Maple Leafs mailbag, part 1: Sacrificing offence, evaluating Conor Timmins and more

With the Toronto Maple Leafs rookie camp set to open on Wednesday, and then full training camp on Sept.

18, its going to be an interesting few weeks here in Toronto.

We put out the call for mailbag questions recently, and there were so many great ones its going to take me at least a couple articles to get through the best of them.

Appreciate the questions and the patience as we dig through.

Lets get at it.

This Leafs team has had trouble scoring in the playoffs.

This offseason they largely invested in their defence.

Does that mean they feel their forwards have sacrificed offence to cover for a weak defence? Brandon S.

I think its more of an issue of being unable to solve every single issue in free agency, given the dollars they had and all the holes to fill.

General manager Brad Treliving has clearly targeted improving the Leafs blue line right from the moment he got to Toronto, and that process was a mixed bag at best last season, with the additions of John Klingberg, Joel Edmundson , Simon Benoit and Ilya Lyubushkin .

Advertisement Its undeniable theyre better on the back end for the first season of Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson s new deals.

Whether that sacrifice up front is worth the upgrade is going to be a storyline all season.

Three arguments in favour of going leaner up front to start the year: 1.

Itll likely be easier to add a scoring winger before the deadline in a trade than a top-four defenceman.

Again, we saw the issues in trying to beef up the back end midseason last year.

It never really ended up happening, at least not to the extent Treliving was hoping for.

They simply couldnt meet the acquisition cost for players like Nikita Zadorov and Tanev.

2.

They do have a lot of forwards signed, and theres likely going to be immense competition for spots (especially at left wing) in training camp.

By not spending on, say, a Tyler Bertuzzi or David Perron , they left open a hole for an Easton Cowan or someone on a PTO to surprise and win a job.

Even with Nick Robertsons ongoing, ill-advised holdout .

Getting a longer look at the Cowans, Bobby McManns and Pontus Holmbergs, etc.

early in the season makes sense.

And if they dont get the job done, thats where you start thinking trade.

3.

If the Leafs of last season have anywhere to give, its scoring.

Now, obviously Im talking about the regular season, and Ill get to the playoffs in a second, but Toronto was second in the league in offence with 3.63 goals per game in 2023-24.

Losing Bertuzzis 21 goals isnt nothing, but he was also played in a hugely prominent role, with his most common even-strength linemates being, in order, John Tavares , William Nylander , Max Domi , Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.

If you put anyone else into those minutes, theyre going to produce.

And youre hoping for more goals from some of the incumbents ( Matthew Knies , Domi, Calle Jarnkrok , etc.) and maybe some of the kids to fill the gap.

Advertisement Youre also hoping you get more offence from the back end with the addition of OEL.

The Leafs only had one blueliner produce more than 28 points last season.

Only four had more than 10.

So spending to get a bit more punch from the back end to diversify the offence makes sense.

How does this all help them in the playoffs, where scoring has been an issue for years? 1.

You try to add a bigger impact player at the deadline, up front, than you did last season, as theoretically youre set on D.

2.

Perhaps someone emerges among the forward group who produces more than you expected as the result of giving them more opportunity.

3.

At the end of the day, your offence is still built around the Core Four.

They scored 55 percent of the teams goals last season; no matter what you do, youre not going to win in the playoffs if they dont produce.

All of that is to say: I can see why they focused on adding two veteran defencemen and a tandem goaltender with their dollars in the offseason, and Im not sure it has anything to do with the forwards compensating for weak defence in the past.

To be clear, I dont agree with the OEL addition over help at forward, especially with the term on his deal, but I can see why they did it.

Theyve really only lost Bertuzzi up front, so the offensive dropoff shouldnt be dramatic, unless for some reason the coaching changes dont click or they run into way more injuries than a year ago.

And they still have time to see what they have and address any offensive shortcomings later in the year.

Outside of Matthew Knies, who is your breakout pick for this year? Brandon S.

I thought this would be easier than it is.

But you look at the roster, and how many plausible names are there even? Its a very veteran-heavy, established team.

We know what most of these players are at this point.

Robertson I think would have been the simplest choice if he was signed.

Unless Cowan or another prospect actually makes the team, which is a long shot, who actually can even break out? Advertisement Picking one of the goalies seems to make the most sense.

Neither are proven.

Both have good track records in small sample sizes.

And you just never know with goalies.

So, Anthony Stolarz , final answer.

In retrospect, what do you make of the comments by management that everything was on the table in the offseason? I dont think a single person understood that not to mean serious efforts would be made to move a member of the Core Four and likely Marner, yet by all accounts that never happened.

