Report: Major Development about the Core Four's Future in Toronto

PUBLICATION

Julien Trekker
June 9, 2023 (4:28 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

Lately, the Core Four has been a distraction instead of a leadership group.

The Leafs have the luck to rely on four extremely talented players with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares. What should be an advantage to win has now turned into a big distraction that prevents the team from growing.

Something needs to change.

De-Emphasizing the Core Four

Elliotte Friedman reported some very interesting informations on the situation:

«I had a very interesting phone call with someone about all this stuff, about who's signing for what and everything, and they said to me that they believe one of the things that came out of this season was that Toronto wanted to de-emphasize the Core Four."

«Not that the organization feels anything negative towards those players, but I think there was a feeling among just the entire group - other players on the team, some of the coaching staff, the front office of the organization - that there's too much about them. Too much about the Core Four they felt it interfered in the growth of the team."

"And one of the things I heard that was talked about was if you take a look at the third and fourth line over the last few years, there's been a lot of turnover. And what someone indicated to me was, the feeling was that they haven't done a good enough job as a group - like, everybody - creating an identity for other players on the roster"

«I think it's just that they have to get away from that and I believe some of the depth players may have talked about this, is that they feel it gets in the way of forming a team identity. And some of that you're not gonna get away from because in the media we're gonna talk about the Core Four, right? So you can't escape it, but can you do a better job of creating an identity around some of the other players on the roster? And I heard that's a big thing that they're gonna try to work on.»

What Needs To Change?

The fact is if the leaders can't lead, they shouldn't be leaders. The Core Four has consistently failed to rally the other players with them and without a true team spirit, you can't win in the playoffs.

The overall impact of the leaders of this team is negative in the locker room. How can they grow into a winning team in these conditions?

Brad Treliving will probably take action in the coming weeks and we'll see if the four stars remain in Toronto.

As seen on Hockey Feed - New plan emerges for the Core Four in Toronto!