To Pull Out Of Slump, Maple Leafs Need Improvement From All Areas

Okay, Toronto Maple Leafs fans – we see what you do. There’s no question the team is underwhelming in a worrisome way, and there are no easy solutions for what ails them. If we’re still in the first tenth of the NHL season, it’s still too soon to panic, but the Leafs also aren’t that far off from forcing the hand of GM Kyle Dubas into trading notable players. This 2-4-1 start to their season has created early-season pressure where there has been little of it in recent years, and now it falls on head coach Sheldon Keefe to get them out of this tailspin.

It’s not going to fall solely on star forwards Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander to get the Leafs back on course, although that certainly would help. The quartet has combined to score just five goals and 10 points thus far this year, and no amount of line-changing from Keefe has produced optimal results. But because they’re the four highest-paid Leafs, Nylander, Marner, Matthews, and Tavares will almost inevitably be criticized to a greater degree when the entire team is trying to fight through a dry spell. Toronto’s four-game losing streak isn’t all on them, but they all have to be better.

Same goes for the Leafs’ defense corps. Their top-six group of blueliners has managed to amass only eight assists in Toronto’s first seven games – and that wouldn’t matter as much if the Buds were often an adventure in their own end. Alas, veteran D-men such as Justin Holl have struggled, and the Leafs’ goalies have been unable to completely cover up their mistakes. Toronto needs more out of its defensemen, at both ends of the ice.

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As well, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the need to see improvement from the Leafs’ supporting players. Off-season acquisitions David Kämpf, Ondrej Kase, and Nick Ritchie have combined to put up only one goal, and one point, in Toronto’s seven games. The trio’s combined salaries equal $5.25 million against the salary cap, and that’s a real lack of production from a sizeable portion of their payroll. Indeed, of all the Leafs’ forwards, you can really only say a couple of them – forward Jason Spezza and winger Michael Bunting – have delivered at least as much as they’ve been advertised to deliver.

Finally, we can also say the Leafs need more from their goalies. Starter Jack Campbell has allowed a soft goal or two in his six games-played, but he’s been markedly better than understudies Petr Mrazek (who was injured in his first game as a Leaf, and still is a week or so away from returning to action) and Michael Hutchinson (who has posted a bloated 4.62 goals-against average and .857 save percentage in two appearances). Toronto’s woes on offense have magnified every goaltending performance, but ultimately, the team needs stronger performances from whomever is in net.

Toronto has a chance to straighten itself out this week, with winnable games Wednesday in Chicago against the Blackhawks, and Saturday, when the Leafs host the Detroit Red Wings. After that, they run into a mini-buzzsaw with games against the Vegas Golden Knights, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Boston Bruins. If by that point the Buds haven’t figured out how they have to play to win games, it’s time to see what can be done on the trade front.

For now, though, it really is about improvement in virtually every area for the Leafs. Their power play is the sixth-worst in the league. Their penalty kill is tied for the sixth-worst in the game. They haven’t done much particularly well, but they have too much talent on board to look this lousy.

And they’re running out of time to change things for the better.

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