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2025-2026 Off Season Thread - The Rehappening

Artnes said:
www.nytimes.com

‘Nothing like being a Maple Leaf’ – but is that a good thing?

The Florida Panthers would have you believe the Toronto market is too much of a pressure cooker. Here's what the Leafs have to say.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
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This guy has to be the most thin-skinned, baby-back bitch in the modern history of this team.

He absolutely needs to go to a non-hockey market where no one knows or cares who he is and there’s zero pressure or scrutiny.

And think of the money he’ll save not having to pay teams of people to scour social media for him and harass reporters who say critical things about him.
 
LeafGm said:
This guy has to be the most thin-skinned, baby-back bitch in the modern history of this team.

He absolutely needs to go to a non-hockey market where no one knows or cares who he is and there’s zero pressure or scrutiny.

And think of the money he’ll save not having to pay teams of people to scour social media for him and harass reporters who say critical things about him.
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As Down Goes Brown mentioned in his excellent mailbag today, the narrative used to be that the Leafs underperformed because the fan base was too soft, overly appreciative, and undemanding…. and maybe the team could use a little tough love for some extra motivation

somehow, it’s always the fault of the fans
 
I read this today and it screams he wants the brand to expand his business ventures. Zero interest in improving the on ice product as revenue will stay consistent

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macleans.ca
 
I'll leave to the boards wiser minds for immediate comment on any Raps changes, but on the hockey side of things it is once again time to fire all of the people and start over, hopefully Pelley will oblige shortly.

Imagine saying this after a 108 point season, but here we are.

It needs to be said a lot of people in this, including us, are victims of investing in Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner to any degree. Or more accurately, the idea of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner and the rosy vision of the future they seemed to project when they were drafted. These two guys have been treated, in their own words, like gods and we have a few lousy 1st round wins in a decade as thanks.

I have slowly become very angry in the past 48 hours at Matthews' "passengers" crack. Are you fucking kidding me?? It looks like this guy has absolutely zero character and heart and balls like raisins. It is a sad joke that he has been made captain of this long-ago proud franchise. and what a colossal waste of hall of fame level skills. he should be ashamed but I doubt he has the capacity...at least, I've never seen it to date. the last week has really shown what kind of guys these two are, finally, definitively, and beyond all doubt.

It's incomprehensible that guys of this talent also happen to have zero heart or competitive will to win. Incredibly, unbelievably bad luck for a franchise that can't do anything right as it is.. and really needed the break that winning Matthews, by all rights, should have been.

they really got me to believe for a few years after they drafted these guys, but as usual it turns to complete shit.
 
Shanahan - Decade of somehow having a good rep despite his team winning zilch. Winner as a player but has had said decade to show us he has no clue how to build a team with that quality. Obviously a terrible judge of character in players, aside from the trying to be behind the scenes GM. Maybe that shit will fly better in the Island.

Pizzaboy - Should never have been hired in the first place. It's a lame, he-was-there hire by a guy flailing and grasping at straws. this guy won 2 rounds with Calgary in his whole time there. Not good enough for this market, or shouldn't be.

Broobs - I do confess to having some small degree of sympathy here, the I believe in Matthews and Marner and lessons learned comments were absolutely adorable given context, but his fate will and should be up to new management. I don't think he's an incompetent coach particularly, he just has several Pod People and androids as his best players. Not really his fault.
 
Volcanologist said:
I'll leave to the boards wiser minds for immediate comment on any Raps changes, but on the hockey side of things it is once again time to fire all of the people and start over, hopefully Pelley will oblige shortly.

Imagine saying this after a 108 point season, but here we are.

It needs to be said a lot of people in this, including us, are victims of investing in Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner to any degree. Or more accurately, the idea of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner and the rosy vision of the future they seemed to project when they were drafted. These two guys have been treated, in their own words, like gods and we have a few lousy 1st round wins in a decade as thanks.

I have slowly become very angry in the past 48 hours at Matthews' "passengers" crack. Are you fucking kidding me?? It looks like this guy has absolutely zero character and heart and balls like raisins. It is a sad joke that he has been made captain of this long-ago proud franchise. and what a colossal waste of hall of fame level skills. he should be ashamed but I doubt he has the capacity...at least, I've never seen it to date. the last week has really shown what kind of guys these two are, finally, definitively, and beyond all doubt.

It's incomprehensible that guys of this talent also happen to have zero heart or competitive will to win. Incredibly, unbelievably bad luck for a franchise that can't do anything right as it is.. and really needed the break that winning Matthews, by all rights, should have been.

they really got me to believe for a few years after they drafted these guys, but as usual it turns to complete shit.
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While I am curious to see what Matthews looks without his conjoined twin Mitch, I'm still on-board with everything you've written here. If I never saw him play for this team again, I wouldn't be heart-broken, and I have zero faith that he has the capacity, drive or interest to ever play a leading role in a deep playoff run or championship win.

This season also has me more convinced than ever that the only thing that motivates this guy at all is his individual goals and accomplishments. We've seen flashes of it before when him and Mitch play with a level of drive, tenacity and desperation when they're chasing a personal milestone in the closing days of a regular season that dwarfs anything we've ever seen from them in any playoff game in their entire careers.

The other example of that this season is that I'm convinced that the primary, overriding goal of all of the planning and management of his injury this season revolved first and foremost around Auston's desire to represent the United States for the first time in a best-on-best tournament, and to shield him from criticism for doing so. Being in condition to help the Leafs in the playoffs on the other hand simply wasn't a priority.
 
The other example of that this season is that I'm convinced that the primary, overriding goal of all of the planning and management of his injury this season revolved first and foremost around Auston's desire to represent the United States for the first time in a best-on-best tournament, and to shield him from criticism for doing so. Being in condition to help the Leafs in the playoffs on the other hand simply wasn't a priority.
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yeah. It needed to be space aids or an irradiated skeleton to excuse looking this fucking crippled all year but no, we get "nah it'll get better with rest" after he goes and fucks the dog for America at that tourney.

fuuuuuuuck you buddy
 
Volcanologist said:
Shanahan - Decade of somehow having a good rep despite his team winning zilch. Winner as a player but has had said decade to show us he has no clue how to build a team with that quality. Obviously a terrible judge of character in players, aside from the trying to be behind the scenes GM. Maybe that shit will fly better in the Island.

Pizzaboy - Should never have been hired in the first place. It's a lame, he-was-there hire by a guy flailing and grasping at straws. this guy won 2 rounds with Calgary in his whole time there. Not good enough for this market, or shouldn't be.

Broobs - I do confess to having some small degree of sympathy here, the I believe in Matthews and Marner and lessons learned comments were absolutely adorable given context, but his fate will and should be up to new management. I don't think he's an incompetent coach particularly, he just has several Pod People and androids as his best players. Not really his fault.
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Honestly, Shanahan might be even worse than Dubas.

Not that Dubas isn't utter shit too, but before he got fired, he was at the very least finally starting to make noises about how it might finally be time to break up the core. And with Marner's NMC set to expire July 1st of that summer, maybe that was the move he had in mind. Though of course, considering Dubas's track record in trades, he no doubt would have managed to royally fuck up that hypothetical trade.

Whereas by most reports, Shanny was the guy to step in and nix any idea of breaking up the core-4, and in his search for a replacement GM, prioritized finding someone who was on the same page as him there. Which led to the clock running out on Mitch's lack of trade protection, his NMC kicking in and setting us on the path to two more years of failure and disappointment before losing Mitch for nothing in return but cap space.
 
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