What’s next for the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Another year, another first-round loss for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

This is the fifth consecutive season the Leafs have been ousted in the first round but losing to the Montreal Canadiens despite having a commanding 3-1 series lead is easily the most painful loss for the club.

The Leafs haven’t been able to get the job done in big games so general manager Kyle Dubas went out and added veteran depth to the team by adding @Joe Thornton, @Wayne Simmonds, and @Zach Bogosian, but, yet again, it didn’t work. What now?

Toronto has a handful of players set to hit the free-agent market: @Zach Hyman, @Frederik Andersen, @Nick Foligno, @Jason Spezza, @Alex Galchenyuk, Thornton, Simmonds, and Bogosian. This allows Dubas the opportunity to re-think his approach and retool the roster with some new depth players.

Dubas’ top two priorities off the hop will be signing Hyman, a key member of the team’s top-six, to a new deal, and also signing a new goaltender to play in tandem with @Jack Campbell. After a miserable, injury-riddled season, it’s safe to assume the Leafs will move on from Andersen.

But is this all shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic? Is it time for Dubas to make a big trade to shake up the core of the roster?

The team simply hasn’t been able to get over the hump. It’s one thing to lose to a very good team like the Bruins in the first round. It’s another thing to lose to middling teams like the Blue Jackets and the Canadiens.

@Mitch Marner has found himself as a major scapegoat after Monday’s loss. Since holding out and earning a massive $65,408,000 contract, Marner hasn’t come through in the playoffs. He was held without a goal in the team’s loss to Columbus last year and to Montreal this year.

Marner is obviously an excellent player, as he has 358 points in 355 NHL games, but a major move could give the Leafs the wake-up call they need. That said, moving a player who’s paid $10,903,000 in a flat-cap world for an adequate return won’t be easy.

It might be best for Dubas to not overreact and continue retooling. “There’s always next year” isn’t the thing Leafs wants want to hear, though.