Was that management placating an angry fanbase at the time (hoping wed cool down over the summer after yet another playoff loss) or do you think they genuinely saw that as a viable path and ran into unexpected difficulties? If it is the former, what does it say about fan management at this stage of the Shanaplan? Fraser T.

Everything being on the table has sort of become a cliche in end-of-season press conferences at this point, for one.

But I do think they felt that way at the time.

The reality, however, is Matthews and Nylander were locked in and Tavares and Marner had no intention of waiving their no-movement clauses.

You can quibble with whether or not they could have tried to force the issue with Marner; they didnt see that as a realistic option for success, given his camp was adamant about using the NMC right from the beginning of the offseason.

So they changed the coach, changed the captain, changed around the blue line and added a goaltender who probably cant play worse than Ilya Samsonov did last season.

The roster is very similar, so they should be able to at least get back to the 10th-place mark they were at last year.

Maybe a bit higher with some internal growth and better goaltending.

It definitely wasnt a bold offseason, however, and thats something well be looking back on if the same issues sink them again next spring.

Any chance at all Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan make the team? Kris B.

Both of them? No chance.

Theyre in different situations here.

Minten is 20 and can play in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies, which is the right spot for him.

If he excels, you can recall him here and there to fill in for injuries and get a further taste of NHL life.

Thats the perfect rookie season given where hes at in his development curve.

Advertisement Cowan meanwhile is only 19, so his options are NHL or junior, where he obliterated the OHL last season with 96 points in 54 games.

Its a shame kids like him cant get more time in a better league, given the CHL agreement, but it is what it is.

If Robertson doesnt come to camp, therell be an extra hole up front.

I know the Leafs are looking at PTOs for some veteran wingers, so maybe it disappears, but if Cowan plays lights out throughout camp and preseason, maybe he gets a mini-audition with Toronto like Minten did a year ago.

Again, though, thats going to be a long shot with how many forwards they have signed and their available cap space: Which Leaf do you suspect may have the hardest time adjusting to Craig Berubes coaching style? In other words, who will spend most time residing in Berubes doghouse? Mitchell E.

Unfortunately, I think the obvious answer might be Timothy Liljegren .

It sounds like theyre going to start with either OEL or Jake McCabe on the right side, which means pushing Liljegren down to the third pairing.

If Berubes not loving what hes seeing from that duo, he could really limit their ice time.

And I cant see him getting as much PP time.

That said, its not as if theres a murderers row of D-men there to push Liljegren for minutes, so its hard to imagine hell be living in the press box.

And they did sign him for two years at $3 million.

That contract, however, is extra heavy on signing bonuses, with two-thirds of the deal coming upfront, so if theres trouble with the Berube relationship, that could make him easier to move midseason.

Conor Timmins has been unfairly maligned.

If you look at him vs.

Rasmus Sandin vs.

Liljegren at the same number of games played, the numbers are similar.

Hes like Robertson in that whenever hes in the lineup, he generates points and then gets booted two games later because he has warts to work out.

Why dont the Leafs have the same patience to develop him as the other two? Hes definitely the biggest of the three.

If they dont, hes just going to have a bunch of 40-point seasons somewhere else.

Ben P.

Timmins turns 26 on the day camp opens next week, and hes played just 91 NHL games.

Obviously injuries have been a huge part of his story, but to me, hes not really all that similar to Sandin (24 years old and 227 games) and Liljegren (25 and 196).

Timmins issue, beyond the injury history, is hes prone to fairly high-profile mistakes and coaches never trust him in key minutes.

He has talent, to be sure, and hes an NHL-calibre player, but can he beat out anyone thats on this roster for minutes? Can he ever play higher than a third-pair role, even on a weak team? Advertisement Itll be interesting what the Leafs do with him.

Timmins has never gone through waivers.

But if Jani Hakanpaa shows up at camp and can play, his $1.5 million contract (which currently remains unsigned for wonky knee reasons) would seem to push Timmins off both the depth chart and the cap sheet.

Its also possible the Leafs sign a forward off a PTO or claim someone off waivers, and that too could mean the end of Timmins.

I think its probably 50-50 he gets claimed by another team, given how little hes played, but he does have a decent pedigree and right shots are always in demand.

And if there are any injuries on D in preseason, or they dont add someone up front, the Leafs technically have the cap space to carry Timmins in the press box for long stretches again as a depth option.

At this point, holding on to him, seeing how camp unfolds and using him in spot duty makes sense.

But I wouldnt expect any 40-point breakouts, in Toronto or elsewhere.

I think thats going to have to do it for this version of the Mirtbag, but Ill be back in the near future.

If you have more ideas for storylines youd like to see addressed in stories over the next month, let me know in the comments.

(Top photo of Conor Timmins: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.