Good morning Leafs fans. It’s a new month and thus a new era of the offseason.

June comes with a lot of those events people look forward to. The Stanley Cup is awarded (Vegas or Washington, what’s your pick?), teams fly out to select the next generation of talent in their organization, and most importantly, those buzz-worthy days ahead of Free Agent Frenzy.

But let’s face it, all that matters is how all these relate back to the Leafs. The Draft in Dallas is going to be an interesting one as it’ll be the first Kyle Dubas-solo round at the podium. The last few days have had former picks set to re-enter the selection process in Keaton Middleton and most recently Nicolas Mattinen.

Seeing as how many were worried about how well the Leafs would do at the draft with Mark Hunter out of the picture, this is a bittersweet bowl of reassurance. The onus is now on Dubas and company to ensure that the freight train of talent continues to come to the Ricoh Coliseum and Air Canada Centre. In other words, more Travis Dermotts and Andreas Johnssons, please.

Afterwards comes the ‘freakout over UFAs’ season and the Leafs may have their hand in a couple of those jars. In the past, that would be all any fan would focus on, but the William Nylander extension story takes precedence.

How much will he make? When will it get signed? Bridge or long-term? More questions that we’ll see the answers to as June gets going.

Strap in, as it’s these decisions that we’ve been waiting for. Well, a trade would be cool too but who knows when that will happen...

In Case You Missed It

Toronto Maple Leafs history: The awful 1999 NHL Draft - Pension Plan Puppets
That moment when you have 9 picks headed into the NHL Entry Draft but nothing to shore for it. To make matters worse, the Leafs were in a good position to draft Henrik Zetterberg. Oh well.

Maple Leafs trade target: Jared McCann - Pension Plan Puppets
Let’s celebrate McCann’s birthday by naming him a Maple Leafs trade target.

Around the Hockey World

Tomas Hyka, Zac Leslie resigned to one-year, two-way deals - Knights On Ice
The new wave of Golden Knights misfits.

Leafs' Connor Brown among NHLers to attend SickKids All-Star Gala | Toronto.com
That's my boy *wipes away proud tears*

Red Wings ready to trade 6th pick in 2018 NHL Draft: King’s ransom or fool’s gold? - Winging It In Motown
Detroit looks like one of the few teams set to make a splash in the upcoming weeks. It could work OR be the top hit on Fulemin's next Schadenfreude piece (I hope it's the latter).

On This Day: The Kid Is The Captain - PensBurgh
The fact that this post has that famous Captain Phillips line warrants a read.

Plan C: Tavares’ agent, Lamoriello in ‘nearly daily’ contact - Lighthouse Hockey
I guess "Make sure Johnny T doesn't leave," was at the top of Lou's responsibility list.

Zdeno Chara goes back to school with...PK Subban? - Stanley Cup of Chowder
The Fresh Adventures of Subban and Chara at Harvard.

Have a good weekend Leafs fans!

From The Branches