Maple Leafs Brasil

Mitch, I’m sure you don’t know this blog of mine, but everything here is in Portuguese, with the intention of spreading Toronto Maple Leafs news to potential fans who don’t have access to the English information.

I am Brazilian and met the Leafs and NHL during a trip I made to Atlanta in January 2002, my first overseas trip, when I saw the team led by Mats Sundin defeat the Atlanta Thrashers by a 6 – 0 shutout. From then on I became interested in the sport and never stopped following, either on the Internet, or in some live games, when I had the opportunity to visit some North American cities like New York, Toronto and Fort Lauderdale. I’m a Leafs fan for just 17 years, much less than many who have been waiting for a new Stanley Cup since 1967 for this “Original Six” team.

In these 17 years I’ve seen a lot of changes and good and bad teams, but the hope of seeing a team of skilled players who could bring the Stanley Cup back to Toronto is unshakable. After seeing the team not qualifying for the playoffs for years at a time, we changed direction and were headed in the right direction and wisely using our draft picks, which in previous years we traded for rental players near the trade deadline and they were only kept until the end of the season. The team is no longer a destination that no one want and has become a destination coveted by ice hockey players, despite all the pressure Toronto has on the team. This started to happen when we started picking better in the draft and showing that Brendan Shanahan’s path, Shanaplan, could really bring back a competitive team and even chances to play for the Stanley Cup.

Within this new Leafs management period, under Shanaplan, we managed to have one of the best coaches in the league, Mike Babcock, a very talented young team formed by you, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, Frederik Andersen, Auston Matthews, Travis Dermot, Zach Hyman, Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen, as well as several players still awaiting the chance to play on NHL such as Timothy Liljgren, Justin Holl, Jeremy Bracco and Rasmus Sandin, and attracted players as the newcomer Jason Spezza.

Another great player who agreed to come to Toronto after being an idol at the New York Islanders was John Tavares, who accepted a smaller financial offer to achieve his childhood dream, playing for the Leafs.

Training Camp is about to begin and you, one of the team’s most beloved players, have not yet renewed your contract. Not training with his teammates, not preparing to defend the Leafs, in short, seeing it all from the outside. And what is the reason? There is a lot of speculation about the offers that Kyle Dubas made to you and your non-acceptance and we all don’t know what the problem is. Whether it’s the value, or the contract time, or both. What we do know is that it would be great to have you on the team and we are sure you would make it even more complete.

All this stalemate is making many fans accept that you are negotiated out of Toronto! You are one of the team’s idols and this is affecting your image for the fans. Other than the fact that while still dealing with you, the Leafs are taken as hostage, unable to use the budget to hire another player, because if it does, it will not have enough to propose you a good salary.

I know every professional should look for contracts where they feel their contribution to the team is rewarded and get the best possible salary, but I also believe that to be part of a competitive team with a chance to win the Stanley Cup, especially when that team is your childhood’s team, is priceless. Does staying in this endless negotiation, looking for the most advantageous contract in the face of a dream, make sense? You are only 22 years old and you can be sure that you will have contracts that will recognize your qualities and contribution to the team. But put it all in the balance. You grew up dreaming of being able to play on the NHL and wondered how it would be even better if you could play for the Leafs! This dream you have already realized and with praise! You are already a team idol! Now, have you ever thought of the Toronto Maple Leafs bringing the long-awaited Stanley Cup to Toronto after more than 50 years, and you being part of that story? Now, have you ever thought that could happen, and you, for demanding something that you think is fair, and may even it is, be negotiated to a team that doesn’t even have a real chance of going to the playoffs? At the end, what is the price of a Dream?

Hope to see you in the Leafs uniform as soon as possible!

Hugs from a Brazilian Toronto Maple Leafs fan.