making it past the first round once with the Core Four.
Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares are excellent players, but they can’t take Toronto all the way.
Once again this season, the Leafs folded in the first round. Sheldon Keefe lost his job, and now it’s up to Craig Berube to get the Core Four where it needs to be…
Unless…
Recently, Chris Johnston took advantage of his appearance on TSN’sOverDrive radio show to state that, in his opinion, “there’s about a 0% chance that the entire Core Four will be back”.
“I can’t see a scenario where the Core Four comes back to this team. I’d say it’s close to a 0% chance all of those guys are back.”@reporterchris shared his opinion on the future of the Core Four with #LeafsForever and the possibility of a change in Toronto. pic.twitter.com/MP3eZx0ben
– OverDrive (@OverDrive1050) May 11, 2024
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The segment is a little dated, but when you look at what’s going on right now, you’d think Johnston might have been on to something.
Yesterday, his colleague at TSN and The Athletic, Pierre LeBrun, reported that the Leafs would like to keep Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi. However, in both cases, he mentions that they’ll want to sign a long-term contract… and wonders if it won’t take “something between $5 and $6 million a year” for each of them.
Rumblings on Guentzel, Kane, Stamkos, Lindholm, Domi and more as NHL free-agent market gets ready to heat up.
My latest for@TheAthletic⤵️ https://t.co/PsukPXwdpc– Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) May 24, 2024
With the Maple Leafs already paying over $10 million a year for each of their four big forwards, this would be two more major offensive contributors to the group. It’s debatable whether this is too high a salary for Domi and Bertuzzi, but if these are the guys’ demands and the Leafs want to keep them, this could be the price to pay.
At some point, you can’t pay everyone at a high price. We’ll have to trim the fat… and obviously, Mitch Marner is the name that keeps coming up. Chris Johnston reminded us on The Chris Johnston Show yesterday: the most likely to leave among the Core Four is Marner.
It’ll be a situation to keep an eye on, but with the supporting players wanting a piece of the action, something’s got to give in Toronto.
Brad Treliving has a big summer ahead of him.
In brief
– He’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
Is Levshunov the most overrated prospect in the 2024 NHL draft?@grantmccagg, @GaumondShayne and @ScoutRocco discuss overrated and underrated prospects in the 2024 NHL draft.
Full pod👇
Watch: https://t.co/6xfVYTdv0m
Listen: https://t.co/jOIo7WeYXN#thesickpodcast pic.twitter.com/lowuWcgi39– The Sick Podcast – Recrutes Draftcast (@sickpodnhldraft) May 25, 2024
– This will be one to watch.
Henrique will be in the warm-up period. https://t.co/p66iqbN5b1
– Sébastien Goulet (@SebGouletTVAS) May 25, 2024
– Clearly.
Gustav Forsling remembers January 9, 2021 very well. A date that changed the course of his career. https://t.co/2YSRQZ6kP9
– J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontLNH) May 25, 2024
– Big win.
Rendezvous with 🇨🇦 or 🇨🇭 in the grand final https://t.co/7gWOp6Zt0D
– TVA Sports (@TVASports) May 25, 2024
– Nothing less.
All three guys have as many long balls as the Blue Jays this season. https://t.co/AhESFWKbcP
– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) May 25, 2024
– A first win for Caitlin Clark in the WNBA.
She got the better of Cameron Brink in a duel between the first two players drafted this year. https://t.co/fuqu36QAE7
– AlleyOop360 (@AlleyOop360) May 25, 2024