Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Before the Maple Leafs go head on into a retool, fixing their breakout game is going to be crucial in making sure things are actually different this time around, because they risk ruining things if they continue to run into the same issues by keeping Morgan Rielly as their go-to playmaking option.
As the season lingers on for the Toronto Maple Leafs, they are staring a potential retool in the face after a season way below expectations. With a chance to change things up for real this time, the team has a few pieces they could deal away in the hopes of making things better for the future.
But before they do that, they need to fully assess where their true issues lie, and until they narrow down a focus on what needs to be fixed; they could be spinning their wheels.
Start from the back end and work your way up, Toronto
One factor they need to really focus on is fixing their transition offense, as their continued inability to play out of their zone and make crisp, clean passes has led to them spending most of the time either in their own end or the neutral zone.
Now with the Maple Leafs really holding nobody who can lead that transition offense, it’s difficult to feed the puck to the stars, and relying on them alone to get the puck out is only going to tire them out and lead to more mistakes.
Toronto seems to have a real issue with clearing the puck. Far too often they’ll make lazy passes up the middle or try a clearance attempt and just haphazardly float the puck out and if teams can just track back, reset, and try again — where does Toronto find the offensive side?
Maple Leafs offense anemic due to lack of offensive-minded defencemen
You need someone who can take the puck in their own end and either skate with it in confidence, or give you that stretch pass ability that’s lacking. While the team can’t bring along a piece like Cale Makar, they can look to players like Dougie Hamilton, Rasmus Ristolainen, Bowen Byram — just something different.
Right now besides Rielly, the team is relying on Oliver Ekman-Larsson who thankfully is going through a resurgence, however putting all your eggs in a 34-year-old’s basket might be one of the worst options for the future.
They are solid enough on the defensive side, and once Chris Tanev is eventually healthy — they’re even more stable. It’s the puck-moving that is killing their chances.
Toronto can’t rely anymore on Morgan Rielly hopefully pulling it together, and missing out on key assets to keep OEL is a bad business move. It’s time to look at the roster and start from the back and work their way up.
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Toronto Maple Leafs retool depends on blue line fix to solve breakout failures
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