It's no secret that the Leafs power play has been their downfall over the past few post-seasons. Red hot during the season, then stone cold in the playoffs, the double drop pass strategy has soured on fans and clearly doesn't work once teams catch on in advance of the playoffs. The Leafs were also a bad rush scoring team, something that will need to change when scoring off the cycle becomes more difficult in the playoffs.
So, how do the Leafs fix these issues? Simple. Hire one of the most creative and intelligent playmakers of an era. Marc Savard recorded 207 goals and 499 assists over his 807 game NHL career, topping the 90-point plateau multiple times. Today, news broke that he and the Calgary Flames, whom he was an assistant coach with, have parted ways.
Now, nothing is official as of yet, but where there's smoke, there's fire. Savard parting ways with the Flames with a year remaining on his contract while rumours have already been swirling creates a whole lot of smoke. I would expect to see an announcement from the Maple Leafs before the week is out, if not in the next 24 hours.
