Why Are The Leafs Running It Back AGAIN!? w/ Chris Johnston | SDP 

Fun fact, since the 2018-19 season the Sharks have more playoff round wins than the Leafs.

Not trading Marner before his no move clause kicked in last year, is EXACTLY the reason why Shanahan should have been fired! Ridiculous

It’s insanity bro 😭

This is what happens when you sign terrible contracts with full no movement clauses. Leafs fans need to realize they will just have to wait this out.

everything is on the table, and it's staying on the table

Chris Johnston has that "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy" voice.

I already can't wait for the post mortem episode of next year after they once again get thrown out the playoffs

He was never getting traded and we all knew that deep down.

The thought that players want more money to play in Toronto because they know it's a guaranteed first round exit is so damning. Totally explains why nobody wants to take a hometown discount, because people only do that on teams that win cups.

I am totally on the boat for demoting marner to the 3rd line, make him want a trade and ship him at the deadline

The Ballard curse is alive and well. Stupid is as stupid does ... Gump.

Steve thinks the "real NHL" comment has to do with the Toronto media circus, but he should watch this clip back and really listen to the conversation. They are all making a case for why Toronto isn't considered the "real NHL" by outsiders. Any other team like Tampa or Florida or Vegas would've blown this roster up 4 years ago after the lack of success. Look at what Tampa has done after going out in the first round 2 years in a row. You think they would've waited 7? You think other teams are afraid of change? Sometimes the moves are good, sometimes bad, sometimes they make fans mad, but they make them where as Toronto has not. And they all know that's not how other teams who've had success do business, but yet they get mad when they're called out on it externally, but you complain nonstop internally. The irony.

Parking at the mall is 100% pro tip. 5 min walk to the arena, 10ish min stumble back.

Leafs are cooked

"Hasn't performed in the late rounds in the playoffs"? I guess one could consider the second round late😂

I think Chris nailed with Canadian teams in general, when a team's management doesn't have to worry about attendance and they are making a profit then why mess with things. Toronto could fall apart like Buffalo or Columbus and still have packed seats.

Today i learned that the second round is "late in the playoffs" So delusional

At least the Leafs will be saving everyone's time. The results for this season will be the same as last year without the season even starting See all Leafs fans in the 2025-26 season!

Leafs need new managment. Lost 7 times in first round and still don’t understand these guys don’t care to win a cup only care about getting over payed. When your players are getting payed more then everyone else in league and never win in playoffs you know your getting played

Money! These players sell regular season tickets and merchandise and that’s all ownership cares about. Welcome to 21st century sports. Yay, Money!

You know what teams make the hard decisions, and tough moves? Teams like Las Vegas and Florida. Shanaplan doesn't have the balls to make the tough moves. Enjoy the continuing playoff failures.

You guys don't get it. The reason why Dubus was fired was because he wanted to split up the not-so fab four. It went against everything that Shanny noted publically for the past 5 years about the core. As soon as Dubus publically stated it needed to change - he was let go.

When is everyone gonna realize it’s not Treliving it’s Shanahan. That’s why dubas wasn’t brought back. He was ready to break it up and Shany couldnt then and still can’t admit the Shanaplan won’t work

The team is better?!?! We don't even have a proven number 1 goalie, our defense is slightly better but the offense lost their best second line scorer and grit in Bertuzzi who was really starting to click...Better, not by much. You can't pretend to win cups when your core guys are ragdolled in the playoffs with no apparent fight when it counts the most. 8 years, 1 lousy round and no end in sight. Berube will be pulling out whatever hair he's got left.

Every summer they are spamming Marner regular season stats and everybody is convinced again to keep him, and dont tell me about his playoffs stats, hes still ass even if he put points

This isn't a topic that's pushed enough but we need another team in Toronto! This will finally give the Leafs enough motive to actually formulate a real team.

LOL for using a curved screen as a placard xD

Because it's like that time you had shrooms and stared at that Escher painting of stairs that go nowhere.

lol, another year, another first round exit, another round of lies from management, another offseason playing the same game of musical chairs and leaving the core 4 intact. Fans should be furious.

The organisation doesn't need much change, why would they? The bottom line is doing fine, charge top $$$s fill the seats & the money men are happy!! Fan base doesn't make much noise & takes the crumbs the regulation season throws them! Change? Why bother? Mediocrity is accepted in Toronto, no surprise there. It's a shame but the people in power are so obviously not fans, well not Maple Leaf 1s that's for sure!!

