Maple Leafs Blew Major Opportunity to Land Game-Breaker for Playoffs
Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
The Maple Leafs could have added a huge playoff name to their roster but avoided doing so, and now it's looking like it's coming back to bite the team a little bit.
While Brad Treliving added some pretty substantial names to the Toronto roster this offseason and at the trade deadline, there are still several names over the past seasons who could have come in and made a difference especially come playoff time.
A lot of free agents tend to not want to deal with the pressure of the media and constantly being under the microscope.
It sucks for fans, but often you find the diehard players like John Tavares and Steven Lorentz who can't wait to skate for their childhood team.
Before Brad Treliving however was Kyle Dubas, a GM who gets a lot of flak for his moves during his time with the Maple Leafs.
While he did make some good moves, he made some awful ones in hindsight.
However, it was one move that could have helped Toronto in the playoffs had he not chosen Joe Thornton; and surprisingly it's someone who has always been a thorn in their side.
At one point, Corey Perry was looking to make waves as part of Leafs Nation, but instead, Dubas decided that Jumbo Joe was the answer.
Corey Perry Could Have Been A Leaf If Not For Kyle Dubas
While there's a lot of positives to take out of his arrival here, Perry would have been amazing.
He's a Cup winner, won the Hart and Rocket Richard, and has been one of the most consistent regular season and playoff performers over the last two decades.
In his 224 career playoff games, he has 134 points (59G, 75A) and is the top active player in both games played and penalty minutes (283).
It's hard to imagine Perry being a bad option at the time for the Maple Leafs, and he decided to head to their most heated rivals instead; perhaps a shot at Dubas for passing over him.
It's a bit unfortunate that Perry never signed with Toronto, having scored 14 postseason goals since 2020-21, he could have been a huge help.
But now Perry gets the reap the benefits of playing with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the like over in Edmonton, trying to help them win what he did nearly 20 years ago.
| POLL | ||
MAI 14 | 779 ANSWERS Maple Leafs Blew Major Opportunity to Land Game-Breaker for Playoffs Should Toronto have signed Corey Perry when he was a free agent? | ||
| Yes | 505 | 64.8 % |
| No | 274 | 35.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
TRENDING NOW
