Maple Leafs' 2022 Offseason Could Include "Summer of Kawhi" Move

It’s been five days since the Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games. There are already tough questions and scenarios being brought up as they try to find a solution for this club.

For a team with an exciting core of young talent with six straight first round exits isn’t exactly great results. There’s talk about running it back with this group they have after everyone showed up and played at a high level in a tough, hard-fought battle.

There really shouldn’t be any scorched earth plan with this roster. They could still make a move to help fill out the middle portion of the forward group to support the core or even the blueline.

An Interesting Offseason

If there’s one thing for sure, this is going to be an offseason to keep an eye on as Dubas is going to have a lot of decisions to make in his “Summer of Kawhi”.

Does he change his mind and make a major move, like Ujiri? Does he make other moves to build around the core and keep them in tact as they were close to winning a round? There are arguments for and against making a major move. It’s a gamble because you don’t want to do anything drastic. It worked for Ujiri and the Raptors. Could it work for the Maple Leafs?

Changes should be coming, but it may not be a major deal that fans want. No matter what happens this season, they’re going to have to make moves regardless.

Salary cap numbers from Cap Friendly.