Nick alberga the sick and tired guy who’s girl friend is his hand and sock. Man do I miss Don Cherry

I like that Steve and Adam are yelling at CJ like he's Brendan Shanahan or Brad Treliving.

It's a little overboard how much everyone is scapegoating Marner when he's not the only one who doesn't perform in the playoffs. I'm all for trading him for a defenseman but let's not act like moving off him is going to suddenly make Matthews and company score in the playoffs. I think the biggest culprit is the way we play which we addressed by bringing in Berube who will play a more simple North South game and stop all these drop passes and hiding along the perimeter.

A lot of Leafs fans were on the Marner out train after the Panthers series last year. If Marner stays, don't be surprised if they have another first or second round exit against Boston, Tampa, or Florida. I think Mitch would work better if he had prime Crosby with him, who gets into the dirty areas of the ice constantly (and a great passer as well), but Matthews doesn't do that. If Marner thinks the pressure on him has been great, wait until he performs poorly in the playoffs making 12.5 or 13 mil per year.

Going to a Florida game , definitely park at the mall and walk over

6:41 Yeah this is true - They should have moved marner before the NMC kicked in last summer - when they didn't move him and the NMC kicked in, they should have benched him all of this season and started playing hardball a year earlier. It would have made no difference. He performed like we all knew he would and they lost miserably in the first round. What would him sitting have changed? Not having to deal with the depression of watching a playoff loss? However with that said - by not doing anything now, its going to be another situation of 'a year too late' next year because we gain nothing by letting him play out his contract if anything just increases his value to other teams if he can pull a good season out of his ass (ideally for him not making it to the playoffs). Or more likely totally screw the situation completely and just end up re-signing him at some point this coming season when he goes on a crazy point run, which I bet will happen.

As I have posted elsewhere, If "everything is on the table" well 'everything' technically would include running it back. You don't have to like it but they didn't deceive anyone. People made assumptions it meant major changes were essentially guaranteed instead of just being considered.

Thanks for Bertuzzi!

What’s the definition of insanity?

The leafs aren’t the real NHL, the fact that management factors the media and fan reaction into their decisions is the red flag that something is not right with this franchise. Regular teams like would never have allowed this to happen, this roster would have been blow up years ago in any other organization.

Management is terrified because 1 wrong move is so magnified that it tarnishes their reputation because that move will be dissected to its core for years ....I'm assuming that's why

The Leafs added a bunch of players for LTIR. Fantastic strategy.

Long time leaf fan I guess ....tired of their failures and this joke of a management...shanny I'm talking to you

how the hell does shanny still have a job

no matter the trade it would be hard for Toronto to win that trade. Even if Marner agrees to a trade it is hard to get better than a top 5 assist player in the league. Calgary lost the Tkachuck trade. Now it looks even worse than the day the trade happened. It will hurt more though if marner walks away and they get nothing though.

so they waited a yr too long. Treleving did nothing when he coukd of becouse Shanahan told him your .oving tbe core 4. it is the shanaplan. should have been fired yrs ago, but, oh ya, seats are still full, so who cares?? not MLSE.

Ideally the leafs make a change but I don’t think a change solely for changes sake is a good idea if the return on Marner is a big downgrade. It’s a hard trade to make due to salary and if the only trade available makes your team worse, it’s better to keep Marner IMO.

I have to agree with Steve...this core 4 Does Not Work. Enough is enough. Marner needs to go. Yes he is a good player but do you realize who and how many good players you can get for 12-14 million?..if toronto runs back the same core, guaranteed its going to be another ground hog day come April, may....also like chris said, I am getting the feeling that Toronto owners and management are OK with being just OK, as long as they fill the arena..sad...

the fact that steve dangle is so successful, tells you everything you need to know about how bigly toronto sucks.

Notice how the 3 jersey numbers of the screen shot on the top 3 guys all add up to 7? 88,16,34

No reason to follow the Leafs this coming season. You already know how it ends.

Marner's contract and poor playoff stats. are one of many problems the leafs have. With a no trade clause , he holds all the cards for now

It's crazy looking at a core four in hockey that's worth as much as Scottie Barnes, is being talked about as too expensive. The Leafs definitely bring in more revenue than the Raptors. The NHL needs way more money or less broken teams

The issues with the leafs are cultural. This country club atmosphere with players who have done nothing great(looking at you Nick Robertson) thinking they’re amazing. Tell all of them at training camp, and I do mean all of them NO EXCUSES. If you play like trash you’re going to be treated like trash we won’t protect you from the accusations anymore.

