Opportunity awaits for Treliving to revamp Maple Leafs' forward group

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A summer of change has to be upon the Maple Leafs.

That must be the mandate of general manager Brad Treliving in the next four months before training camp opens.

It starts with moving on without Mitch Marner and John Tavares.

We can’t be having the same conversation at this time next year, that the same Leafs core failed again in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Something to keep in mind: Potentially subtracting Marner and Tavares from the team doesn’t guarantee that the Leafs will win the Cup.

This core, though, has had more than enough opportunities to get it right in the post-season with different coaches, different goaltenders, different members of the supporting cast.

You could find some optimism if the Leafs had been progressing in the past several playoffs — more than the two first-round wins they’ve had, such as advancing to the conference final a few times, perhaps a trip to the Stanley Cup final.

You then could put more stock in the idea that the Leafs are that close, and a little tweak here or there, perhaps a bounce, to putting an end to their Cup drought.

For heaven’s sake, you could make the argument that if the Leafs had lost Games 5 and 7 to the Florida Panthers in overtime — where every inch of ice actually was hotly contested and the margins were razor-thin — then perhaps keep the band together.

The manner in which the Leafs lost those games, though, with little fight, no execution, no pushback and getting blasted out of the building? On home ice, no less? The core can’t go on, no matter what Panthers coach Paul Maurice will tell you.

With captain Auston Matthews under contract for three more seasons and William Nylander under contract for another seven, the Leafs will move forward with them and build around them, along with Matthew Knies. Thank goodness for his rapid progression, eh?

In the final four games of the best-of-seven against the Panthers, a stretch that included three losses, Marner had one assist. Matthews had one assist. Neither Nylander nor Tavares recorded a point. Tavares’ production diminished in quick fashion after he had five points in the first three games of the Ottawa series. Afterward, he scored two goals in nine games, and both of those goals were in the overtime loss to Florida in Game 3.

None of the Leafs’ richest players came close to swaying the Leafs toward winning the series. If they’re being paid to do exactly that, then what?

Even if Treliving decides he wants to re-sign Marner, what kind of appetite does the player have for returning? To what extent were bridges burned after the Leafs asked Marner to waive his no-move clause in March, something Marner declined, with the hopes of acquiring Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes?

Marner wasn’t adamant following the loss on Sunday night that he wants to stay with the Leafs, saying he had not given much thought to his future. A message left with Marner’s agent, Darren Ferris, on Monday was not immediately returned.

With the money that Marner could potentially command on the open market, likely in the range of $13-14 million a year, Treliving could use it to sign two solid forwards in free agency. There’s no question that Marner, based on what he does in the regular season, is in a class of his own among free-agent forwards. Yet the group of free agents also includes Nikolaj Ehlers, Patrick Kane, Sam Bennett, Brock Boeser, and Brad Marchand.

At the same time, we should have every expectation that Treliving will do what he can to try to improve the Leafs via trade.

One factor working in Treliving’s favour: He doesn’t have to spend much time worrying about how he’s going to make the goaltending and defence corps better. In Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll, the Leafs don’t have concerns in net.

On the blue line, only Jani Hakanpaa is eligible for free agency. Nice guy and all, but we wish him well in his future endeavours. Otherwise, all of the Leafs’ seven top D-men are under contract for the next two years. It’s not a group that is getting any younger, but Treliving certainly doesn’t need to take a scalpel to it.

For those who wish to see Morgan Rielly gone, remember that he has an affordable AAV of $7.5 million for the next four seasons. A no-move clause remains in place for the next two seasons, after which it becomes a 10-team no-trade list.

As much as we all get swept up in how well the core produces in the regular season, the Leafs could use more balance in their forward lines. It’s not as deep a group as we might like to believe. What did Bobby McMann, Scott Laughton, Calle Jarnkrok and Steven Lorentz have in common during the playoffs? None of them scored a goal.

If Tavares goes to the open market as well, more money will be available for Treliving. A sizeable chunk of that, of course, will be earmarked for Knies. The 22-year-old will be a restricted free agent, and if the Leafs can get him on a long-term contract in the range of $7-8 million, by all means, get it done. The team has to hope that an offer sheet doesn’t land on Knies’ doorstep.

Since he was hired nearly two years ago, Treliving has made impactful changes, most notably with the hiring of coach Craig Berube and the signings of defenceman Chris Tanev and goaltender Stolarz.

Treliving now has the opportunity to put a refreshing stamp on the forward group.

It has to be a summer of change.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun