Weekly Takes - Monday, April 29 Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, April 29 Edition

1. My three stars from the Maple Leafs dramatic game two win against the Bruins on Monday...

1. Auston Matthews

2. Ilya Samsonov

3. Max Domi

Matthews' finest hour as a Maple Leaf. The best player in franchise history, putting the franchise on his back in the house of horrors.

The best player on the ice. By a country mile.

You are up, Mitch Marner.

2. My three stars from the Leafs game three loss to the Bruins on Wednesday...

1. Matthews

2. Matthew Knies

3. Ryan Reaves

As expected, this series is 50/50 at even strength, with the Bruins taking the Leafs to school on special teams.

A spring tradition.

3. There are no stars from the Leafs era-defining game four loss to the Bruins.

At home, on a Saturday night, against your biggest rival in a near must-win game, and the core laid their biggest egg yet.

Sheldon Keefe will pay the price. He is a fine coach who may learn from his Leafs tenure and go on and become a great head coach. It happened to Paul Maurice. But Keefe is done in Toronto. He knows the core well, knows how to push the right buttons more times than not, has had more regular-season success than any coach before him, etc. But he has been outcoached each spring. Last spring was probably the time to fire him, but now definitely is. He needs to be replaced by a veteran head coach.

But Keefe cannot be the only scapegoat. Brendan Shanahan has done an amazing job with the Leafs. He has turned the franchise around. But it may be time for a fresh voice with a fresh perspective at the top.

None of this matters, though, if changes are not made to the core.

Matthews and William Nylander are not going anywhere and nor should they. That leaves John Tavares and Marner.

Both have to, at the very least, be asked to provide a list of teams that they would explore being traded to.

Marner is the more likely one, with Tavares likely to just play out his contract.

Regardless, game four was the end of the era as we know it and for as self-inflicted as the loss was, let's not kid ourselves about Brad Marchand. He is the ultimate gamer. The best player on the ice. By a country mile.

4. Another era that is hanging on for dear life is the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Blue Jays' era.

With every passing month, there is no reason to think he is going to return to form. Ditto for George Springer and Alejandro Kirk.

The bounce back from Daulton Varsho has been nice, but as expected, there is not enough internal improvement to make up for the shortcomings from Ross Atkins and 'co in the offseason.

5. My winners and losers of the NFL Draft...

Winners...

• Bears (Coming off a great free agency, they land the best quarterback in the draft and the second-best receiver)

• Patriots (Drake Maye is a steal at number three, if that is even possible)

• Steelers, Eagles, and Bucs (I love the value of their first-round picks, while the Steelers crushed their entire draft board in general)

• Lions (I thought they addressed their needs quite well)

Losers...

• Falcons (The drafting of an older Michael Penix, after signing Kirk Cousins, is one of the more bizarre first-round picks in NFL history.)

• Broncos (I see the talent with Bo Nix, but I just cannot envision him becoming a franchise player)