Everything went wrong when they hired Dubas instead of Hunter.

It's amazing how everyone from the outside can see that no one from the inside has the balls to do the necessary thing here.

The GM n Prez will tell fans what they want to hear to fill seats not hard when people keep paying for tickets for a losing team 😂

Chris Johnston is good, but the other guys are clowns

The people saying Shanahan should be fired weren't around for the 20 years before he was hired, they don't know how bad this team can get

At 4:12 "This player hasn't really performed well for us in late rounds in the playoffs". What late rounds exactly? Leaf fan fantasy again!!!??? WHAT??? Please explain. I guess second round is late round for the Leafs. Go Habs Go.

Chris on the way to the studio. Fck fck fck, i forgot my bear hat.

I was sceptical that anything major would happen. I don't know why Marner would agree to a trade, I don't see why any team would offer anything of substance (in a potential deal for Marner) when they can sign him for nothing next year, and I don't see why the new coach (and the Board at MLSE) would agree to any trade that would arguably make the team weaker, at least in the short term. I maintain that the team should just let Marner and Tavares leave at the end of next season and use their money to improve the club.

Marner is going to have a horrible time being in public going forward

Watching Leaf media today is like watching slapstick comedy in the 70's, like the 3 stooges for example.

Shanny was full of sh!t when he said everything is on the table

Such a simple answer to that questions: Because no one wants to pay that much money for players that can't play in the playoffs. The players are overpaid AND with no moves clauses. So they are stuck with these players until they walk. Bad deals since they will end up not getting anything back for those players. HANDCUFFED!! IF, and this is a HUGE IF, they can get a trade partner, the Leafs will have to accept whatever bullshit offer they get back if they really want to trade any of their "Core four".

They literally have no choice This is still Dubas team, at least until those awful core 4 contracts expire. Until that day Trevliving can only tinker with Dubas roster.

Putting faith in the prosepcts and playing minten amd cowan for the whole season would be pretty bold.

Also, Dubas gets a lot of slack for those contracts, but remember: they were signed before lockdown. If there was no lockdown, the cap would have been 90+ million two years ago. Also, even with those big contracts, the Leafs still had a good enough team to beat the Habs in 2021, but they didn't, mostly because Matthews and Marner underperformed. They probably beat Boston in April if Marner and Tavares showed up. Edmonton made the conference final two years ago and they didn't have an incredibly deep team, but McDavid and Draisaitl were monsters.

Which episode was this from

Can't wait for round 1 Bruins vs Leafs again.

13:44 That’s why I’m glad Kuch got his 100th assist. Can you imagine being on the cusp of a big milestone and not getting it on the last day of the season? That would suck!

Steve. First, love the show! Thank you for sharing your passion. Second, I'd like to know specifically what would you do with Marner's no trade clause? If you were Shany or Brad what specific moves would you make knowing you cannot move Marner. I get everyone is frustrated (dad took me to games in the Gardens growing up and still cheer for the Leafs!) but what is the answer other than this sucks!? lol :)

The thing i dont really hear people talking about, is how over used mitch is. Hes a pk, pp, top 6 forward and a d on the rare occassion. They did nothing for load management.

I haven't watched that Dangle Phil Kessel video in a while

Very simple. (1) They have no choice on the Core 4 except to wait out the expiry of Marner and Taveres' contracts. (2) There ARE several major changes to the team: the coach - upgraded to a proven Stanley Cup winner from a Marlies grad, the starting goaltender and the D-Core. I really think this coming year will be all-or-nothing for the Core 4 under Berube. Either they shape up for the playoffs into the playoff contending group they were meant to be, or they get broken up completely, or even both. That's what happened under Berube in St. Louis when he converted a bottom-of-the-league team to the Stanley Cup winner...then watched it fall to pieces the next year after Captain Pietrangelo went to free agency because he wasn't given a no-move clause for himself and his young family, signed a contract with Vegas and went on to win another Cup.

Late rounds in the playoffs? You mean one second round appearance?

It’s like watching a slow motion car crash…..no, Groundhog Day without the option of fixing anything. Dang

Shanny and Pelley knew there were not going to be "major" changes. But stated there would, at that press conference. They LIED!!

