Damien Cox: It’s easy to believe that the Maple Leafs’ turn is coming

MLSE has shown its commitment to winning with the Raptors and TFC and the Leafs, who might just need a well-timed hot stretch.

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Damien Cox: Enlightened Leafs embrace the wisdom of the long game

Hire strong people, let them do their jobs over a reasonable period of time. It isn’t rocket science. It also wasn’t the way the Leafs operated for decades ... until now, Damien Cox writes.

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Damien Cox: Why Morgan Rielly is the Leafs’ most C-worthy option

Factoring in performance — on and off the ice — and some organizational politics, the time is right for the Maple Leafs to make Morgan Rielly captain, Damien Cox writes.

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Damien Cox: Babcock’s future, not Marner’s contract, should be the Leafs’ first priority

The Leafs’ blueprint for success still makes sense, even after another playoff one and done, and Mitch Marner will sign. Job one for GM Kyle Dubas should be putting the coaching question to rest, one way or another — and naming a captain couldn’t hurt at this point, Damien Cox writes.

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Damien Cox: Patrick Marleau’s contract will be a problem for the Maple Leafs this off-season.

One of Kyle Dubas’s biggest challenges might be in making it disappear.

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Damien Cox: Canadiens no pushovers if playoff dream date with Leafs plays out

While the Leafs may or may not be better than last season, the Habs are miles better. Saturday night’s contest at Montreal’s Bell Centre will shed light on what lies ahead, Damien Cox writes.

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Damien Cox: Jake Muzzin trade boosts Leafs’ defence. Kyle Dubas needs to stop there

The Leafs will be successful in the spring if its best players come through, not by going out and getting somebody else, writes Damien Cox.

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Damien Cox: Muzzin trade boosts Leafs’ defence. Dubas needs to stop there

The Leafs will be successful in the spring if its best players come through, not by going out and getting somebody else, and Dubas can’t make any more substantial upgrades before the trade deadline without chipping away at the Brendan Shanahan promise of contending year after year, writes Damien Cox.

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Damien Cox: Maple Leafs’ answers come playoff time might have to come from within

GM Kyle Dubas will be looking for experience at the trade deadline, but it’s the veterans the Leafs already have who need to make a difference.

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Damien Cox: Leafs need to treat Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner as equals

Toronto must get stars to see the same future, as the Blackhawks did with Kane and Toews.

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Damien Cox: William Nylander not up to speed yet, but it’s not a crisis situation for the Leafs

It’s coming. S-L-O-W-L-Y. Just remember, the objective for the Leafs is to have Nylander back playing at a top level by early April, not by next week.

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Damien Cox: Aggressive trade strategy could push Leafs over the top

It won’t be a Tomas Plekanec kind of trade deadline for the Leafs this season. They have all the collateral they need to swap for what they need to take a real run at the Cup. Here are 10 options that make sense, Damien Cox writes.

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Damien Cox: Raptors vs. Leafs debate most fun in decades for Toronto sports fans

NBA and NHL championships are no longer pipe dreams. The question now: Which one will happen first? Damien Cox breaks down what defines a champion, and which team has what it takes.

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Damien Cox: Nylander contract saga hints at future of every NHL team

Mercifully, Leaf William Nylander’s fate will be settled by 5 p.m. Saturday. The impact of any deal he signs, though, will reverberate around the league for years, Damien Cox writes.

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Damien Cox: Sabres would make a perfect rival for Maple Leafs

Over 48 years of playing each other, of existing 150 kilometres apart, you’d think they’d identify as each other’s rival more than they do, Damien Cox writes.

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Damien Cox: Pressure mounts on Tavares, Babcock and Dubas to produce with Leafs struggling

The marquee free-agent signee, the big-name coach and the new GM arrived with fanfare. Now they’re getting a full dose of the high expectations that come with life as a Leaf, Damien Cox writes.

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Damien Cox: Marner’s Maple Leafs redefining payback game

The hit that knocked Auston Matthews out indefinitely with a shoulder injury didn’t go unpunished. Mitch Marner and his speedy teammates hurt the Jets on the scoresheet — the kind of damage they’re designed to inflict, Damien Cox writes.

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Damien Cox: Leafs are proving bigger isn’t better

With giant Jets in town, Toronto’s skill and speed could win the day again.

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Damien Cox: Maple Leafs have most to lose in Nylander stalemate

Imagine if the Leafs end up having to negotiate with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner AND William Nylander next summer. A messy situation would turn ugly if the club, short on leverage at the moment, can’t get Nylander back in the fold by Dec. 1, Damien Cox writes.

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Damien Cox: The blown call, the chaos and the whistle

Things turned ugly for the Maple Leafs, and ref Kerry Fraser’s family, after Wayne Gretzky’s undetected high stick on Doug Gilmour in Game 6 of the 1993 conference final. In an excerpt from his new book — The Last Good Year: Seven Games That Ended An Era — Damien Cox takes a closer look at the incident and the aftershocks.

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