Toronto doesn’t know how to handle star players who aren’t leaders.
Other cities and other teams do it, so it’s not impossible. But Toronto can’t crack the code, or isn’t interested in cracking the code.
And philosophically speaking, at least from the perspective of fan expectations, do you know whose fault it might be?
Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark, that’s who.
And I mean that as a compliment to those guys.
OK, let’s be clear, I’m not defending Phil Kessel, who was traded by the Maple Leafs to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.
People who are close to the situation say almost unanimously that it was time for Kessel to leave.