If management is going down, they're taking the team down with them.
Its no secret that if the Leafs miss the playoffs, both Maurice and Ferguson will likely go. What many people dont realize, is the devastating effects this could have on the team. The lingering effects are already starting to show. Jiri Tlusty should be learning the pro game with the Marlies getting good ice time. Not playing the 3rd line on the leafs (with no ice time on special teams). Pavel Kubina should be having surgery on his torn MCL. However that would take 3 months to recover. By not having surgury he could be back in one month…but he could just as easily have surgury in a month, if his condition does not Improve. Darcy Tucker should have had surgery on his knee. He shouldn’t be playing injured with a brace.
But such is life for Maurice and Ferguson, scrapping the barrel for all the points thay can get.
Do they mind if they hinder Tlusty’s growth, and potential for upcoming seasons.
no
Do they mind doing the same for Stralman
not at all
So one has to wonder what else they dont mind doing. Maybe they don’t mind giving up RSL leading scorer Kulemin, or even Justin Pogge.
One thing is for sure, you can expect quite a few marlies to get a look with the big club, and quite a few attempts by JFJ to aquire an impact player.
So I have to conclude that the rest of the leafs season has to be definite. They either have to put a string of wins together and emerge as a true playoff team, or crash and burn with little chance of a playoff birth. In both cases the likelyhood of Ferguson making a bad move seems low.
However, the Leafs will likely not do that. They’re too good at scoring goals to tank, and to bad at keeping them out to make a good run. So they’ll probably sit at 500, maybe a few games over, just waiting for Ferguson to pull the trigger.
One thing is for sure, things are not looking up in Leafland.