A wave of groans and sighs cascaded through Air Canada Centre and Maple Leaf Square on Sunday night, as Marcus Johansson scored his second of the game at 6:31 of overtime to give the Washington Capitals a series-clinching 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The response from Toronto fans, Leaf players after the game and head coach Mike Babcock quickly segued from disappointment to pride and optimism, as the club exceeded all expectations in making the playoffs and pushing the two-time President’s Trophy winners to six games; five of which went to overtime.
The series succeeded in getting the organization past the specter of the Game 7 collapse in Boston four years ago, provided youngsters Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Nikita Zaitsev and William Nylander their first taste of the Stanley Cup playoff action, but educated Babcock and Maple Leafs management on what areas need to be addressed or upgraded this summer to move a team that just qualifies for the post-season to one that can advance further.
“From our perspective, we’ve got to play a really good team, a really well-coached team with really good players. We got to find out where we're at and where our players are at.” Babcock said. “Until you've been through the playoffs with players, you don't really know the level of the player you have. You learn a lot about your team.”
The club will hold their season-ending press availability and locker room cleanout on Tuesday, where we may get some indication on what direction the Leafs will pursue this summer.
Toronto will have over $16 Million in cap space with the contracts of Brooks Laich, Milan Michalek, Colin Greening, Stephane Robidas, Roman Polak, Matt Hunwick, Ben Smith, Curtis McElhinney and Brian Boyle coming off the books and could create open up more space if they decide to move James van Riemsdyk or Tyler Bozak with a year remaining on their contracts.
Connor Brown, Zach Hyman and Zaitsev are restricted free agents this summer. The rookie forwards with only one year under their belt are likely to sign two-or-three year bridge deals, while the 25-year-old Zaitsev is rumored to be on the verge on signing a seven-year deal.
On locker cleanout day last April, the club announced the extensions of Nazem Kadri and Morgan Rielly, so it is possible that a new contract for the Russian blueliner could be revealed.
Toronto will likely make short-term contract offers to Polak and Hunwick (who played well late in the season and provided valuable experience). McElhinney (who Babcock felt comfortable with as a backup to starter Frederik Andersen) and possibly Smith for the purposes of meeting the qualifications for expansion exposure.
Boyle (acquired from Tampa for Byron Froese and a 2017 second round pick) solidified the Leafs fourth line and helped as a faceoff specialist and on special teams, but it is unknown whether the 32-year-old center wants to re-sign in Toronto or seek the best deal in free agency this July.
Upgrading on defense will undoubtedly be at the center of most trade and free agent speculation this summer. Babcock had no choice but to overplay Rielly, Hunwick, Zaitsev and Jake Gardiner against Washington, while Connor Carrick and Martin Marincin were used sparingly.
The Maple Leafs season overall has to be considered a success, but there are still many steps that need to be made for them to be legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.
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