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[Report] MLSE approves major Leafs rebuild; "Mr.Phaneuf & Mr.Kessel are not in the plan"


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http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/report-toronto-maple-leafs-rebuild-brendan-shanahan-scorch-earth-three-five-years-pain/

Report: MLSE approves 'scorched-earth' rebuild

The Toronto Maple Leafs could be on the verge of going full Buffalo Sabres.

Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment's ownership board met with the hockey club's management team two weeks ago and approved a long-term, down-to-the-wood rebuild for the Maple Leafs, according to a report by the Globe and Mail's Cathal Kelly.

The rebuilding project should spell another three to five more seasons of losing for a city that barring a miracle will have seen just one playoff series in the past 11 years.

The article also details which players management believes are valuable and which core members including the captain and the leading scorer are not part of the rebuild's blueprint.

Writes Kelly:

Mr. Shanahan and his lieutenants have now finally received a broad mandate from ownership to scorch as much earth as they see fit in order to return the Leafs to contention, according to two sources familiar with that meeting. It will mean a new philosophy on building slowly through the draft and long-term projects, rather than quick fixes via trades for established players. It will mean at least three more years of pain for fans, and as many as five.

This season has allowed management to identify a new core of players it wants to keep Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Jonathan Bernier, William Nylander. Nazem Kadri and James van Riemsdyk are still considered valuable because of their youth. There are some favourites, but no one not even a budding star such as Mr. Rielly is untouchable.

It won't happen until summer, but Mr. Phaneuf and Mr. Kessel are not in the plan. The goal now is extracting as much value as possible for them. That translates either to young players who are high-ceiling projects and draft picks.

Read the full article here:

http://theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/kelly-shanahans-scorched-earth-leafs-plan-wins-mlse-support/article22938348/

Well there it is, finally. If this is true and TO follows through with it, good for them. Honestly the only way to get that franchise back on track. It's just so discombulated right now, there's no identity at any stage of that organization.

Surprised MLSE is willing to do this which will surely see a drop in revenue for a few years. Phaneuf will be hard to get rid of. Horrible contract, overrated player, would be shocked if a team takes him with Leafs eating less than 25% of his cap, and the return won't be great. Kessel on the other hand can land a huge return if played right like how Jets did with Kane.

"Canada's best team", is done. Does this mean they tank as soon as now for McDavid or will it wait till the offseason?

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If they weren't in the plan, then why did you hand them both expensive long-term deals, idiots?

They're going to have to be dealt with salary retained and this will only help the teams that receive them.

Rest assured they'll do something else incredibly stupid to kill their next 'rebuild' effort. Keep it up, morons.

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http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/report-toronto-maple-leafs-rebuild-brendan-shanahan-scorch-earth-three-five-years-pain/

Well there it is, finally. If this is true and TO follows through with it, good for them. Honestly the only way to get that franchise back on track. It's just so discombulated right now, there's no identity at any stage of that organization.

Surprised MLSE is willing to do this which will surely see a drop in revenue for a few years. Phaneuf will be hard to get rid of. Horrible contract, overrated player, would be shocked if a team takes him with Leafs eating less than 25% of his cap, and the return won't be great. Kessel on the other hand can land a huge return if played right like how Jets did with Kane.

"Canada's best team", is done. Does this mean they tank as soon as now for McDavid or will it wait till the offseason?

It's quite obvious they've been tanking for a while not, and trying to go as low as possible. Might as well do it. They are going to be the eastern version of the oilers. Why the hell tank. They were 2 points out of a playoff spot when they decided to fire Carlyle.

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This should get the TO hockey media all excited about deadline day, esp. when guys like Dreger think Clarkson can be traded, but watch Nonis do nothing.

A massive Dion or Kessel trade needs to happen pretty much now, not at the deadline. If it doesn't, then it will have to wait until the draft. Even then, they're going to have to take salary back, it's too late for McEichel for them, and they already have a bunch of young guys already in place, so the 'scorched earth' thing might be overblown.

Interestingly, they should've been able to make the playoffs this season. The fact that they're like this now means that MLSE itself needs to be the first to go.

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Lol what a joke

When Shanahan was hired he was said to be given full control of the team, and only just now the ownership supposedly gives Shanny the permission to do this?

Do they know what giving someone full control means?

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If they weren't in the plan, then why did you hand them both expensive long-term deals, idiots?

They're going to have to be dealt with salary retained and this will only help the teams that receive them.

Rest assured they'll do something else incredibly stupid to kill their next 'rebuild' effort. Keep it up, morons.

This is what I don't get either. While those extensions were handed out prior to MLSE approving a full-on rebuild, I find it absolutely appalling that not one person in management could see what everyone outside of Toronto couldn't see years ago.

Trading Kessel and Phaneuf should have happened several years ago, any semi-knowledgeable fan could see that neither of those two were players you build a team around. While they are talented, they are guys you add to established teams. On a cheaper contract, Phaneuf is a guy you play alongside someone like a Drew Doughty, Shea Weber, or a Jacob Trouba (thought don't come to my Jets).

Kessel (pictured below), would be best served going on The Biggest Loser.

Bx5HZx8IYAAH80x.jpg

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Good for them. Wonder if Aquilini is capable of doing the same

We're not in a big clusterf*** like the Leafs so we don't have to. Oh, and we actually have a knowledgeable GM who knows what he is doing who can rebuild without tearing it all down / aka, the Bruins way.

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Finding possibly suitors for them at this time of the year will be difficult so these sizemic moves will be done in the off season most likely

Possible suitors for Kessel

Cbj, det, fla, nyi, wpg, nyr and cgy. Bare in mind this new team will be taking on a 8m Cap hit for the next 8 years. My money is on cbj

Possible suitors for phaneuf

Ana, col, la, nj, nyi, phi and wpg

I'd assume tor will have to be taking on a contract in return or eat some of phaneufs salary which they won't wanna do. I'd say he ends up in col

To tor: mcginn, Wilson, Barrie, 1st pick 2016

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I love how Clarkson just wasn't mentioned.

They're loaded with incredibly bad, costly, long-term contracts. I'm going to go ahead and assume there are a lot of NTCs as well. There's low demand for Kessel and Phaneuf (will need to take salary no matter what), no demand for Clarkson, and they have no valuable assets outside of their new 'core'. Their goalies are all mediocre and their prospect pool is barely worth mentioning.

Also, they have the highest ticket prices in the league.

And they expect Nonis and Shanahan to pull this miracle off?

I for one am looking forward to many more years of suffering for the Leafs.

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That would be a conspiracy though. And that clearly doesn't ever happen.

Oh absolutely, I'm sure all NHL executives (like all business executives) would never dream of putting money before morales. What was I thinking?

I think we can all safely assume that a closed door lottery would never be subject to any type of fixing.

I mean if I ran the lotto 6/49 closed door with zero accountability, my family and friends would have just the same odds of winning as everyone else right?

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If they weren't in the plan, then why did you hand them both expensive long-term deals, idiots?

They're going to have to be dealt with salary retained and this will only help the teams that receive them.

Rest assured they'll do something else incredibly stupid to kill their next 'rebuild' effort. Keep it up, morons.

kk you have to realize .... when signing these players they obviously they didn't have a rebuild in mind a couple of years after signing them... also not necessary that they retain salaries... some teams will just take them like detroit or la, but ya your right they will do something incredibly stupid to kill their next rebuild... i think the leafs need to take a course in oilers 101.

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