Maple Leafs News & Rumours: The Laine Gamble and the Wickenheiser Question

The Toronto Maple Leafs don’t have a lot of room for error as John Chayka continues to reshape the organization. Some of the changes are obvious, while others involve decisions that may not show their impact for several years.

Two stories are worth watching right now. One involves a former 44-goal scorer who may be looking for a way back into NHL relevance. The other involves one of the most respected people to leave the Maple Leafs since the new management group took over.

The Patrik Laine Dilemma: Could the Maple Leafs Actually Make This Work?

The Patrik Laine-to-Toronto rumour is interesting for one simple reason: there is still a very good NHL shooter somewhere in there. The Maple Leafs are among the teams reported to have shown interest in the 2016 second-overall pick. Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, Minnesota and the New York Rangers have also reportedly kicked the tires. Laine played only five games last season because of a core-muscle injury, but the 28-year-old remains a player who has scored 44 goals in an NHL season.

The obvious question is what Toronto would actually be signing. The idea of putting Laine beside Auston Matthews sounds great if this were 2016. It isn’t. Laine is now trying to rebuild his value, and the Maple Leafs don’t need to bet on him becoming the player who once looked like one of the NHL’s next great goal scorers. They could, however, use another scoring threat lower in the lineup. A third-line role, some power-play time and an opportunity to prove he can stay healthy might make considerably more sense than handing him a top-line job before he has earned it.

And that’s where the dilemma gets interesting. Laine probably wants more than a one-year audition, while Toronto has very little reason to make a long-term commitment to a player carrying this much uncertainty, even if he is only 28. A short, incentive-heavy contract would seem to make the most sense if the two sides are genuinely interested. There is enough offensive talent here to make the gamble tempting. There is also enough uncertainty to make it a gamble. For Toronto, the question isn’t whether Laine can still score. It’s whether the potential reward is worth the risk.

Will Toronto Miss Hayley Wickenheiser?

Hayley Wickenheiser‘s departure from the Toronto Maple Leafs was one of the more surprising moves of John Chayka’s front-office reset. After eight seasons with the organization, including time as assistant general manager focused on player development, Wickenheiser was suddenly gone after discussions with Chayka made it clear that the new leadership group had a different vision. Now Patrick O’Sullivan has been elevated to the role of Director of NHL Development, which suddenly gives the change a bit more context. The Maple Leafs aren’t simply losing someone. They’re changing who will oversee the development of their players.

The interesting question is whether Toronto will actually miss Wickenheiser. Her work was never going to show up neatly in the standings or on a stat sheet, but player development is one of those areas where the results can take years to become obvious. Wickenheiser brought an unusual combination of elite playing experience, international hockey knowledge and eight years inside the Maple Leafs organization. At the same time, new management should build the development department around its own ideas. Chayka clearly believes the organization needs a different approach, and O’Sullivan now has an opportunity to put that approach into practice.

For Wickenheiser, the more interesting question may be what comes next. There has already been speculation about a possible Hockey Canada role, and it is easy to understand why her name would come up for opportunities involving Canada’s national programs. Whatever happens, this doesn’t look like the end of her hockey career so much as another transition in it. She has gone from one of the greatest players in women’s hockey to physician to NHL executive, and there is little reason to think the next chapter will be any less interesting.

What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?

The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, will have to live with the decision. If O’Sullivan’s work helps turn Toronto’s young players into better NHL players, Wickenheiser’s departure will eventually become part of the organization’s history. If the development system struggles, people may start wondering whether the organization let a valuable piece of that operation walk out the door.

For now, both stories come with more questions than answers. Laine is a potential low-cost gamble with considerable upside and equally considerable risk. Wickenheiser is a different kind of gamble: Toronto is betting that a new development approach can do at least as much for the organization as the one it replaced. Neither question will be answered this week. But both are worth watching as the Maple Leafs move into a very different era.