TAMPA BAY — It was a bizarre set of circumstances that led to Dave Nonis becoming the Leafs general manager. But in his first season at the helm, he has surely exceeded expectations.
And what were those expectations? He took over for his mentor Brian Burke — ousted just days after the lockout came to an end in January. The core of this Maple Leafs team appeared to be similar to the one that suffered a massive collapse just one year ago. Yet, Nonis proceeded to make his mark, making a set of moves that would allow the team’s youth to succeed.
Tim Connolly was one of the first to go, put on waivers by Nonis to free up an opportunity for some younger talent. Shortly after, Matthew Lombardi was traded away to Phoenix. An unusually healthy roster early on necessitated the trades of David Steckel and Mike Brown. All of the moves were needed and appeared to be the appropriate course of action.
Nonis inherited a team that was loaded with youth. It wasn’t until this season that we saw younger players get to play in situations that seemed impossible under any other circumstances. Still, Nonis gives all the credit to his entire staff, for clinching the Leafs’ first post-season appearance in nine years.
“You can pass credit around for getting in from the coaches to the players,” Nonis said. “The players understood that they have to play hard every night otherwise someone else is going to take their spot.”
The biggest test of all for Nonis was how to handle the goaltending situation going into the season.
There were reports about Toronto’s interest in Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo. At the trade deadline, Nonis acknowledged his interest in acquiring veteran goalie Miikka Kiprusoff from Calgary. While it didn’t work out, Nonis made it clear to his starting goalie, James Reimer, that he was always going to have his chance to stay as the No. 1 goaltender.
“He was going to be our goaltender and we were trying to get some depth around him and Ben (Scrivens),” Nonis said about Reimer. “To his credit, he (Reimer) was good up until the deadline, but after the deadline he’s been spectacular.”
Since the deadline passed, Reimer has performed better than he has in any month of his NHL career. Reimer is 5-2-1 with a goal-against average of 2.16 and save percentage of .939. Nonis handled the goaltending situation with class and always made it clear to Reimer that he was a big part of the team’s future.
Nonis is already looking ahead, not resting on a playoff berth as the sole measure of his team’s success.
“Hopefully this is just a starting point,” Nonis said.
While a lot of credit will go to his predecessor, Brian Burke, one has to wonder how things would have shaped up for this franchise had Nonis not been in charge.
Would Nazem Kadri have gotten the opportunity he had to play regular minutes every night at centre? Would Mike Kostka have gotten the chance to prove himself as NHL capable?
Nonis deserves as much credit as anyone within the organization for getting this team to where it is right now. He’s allowed the youth to develop and never felt the pressure to change the dynamic by selling off younger players for veterans or players who could make an impact immediately.
The Leafs GM said his biggest difference over Burke was his ability to be patient. And he really did prove that it is a virtue, by achieving more success.