Trading Auston Matthews, hiring Patrick Roy: We asked Maple Leafs fans what they would do as GM

Even after finally winning a playoff round for the first time since 2004, the perpetually scrutinized Maple Leafs face another off-season of uncertainty.

To recap the last several weeks: The Leafs beat the Lightning in round one before losing to the Panthers in round two, Kyle Dubas said nothing was off the table when it comes to changing the roster before he was axed as GM by president Brendan Shanahan, who reportedly restored his belief in the Core Four, while every other Leafs observer on the planet has a different opinion on what the organization should do next.

That last part is why we decided it would be fun to ask fans what they would do if they were running the Leafs this summer. As you might expect, the responses ranged anywhere from reasonable to outlandish.

We reviewed 162 responses to our You be the GM fan survey from last week and provided some highlights below:

Was this Leafs season a success or a failure?

One thing is immediately clear when looking at the responses: It wasn’t a success by any means, with just 12 fans comfortable classifying the season that way.

Winning a playoff round likely muddied the waters for the 51 readers who said they were on the fence and not ready to call it a failure. And despite the breakthrough against Tampa, over 60 per cent of respondents gave this season an “F” grade.

How would you describe your feeling about this team in one sentence?

Terminal frustration. Under achievers. Baffling. Knackered. Aren’t wired for playoff success. A love-hate relationship.

Those feelings shared by the fan base feel as familiar as ever. They are hurting.

But this particular reader provided an honest statement that accurately depicted the overall tone this question generated: “I am a diehard fan but they are a constant source of disappointment and frustration.”

Ouch.

Would you fire coach Sheldon Keefe?

While coach Keefe remains behind the Leafs bench for now, there’s still a chance the new GM could decide to make a change.

In the meantime, the armchair GMs voted in favour of firing the Toronto coach, with 78 per cent (126 readers) deciding that Keefe is unable to maximize the potential of this team and should be fired.

Would you trade one of Matthews, Marner or Nylander (Tavares said he won’t waive his no-move clause)?

The most interesting question was also proof that the fan base is divided on where to go from here.

Which, if any, of the Core Three (John Tavares has a no-move clause and publicly declared his desire to stay in Toronto, though contributing columnist Nick Kypreos wrote about why that’s a problem for the Leafs) would you trade?

More than 80 per cent of readers were in favour of trading one of them, with Mitch Marner leading the way at 35 per cent, followed by Auston Matthews at 25 per cent and William Nylander at 22 per cent.

Who would you try to acquire? Now is the fun part. Give us your best trade packages.

There were enough trade proposals shared by Leafs fans to write a book, so we’ll try to avoid duplications when it comes to players Toronto would hypothetically acquire (hint: there was a lot of Cale Makar and Brady Tkachuk).

Fans did agree on the team’s need for an elite defenceman, elite goaltender and more toughness, with one suggesting that Patrick Roy would be the best GM candidate to accomplish all of that.

Here are a few specific trade proposals:

As GM, what is your biggest regret over the last few seasons?

Hey Matt Martin, if you’re reading this, one Leaf fan’s biggest regret was trading you to the Islanders.

There were other ex-Leafs who are missed, namely Zach Hyman, Nazem Kadri and Frederik Andersen. Many expressed regret in using so much money on four forwards, with most of those specifically lamenting the Tavares contract. A few fans thought the flurry of trades before this year’s deadline disrupted the group.

And one fan, who we can only assume is lactose intolerant, said their biggest regret was adding the “Milk” logo on the iconic blue-and-white jerseys.

Reasonable and outlandish, indeed.

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