The Maple Leafs’ issues aren’t limited to the past two games.
A pair of demoralizing losses on the weekend at home against the Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins had to make for a quiet Leafs flight on Monday to Boston, where the Leafs and Bruins will hook up on Tuesday night.
The back-to-back setbacks left the Leafs with an ordinary record of 8-7-1, bad enough to put them sixth in the Atlantic Division, five points behind the division-leading Montreal Canadiens.
Some thoughts on the Leafs’ overall play:
No easy answers
The biggest question for the Leafs is how to fix the mostly bad hockey they’ve played since the season opener on Oct. 8.
The missteps, the lack of communication, the lack of structure, the list goes on — none of it has been the aberration. Consistently good hockey by the Leafs, where they look like they’ve actually played together for a while, has been the anomaly.
John Tavares used the word “immature” in describing the loss to Carolina, during which the Leafs, ahead 4-3 after two periods, were outshot 22-2 in the third period and gave up the deciding goals.
That would nicely sum up the Leafs through the first month, as they’ve often won by outscoring their mistakes. Through Sunday’s games, the Leafs were second in the National Hockey League in goals for at five-on-five with 43, three behind the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche. Yet Toronto had given up an NHL-high 45 goals at five-on-five, four more than next team, the St. Louis Blues.
Why the Leafs don’t appear to have much interest in paying attention to defensive detail is confounding. We’re not talking about a young team here, one that is trying to find its way despite inexperience. The Leafs are the opposite of that.
The Leafs ran back what has been a capable defence corps. There has been more than enough time for new forwards Nicolas Roy, Matias Maccelli and Dakota Joshua to get comfortable.
Individually, William Nylander (23 points in 13 games), Tavares (21 in 16) and Matthew Knies (20 in 15) have produced.
Auston Matthews, with four goals in his past five games, seems to have rounded a corner. That’s paramount. The Leafs captain is getting more than enough of an opportunity to find a groove. He’s averaging 21 minutes 54 seconds of ice time a game, nearly two minutes more than his career average of 19 minutes 55 seconds.
The easy thing to say it’s that on the Leafs collectively to find a way out of their problems. It’s true, but we also have to consider that the Leafs don’t necessarily have it in them to be a heck of a lot better than they have been. What does that look like? Suddenly playing more complete and stringing together wins, with a loss sprinkled in every so often, on a consistent basis?
It’s not going to happen with the lack of cohesiveness the Leafs have had. The sample size, meanwhile, continues to grow.
It’s little wonder coach Craig Berube, if he isn’t blowing a gasket behind the bench, is often seen pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.
The goaltending
For Anthony Stolarz, perhaps the first stride in getting back to the level he performed at last season was publicly acknowledging on Saturday after he was pulled against Boston that overall, he has not been good enough.
A dozen games is not a large sample size, but it was becoming more obvious that the increased workload was impacting Stolarz’s performance.
The hope for the Leafs, or one of them, is that once Joseph Woll returns from a conditioning stint with the Toronto Marlies, he capably does his job and takes some responsibility off the shoulders of Stolarz. Not to put any more heat on Woll as he makes his comeback from being away for personal reasons, but there’s not much choice for him but to be good once he is in the Leafs crease again.
The best thing that could have happened regarding Cayden Primeau, meanwhile, is what played out on Saturday: He was claimed by the Hurricanes off waivers.
In three games with the Leafs, Primeau was spotty, demonstrating why he had hard time nailing down a full-time NHL job with the Montreal Canadiens before he was traded to Carolina in the off-season. The Leafs wanted veteran insurance until Woll returned, but they would have been no worse off had they kept Dennis Hildeby with the NHL club and not bothered claiming Primeau from Carolina on Oct. 6.
The goaltending can resume its natural pecking order upon Woll’s return.
Rielly reality
The step forward that veteran defenceman Morgan Rielly had in mind following a summer of reflection has not materialized.
Through Sunday, Rielly was tied in with three defencemen — MacKenzie Weegar of the Calgary Flames, Cam Fowler of the St. Louis Blues and Mattias Ekholm of the Edmonton Oilers — in a category that no one wants to lead. Each of the four was on the ice for 18 goals against at five-on-five, most in the NHL.
Brandon Carlo, Rielly’s usual defence partner, has been on the ice for 15 goals-against at five-on-five.
Even more troublesome: Rielly is 59th in the league in five-on-five ice time.
A positive for the 31-year-old — he has been on the ice for 17 goals for at five-on-five, tied for the Leafs lead with Knies. Only 12 NHL players have been on the ice for more.
Using Rielly as the quarterback on the first power-play unit after the club often went with a five-forward look last season didn’t bring much, either. The Leafs were 4-for-34 with a man advantage (31st in the NHL) before recovering a bit to go 3-for-7 on the weekend.
By no means have any Leafs defencemen been sharp. Even Chris Tanev, when he has been healthy, has not been met his high standard.
As the Leafs’ highest-paid D-man, and one who is under contract through the 2029-30 season, the glare of the spotlight has to fall on Rielly. He must find a way to be better.
Benching considerations
Frustrated fans figure that Max Domi should be given the chance to watch a game from the press box. Ditto for Maccelli. Or perhaps Bobby McMann, who is on pace for 15 goals after scoring 20 last season.
Rather than being an integral member of the forward group, Domi is centring the fourth line and with five points in 16 games, is on pace for 26. That would be a career-low in an 82-game schedule for Domi.
The Leafs don’t get many power plays — another annoyance for Berube — but Domi has drawn five penalties at five-on-five. That’s the most among Leafs. Easton Cowan also had drawn five before he was sent to the Marlies.
Benching veterans isn’t likely to help in the big picture. They are what they are, and the Leafs have little choice but to live with that.
If you’re among those clamouring for a trade to shake the Leafs up, don’t count on that happening. General manager Brad Treliving would have to send money out to acquire any player of substance, and other GMs aren’t beating down the door to pry players such as Domi, Calle Jarnkrok or David Kampf, among others, from Toronto.
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