Brian Burke thinks the Leafs should trade William Nylander: Leafs Morning Take

After a 12-day search, the hunt for a new GM in Toronto has come to an end.
Earlier today, the Maple Leafs unveiled Brad Treliving as the 18th general manager in franchise history.
It’s time to get to work! I think Treliving is on a private jet to Arizona as I publish this.
We kicked off the Thursday edition of Leafs Morning Take by discussing the Kyle Dubas hire in Pittsburgh. Coincidentally, the Pens made the announcement just 30 minutes before the Leafs officially unveiled Brad Treliving to the media. Go figure! Hmm.

As for the new Leafs GM, there’s so much to do. The next six weeks will be mighty fascinating, that’s for sure.

 
Meantime, we were lucky enough to be joined by a man who’s no stranger to Brad Treliving, or to running a hockey club for that matter. Former Leafs GM/current NHL Network Analyst Brian Burke stopped by to share his thoughts on the hire. Burkie was Rosey’s GM in Toronto. It was a fantastic reunion.

Here’s what Burke had to say about William Nylander when we asked him about the core four:
“I can address this because I addressed it in real-time. I was working at Sportsnet when it started with Nylander. I said it’s too much money, the sequence is wrong, they should have done this in an inverse order of signing. They overpaid Nylander now they guaranteed Marner would be overplayed, guaranteed Auston Matthews would be overpaid. In my mind, four guys making $40 million isn’t going to work. Even if the cap goes up, it’s not going up by more than a million and a half. It ain’t going to work. So it’s got to change.
“One guy is untradable, the other two guys are too valuable. It’s gotta be Nylander in my mind. And by the way, he’s become valuable to the point where he’s no longer overpaid in my view. I think he was, but his performance the last two years, he’s been a solid playoff performer, solid regular season performer, and it’s time I think to move on and get those assets and get your cap down.”
Lastly, for the Betano Wrap Up, we gave our Stanley Cup picks. We both like Florida.
No show tomorrow. We’ll be back on Monday at 11 AM ET. Talk then!
Don’t forget to subscribe, like, and leave us a review wherever you’re checking us out. …

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Author: Nick Alberga / The Leafs Nation

José Berríos is starting to get things going for the Blue Jays

After a disappointing 2022 campaign, right-hander José Berríos was looking to bounce back this season in the second year of his long-term deal that he signed during the 2020/2021 offseason worth $131 million over seven seasons, with an opt-out after the 2026 campaign.
While Berríos has been a consistent arm since his debut in 2016, last season saw the Puerto Rican product amass a 5.23 ERA through 32 outings, the highest amongst qualified arms and posting a 7.8 K/9, the lowest career total since 2016. He allowed an AL-leading 199 hits and 100 earned runs through 172 innings of work and while he had 16 games where he allowed two runs or fewer, he also allowed five or more through nine games, struggling to find consistency on the mound throughout the season.
Relegated to the fourth spot in the rotation a year after being the Jays Opening Day starter, Berríos made his 2023 debut against the Kansas City Royals. He struggled at Kauffman Stadium, allowing eight earned runs through 5 2/3 with nine hits and two walks on the ledger compared to seven strikeouts. The right-hander followed this outing with six hit performance against the Los Angeles Angels, allowing four earned runs through 4 innings while allowing his first home run on the season.
Kiyoshi Mio …

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Author: Tyson Shushkewich / Blue Jays Nation

Kyle Dubas’ 5 best moves during his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs

After being hired by the organization at the age of 28 back in 2014 as an assistant general manager, the Kyle Dubas era in Toronto has officially come to and end after nine years with the organization.
As we all know by now, the news broke recently that the Toronto Maple Leafs will not be extending the contract of Kyle Dubas and will now be looking elsewhere for a new general manager to take over arguably the biggest hockey market in the world with the 2023 NHL draft and free agency both just around the corner.
Whether you liked the job Kyle Dubas did throughout his five years as general manager and four years as assistant general manager or not, it’s no secret that he did some good things for this organization  — and yes, even some questionable things for this organization that at the time and even looking back at it now, were a bad idea.
What I’ll classify as a “move” in this article is simply trades, free-agent signings and even some draft picks that Dubas made. I am not counting re-signings with the players having already been part of the organization.
Before we start, let me say this, this is my top five, not yours. Yours may be a …

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Author: Joseph Zita / The Leafs Nation

