The Toronto Maple Leafs need to "sacrifice a little bit" in order to play up to their potential, general manager Kyle Dubas said.
"If that level of competitiveness and grit and toughness is going to permeate through the locker room," Dubas said over the weekend, according to Sportsnet, "it's going to be through the maturity of the group that's already there and our core group embracing the fact that this is a wonderful opportunity if they're willing to sacrifice a little bit in each of their own individual realms as all young teams do with young superstars. Players have to go through this. There's so many examples from all over sports and all over different types of businesses. Then we'll really reach our full potential."
Dubas, who was speaking at the Maple Leafs' annual Coaches Open House, outlined how the Maple Leafs measure such qualities.
"When we talk about toughness with our group, it's very simple the way that we define it," he said. "It's if there's a 50-50 puck, do you desperately want to win that puck every single time? And are you willing to be the first one on the puck? Are you willing to go to the difficult areas of the ice with and without the puck and be successful? Are you willing to endure the physical duress that's going to come on to you if we're going to go as far as we want to go? And do that every single night through the regular season, but more importantly, in the [Stanley Cup] Playoffs, and be able to score the way you have to score in the playoffs and defend the way you have to defend in the playoffs, and that gets built over time."
The Maple Leafs have invested heavily in forwards Auston Matthews (five-year contract worth $58.17 million), John Tavares (seven years, $77 million), Mitchell Marner (six years, $65.358 million) and William Nylander (six years, $41.77 million) but have failed to win a playoff series in each of the past four seasons. They entered the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers as the No. 8 seed last season after finishing with a .579 points percentage (36-25-9) and were eliminated by the No. 9 seed Columbus Blue Jackets in five games.
Matthews called the loss embarrassing for the Maple Leafs, who haven't advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2004. Defenseman Jake Muzzin, who won the Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings in 2014, said Aug. 12 that Toronto needs "to dig in more."
"Our team, of course, has greater levels to get to," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said at the coaches event, according to TSN. "We're not happy with how things finished off in our series against Columbus. But we've made some changes. We have new people coming in that I'm really excited to work with.
"Personally, it's a fresh start and a fresh training camp, fresh team, if you will, because there are significant changes, and a chance to really get to work with what I'd like our team to be about, what I think we need to be about if we're going to take the steps necessary."
Some of those changes included signing forwards Joe Thornton and Wayne Simmonds, and defenseman Zach Bogosian each to a one-year contract, and defenseman TJ Brodie to a four-year contract in free agency. Dubas said he's hoping those signings will make a difference in winning 50-50 puck battles and going to the difficult areas of the ice.
Toronto allowed 3.17 goals per game last season, tied with the Anaheim Ducks for 25th in the NHL. The Maple Leafs ranked third in goals per game (3.39) behind the Tampa Bay Lightning (3.47) and Washington Capitals (3.42).
"We have to stop waiting," Dubas said. "We're waiting for our potential just to happen and we have to start going out and exercising that and making it happen and forcing the other teams to respond to us.
"I think part of it is maturity, I think part of it is experience. But I think both of those things go into mindset and what the mindset of the group is."
Though Tavares scored an NHL career-high 47 goals in 2018-19, his first season in Toronto, and Matthews has scored 118 goals the past three seasons, tied with Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl for third in the NHL in that span, it hasn't gotten the Maple Leafs closer to their first Stanley Cup championship since 1967.
But Keefe, who replaced Mike Babcock on Nov. 20 following a 9-10-4 start, said he understands the expectations in Toronto.
"Pressure is truly a privilege," Keefe said. "It's something you hear a lot. When there's pressure that means there's great opportunity and you're a part of something that people care about but also, they realize that you have good pieces and you have great potential. That's exciting for me as a coach and I know it is for our players as well. We have to embrace that pressure and have that be part of what inspires us."
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