Five wins in their last 14 games, three multi-goal leads blown in the last four and a group of players who are unwilling to take accountability for the poor play — the Toronto Maple Leafs, a preseason Stanley Cup contender, are past the halfway point of the season and aren't showing signs they will pull themselves out of this slump.
“We’ve played some really good hockey, we’ve just given them back,” Mitch Marner, Maple Leafs forward, said postgame Tuesday night. “We’ve had a lot of chances to extend leads in games and haven’t done a good job of that.”
As Marner said, they had chances but just didn’t convert. This is something that has become increasingly prevalent over recent weeks.
Looking at all of the recent games in a vacuum, it doesn’t seem all that bad for the Leafs. They have lost games to Colorado, Edmonton, Detroit and Carolina — all good teams that will likely make the playoffs. As individual losses they aren’t all that bad; however, the NHL season is an 82-game schedule that builds every night.
The Maple Leafs are not finishing games because of critical problems in their structure. They have consistently been struggling to defend in their own end, and their inability to hang on to winnable games proves costly night in and night out.
Struggles also haven’t been met with much acceptance by the team. A lot of the players in press conferences brush it off and act as if the season is going to miraculously turn around.
After blowing a 3-0 lead to Colorado last Saturday, Head Coach Sheldon Keefe was brief about his thoughts on the Avalanche.
“That’s not the NHL,” Keefe said. “That’s another league.”
The Saturday night game in Toronto was truly the tipping point that made it clear significant changes are needed. Problems that have been slowly rising exploded and maybe one of the most notable takeaways was the Leafs captain John Tavares being benched late in a one-goal game.
A player who has been instrumental in Toronto’s success in recent seasons is suddenly unrecognizable.
Since Dec. 19 — the beginning of the 14-game stretch that Toronto has only recorded five wins in — Tavares has scored just 3 goals and has posted a minus-10 rating. These numbers are significantly below what is expected of him.
All in all, top-player problems, defensive issues and little to no accountability are some of the surface issues plaguing a team that should be cruising through this part of the season.
So, what needs to happen?
Most likely a significant personnel move. Whether that be replacing Sheldon Keefe at the head coaching position or making a trade to shake up the roster, it is going to be difficult for Toronto.
The Leafs don’t have that many assets to trade to acquire a strong lockdown defenseman they need, and their recent mega signing of William Nylander doesn’t leave much flexibility on the salary cap.
Replacing Keefe may be what the Leafs need to do to turn the season around. Take what Edmonton did as an example. Jay Woodcroft got off to a good start in his tenure with the team but hit a wall and couldn’t get results. The Oilers did the smart thing and hired a fresh face in Kris Knoblauch.
Since the change, Edmonton (21-6-0) is surging on a franchise-record double-digit game-winning streak.
Whatever the Leafs end up doing, they need to do it quickly. With the March 8 trade deadline quickly approaching, if they don’t make the proper moves now, it will be another wasted season with an early playoff exit.
Andrew Bowlby is a sophomore studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to share your thoughts about the column? Let Andrew know by tweeting him @andrew_bowlby.
