{"id":9109,"date":"2017-04-25T16:28:14","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T20:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=9109"},"modified":"2017-04-25T20:03:57","modified_gmt":"2017-04-26T00:03:57","slug":"toronto-maple-leafs-rebuild-continues-after-playoff-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2017\/04\/25\/toronto-maple-leafs-rebuild-continues-after-playoff-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Maple Leafs Rebuild Continues after Playoff Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Toronto Maple Leafs, despite a first round exit, managed to prove their worth in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Toronto&#8217;s bout with the Washington Capitals was nothing less than a stepping stone in the right direction for the young club.\u00a0After partaking in arguably the most exciting series thus far, they will shift their focus to the future. Above all, Toronto&#8217;s playoff participation has enhanced the outlook of a steady leafs rebuild.<\/p>\n<h1>Leafs Rebuild to Continue Post-Playoffs<\/h1>\n<p>Looking to the future, Lou Lamoriello and his head office will continue to build upon a now-competitive roster. Coming off a respectable playoff performance, the Leafs will take the summer months to focus on outstanding weaknesses.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Babcock says it&#39;s a big summer for Shanahan, Lamoriello and himself to improve the Leafs.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; James Mirtle (@mirtle) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mirtle\/status\/856908337023262721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 25, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>One of Toronto&#8217;s main concerns this season has fallen on their defensive core. They finished \u00a0the year with 3.00 goals against average, placing them at 22nd overall in this department. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/a\/anderfr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Frederik Andersen<\/a><\/strong> was a driving force in the first round, but could only do so much against the Capitals renowned offence. The Leafs number one was left hanging to dry in the crease on occasion, further proving that the blue line has holes. Washington was given a noticeable amount of breathing room throughout the series. Lamoriello will most likely build around\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/riellmo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Morgan Rielly<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/z\/zaitsni01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikita Zaitsev<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>two defenseman with loads of potential that is due for development. Zaitsev was unable to perform at his usual standard in the playoffs after suffering an upper body injury. Rielly collected five points and posted an astounding ATOI (average time on ice), at 26:53.<\/p>\n<p>Acquiring a defensemen in the near future is likely. The Maple Leafs management will begin to find ways to account for defensive flaws shown this season. Two names that have been mentioned include <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/a\/alzneka01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Karl Alzner<\/a><\/strong> of the Washington Capitals and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/tanevch01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Tanev<\/a><\/strong> of the Vancouver Canucks. Adding a reasonably affordable piece that can improve blue line consistency will do the Leafs well heading into next season.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, gaining experience against the Capitals front line in the playoffs will help to mature\u00a0inexperienced defensemen. Steady competition against one of the league&#8217;s best was an important developmental stage, but also bore witness to the ways in which the Toronto Maple Leafs can improve.<\/p>\n<h1>A Season to Review and Remember<\/h1>\n<p>In the wake of a successful campaign, the Maple Leafs will enter next season determined to grow. Toronto&#8217;s front office opened their arms to a rebuild, one that has been promised to be tedious and rewarding. The 2016-2017 season enabled the young club to build confidence while reviewing gaps and strengths over the summer.<\/p>\n<p>By building around a core of young guns, the key pieces of the Leafs roster had never before witnessed playoff action. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/matthau01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Auston Matthews<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/marnemi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mitch Marner<\/a><\/strong>, and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/n\/nylanwi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">William Nylander<\/a><\/strong> were pegged as the &#8216;Big Three&#8217; earlier this season, a nickname that was lived up to in the playoffs. Auston Matthews recorded four goals and 16 shots, continuing to prove his worth as the Leafs top goal scorer. William Nylander and Mitch Marner clocked in at four points a piece.<\/p>\n<p>As was\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thehockeynews.com\/news\/article\/maple-leafs-rebuild-coming-along-nicely-now-to-get-hungrier\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stated by forward <strong>James Van Riemsdyk<\/strong>,&#8221;From where we started this season to where we are now, we made a pretty big statement with our play&#8230;We showed that we can be a force to be reckoned with.\u201d\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In retrospect, falling in the first round to the Washington Capitals is nothing to be ashamed of. While the Leafs were hoping for a win, they treated the hockey world to a stellar playoff performance. By taking the Capitals to overtime on five separate occasions, the Maple leafs portrayed a sense of urgency and competitiveness that has been absent for years. Heading into the series, regardless of the outcome, Toronto enabled themselves to become a contending force within the NHL, now and in the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/672083514\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.666667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/672083514?et=pGNfENE-TlN4FM90SBa4ag&amp;tld=ca&amp;viewMoreLink=on&amp;sig=VWHfhbjIOEou3Qbe6vupjj-eEZydwlKGTrkX22P5fRM=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Toronto Maple Leafs, despite a first round exit, managed to prove their worth in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Toronto&#8217;s bout with the Washington Capitals was nothing less than a stepping stone in the right direction for the young club.\u00a0After partaking in arguably the most exciting series thus far, they will shift their focus [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":9173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,2],"tags":[1529,228,1456,37,363,231,229,38,72,230],"class_list":["post-9109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leafs","category-featured","tag-2017-stanley-cup-playoffs","tag-auston-matthews","tag-brendan-shanahan","tag-hockey","tag-lou-lamoriello","tag-mike-babcock","tag-mitch-marner","tag-nhl","tag-toronto-maple-leafs","tag-william-nylander"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}