How the McDavid to Maple Leafs Rumour Puts Pressure on

There's a funny thing about the latest Connor McDavid-to-Toronto rumour. The more you look at it, the less it actually seems to be about McDavid.

Michael Augello has already clarified that the original comment was based on another reporter's theory, not on anything McDavid has told anyone about wanting to leave Edmonton. And even that theory came with a pretty significant condition: if the Maple Leafs are good, Toronto might have a chance. If they're not, there probably isn't one.

That actually makes this more interesting. Because the question isn't really whether McDavid wants to play for the Maple Leafs. The question is whether the Maple Leafs can build a team that a player like McDavid would want to join.

Toronto has to earn the right to have the conversation.

That's the part that gets lost whenever this rumour starts making the rounds. Everybody knows McDavid grew up in the Toronto area. Everybody knows he grew up watching the Maple Leafs. Everybody understands the attraction of eventually playing for the hometown team.

None of that means he's going to do it. The missing piece is the hockey team. If McDavid ever gets to the point where he's deciding where he wants to spend the next stage of his career, he's not going to be choosing a childhood memory. He's going to be choosing a place where he thinks he can win.

That's why the condition attached to this latest speculation is actually pretty revealing.

The Maple Leafs have to be a good team.

Not famous. Not interesting. Not loaded with big names. Not even hometown. Just good. That's a much higher bar.

The Maple Leafs have spent years trying to become that kind of team, and the results haven't exactly convinced anybody. Last season ended with Toronto missing the playoffs, and the organization responded by replacing its general manager and changing the roster’s direction. John Chayka now has the job of changing that.

Maybe McDavid is the measuring stick, not the prize.

This is where the whole McDavid discussion gets interesting for the Maple Leafs. Toronto shouldn't be building a team because Connor McDavid might become available. It should be building a team that would make any elite player look at the organization and think, I want to be part of that.

That's a much healthier way to look at the next couple of seasons. If Chayka builds a deeper, harder team to play against, develops the young players properly, and gives Toronto a legitimate chance to win in April, then the McDavid conversation suddenly becomes a little less ridiculous.

But if the Maple Leafs are still trying to convince everybody they're one superstar away, McDavid isn't going to fix that. In fact, he'd probably make the problem worse.

Could the McDavid-to-Toronto rumour actually benefit Toronto fans?

Forget whether McDavid is coming home. Forget the anonymous reporter. And forget the speculation.

Look at the condition attached to it all. If the Maple Leafs are good, maybe McDavid would consider them.

Well, then that's the job. Make the Maple Leafs good. If that happens, the McDavid question will take care of itself. And if it doesn't, there won't be much of a question to answer anyway.