Idle Maple Leafs somehow find themselves caught in the middle

Be good or be bad; it really doesn’t matter. Just be something.

At the most basic level, this is advice that NHL executives should adhere to. Because there isn’t just an associated danger involved, there is no worse spot than to be caught in the middle when at the wheel for an NHL program.

Incredibly, despite recognizing this many seasons ago and making the corresponding decisions to avoid perishing in the league’s muddy middle, Kyle Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves there once again. Caught, and facing an incredible grim outlook to a season that began with so much promise.

Not even a shoe-in to enter the tournament and quite clearly not on the same level as their likely potential first-round opponent in either the Boston Bruins or Tampa Bay Lightning, the Leafs made the otherwise intelligent decision at the NHL’s trade deadline to avoid sinking even one more resource into what has been an incredibly disappointing season.

But by the same token, with an obvious trade chip at their disposal in the somewhat-beleaguered Tyson Barrie, Dubas was reluctant, still, to make the trade, to wave that white flag — even when just by entertaining the discussions, he was making a tacit admission to the summer blockbuster involving Nazem Kadri indeed being a mistake.

Trading Barrie was the opportunity to start re-supplying the franchise’s dwindling collection of picks and prospects, to make amends after having to deal a first-round draft pick just to rid themselves of Patrick Marleau last summer. But instead the Maple Leafs stood pat, keeping Barrie, and swinging only two negligible trades with minor-league repercussions (as well as apparently eating some salary to seize a fifth-round selection from Vegas).

Why?

While it would merely be speculation, it wouldn’t be a stretch to reason that it was because Dubas and the Maple Leafs braintrust wholeheartedly believed in this group entering the season, and the switch from Mike Babcock to Sheldon Keefe in-season, and the prospect of making a meaningful run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this spring.

Holding on hope — this would also be considered a no-no.

Yet that’s what the Leafs seem to be doing.

It’s possible that a chosen return on Barrie could deliver nothing of significance, and the decision to punt on a trade and hold onto a player that will surely walk in unrestricted free agency will have no bearing on the future of the Maple Leafs program.

But it’s just as likely that the potential return assets would have made up at least part of the means to execute the significant move that seems imperative to the Leafs finding equitable balance for their incredibly talented lineup.

It’s no secret that there’s a significant hole on the Leafs’ back end. And while there are other ways to obtain the right-shot defenseman needed to optimize the roster (and the front office to this point hasn’t lacked creativity), the Leafs are in short supply when considering the assets other teams would accept in exchange for something worthwhile.

Understanding their probable fate, and the disadvantages at play moving forward, the Maple Leafs could have went hard in one direction today, and potentially helped change an outcome down the road.

Instead they remained stuck in the middle, and in the position few expected them to be in.

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