The Toronto Maple Leafs risk becoming a zombie team unless they do something drastic to alter their trajectory.<\/p>\n
The term \u201czombie\u201d comes from the business world. Some corporations become \u201czombie companies\u201d as they are too good to go under, but not good enough to produce significant gains for investors. <\/p>\n
Zombie companies are the kind of \u201csafe\u201d investments that some prefer. They produce predictable results that won\u2019t destroy money in spectacular bankruptcies.<\/p>\n
Such is the situation the Maple Leafs are facing at the moment. They are too good to tank, but they\u2019re not quite good enough to contend. The Leafs have a good enough core to avoid a catastrophic last-overall finish.<\/p>\n
But the reality is that the Maple Leafs\u2019 core doesn\u2019t have the supporting cast to catapult it to a Stanley Cup. By \u201csafe\u201d and \u201cpredictable,\u201d the Maple Leafs could be on the fringes of playoff contention every season for some time. <\/p>\n
The club will make the playoffs some years, and others it won\u2019t. The seasons that it does make the playoffs, they\u2019ll likely get bounced in the first round. The missed playoff seasons could yield high draft picks strong enough to boost the team for some time.<\/p>\n
Of course, such a situation will inevitably lead to calls for a rebuild.<\/a> Management could resist a full-on rebuild, adding on the fringes<\/a>, and keeping the club above water for a couple of more seasons.<\/p>\n Maple Leafs must change the path forward<\/p>\n So, the organization must change the path forward. A full-on rebuild isn\u2019t an option at this point. The team is too good to tear everything down. In the business world, it would be akin to a profitable company selling everything off and rebuilding its core business from the ground up. Doing so could mean throwing away years of hard work and market consolidation.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what the Maple Leafs are clinging to. The idea of selling off valuable pieces now and starting over could mean several seasons of futility. In 2016, the massive tanking caught a huge break with Auston Matthews. Had it not been for Matthews, the Leafs could have become something far worse than a zombie team.<\/p>\n