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Yankees an accurate comparison for Leafs

June 7, 2021, 5:05 PM ET [555 Comments]
Mike Augello
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As Leafs Nation painfully watches the Montreal Canadiens follow up their win in Game 7 against Toronto with three straight victories against Winnipeg, GM Kyle Dubas must plot his next move to finally break through in the post-season with the possibility that another failure could cost him and Team President Brendan Shanahan his job.

The futility of the Leafs being able to break through for five consecutive seasons provoked NY Post columnist Larry Brooks to compare the club to the New York Yankees, a club with all the financial resources and heavily invested in the use of analytics and a roster of expensive stars that never wins anything.

The Bronx Bombers have loaded their lineup with right-handed power hitters like Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, Gary Sanchez and Luke Voit, and have ignored the benefits of having a balanced lineup in lefty-friendly Yankee Stadium.

New York also has loaded their payroll with big-ticket items like Stanton, Gerrit Cole and Aroldis Chapman and are right up against the $210 million MLB luxury tax, which prevents them from going out and making moves to improve the club.

With nearly 50% of their cap occupied with the salaries of Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander, Toronto with a cap staying flat at $81.5 million will have to scramble each year to fill holes with veterans willing to take close to league minimum like Joe Thornton, Zach Bogosian, Wayne Simmonds and Jason Spezza did last season.

Brooks points out that the Leafs are similar to the 90’s Red Wings in their inability to get over the hump and that changed only with the acquisition of Shanahan in 1996 before their Cup victories in 1997 and 1998. Whether that kind of addition is possible for Toronto in the cap era seems unlikely, but Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Chris Johnston both think that Dubas will make a big move this offseason.

Friedman indicated ob the 31 Thoughts podcast last week that Dubas was unable to pull off the move that he wanted because of cap constraints, while Johnston sald on Steve Dangle’s podcast on Friday that while there is not one clear direction for the Leafs, that he believes that the Leafs will add at least one player over the summer that could be considered an impact player.

Johnston speculated that a player he believes Toronto will target is from a non-playoff US based club with multiple years left on his contract. If his suspicions are accurate, it is hard to believe that the Leafs can make that move and sign either or both Zach Hyman and Morgan Rielly without moving either Marner or Nylander in a deal.

Exploring possible acquisition options will be something this column will explore over the next few weeks.

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