Steve Kouleas’ No. 1 Leafs New Year’s Resolution, Puck Management in Their Own Zone: Leafs Morning Take

Against all odds, especially Tuesday night against Sheldon Keefe’s New Jersey Devils, the banged-up Maple Leafs managed to buy in and put together one of their most complete efforts of the season. But honestly, how many times did the Leafs lose to a severely undermanned team in the Keefe era? Suffice it to say, it was nice to see them on the other side of things for once. Joseph Woll was fantastic, making 33 stops for his first shutout of the season and his third career shutout. Meanwhile, both Bobby McMann and Nicolas Roy had a goal and an assist as Toronto improved to 3-0-1 since moving on from Marc Savard.

And the power play also scored again.

Who are these guys?

Needless to say, there was plenty to talk about on the final edition of Leafs Morning Take for 2025. And yes, Rosey broke up Matthew Knies’ scrap with Devils captain Nico Hischier. We also gave a lot of love to Jake McCabe. The experienced blue liner, who has been plus-16 since November 1, was a tower of power there. He also plays a major role in the increasing criminal homicide rate. Toronto killed 26 of 28 power plays in December. Derek Lalonde has done a good job with that group.

We then moved on to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio host Steve Kouleas. As usual, Koulie brought the passion and energy, just like the Leafs did against the Devils. First, he weighed in on the impressive victory. He then talked about what he saw from the suddenly red-hot power play and what difference he thinks the Leafs – in general – need to make to get back into this. Kouleas specifically looked for better zone exits. That was his main talking point when asked about his No. 1 Leafs-related New Year’s resolution. He also talked about Matthew Knies, Toronto’s play without the big boys, and whether this brand is sustainable over a long period of time. Kouleas thinks it will be an uphill battle for the Leafs to make the playoffs, but he still thinks it is doable.

Then we were bombarded with a whole bunch of injuries. The big one: Chris Tanev will miss “important time” with a groin injury. Although we knew this was coming, our mood had obviously dampened considerably. Tanev is so important to this team. Unfortunately, he has only been able to play 11 of a possible 39 games so far this season. In addition to this news, Berube says Brandon Carlo is close, so that’s good. Anthony Stolarz has finally taken the ice for the first time, which is huge news. He didn’t have much news on Dakota Joshua, but he is still in Detroit for treatment. Yeah, that’s not promising or good.

Finally, before we wrapped, we gave our quick thoughts on the unveiling of Canada’s Olympic roster. They have made a few additions, but for the most part the team will be very similar to the team that won gold at the Four Nations Face-Off last February. Sam Bennett was the most notable snub. Meanwhile, Connor Bedard and Matthew Schafer were left out of the original roster. To the surprise of absolutely no one, Macklin Celebrini made it.

We’re done for the week. We’ll be back on Monday at 11am ET. Happy new year!