The Toronto Maple Leafs are in quite the bind at the moment. The current five-game losing streak has highlighted that whatever could go wrong for the team has.
While the effort and the pushback have been there at times, the catastrophic mistakes have led to losses piling up. The Leafs are now circling the drain again this season, and there doesn’t appear to be any end in sight.
The risible tagging room problem has handcuffed what John Chayka, especially since Kirill Marchenko, the man at the forefront of the situation, hasn’t played in a few weeks now.
So, the Maple Leafs are now starting at the edge of the rebuild precipice. Chayka attempted a retool this season a la Boston Bruins, but tangible results have yet to materialize. And that’s too bad because some of the changes have made sense for the organization.
The team clearly needed a reliable starting goaltender. There was also the need for a solid number-one defenseman, with the bottom-six forward group needing a boost.
However, the choices that Chayka made have not worked out quite as expected. Darren Raddysh has been a good blueliner, but hasn’t been the offensive force that everyone expected. That’s actually not really his fault, as head coach Jim Hiller has not deployed him this season in a role that’s befitting of his particular skill set.
As for Sergei Bobrovsky, the 38-year-old netminder has started looking his age. And while the Maple Leafs haven’t exactly been a stone wall in front of him, the fact is that he hasn’t made the crucial saves needed to keep the team in the game.
That’s why a rebuild may be much closer than a Stanley Cup.
Can the Maple Leafs Avoid a Rebuild?
The idea of a rebuild evokes painful thoughts reminiscent of what the Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks, and Detroit Red Wings are going through. The situation, nonetheless, is avoidable. It hinges on a couple of factors that could facilitate a turnaround.
First of all, the team needs to stay healthy. That’s a relatively tall order considering that this is mostly a veteran lineup. With the rosters consisting of mostly older players, the likelihood of injury is much higher.
Then, there’s the whole maintenance issue as fans saw with Chris Tanev on Thursday night. The Leafs purposely chose to sit Tanev in a game where they could have really used him. Instead, Tanev sat with Morgan Rielly also out. The Maple Leafs deployed the Dakota Mermis-Cole McWard pair, which, to be fair, wasn’t actually that bad.
But unless everyone can stay healthy and just somehow turn it up, it will be really tough to see any significant turnaround.
Toronto Needs Consistency in the Lineup
The other thing to keep is the need for consistency. The Maple Leafs have had trouble icing a regular lineup amid the injury woes. If most of the team remains healthy, a more consistent lineup would allow the club’s chemistry to form.
And under those circumstances, there might be a chance to see better results.
Yes, it might already be too late for the Maple Leafs to get back into the Eastern Conference playoff race. While a wild card spot may still be within reach, one has to wonder if there’s actually any real hope that the Leafs could find the momentum needed to ride a hot streak back into contention.
But if there’s anything the Buffalo Sabres taught the NHL last season, is that a team can get scorching hot at the right time and ride that momentum into a playoff spot.
Maple Leafs Staring at the Edge of the Rebuild Precipice