Leafs President Admits He Didn’t See The Canadiens Coming
· Yahoo Sports
The Montreal Canadiens are the talk of the NHL due to their headache-free rebuild, which has them heading towards the playoffs for the second consecutive season, and yet, Toronto Maple Leafs president Keith Pelley suggests his franchise did not see them coming, so to speak.
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Pelley addressed the media on Tuesday, a day after firing former general manager Brad Treliving.
One of the talking points centred on Toronto’s realization that the Stanley Cup window had firmly closed shut, a situation that took Maple Leafs management a little longer to realize than most.
It was only once they acknowledged the Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres had improved their standing significantly that the Leafs were ready to make wholesale changes.
“We need to be better, we need to be able to adapt quicker, and we definitely didn’t see the train coming that was the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens,” said Pelley. “And how strong those two teams are.”
Leafs MLSE President Keith Pelley on what went wrong this season with the team: pic.twitter.com/lDoC5w2frK
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“Buffalo and Montreal have shown that young, energetic team,” he said. “They’re going to be here for a long time. The prospects they have, from Michael Hage, to Radim Mrtka from Buffalo, they’re strong, and they’re going to be strong for a long period of time.”
It’s very rare to hear a president discuss other franchises during a public press conference, especially while naming a top prospect such as Hage.
However, it must be said that almost everyone in the NHL saw this coming, and that goes beyond the fans in Montreal.
The Habs have been on the uptick for at least two seasons, and they’ve done a masterful job ensuring the prospect cupboard remains full while adding important NHL pieces.
Perhaps it was simply a matter of Pelley setting the standard by comparing Toronto’s situation to Montreal’s, as there would be some logic in attempting to emulate the Habs’ rebuild.
But if the Leafs really didn’t see Montreal coming, there are more issues at play in Toronto than a roster that has continuously shed talent over the course of the last few years.
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