7 major mistakes that have kept Leafs' Stanley Cup curse alive

In case you haven’t heard, the Toronto Maple Leafs might just be cursed. After crashing out of the playoffs once again, Toronto remains without a Stanley Cup ever since winning it all back in 1967.

This year, it was another Game 7 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins that ended their season in an all-too-familiar fashion.

But while there might be a prevailing opinion that Toronto is just destined to lose every year, many of the reasons holding them back are through their own accord.

Here are seven mistakes Toronto has made that have held back their Stanley Cup curse:

1. Nazem Kadri trade from Leafs to Avalanche

If there’s one trade any Leafs fan could have back, the Nazem Kadri deal has to be right up there in recent memory.

In 2019, Toronto decided to flip Kadri to the Colorado Avalanche for Tyson Barrie and Alex Kerfoot after they’d seen the physical centre get suspended in the playoffs two years in a row.

And while he’d pick up a third playoff suspension in his first year in Colorado, those years of sitting in the box eventually paid off when Kadri won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022 while putting up 15 points in 16 playoff games.

2. Letting Leafs players win every big negotiation

If two words have highlighted this era of Leafs hockey, it’s been “core four”, aka, the team’s forward group of Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares.

Next season, each of those four players will carry a cap hit north of $10.9 million, all of which sit in the top 12 across the league.

The players themselves have never been the issue, but it’s easy to wonder how Toronto could’ve used the extra cap space had it been a bit more frugal in its contract negotiations.

3. Firing Kyle Dubas as Leafs GM

For all his flaws, Dubas still managed to build one of the most electric rosters in team history while creating a Leafs team that made the playoffs every year he was in charge.

Sure, it might be a low bar to reach, but his replacement, Brad Treliving, hardly carries a more impressive resume while missing the playoffs four times in his ten years as an NHL GM.

It’s no coincidence the Leafs took a nine-point dip in the standings this season. And for all the haters that Dubas has generated, it’s safe to say Treliving’s one season in Toronto hasn’t exactly registered him as the most popular guy in town, either.

4. Signing Patrick Marleau when the Leafs didn’t need him

When Toronto signed Patrick Marleau in the summer of 2017, they picked up one of hockey’s most recognizable faces, who was on his way to setting the NHL record for games played in a career. But despite signing him to a three-year, $18.75 million contract, Toronto ended up dumping him after two seasons to Carolina in a deal that also required them to give up a first-round pick.

That draft pick ended up being Seth Jarvis, who put up 33 goals and 67 points for the Hurricanes this past year.

5. Hiring Mike Babcock to coach the Leafs

When the Leafs hired Mike Babcock, he carried an impressive resume as a Stanley Cup and two-time Olympic-winning head coach.

Less than ten years later, he’s unlikely to ever work in the NHL again after being dismissed from two jobs with less-than-favourable stories coming out from his players in both Toronto and Columbus, the latter of which he resigned from before ever coaching a game.

Had Toronto chosen a different route with this hire, perhaps the franchise would be in a completely different position.

6. Signing Ryan Reaves to a three-year deal

If you were to end up telling the entire history of the last decade of the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 10-hour documentary, Ryan Reaves might barely register any screen time at all. But that’s sort of the point.

With Reaves now 37 and on the back nine of his NHL career, it’s odd that Toronto chose to sign the enforcer to a multi-year contract when his best asset to the franchise seems to be as a good quote to the media.

7. Passing on Alex DeBrincat in 2016 Draft

At the 2016 NHL Draft, Toronto took Auston Matthews first overall, and he subsequently scored 40 goals in his first NHL season. However, Toronto had the chance to pick a future 40-goal scorer in Alex DeBrincat with the 31st overall pick in the second round of the draft and opted for Yegor Korshkov instead.

Despite his small stature, DeBrincat was coming off a season where he scored 50 goals in 60 games for the OHL’s Erie Otters. While DeBrincat has become an NHL scoring machine, Korshkov played just one game for the franchise in 2019-20 before returning to the KHL.