School’s officially out for the summer —at least for Leaf Nation.
On Tuesday, the Leafs players and Craig Berube held court with the media for the final time before departing for the offseason.
All in all, as is the case most seasons, not much was said. Lots of fluff. At any rate, we dissected quote by quote on the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take as Carter Hutton filled in for Jay Rosehill.
To kick off the show, we jumped back into the conversation about the media. Weirdly, a lot of the narrative since Toronto’s latest Game 7 debacle has been about the media being too hard on the team. Alrighty then. Leon Draisaitl says he can handle the pressure – no problem – but what is he going to say when everything’s great heading into the Western Conference Final for the Edmonton Oilers?
After that, we gave our thoughts on Craig Berube’s podium. Unsurprisingly, he said the Leafs did a lot of good things this season. Furthermore, he thinks they can be more consistent with the system they’re trying to employ, and ultimately, he thought that ended up being the difference against Florida. Additionally, Mitch Marner spoke publicly for maybe the last time as a Maple Leaf. Once again, he was very deflective. He didn’t really want to get into his future. That said, when asked if he wanted to remain a Leaf, he was very noncommital whereas John Tavares made it very clear that he wants to stay in Toronto.
Meantime, Auston Matthews confirmed he got hurt in training camp. Unfortunately, that’s all he disclosed. He didn’t want to get into specifics, which was unfortunate. It’s his right, though. Also, we also addressed Morgan Rielly’s struggles and if the Leafs could look to trade the veteran blue liner this summer.
For the CRISPI HOT TAKE OF THE DAY, presented by the Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer, Producer Vick predicted that the Leafs will sign two of Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, and Aaron Ekblad this summer. Woah, another spicy meatball from Prod V. We shall see.
Lastly, brought to you by Charm Diamond Centres, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta joined us from on location from locker room cleanout day to weigh in on everything. He gave his thoughts on Marner’s future, the likelihood of Tavares re-signing, Matthews choosing not to disclose the specifics on what’s been ailing him, and what the Maple Leafs could aim to do this summer.
Jay Rosehill will be back in the mix for the Wednesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. Join us at 11 AM ET as we continue to dissect the culmination of yet another disappointing finish to a season for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Also, Leafs legend Rick Vaive will drop by the show.
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