The Toronto Maple Leafs are officially in crisis mode. Seven losses in eight games, a 1-5-2 spiral and a level of disjointed, uninspired hockey that this team hasn’t shown in years. The selection changes every season. Every season the coach has the same message and frustration with the way the team is playing. The excuses change every year.
Recent reports suggest the Maple Leafs are considering a roster-for-roster trade, but it’s hard to imagine it will amount to much. With the top stars remaining and an aging team, it will be a challenge to find our way back. At some point you stop looking at management or the bank and start noticing the one constant: nothing ever changes where it matters.
Saturday’s 5-2 loss in Montreal was just the latest chapter in a season that went completely off the rails. Toronto has lost all but one of its seven road games and is second-to-last in the NHL’s Eastern Conference. The team is missing some key pieces, which means injuries won’t help. Things only got worse on Saturday when Jake McCabe took a puck in the face and missed time. Yet the Maple Leafs were already playing poorly before the bodies started falling. Montreal was also missing four key players and still dictated the match from start to finish.
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By the time the Canadiens doubled their lead, they had outscored Toronto 16-1 to start the second period and chased Joseph Woll out of the net. Head coach Craig Berube didn’t mince his words afterward. He didn’t blame Woll, saying the Leafs were giving up freebies. He added that he had had enough, noting, “This is an experienced hockey team. It’s inexcusable,” he said. “Until we play 60 minutes, it’s going to be hard to pull yourself out of anything.”
A quick trade won’t solve the Maple Leafs’ problems
Toronto dominated early, he said, but when Montreal scored, the Leafs folded instead of pushing back. John Tavares admitted the second period “put us in a big hole” and acknowledged the weight of a season that already feels heavy.
The truth is that Toronto should be much more competitive than this. They’re old, slow, soft and stale – a far cry from the energetic up-and-coming teams about to take over the NHL. Management stuck with a core for too long and then started adding pieces that did not make them faster, especially defensively. This is a team that goes beyond one roster-by-roster trade that will fix everything.
The Leafs need to change their mindset, find a different outfit or go in a new direction if they want to salvage this season. Does that mean a coaching change? It would release the players and maybe the team will wait until it gets a few players back from injury, but don’t rule it out.
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