Let me take you back in time to the summer of 2014, a period in the middle of what Maple Leafs hockey historians now refer to as “the Dead Toast Era”.
It was a magical time with Dave Nonis as General Manager and Randy Carlyle as the head coach; Reimernier: Save My Heart made the New York Times bestseller list; a strapping young James van Riemsdyk was about to have a 30-goal season; and, down on the farm, a Maple Leafs 2011 seventh-round draft pick was creating some buzz among the hardcore fans with his minor league goaltending for the Marlies and the Solar Bears.