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There has been a school of thought that the Maple Leafs lost their place as Toronto’s most popular sports franchise with their fall from grace and the Raptors and Blue Jays enjoying some post-season success, but making the playoffs with exciting rookies Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander, and the others fading prospects have put the Leafs back on the throne.
After giving the NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers a good fight in the Eastern Conference Final last season, the Raptors looked overmatched against the Cavs and got swept by LeBron James and crew on Sunday. Toronto face a tough decision of whether to re-sign veteran guard Kyle Lowry to a long-term extension, as they did with DeMar DeRozan last summer.
The Blue Jays went to consecutive American League Championship series, but have the oldest roster in Major League Baseball. They faced a similar dilemma over the winter with Edwin Encarnacion and opted not to give the slugger the big money, signed Kendrys Morales. Injuries to Troy Tulowitzki, Josh Donaldson, JA Happ and Aaron Sanchez and disappointing production from Jose Bautista and Russell Martin have killed Toronto, who have one of the worst records in baseball through the first five weeks of the season.
The Raptors could still be a playoff team if they pass on Lowry and do a reset, but they clearly cannot compete with the Cavs and maybe even the Boston Celtics in the East. The Blue Jays may be facing a massive sell off prior to July 31 if they continue to wallow at the bottom of the AL East, with Donaldson, Marco Estrada, Bautista and Martin being sent packing for young prospects.
The Leafs face a critical summer in their rebuild plan after tasting success in the playoffs and forcing Washington to six games. The challenge for Mike Babcock is to keep their youngsters on a positive track and avoid sophomore slumps. GM Lou Lamoriello’s task is to acquire reinforcements on the blueline that will make Toronto a more complete team.
It is not a certainty that the Leafs will improve on last season and it may take a couple years to get as deep into the post-season as the Raptors and Jays did, but there is little doubt that the hockey club is back on the top of the heap.
Different angle of the Marner Goal. #Leafs #Canada pic.twitter.com/KMjYjhup8Y
— Leafs Hub (@LeafsHub) May 7, 2017
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According to the Swedish website Expressen, Leafs prospect Pierre Engvall has signed a two-year deal with HV-71 of the SHL.
The 20-year-old winger was selected 188th overall in the 2014 NHL Draft and played the last two seasons with Mora IK in Sweden’s second-tier league, scoring 33 goals and 31 assists in 100 games. The 6’4…, 198 lb Engvall signed an amateur tryout contract with the AHL Toronto Marlies last month and played in Game 1 of their first round series against the Albany Devils.
Toronto retains the rights on Engvall until June 2018, so it is possible that they could sign him after next season.
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The Nashville Predators advancing to the Western Conference Final on Sunday was good news for the Maple Leafs, as they will now draft 17th overall in the NHL Draft in Chicago on June 23rd. The Preds and Leafs tied with 94 points in the regular season, but because Nashville advanced, they will select at the bottom of the first round.
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Listen to Part II of the season-ending episode of the Blue N' White Tonight Podcast :
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