Within the next three weeks, the members of Leafs Nation will find out whether the rumors about Steven Stamkos coming home to Toronto have been a lengthy and elaborate ruse or a portent of things to come.
The 26-year-old Markham, ON native is currently negotiating with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but it is unknown whether GM Steve Yzerman can or will be willing to offer Stamkos anything close to what he can garner as an unrestricted free agent on July 1, with most of the Lightning’s core group looking for new contracts this summer or in the summer of 2017.
The effect that the departure of Stamkos would have on the club that chose him first overall in 2008 would be significant, but not debilitating if you take into consideration that the Lightning eliminated Detroit, the New York Islanders and got to Game 7 of Eastern Conference Final with Stamkos playing only sparingly in the deciding game in Pittsburgh.
The final decision of this summer's most sought-after free agent will dramatically affect the direction of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
If Stamkos remains in Tampa or signs with another NHL club, it is likely that Team President Brendan Shanahan and GM Lou Lamoriello will stay the course and continue down the patient methodical path of the rebuild, possibly adding stopgap veteran free agents on short-term deals to support an inexperienced group led by first overall pick Auston Matthews.
This would be similar to what Toronto did last summer with the signings of forwards P.A. Parenteau, Shawn Matthias and defenseman Matt Hunwick.
If Toronto were to sign Stamkos, It would not result in a total abandonment of the rebuild, but would accelerate it to the point that Lamoriello would make some different decisions.
The signing would give the Leafs an abundance of centers, which would make either Tyler Bozak or Nazem Kadri available on the trade market, possibly in exchange for help on the blueline, which is an area of need after the departure of veteran Roman Polak and team captain Dion Phaneuf.
An area that will be addressed either way is goaltending, with veteran Jonathan Bernier entering the final year of his contract and youngsters Garret Sparks and Antoine Bibeau not ready to handle more responsibility.
If the Leafs continue on their current path, they will look for a younger goaltender who can grow and mature with the future core of Matthews, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly and Mitch Marner.
The addition of Stamkos may necessitate acquiring a more experienced goaltender who could enable the Leafs to be competitive now, such as Marc-Andre Fleury, Ben Bishop or Frederik Andersen.
Toronto becoming capable of challenging for a playoff spot is not going to happen overnight. Making the improvements and additions necessary to do that will not be possible in one offseason, but signing Stamkos will succeed in taking some of the spotlight, expectations and pressure off of Matthews and make them a more competitive team much sooner.
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TSN's Darren Dreger reports that the Anaheim Ducks will announce on Tuesday the hiring of former Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle as their new bench boss, replacing Bruce Boudreau.
Carlyle won a Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007 and was fired by GM Bob Murray in favor of Boudreau in November, 2011 before replacing Ron Wilson in February, 2012. The former Norris Trophy winning defenseman went 91-78-3 with Toronto before being fired in January 2015.
In spite of many blaming his arcane coaching methods for the Leafs downfall, the club was in a playoff spot when he was fired. The systematic dismantling of the Toronto roster over the last 18 months would give rise to the belief that all was not Carlyle's fault.
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Listen to the latest edition of “The Convo” as myself and CTV’s Norman James discuss the Penguins and former Leaf Phil Kessel winning the Stanley Cup, the NHL Draft, Stamkos and more:
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