Break up or run it back: What will happen to Maple Leafs Core 4 after Round 1 exit from the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs?

By Ryan Gagne

Modified May 05, 2024 15:24 GMT

The Toronto Maple Leafs failed to advance to the Stanley Cup final for the 57th consecutive season.

After another first-round exit, their eighth time in the last nine playoff appearances, changes are coming in the NHL's most prominent hockey market.

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The end of the Maple Leafs core four

John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Toronto Maple Leafs

In 2015-16, the core four began with Willian Nylander joining the team at 19, followed by Auston Matthews (19) and Mitch Marner (19) a year later. Then, John Tavares signed as a free agent in 2018, and the team's core was complete.

However, there has been only one constant with this group: they are an extraordinary regular season team, with players scoring 60 goals, 40 goals, 99 points and winning individual awards like the Hart Trophy.

Of course, those successes translate to 100-point campaigns in the standings and favorable playoff positions, but there's another constant with this group: their collective playoff failures.

Whether they lose to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 three consecutive times or blow a 3-1 series lead to an underdog Montreal Canadiens, the Maple Leafs continue to add to their NHL record Stanley Cup drought, which is now at 57 seasons and counting.

Unfortunately, the core four has done nothing to help the Maple Leafs reach the final four, a spot they haven't played in since 2002. That means it's time to blow it up and remodel.

Recently, Toronto signed Matthews to the richest deal in the NHL ($13.5 million annually) while handing out a contract to Nylanders for $11.5 million.

Meanwhile, Marner ($10 million) and Tavares ($11 million) already have rich contracts and are about to account for almost $45 million of the team's $87.7 million salary cap in 2024-25.

Unfortunately, those salaries are too high to field a balanced and competitive team, which means it's time to reshuffle the deck and wipe some of those salaries off the board. It's the only way that management can address the team's needs moving forward while remaining competitive.

Considering that Marner and Tavares are heading into the final seasons of their respective contracts and could be free agents in 2025, it's time to pick up the phones and start listening to offers for both players.

Now, it's not as simple as it seems, though. Both have clauses that prevent unapproved moves, but if management makes it clear that they will not be back in 2025, they may be more open to moving to club the team and salvage their reputations as team players.

Realistically, Tavares won't find another deal worth $11 million, while Marner's disappearing act in the playoffs (every year) will also cut into financial goals and dreams.

For the Maple Leafs to keep building a lineup around Matthews and Nylander, the team must move on from Tavares and Marner. These potential transactions will enable them to find the complementary pieces necessary to win a playoff series, something the core four has done only once, which means it's time to break up the band.