Blue Jays lose 6-2 in first meeting of the season with the Orioles

After losing some ground in the AL East standings by dropping three of four to the New York Yankees, the Blue Jays had an opportunity to shake up the standings tonight in starting a three-game series with the Orioles. The Jays were unable to take advantage at least on Friday night, as the Orioles hit three home runs in a 6-2 win at Rogers Centre.
Toronto was frustratingly bad against Kyle Gibson, but they were able to put an end to Yennier Cano’s scoreless innings streak to begin his season. Unfortunately, that kind of thing won’t earn you a win or a loss, and Toronto would suffer their fourth loss in five games.
Blue Jays Nation’s Player of the Game: Kevin Kiermaier
Kiermaier was 1-for-4 tonight, but his one hit was the first hit allowed from Cano on his changeup. He would eventually come around to score on an RBI groundout from Bo Bichette, serving as the first earned run to cross the plate for Cano this year. Cano had only allowed four hits through 21.2 innings to begin his 2023 campaign.
Kiermaier also had a stand-out defensive play in the 2nd inning, throwing out Ryan McKenna …

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Author: Evan Stack / Blue Jays Nation

Report: Maple Leafs assistant coach Spencer Carbery on Anaheim Ducks list of potential head coaches

After every season in the NHL, it’s normal to see some teams fire and then hire either new head coaches, assistant coaches or people in management, and of course, this season is no different. There are a handful of teams around the league looking for new head coaches or people in management right now and the Maple Leafs have someone on their bench who has been on the radar for a couple of teams now.
According to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravelli, Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach Spencer Carbery is one name he can confirm is on a long list of names that Anaheim Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek has interviewed for the team’s new head coach.
 

#NHLDucks coaching search has mostly flown under radar, amazing because I believe GM Pat Verbeek has spoken to roughly 468 potential candidates.
But I can confirm 3 names on the list: Andrew Brunette (#njdevils), Spencer Carbery (#Leafs) & Mike Vellucci (#pens).@DailyFaceoff
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) May 18, 2023

 
Seravelli mentions Carbery is one name along with two others – Andrew Brunette of the Devils and Mike Vellucci of the Penguins –  that he can confirm the Ducks organization has spoken with for their search for a new head coach.
It’s not the first time Toronto has had Spencer Carbery interview for another team. Last off-season the San Jose Sharks interviewed the 41-year-old, per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, but ultimately, they went a different direction and hired somebody different.
The Boston Bruins also had an interest in Carbery and was reported that he, along with a handful of other candidates was set to be interviewed for the Bruins’ head coaching spot. However, as we know, the Bruins ended up choosing Jim Montgomery.
 
Whether Carbery impresses the Ducks and …

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Author: Joseph Zita / The Leafs Nation

‘Toronto has always felt like home’: Can the Maple Leafs afford to keep Luke Schenn?

After a long-awaited 11 years since being traded by the team who drafted him 5th overall back in the 2008 NHL draft, Luke Schenn was acquired ahead of the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline from the Vancouver Canucks, thus beginning his second stint with the Maple Leafs organization.
The 33-year-old Saskatoon native had a pretty up-and-down NHL career in the late 2010s before becoming a mainstay on an NHL roster for the last three seasons with the Lightning, Canucks and now, the Maple Leafs.
The “human eraser” – a nickname given to Luke Schenn for his execution of hits along the boards or in open ice and erasing people out of the play – was part of the reason why a massive amount of this fan base was happy to see him wear the Maple Leaf again for the first time since 2012 when he was just 23 years old.
In just 15 regular season games with the Maple Leafs this past season, Schenn recorded just one point, which was a goal he scored against the Lightning in the second last game of the season.
He also suited up for all 11 playoff games for the team and picked up a single assist in the process which was in game two of the …

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Author: Joseph Zita / The Leafs Nation

4 thoughts heading into game four of the Maple Leafs and Panthers second round series

Although the 19-year wait came to an end after the Toronto Maple Leafs finally ended the first-round curse, the team isn’t giving their fan base anything to cheer about in their second-round series against the Florida Panthers as the team from Sunrise currently has the team north of the border in a stranglehold and a chance to sweep them Wednesday night.
It was a sigh of relief when we all saw that puck that John Tavares shot toward the net slowly cross the goal line in game 6 against Tampa Bay just 10 days ago. However, since then, Maple Leaf fans haven’t experienced a win and are now watching their team – after knocking off the Lightning – slowly turn back into the Maple Leafs of the past.
Heading into this series against Florida wasn’t going to be an easy out by any means, and for the Leaf fans or hockey fans in general who thought otherwise, you were clearly in for a surprise. Florida came back from a 3-1 series deficit against the best team in NHL history (regular season-wise), and we were supposed to believe Toronto would walk all over them? Wrong.
Through three games of this series, the Panthers have shown us what the Maple Leafs …