The Leafs have taken every action that they (reasonably) can this offseason to improve their team, other than move Marner. Berube is a very different coach than Keefe, and before they cut bait, the Leafs need to see how Marner performs under Berube, with all new systems, lines, etc. At no time did I think that "everything is on the table" means it has to happen RIGHT NOW. If Marner is moved, it will at or as the trade deadline approaches. I don't understand why this is so hard to understand.

"Nylander shows up in the playoffs" *Marner with a higher PPG in the playoffs* 🤡🤡🤡 14 pts, +7 10 pts, -4 Which would you rather have? 🤡🤡🤡

Matthews must be glad everyone is distracted talking about Mitch's lack of playoff scoring

I think even if you trade Marner it doesn't lead to improvement. All this fixation on Marner is just scapegoating. I think the team could even take a step back even if they trade Marner, but it seems that is what everybody wants so have at her. Edmonton used to think this way as well and they would send good players down the river for nothing.

If we are being totally honest their strategy is going down flawlessly. Relying on Maple Leafs goldfish memories hoping we'll forget what happened last season, or the other 7 before that one. It only took about a month or two before Marner defenders were back in full force saying he shouldn't be traded at all, or media saying he isn't that bad. We finally had everyone on board and understand directly after the last playoff elimination, Marner has to go. At this point its like 25% of people still saying it and pre-season hasn't even begun. The majority now seem to think he should just be demoted (which would be temporary) to the 2nd or 3rd line, 2nd pp. Laughable. If they let him play at all this season he'll play good in regular season, continue to get promoted back up in the lines until the narrative is changed, media and Marner minions will go crazy, he'll get an overpriced extension and we'll have at least officially signed off on the death of the Mathews era. If Marner refuses to give a list of teams then their only option is to sit him the entire season, make it very clear he will never wear another Leafs uniform. Marner knows his narrative is not going to improve by sitting a season. Like you guys are saying, every team knows what they will get with him - a 100 point regular season scorer that can't play playoff hockey. If they sit him its the same narrative + 'a guy who hasn't played in a year'. It only screws over Marner and incentivizes him to take a trade. They literally have zero other leverage. If they let him play and he plays well it will just put pressure on them to re-sign him and at the price he wants. Exactly what Nylander pulled off this season with his crazy run at the beginning of the season.

Adams laugh is the worst noise there is 😂

I'm looking forward to Urinating Tree's 2025 'Congratulations Leafs' video. I'm sure Steve will continue to provide him with stellar video clips.

Maybe it's a curse of Harold Ballard as Shanahan was hired on the 24th anniversary of Ballard's death.

Should have signed Hyman and traded Marner

They're not. What you're looking at is the end of the John Tavares-Mitch Marner era for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both guys are getting contracts from teams not in Toronto, and it's the process of moving on when these have been your two leaders for the past 5 years. At some point I would expect a soft regime change, whether it's removing John of his captaincy and/or a trade as he considers his next phase of his career. Whether it's giving new Leaf Chris Tanev a letter while taking some pressure off of Mitch Marner to allow him to also process and consider his next move. The situation is different than in years past. Matthews and Nylander re-signed in the offseason, I expect Marner and Tavares will be transitioning into new homes. The Leafs also have a new coach and a new GM. You're starting to see the writing on the wall.

"Nielander brings it in the playoffs" - not really, its just relative to the fact that their other stars DONT do sheet in the playoffs.

What makes no sense is that Leafs should have zero fear in trading a player and getting worse. They’ll still make money. They’re the one team that should have zero fear of making a bold move cause the fans will still be there.

The nucleus is the same, but keep adding different pieces til they find the right mix...after next season they will have a better chance to grow

Shannahan works for HO in NYC, just like Burke. They’re an exhibition team, developing players for success down south where they can win. The core 4 are too weak and greedy to succeed on a real team so they make stars of them in Toronto to SELL JERSEYS!!! The goal is to have the best teams in the south constantly.

The big change will Matthews being captain and having a new coach. The big roster re alignment is for them to wait out the Tavares contract, and even then he will stay, but at a lower number

Does EVERYONE on the team want to win the cup? Not just 21, not just 22. But does ALL 23 players want to win the cup? Do the coaches want to win the cup? Do the managers want to win the cup? How bad do they want it?

Steve is trying not to explode

The answer is management only is concerned with making money winning a cup isn’t a priority

Shanahan is the problem

CJ sounds like a great media fall guy, who's got a bag full of excuses to bail anyone out of trouble, even Marner lol

Of course they had to run it back. Oh great idea let’s trade a hhof in their prime. Ya that works for every team… shanny Brad blew it trying to build around it. Fire em both