So now that the Leafs season is done, I thought I would do a write up talking about the team and how it went. Discussing things such as expectations, general thoughts, free agency, future outlook, and much more
Toronto Maple Leafs
After yet another disappointing exit from the playoffs for Toronto Maple Leafs. Many have been left wondering how exactly this team plans to improve. First of all, the Leafs season was cut in two as with every team because of the coronavirus pause. In my opinion, the Leafs had an up and down season filled with some memorable moments highlighted by John Tavares becoming the captain. Auston Matthews led the team with 80 points and 47 goals. He was just shy of becoming the first Leaf in recent memory to reach the 50-goal plateau. Mitch Marner capped off another amazing season with 51 assists continuing the upward trend of him becoming one of the league’s premier playmakers. This 2019-2020 campaign will forever be remembered for the virus stoppage, but also for the firing of coach Mike Babcock.
Halfway through the season, the Leafs went on a losing skid where they lost six games in a row and 2 of their last 16 games. This skid eventually led to head coach Mike being fired. After he was let go, controversy followed the team as stories began to surface regarding some of Babcock’s questionable coaching tactics. Namely, one wherein the first season he betrayed and humiliated Mitch Marner in front of teammates. Other stories began to surface from former players who played under him and this whole time was generally a mess for the team. Sheldon Keefe long time Toronto Marlies coach and favorite of general manager Kyle Dubas took over as bench boss at this time. The general sense around the team was that Mike Babcock had lost the room and a coaching change was needed. Most players on the Leafs echoed this sentiment in their post and pregame comments.
Some memories from this season were not as positive, however, particularly one loss against the Carolina Hurricanes on February 22nd, 2020. In this game, the Leafs ended up losing to a backup goaltender who was employed by the Leafs as a Zamboni driver LOL! (he was also 43 years old!!) Personally, for me, it does not get much more embarrassing than that like they literally could not score on him. The Leafs lent his services to the Carolina Hurricanes in that game after both of their goalies went down with an injury and still lost. Not to mention, this event was the first time in NHL history where a backup emergency goaltender (employed by the Leafs) was called into a game and won.
When the season paused because of Covid-19, I had no idea if it would return or not. When it finally did, a different postseason format was put forth because of the sudden stoppage of games near the end of the season. After it was all said and done the Leafs ended up losing in the qualifying round to the Columbus Blue Jackets in 5 games. It was a hard-fought series where the Leafs pulled off an epic comeback win in game 4. They scored 3 goals in the final 4 minutes of the game and Auston Matthews netted the game-winner in overtime to complete the win. It was an incredible comeback to witness and definitely the highlight of the season for me. Toronto became the first team in NHL history to avoid elimination with a win after trailing by 3 with less than 5 minutes left to play. In the end, the Blue Jackets’ strong team defensive play and perseverance wore the Leafs down, and they once again went out early. Frederik Anderson, the Leafs netminder could not come up with the big saves the team needed in game 5 and the offence dried up. The final score ended up being 3-0 Columbus, many people have come to question whether Andersen is the right goalie for the job going forward. So far, in the Leafs recent playoff runs he has not been able to close out the final game of any series, which is concerning. Some have doubted his mental toughness and reliability when the lights are brightest. He has not unfortunately risen to the challenge in pressure situation games.
The first and only domino to fall as of yet because of an early playoff exit is the Kasperi Kapanen trade to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Personally speaking, I was not happy to see Kappy go. He was one of the fastest skaters on the Leafs roster and without him, the team gets slower on the front end. If this trade is a sign of bigger things to come, then I would hope any potential signings are geared toward helping our defense become stronger. Furthermore, I understand the Leafs trading and working from a position of strength. The Leafs’ biggest position of power comes from their forward group upfront, which if one player had to go, I would have said either Kapanen or Andreas Johnsson. So, I guess this is not a move I could realistically say was a no go, anything could have happened with the kind of finish they had. One thing I do know is that Kyle Dubas(Leafs GM) will attempt to improve the team anyway he sees fit. If that means moving around some major pieces to do so, it is what it is.
Where I see the Leafs need to improve, is in their general defensive strategy as a team. That has to get a lot stronger and as a team, they have to play with more intensity and toughness. Competing until the buzzer sounds to end the game was lacking in some important matches down the stretch, including in the playoffs. As a whole, the Leafs struggled to maintain their composure when the going got tough. When a team is learning how to win, they have to get comfortable playing in tight games where a lead can be only one goal. You could sense the Leafs panicked whenever the other team made a push to take the lead. This has been a trademark of the Leafs for a long time now, caving into the pressure put forth by other teams. Some of this comes down to coaching, however; the other half is just players putting in that extra effort to win at all costs. The mental side of the game these players have to develop comes from experience. Many people forget that the core of this Leafs team is still fairly young, one can only hope these hardships mould a tough resilient group down the line. At the end of the day, it is just about playing with the confidence that you should win the game because the team possesses what it takes to get it done.