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Author: Joseph Zita / The Leafs Nation

Zach Aston-Reese draws into lineup with Matthew Knies out: Leafs practice notes

After a day off on Friday, the Maple Leafs got back to work to prepare for Game 3 in Florida on Sunday night.
The biggest news throughout the last 48 hours for Toronto was that Matthew Knies suffered a concussion after his entanglement with Sam Bennett in Game 2 on Thursday.
Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe addressed the media on the day off and confirmed that the 20-year-old would miss the next two games, and likely the rest of the series. That’s a huge loss for Toronto after all the success Knies has had in the postseason.
With the 20-year-old coming out, the Maple Leafs had to figure out who his replacement would be (that’s pretty easy), and that’s Zach Aston-Reese.

#Leafs lines during practice May 6/23
Bunting-Matthews-MarnerJarnkrok-Tavares-Nylander Kerfoot-O’Reilly-AcciariAstonReese-Kampf-LaffertyExtra: Simmonds, Timmins
McCabe-BrodieRielly-SchennGiordano-LiljegrenGustafsson-Holl
Samsonov, Woll, Murray@BodogCA @RinkWideTOR
— David Alter (@dalter) May 6, 2023

Aston-Reese will slot back into the lineup in a fourth line role alongside David Kampf and Sam Lafferty. Also in the shuffle are Alex Kerfoot, who’ll move up to the third line, where Knies was slotted.
There was plenty of discussion after the game about Bennett’s play on Knies, and then after with Michael Bunting. Fans wanted a suspension and Keefe said it was a similar play to Auston Matthews’ cross-check on Rasmus Dahlin in last year’s Heritage Classic game.
Alas, we know now that Bennett was only handed a fine of $5,000. With that being said, there could be some type of response in Game 3 on Sunday, Luke Schenn says.

Asked Luke Schenn what the appropriate physical response will be to the Sam Bennett play on Matthew Knies that knocked the Leafs rookie out of the series:
“Well, we’ll see what the response is.”
— Joshua Clipperton (@JClipperton_CP) May 6, 2023

Mark Giordano has had a difficult series against Florida thus far, and just a tough go i …

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Author: Nick Barden / The Leafs Nation

Couple mistakes and another dominant performance from Bobrovsky leaves Toronto down 2-0 in series: Maple Leafs postgame

After a pretty good effort from the Toronto Maple Leafs in game one of the second round against the Florida Panthers, they weren’t the ones who came away with the win. They fell short with a 4-2 loss, yet there were some good things to take from game one, and hope that things could go their way in game two.
Heading into game two there weren’t any major lineup changes other than Sam Lafferty coming into the lineup for Zach Aston-Reese on the fourth line, as well as a couple of players swapping positions that played in game one.
Michael Bunting went from the third line to the first line and Matthew Knies, playing first-line left wing was put into Buntng’s old spot from game one.

First 20 minutes:
Kind of like game one, Toronto came out with a lot of jump and created a lot of scoring chances early. However, unlike game one of the series, Toronto capitalized on their chances and jumped ahead of Florida early with a 2-0 lead.
Just 2:20 into the game, Toronto’s fourth line went to work in the offensive zone and the game-four overtime hero from the first round – Alex Kerfoot – opened the …

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Author: Joseph Zita / The Leafs Nation

Why we’re still hopelessly optimistic about the Maple Leafs following Game 1

What a difference a round makes. After the 7-3 loss in Game 1 of the first round, many people were already making plans for May away from hockey and the talk was that we might have seen the last of Michael Bunting in a Leafs jersey. That ended up working out, and so help me, I don’t think the 4-2 loss to the Panthers require a forensic audit either.
The biggest difference in Game 1 was goaltending. Like against Tampa, Samsonov didn’t have his best outing to start the series. That’s fine. The guy is allowed the occasional off night, even in the playoffs. The catch was that as much as the Leafs forwards pushed late in the game, Sergei Bobrovsky was busy being the guy who earned the $10M AAV contract, not the guy who has been cashing the cheques for the past few seasons. Given that he is now on his first four game win streak of the season it can play out in one of two ways, he continues on a goaltending heater that leads to the Panthers …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation