Former Maple Leafs star reveals why the franchise is a disaster right now

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Axel Williams
August 11, 2024 (6:10)

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Carlo Colaiacovo is someone who has watched the Toronto Maple Leafs make some truly bizarre decisions over the years.

Whenever he is on TSN 1050, especially "First Up," you can be sure he is going to give his true feelings on whatever is happening with the Leafs. Recently, the front office was ranked 30th among the NHL's 32 franchises. This was voted on by fans, which might skew the outcome. Regardless, Colaiacovo was brutally honest, claiming that the Leafs are in the position they are because they have failed to build around Morgan Reilly.

«The only thing that I do agree with on these rankings is their drafting and developing. They deserve a �C' because, as I've stated all along � and this goes back to when Kyle Dubas was managing this team � when you put yourself in a position to build a salary structure with your team where you're going to build around four forwards, and it is going to occupy a large percentage of your cap, almost half of your cap, how the heck, organizationally, you did not decide to draft and develop more stud defensemen is beyond me."

Colaiacovo went on to note that the defenseman that the Leafs have brought in has not been good enough. If they just developed talent on the defensive end and got some help for Reilly, they would likely be in a much better position.

«That's what has kept this organization back. Since Morgan Rielly, what defenseman has this team drafted and developed that has been a stud on defense? Justin Holl, (Rasmus) Sandin, (Timothy) Liljegren � that's where the organizational failure has been with this team. You've built around four forwards, and you just continue to draft forwards to play with those guys.»

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Source: The Hockey News
�That's What Has Kept This Organization Back': Have the Maple Leafs Failed to Build Their Defensive Core Around Morgan Rielly?