Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO Tim Lewieke doesn’t believe coaching is the problem with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
While many in the hockey world believe the Leafs would be better off without head coach Randy Carlyle, Leiweke says he and Dave Nonis expect the team can quickly improve if they get more production from the current players on their roster.
“This team can get better. If you look at the players we have today, there’s no question we all think we should be in a better position today,” Leiweke said Monday on Tim & Sid. “What they need to do is take a deep breathe, relax a little bit and stop clenching their sticks so tight. I don’t think October was a fluke.
“I think (Nonis) spoke loud and clear that our issue isn’t the coach. Our players need to understand that they got to get back to playing the way we were then.”
Since the Leafs went 8-2-0 in their first 10 games, the Leafs have fallen down the standings and have struggled to score goals and play defence on a consistent basis. They have been outshot too frequently and have relied too heavily on their goalies.
Despite the team’s struggles, Leiweke emphatically said that the Leafs will remain patient and won’t make any short-term deals to try to eradicate the situation.
“If people think we are going to freak out here and trade our kids for a good 33-year-old veteran, than we won’t do it,” he said. “I wouldn’t want (Nonis) to do it. I am completely supportive of his patience…We’re not going to give away good kids. We’re not going to give away all of our draft picks. This is a long-term vision. What we’re not going to do is panic. We’re not going to do a bad deal by giving away a kid like (Morgan) Rielly. I completely support Dave Nonis on that and we got to be patient.”
“This organization in the past have had a bad track record of knee-jerking and doing deals that were Band-Aid deals. We won’t do that anymore.”
The Leafs have a 4-4-2 record in their last 10 contests and have just won two regulation games in the past month.
