Maple Leafs rank 17th in The Athletic’s ownership survey

The Toronto Maple Leafs placed 17th on The Athletic’s ownership survey that was released on Monday.

Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), the current owners of the franchise, finished just below average in the rankings ahead of the Boston Bruins and behind the Nashville Predators. The Tampa Bay Lightning placed first in the survey while the Buffalo Sabres were dead last.

MLSE’s biggest strength in the eyes of the fans who conducted the survey was the team’s willingness to spend, which they ranked fifth in that category. After all, the Leafs spent big at the deadline acquiring Brandon Carlo and Scott Laughton while making a push this past offseason to nab Chris Tanev right before the start of the free-agent frenzy. They are the most valuable franchise in the league and it makes sense that they can use their financial capital which the fans seem to appreciate.

However, MLSE is placed in the bottom third of the NHL in every other major category which are organizational stability, franchise vision, and treatment of the fans. The last one is their worst one of the lot as they placed 29th, which could stem from the team’s overall struggles in the playoffs as well as their 58-year Stanley Cup drought. What also doesn’t help is the constant complaints from fans of the experience at Scotiabank Arena being quiet relative to the size of the fanbase.

The stability and vision could see improvements over the years once Rogers takes over complete control of MLSE after purchasing the shares from Bell and Larry Tanenbaum makes his exit, though that depends on how the Leafs do. It helps that MLSE CEO Keith Pelley seems to believe that every major player in the Leafs’ front office is aligned and that could lead to better chemistry down the road.

However, not all fans are convinced this will be the case as some responses in the survey expressed their concerns about whether the ownership is indeed in it to keep the Leafs competitive on the ice.

“Have been systemically unable to turn revenue advantage into a performance advantage. Steadily losing market share in Toronto and generational interest.”

In any case, being right around average could be seen as just about right given the state of affairs for the Leafs. They have no business being in the top 10 as it stands but are not bad enough to be in the bottom 10, so middle of the pack seems fair.