Moreover, what the Leafs need is a top-tier defenseman which we have not had the luck of obtaining to date. That should be priority number one. Next, they could look at improving their depth at the goaltending position. Having more goalies to choose from is always a plus if the others are not performing up to standard. Although the Leafs have star power up front amongst their forwards, they could use some forward depth at the bottom of their lineup. Depth scoring outside of the “star players” was an issue against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Teams have figured out that in order to stop the Leafs, all you have to do is shut down the top players and put a lot of shots on net, saying eventually our goalie will crack. With scoring coming from all areas throughout the lineup, they will become more difficult for teams to stop all at once. Teams that win in the end have depth everywhere, which the Leafs clearly do not have yet especially on the back end.
Some potential players the Leafs could target this offseason are forwards Wayne Simmonds, Mike Hoffman, Tyler Toffoli and Mikael Granlund. Each of those players are currently recently good scorers on various teams. Even just getting one of these names would provide a boost to our forward depth in the form of scoring potential at the bottom of the lineup.
In terms of acquiring defensive talent, the big fish is of course Alex Pietrangelo of the St. Louis Blues. At 30 years old and a recent cup winner, he is one of the league’s premier D-man players. Adding him would result in a seismic shift of how the Leafs defense looks, he is also a local boy. Pietrangelo would instantly improve the defense, bring experience, and is an intimidating presence on the physical side of things as well. Sort of like Jake Muzzin but with more offensive upside. Another defenseman worth mentioning Is Torey Krug of the Boston Bruins. Now I doubt this will happen, mainly because of the long not so friendly history between Toronto and Boston. Usually, players who have played for rival teams do not just jump ship to a division rival. Having said this, his game reminds me of Morgan Rielly’s game for which the Leafs are familiar with because he is our top D-man right now. If we added Pietrangelo he would become our best defender. Adding Krug would give us a one-two punch on the backend in Rielly and him. This would make us better offensively in terms of production from our defense. However, I do not think adding Krug would drastically improve our defense and how we play away from the puck. Either one of these players would be great to acquire, nonetheless.
Our goalie situation is interesting because we have our number one guy in Freddy Andersen and a capable back up in Jack Campbell. On the other hand, Freddy has been shaky in the playoffs and sometimes seems unreliable as a true elite number one goalie for us. If the Leafs were to decide they wanted to go in another direction here, this offseason free-agent class of goalies is pretty deep. You have Robin Lehner from the Golden Knights, and he has been a good goalie for many seasons now. Brayden Holtby has been the number one guy in Washington for years and could provide a different look. Not only that, but he also has a Stanley Cup with the Capitals to his name, which our current goalie does not. As with any pro sports league, it is all about what you have shown or done recently that makes you stand out from the rest. Another option is Jacob Markstrom from the Vancouver Canucks. He was integral to the Canucks deep playoff run this postseason and seems to have potential as a number 1 goalie on a contending team in the future. Personally, I do not see the Leafs getting a top tier goalie unless our number one guy Freddy is traded. If both of our current goalies stay for next season, the only guy I can see the Leafs going for is someone like Cam Talbot from the Calgary Flames. Now although he is not a number one “elite” goalie per say, he is more than capable of stringing together some solid performances as evidenced by Calgary’s play this past season. Question is though, is he or any other non “number 1” option better than the tandem we already have minding our net? That is tough to say and cannot be answered right now, only time will tell.
Furthermore, the Leafs this season were largely expected to be playoff contenders. Losing out in the qualifying round is largely disappointing for this group who was supposed to have more in them. Toronto has failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs for 4 or 5 years now, and that has to change. If this trend continues next season, I expect big changes to follow, from player trades to roster reconstruction, and upper management movement as well. No stone would be left unturned in my estimation. Toronto has a way of making players and management accountable for their actions when it comes to Toronto sports. Mainly because the media/fanbase is pretty wild, and I know there are those of you who know what I am talking about here. In order to truly improve the Leafs need a serious upgrade on the defensive end, as mentioned before. We need depth scoring in all areas of our lineup, so scoring does not dry up during the playoffs. They also need a goaltender who can handle the pressure of playing in games which are high stakes. If our current goaltenders cannot deal with stress in games, they must look elsewhere to fill this void. Most of all the players have to want it, more compete, more effort, and the will to win has to be there. Outworking the other team is a real thing that the Leafs have not grasped yet. Skill and talent alone are not going to bring an NHL championship to this city.
Lastly, the coaching staff must prepare to instill these values and a suitable defensive strategy this team can implement. Starting this off from training camp will do wonders for the Leafs confidence in being able to play a certain style to close out games. Specifically, when the time comes to tighten things up and not allow offensive opportunities. One full season with new head coach Sheldon Keefe putting these tactics in place should make a notable difference come playoff time. This season the Leafs had to deal with plenty of drama and a coaching change at the start. One full season with Sheldon should help normalize things and bring a sense of calm to the team, allowing them to just focus on their game. Leafs had too many off ice distractions that did not permit the team to gel and get into a rhythm, as they should have, unfortunately. I am hoping this coming season is better with a new plan in place as well as some new free agents who should join the team this offseason. It is all about learning from your mistakes after all, and I feel like this team has what it takes in them to correct their wrongs. All these elements combined should change their misfortunes in the future. Thus, this time next year I expect to be singing the Leafs praises, as opposed to criticizing them and their decisions. Let us hope for their sake I am right, otherwise more drastic changes are sure to follow. Go Leafs Go!!
Matt
(Team 6ixhappening)