Offseason Roundup: Toronto Maple Leafs

In their post-apocalyptic season, the Toronto Maple Leafs rediscovered the misery felt long before Patrice Bergeron's devastating overtime winner in Game 7.

It was just another season in the salary cap era - they made a few offseason splashes, started strong, lost more and more possession of the puck, and then faded down the stretch.

So, after dispelling the momentum from their rousing postseason fortnight in 2013, widespread changes were brought to both the roster and the front office. 

And it started only two days after season’s end.

Offseason Roundup

MLSE boss Tim Leiweke introduced NHL safety maestro Brendan Shanahan as the team's new president and alternate governor on April 14. The three-time Stanley Cup champion would be provided “full authority” over the franchise, with anyone involved with the team reporting directly to him.

The new general’s first order of business was determining the fate of Randy Carlyle and his assistants. Unforeseen to most, Shanahan spared the coach with an extension through 2017, but decided to surround Carlyle with a new group of voices, firing his staff.

After drafting high-skilled forward William Nylander with the eighth-overall pick, Shan- general manager Dave Nonis went to work on a defensive unit that allowed a league-high 2,278 shots last season. They swapped defensemen on the draft floor, sending Carl Gunnarsson to the St. Louis Blues for the rugged Roman Polak, and looked to be on the verge of landing an established top-pairing blue liner from Montreal.

However, like a true Canadien, Josh Gorges refused to swap one legendary sweater for another, leaning on his no-trade clause to void a deal to Toronto. And if that wasn't gutting enough for Maple Leafs fans, Gorges accepted a deal to join the 21-win Buffalo Sabres a few days later.

Undeterred - well, maybe slightly - the Maple Leafs entered the free-agent market with intent. After ditching Jerry D’Amigo to re-acquire Matt Frattin from the Columbus Blue Jackets, Toronto added veteran defenseman Stephane Robidas with a three-year, $9-million pact, lured Leo Komarov back from Russia with a rather unworldly four-year contract, and managed to preserve enough of the pie to add former Vancouver Canucks center Mike Santorelli and KHL veteran Petri Kontiola.

Carlyle then found out who he’d be sharing a bench with when the Maple Leafs hired former Florida Panthers head coach Peter Horachek and Toronto Marlies boss Steve Spott. With a stop in the AHL, Spott jumped from the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers to the top flight in a little over a calendar year.

Cody Franson avoided being burned by a second arbitration hearing in as many summers July 21, signing a one-year, $3.3-million deal. But his deal came on the eve of Toronto landing its most intriguing offseason acquisition, 28-year-old Kyle Dubas.

He’s not a veteran defenseman or scorer finally reaching the open market - no, Dubas was brought on to replace Dave Poulin and Claude Loiselle as Nonis’ assistant general manager. The fresh face, at the forefront of the Leafs’ latest culture change, will bring his vast analytical knowledge to an organization that once actively shrouded its advanced statistical deficiencies.

With the stats department fortified, the Maple Leafs took a flier on David Booth, re-signed James Reimer to a two-year, $4.6-million deal (which might help facilitate a trade), and rescued former Anaheim Duck Daniel Winnik from the deep free-agent waters.

To cap a whirlwind offseason, the Maple Leafs extended puck-mover Jake Gardiner to a five-year, $20.25-million deal. The former Wisconsin Badger, whose emergence rendered Gunnarsson expendable, was the Maple Leafs’ top possession player last season and led all blue liners with a career-high 10 goals.

Key Additions

F Mike Santorelli
F Daniel Winnik
F David Booth
F Matt Frattin
D Stephane Robidas
D Roman Polak

Key Departures

F Dave Bolland
F Nikolai Kulemin
F Jay McClement
F Mason Raymond
F Jerry D’Amigo
D Carl Gunnarsson
D Tim Gleason

2014-15 Outlook

Toronto’s concerns last season were publicized when the new regime came in, but they weren't necessarily addressed. For many, poor possession play foreshadowed the Maple Leafs’ demise last season, and despite that issue prioritized in the front office, the team’s makeup suggests the problems will largely be the same.

The summer movement was feverish, but the voice behind the bench is unchanged, the center-ice depth was sapped, and their most notable free-agent splash is 37 years old and coming off a season where he broke the same leg twice.

Your move, Dubas.