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If you hoped to get some clarification on what the future of Lou Lamoriello and what the Toronto Maple Leafs plans were to improve this summer, then Friday’s locker cleanout day at Air Canada Centre was a big disappointment.
The 75-year-old Hall-of-Famer is a master of saying a lot without giving away anything and would not talk about his contract status and whether he wanted to continue in the position he has held with the Leafs the last three years.
“Part of my personality is not thinking about myself or worrying about myself or expressing what has to do with me, so it’s not anything new here than it has been in the past and that is where I’m going to leave that.… Lamoriello said about staying in his current position.
Lamoriello reportedly signed a three-year contract when he joined the Leafs in 2016 that had an option to shift to an advisory role. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported earlier this week that Leafs Team President Brendan Shanahan may prefer to keep things status quo for the near future, but his colleague Chris Johnston seems to imply on a recent Steve Dangle Podcast that a transition to Kyle Dubas as soon as this summer is possible. As has been the case during the entire Lamoriello era, the plan for the Leafs organization continues to be top secret and only get revealed when they want them to be, but with key aspects to the future such as getting Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander signed to new contracts, it would be surprising to put all of that on a new GM’s plate.
When prompted regarding the Leafs need to improve their blueline, the Leafs GM was once again hard to pin down.
The Leafs were thought to be in the running for Travis Hamonic last summer when the New York Islanders were shopping him, but New York had health concerns and contract questions about van Riemsdyk(who was being offered in exchange) and eventually the defenseman was dealt to Calgary.
Toronto was admittedly attempted to acquire veteran Ryan McDonagh at the trade deadline, but Lamoriello said that the club did not offer what Tampa did for the former Rangers blueliner.
With an unrestricted free agent like John Carlson potentially hitting the market this July and blueliners Noah Hanifin, Jacob Trouba and Oliver Ekman-Larsson possibly being on the trade market, the Leafs may have to give up a player that they do not want to give up, but it is still unknown whether it will be Lamoriello making that choice.
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Leafs prospect Yegor Korshkov was expected to be heading to North America and sign an entry-level contract at some point this summer, but according to reporter Igor Eronko, the 2016 second round pick has re-signed with Yaroslavl Lokomotiv of the KHL for 2018-19 season.
The 6’4…, 180 lb. winger scored 26 points (8 goals, 18 assists) in 54 games in his fourth KHL season and his staying in Russia another year is likely because the Leafs have a stockpile of young wingers in their pipeline in the NHL and American Hockey League and the 21-year-old will get more ice time with Lokomotiv.
Toronto retains Korshkov’s NHL rights through the end of the 2019-20 season.
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