Time has come for Maple Leafs to hold players' feet to the fire

"But amid all of the hubbub surrounding trade rumors and Craig Berube being in the hot seat, the fact is that the time has come for the Maple Leafs to hold players' feet to the fire. In other timelines, it was players who took the fall. Do you recall Jake Gardiner? He was run out of town way back in the day. He misread a big play in the 2018 playoffs and then coughed up a crucial turnover in Game 7 against Boston in 2019."

"Since then, however, the axe has fallen on coaches and management. After the debacle in the 2021 bubble playoffs, Kyle Dubas became the fall guy. He was run out of town in 2023 unceremoniously. Then, it was Sheldon Keefe. Keefe got pinned for the Leafs failing to get past the second round in his time in Toronto. Last season, it was Brendan Shanahan, the architect of the Shanaplan."

This season has been poor for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as the club narrowly avoids being behind the Buffalo Sabres. Trade rumors and scrutiny of head coach Craig Berube have dominated discourse, but player accountability is overdue. Past scapegoats included Jake Gardiner after playoff errors and Nazem Kadri after suspensions; subsequent years saw coaches and management take the blame, including Kyle Dubas, Sheldon Keefe, and Brendan Shanahan. General manager Brad Treliving and coach Craig Berube share responsibility, yet roster changes targeting core players may be necessary to produce meaningful accountability. Moving only bottom-six players would likely fail to address deeper performance problems.

Read at Editor In Leaf