Don Cherry agrees with all Maple Leafs’ moves except one!

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been busy since the day they were ousted from the second round of the postseason by the Florida Panthers back in May. Changes took place almost right away with Kyle Dubas getting let go as general manager and Brad Treliving taking over.

Since he took over, Treliving has made significant additions to the Maple Leafs’ roster with Ryan Reaves, Max Domi, and Tyler Bertuzzi, three veteran forwards known for their physicality.

“These were great moves by Brad Treliving and he’s not done yet,” he said, per the Toronto Sun’s Joe Warmington.

“Fans are going to love this team,” added Cherry. “Nobody is going to push them around, that is for sure. You won’t have a situation where they choked the college kid Matthew Knies like we saw in the playoffs. With Reaves on there and Bertuzzi and Domi too, that won’t happen again.”

While Grapes loves the new additions, he couldn’t help but criticize one move that was made earlier in the offseason, saying how Dubas didn’t deserved to be fired.

“He didn’t think it was necessary to fire Kyle Dubas or trade any players. He just thought the team should play its tougher ones — like Wayne Simmonds,” Warmington wrote.

It is good to point out that so far, Cherry is impressed with Treliving and the additions he’s made to ensure the Maple Leafs don’t lack the much needed physicality of the postseason. Cherry was one to notice how Toronto ran into toughness issues when meeting the Panthers in the second round.

“It won’t happen anymore, I will tell you.”

Grapes also agrees with the Maple Leafs’ decision to keep Sheldon Keefe as head coach for 2023-24, though he would love to see another face back in Simmonds.

“They will notice the difference having that toughness makes,” said Cherry. “If I were Brad, I would bring back Simmonds, too. You can’t have enough guys like that.”

We will never know what Dubas would have been able to do in Toronto if he had been re-signed as GM. Instead, Cherry will have to keep trusting Treliving and maybe takes a look at what Dubas can do with the Pittsburgh Penguins this summer.

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