Weekly Takes - Monday, March 9th Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, March 9th Edition 

1. My three stars from the Leafs unwatchable loss to the Flyers on Monday…

1. Anthony Stolarz

2. Steven Lorentz

3. Scott Laughton

2. My three stars from the Leafs horrific loss to the Devils on Wednesday…

1. Stolarz 

2. Matias Maccelli 

3. Nicolas Roy

Another night where they got destroyed five-on-five. The worst stretch from this team in 12 years. 

3. To call the Leafs trade deadline a disappointment would be a massive understatement. 

Here is what I wrote a week ago, ahead of the deadline…

Must Trade Now…

• Maccelli (you are not qualifying him given how expensive his QO will be, so get whatever you can for him)

• Laughton (pending UFA, no-brainer)

• Bobby McMann (pending UFA, no-brainer)

• Oliver Ekman-Larsson (value will never be higher)

Must Trade, but can wait until the summer…

• Max Domi (negative asset)

• Dakota Joshua (negative asset)

• Morgan Rielly (negative asset)

Can Trade or Not Trade…

• Roy

• Brandon Carlo

• Stolarz or Joseph Woll (ideally Stolarz)

Treliving managed to trade only half of my “must trades” which is an epic failure on its own. Keeping Maccelli is somewhat acceptable, as you can at least talk me into qualifying him given the glimpses of promise he has shown. But not trading Ekman-Larsson is inexcusable. His value will never be higher. 

But even if Treliving managed to trade OEL, this deadline still would have been a whopper. Yes, a first for Roy was great, but I was quite close to putting Carlo in the “must trade” category for the same reason OEL was there. It is disappointing Carlo was not traded.

And to get out of none of Domi’s/Joshua’s/Rielly’s contracts is a failure. For the Leafs to recoup as many assets as possible, taking on bad contracts this offseason is going to have to be a way to do so. That is tough to do when you already have multiple bad contracts on the books.

So, overall, a massive flop. Treliving put them in this mess and he showed no one any reason to think he can get them out of it. Zero creativity. 

He and Craig Berube have to go, otherwise it is the early 2010s all over again. How fast things can change. Let’s see if Keith Pelley can save the franchise. This can all be salvaged if Pelley fires both and brings in the right people. Otherwise, we are back to the dark ages.

4. My Stanley Cup contenders following the NHL Trade Deadline…

1. Avs

2. Lightning

3. Hurricanes 

4. Stars

5. Oilers

6. Golden Knights 

7. Wild

It is tough to include the Wild on the list after they failed to add a top-six centre, but it is tough to put only six teams on the list. 

Maybe the Sabres or Habs can stun the Lightning and/or Hurricanes in the East.

5. I love the Ravens acquiring Maxx Crosby.

You have the best roster in the division. You have a Hall of Fame quarterback. Kansas City is going to have a transition year. Go take advantage.