Happy Wednesday, a day where we’ll hopefully get some answers and some direction for where the Toronto Maple Leafs hope to go through the offseason and into next year. President Brendan Shanahan, General Manager Kyle Dubas, and Head Coach Sheldon Keefe will speak to the media at 1pm today following exit interviews and the wrapping up of the 2019-20 season.

It goes without saying that this year was bad, weird, confusing, busy, and painful. From contracts, to the defense, to the goaltending, to the disappearance of depth scoring, to injuries, to racism (still ongoing), to xenophobia (still ongoing), to the coaching fallout, to the pandemic, and to everything in between, I think we’ll all be very glad to see this season go. I doubt next year will be any more normal, and the anxiety from last year will still loom large, but at least we can close the book on some things. Namely Cody Ceci and Tyson Barrie. Hopefully. Please.

I want answers. I want to know what Kyle Dubas and Brendan Shanahan have learned, or at least what they’re willing to admit. Because this team isn’t in the top-10 in the league like we hoped they would be four years ago. They aren’t as complete as we hoped they would be. They feel stuck, so I want to know what the lubricant will be. Everyone has their own ideas, I’m curious to know what the GM thinks, because at the end of the day, only that’s what matters.

We’ll be providing coverage and reactions as the day goes on.

Who do you want to hear from most?

Brendan Shanahan225
Kyle Dubas230
Sheldon Keefe6
Any Players6
Carlton the Bear119

Yesterday’s Games

Calgary Flames 3, Dallas Stars 2 — CGY lead 1-0
The First Round started out pretty normal with this game. It got very not normal in the next one...

Tampa Bay Lightning 3, Columbus Blue Jackets 2 (5OT) — TBL lead 2-0 1-0
I’m sure you heard about this game. Suck it, Columbus.

Carolina Hurricanes “@” Boston Bruins — Game 1 — CANCELLED
This game was delayed due to the Lightning vs. Blue Jackets game going nearly two full games over time (heh, overtime). Originally scheduled for 8pm on Tuesday, these two teams will play at 11am today (Wednesday). As a result, Boston and Carolina will start their series with a back-to-back, and will have a second back-to-back in Games 5* and 6*.

Vegas Golden Knights 4, Chicago 1 — VGK lead 1-0
This was a pretty convincing win for Vegas.

Today’s Games

Carolina Hurricanes “@” Boston Bruins — Game 1
11am ET,  NBCSN, TVAS, CBC, Sportsnet, NESN, FS-CR

New York Islanders “@” Washington Capitals — Game 1
3pm ET, SN, NBCSN, TVAS, NBCSWA, MSG, MSG+

Arizona Coyotes “@” Colorado Avalanche — Game 1
5:30pm ET, SN360, NBCSN, TVAS, ALT, FS-A

Montreal Canadiens “@” Philadelphia Flyers — Game 1
8pm ET, CBC, SN, NBCSN, TVAS, NBCSP

Vancouver Canucks “@” St. Louis Blues — Game 1
10:30pm ET, CBC, SN, NBCSN, FS-MW

Various Hockey Branches

The boys at Back to Excited had a sombre postmortem podcast. Sometimes that’s the tone that’s needed.

Back to Excited Episode 115: Leafs vs Blue Jackets Postmortem

Elliotte Friedman spoke heavily about the Leafs in his 31 Thoughts blog. He speaks about Dubas altering his mindset about the team, tradeable contracts, possible timelines for the core, and Mitch Marner. I’m upset by his article because they don’t say the team is trading Marner.

31 Thoughts: How will Dubas handle Maple Leafs’ off-season?

I dislocated my eyes reading this tweet. They’re pointing at my brain now.

I dislocated my eyes reading this tweet. They’re pointing at my brain now.

Pittsburgh Penguins fans have Opinions about their management.

From The Branches