"Ranking them 30th is generous": Fans divided on Toronto Maple Leafs' ranking of front offices based on The Athletic's 10,000-fans survey

The Toronto Maple Leafs ranked near the bottom in a survey conducted by The Athletic. It asked nearly 10,000 NHL fans to rank each team's front office in various categories, including roster building, salary cap management, drafting and development, trading, free agency and vision.

Out of 32 teams, the Maple Leafs ranked 30th overall, with only the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Islanders behind. Many fans took to social media to react, with one tweeting:

"Ranking them 30th is generous."

Another commented:

"Leafs are so low because the entire fan base knows that not trading Marner and letting him walk is extremely stupid, but shanny and tre don’t have to do it."

Here are some more fan reactions:

"Leafs management isn’t as good or as bad as the survey indicates. However, winning a single playoff round in 10 years tells us a lot about Shanahan’s leadership." one fan wrote on X.

"Makes sense as they’ve done nothing good in the time they’ve had outside of a few good draft picks that so far have not totally panned out! another fan wrote.

"The team with the longest playoff streak in the NHL??" a user questioned.

"I put the Leafs at 10th. ... They have been 4th and 5th. ...tIt depends where the team places in the Standings hahaha!!!," another fan noted.

According to the survey results, 51% of Toronto's fanbase is less confident in the front office compared to last year.

Specifically, the Maple Leafs received a D grade in roster building, D+ in cap management, C in drafting and development, D- in trading, C- in free agency and a D in vision. The fanbase gave slightly higher marks across the board, but the overall sentiment appears negative.

On the bright side, 23% of fans are more confident in the front office versus a year ago. However, confidence in the public is lower, with only 12% of the general public more confident in the Toronto Maple Leafs management team.

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Analyst explains Toronto Maple Leafs' low survey ranking

Analyst Dom Luszczyszyn explained why the Toronto Maple Leafs ranked low in the survey of NHL teams.

“Overall, while the Shanahan/Treliving duo has been far from disastrous, it has proven underwhelming. A few diamonds in the rough, a few misses for sure, but more or less the same strategy of the previous regime.” Luszczyszyn said to The Athletic on Tuesday.

The survey ranking reflects the view that more change is needed in Toronto to build a championship roster.