What is to come?

As the season is winding down, I wanted to blog about what I predict will happen for the Toronto Maple Leafs in terms of management, coach, and players. In a season that started with hope, just like they all do, we all know how it is ending and that is in disappointment for not only everyone on the Leafs side of things, but more importantly the fans.

Lets start at the top. GM Dave Nonis has been the type of General Manager to claim to only make changes that make sense for the team. He has not made trades just for the sake of making trades. Sometimes as a fan we want to see change, but we got to remember we don't want other teams taking advantage of our frail situation. With Leafs president Brendan Shanahan witnessing first hand possibly the worst season in Leafs history, many wonder if he will start fresh next year with a new GM, or if he believes in what Dave Nonis has to offer. I personally think that since most decisions that Nonis makes need approval from Shanahan and get talked about collectively with the assistant managers, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets to stick around a while longer. At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised to see him let go. It could really go either way.

Moving on to the coach next. Peter Horachek was thrown into a pretty decent situation, as the Leafs were in a playoff spot when the somewhat surprising firing of Randy Carlyle took place. Since Horachek’s promotion to head coach, the Leafs have only won 6/33 games. Now you can't pin it all on Horachek, and management didn't like the way things were headed with Carlyle, I simply cannot see the team playing that bad had they not fired Carlyle. Peter Horachek is only an interim head coach so he will be replaced in the off-season. You can sense his frustration with the team’s lack of effort but ultimately this slide will be associated with him forever, and after not much success in his short time head coaching the Florida Panthers, it will be hard to picture Horachek in a head coaching role ever again.

As for the roster players on the Leafs, most fans have their opinion. The way I see it is that a player like Phaneuf will have better success on a playoff contender, but its hard to fit is 7 million dollar salary on a good team. Kessel has always been a fan favourite since his arrival, but we wonder if he’s truly happy with all the pressure and scrutiny that comes in the Toronto Market. He could yield back major assets for the future, and I would be all for that. The only players I would deem untouchable is Morgan Rielly and perhaps Nazem Kadri, who has had a rough go lately, but I still see upside.