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Six Sunday sports musings

July 16, 2017, 10:15 PM ET [63 Comments]
Mike Augello
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
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Until the opening of training camp in September, my Sunday column will be devoted to six topical items in the sports world, most of them Leafs/NHL related, but there may be some straying with the news being sparse during the summer.

1. The Toronto Blue Jays came out of the All-Star break losing two out of three to the Detroit Tigers, lowering their record to a disappointing 42-49.

The dysfunction and turmoil is not the same as it was when Brendan Shanahan convinced the MLSE board to buy into a full Leafs rebuild in 2015, but the Jays have reached a point where blowing it up makes a helluva lot more sense than keeping aging players around in hopes of a second half comeback.

Moving Marco Estrada, Troy Tulowitzki, Jose Bautista or Russell Martin will bring little back, since they are making too much, are signed for too long or are having a subpar season.

For GM Ross Atkins to reload the organization as the White Sox are doing this year or the Yankees did last summer, he should be looking to move third baseman Josh Donaldson with over a year left on his deal or pitchers Marcus Stroman or Roberto Osuna, who will bring back a big return at the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline.

2. Tampa Bay GM Steve Yzerman has had another excellent summer, moving RFA forward Jonathan Drouin to Montreal for defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, adding veteran blueliner Dan Girardi (yes, analytics aficionados…that is a good move), adding four-time Stanley Cup winner Chris Kunitz via free agency and getting Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson extended.

Drouin was not a Jon Cooper player and the Lightning were never going to give him a big contract, so they did well to get one of the best young defensive prospects in Sergachev. A resurgent Lightning squad with Steven Stamkos healthy is going to make the Leafs task of making the playoffs more difficult

3. As long as the New York Islanders and John Tavares have not reached an agreement on a new deal, the rumors of him being dealt before the season or signing somewhere next summer will run rampant.

Larry Brooks of the New York Post envisions Tavares joining Stamkos in Tampa Bay, who might be aggressive with their no-state tax advantage. That gave the Lightning an advantage in the signings of Johnson ($5 Million) and Palat ($5.3 Million) on long-term deals.

The Islanders have to know that keeping Tavares in the fold is the key to them getting a new building built and their chances of getting him locked up would improve if GM Garth Snow did more than swapping Ryan Strome for Jordan Eberle and dealing Travis Hamonic for a boatload of draft picks.

It is hard to imagine the Leafs making a serious bid for Tavares next July with the impending contracts of William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews. If they were so inclined, it would likely mean that Nylander or Marner would be moved because Toronto could not afford to pay for all three youngsters and Tavares.

4. How good do the Morgan Rielly and Nikita Zaitsev contracts look after the deal signed by Jaccob Slavin last week? This is not a dig on Slavin (who signed a seven-year extension with Carolina at $5.3 Million AAV), but the escalating prices of defensemen makes Rielly ($5 Million AAV until 2022) and Zaitsev’s deal ($4.5 Million AAV for seven years) look like a bargain.

5. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported this week that Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe was one of four candidates interviewed by the Arizona Coyotes for their vacant head coaching position before the hiring of Rick Tocchet.

With Mike Babcock not leaving any time soon, Keefe may get more consideration for NHL jobs as his reputation for developing talent grows.

Coming on the heels of Kyle Dubas talking to the Avalanche, the question is how long will it be before the Leafs organization begins to lose some of its components.

GM Lou Lamoriello dodged a question about his future status at last week’s Development Camp, but the 74-year-old Hall-of-Famer does not appear to be ready to retire.

Dubas has received interest from two teams (Arizona and Colorado) in the last 12 months, but it is hard to imagine him leaving Toronto as long as there is hope for him being in the mix for the Leafs job.

6. The Leafs 2017-18 schedule has a few unusual quirks. In previous years, they’ve been at home for most of the month of December. This year, they play 10 of 13 games in December on the road. One of their home games is an unusual Sunday night contest against Edmonton, which is the second of back-to-back weekend games.

Another quirk, Toronto does not play the Buffalo Sabres until Game #68 of the regular season (March 5th in Buffalo) and plays their Atlantic Division rival four times in the last 15 games.

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