Hickey: Keefe got the axe, but takes a lot of blame for Leafs’ playoff woes

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Sheldon Keefe paid the price for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ latest playoff collapse, but one has to wonder how many more changes are coming before next season.

The Leafs failed to advance beyond the first round for the seventh time in eight seasons (five of them were under Keefe) and the coach made it easy for general manager Brad Treliving when he blamed himself for the loss. seven games against the Boston Bruins.

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But there are others who have to share the blame for the Leafs’ failures and the list starts with president Brendan Shanahan. When he took office 10 years ago, he emphasized following a process. Following the so-called process would eventually produce results, but instead the Leafs have shown few signs of progress.

We know the Leafs are struggling because outgoing GM Kyle Dubas created a salary structure heavily skewed toward his top four forwards: Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and John Tavares. They have ignored the defense and seen a series of goalkeepers who did not live up to expectations.

Matthews and Nylander missed parts of this year’s debacle, but all that high-priced talent failed to produce when needed. The Leafs’ high-octane offense scored just 12 goals in seven games. Toronto has scored more than two goals in only one of its last 14 playoff games. The power play was a dismal 1-for-22.

Tavares and Marner each have one year left on their contracts and some teams would buy them out to create some cap space, but that will be difficult for the Leafs because both players are on non-moving contracts. If they don’t move anyone, their big four and defenseman Morgan Rielly will take up 60 percent of their cap space.

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The Leafs managed to take the Bruins to seven games because they flipped the script. The veteran (read: aging) defense played well, goaltending prospect Joseph Woll was nearly perfect in two starts and Ilya Samsonov, the surprise starter in Game 7 after Woll was injured in Game 6, played well enough to gain. He only allowed two goals on 34 shots, but the Leafs only managed one goal. The defense faces a rebuild because four of the veterans will be unrestricted free agents on July 1 and Woll is the only goalie under contract.

Deserves more recognition: Lane Hutson didn’t draw much respect in the 2022 NHL draft and the question heading into this year’s draft is whether teams will repeat the mistake with Cole, Lane’s younger but slightly older brother.

The Canadiens selected Lane Hutson late in the second round (62nd overall). His history with the US national team development program and the selection of him as the top defenseman at the U18 world championship should have earned him an earlier call-up, but teams were cautious due to his size. The defenseman was 5-foot-8 and 147 pounds when Montreal took a chance on him.

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The bet seems to have paid off. After two standout seasons at Boston University, Lane made his NHL debut last month and had two assists in his two games. He has grown an inch and gained some weight, but he makes up for his lack of size with his offensive skills, excellent mobility and great vision. The test will come next season when he makes the jump from a 40-game college season to an 82-game NHL schedule, but the smart money says he will be a productive crowd pleaser.

His younger brother may be better. He was named best defenseman of the under-18 world championship. The United States lost to Canada in the final, but Hutson provided two of the highlights in the gold medal game: threading a pass through traffic to set up top-10 prospect Cole Eiserman for a goal and scoring himself. During his two seasons with the NTDP, he has broken all scoring records for defensemen, surpassing his brother and 2024 Norris Trophy finalists Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes. He stands just over 5-foot-10, which is taller than Lane, and it should be noted that he is the same height as Hughes and an inch shorter than Makar.

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Do you want another comparison? In two trips to the U18 tournament, Lane scored 13 points, all assists, in 11 games. Cole scored four goals and 20 assists in 14 games. Over two seasons with the NTDP, Cole accumulated 190 points in 184 games.

Cole’s playing style is similar to his brother’s, but he plays a more physical game. When you take all that into account, you’d think he’d get more love from scouts, but NHL Central Scouting ranks him 55th among North American skaters, which projects as a third-round pick. The Sportsnet people are more optimistic. Jason Bukala has Cole at 22 and Sam Cosentino has him at 29. TSN’s Craig Button has him at 34 and draft guru Bob McKenzie has him at 41.

Auger-Aliassime returns to where he belongs: Montrealer Félix Auger-Aliassime returned to the top 20 of the ATP Tour rankings after a strange trip to the final of the Madrid Masters last week.

Auger-Aliassime began the tournament with a victory over Jakub Mensik, who was down a set and a break when he retired due to illness. The Montrealer achieved his best victory of the year when he defeated No. 7 Casper Ruud in the round of 16. Then things got crazy. Auger-Aliassime was scheduled to play No. 2 Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals, but Sinner withdrew with an injury. The next game was the winner between No. 4 Daniil Medvedev and Jiri Lehecka and Auger-Aliassime received another break when Medvedev retired after losing the first set.

In the semi-finals, Auger-Aliassime and Lehecka were tied 3-3 when the Czech was forced to retire with a leg injury. The Canadian’s streak ended in the final, where he lost to No. 6 Andrey Rublev 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, but his first appearance in a Masters 1000 final should give the 23-year-old renewed confidence in the future.

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