The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a slump.
With last night’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Toronto Maple Leafs have lost three in a row. They’ve lost seven of ten, and haven’t really looked great since October.
They’ve got to make some changes.
Last night saw them add Frederik Gauthier to the lineup – to no effect. Gauthier saw six minutes of 5v5 ice-time and racked up a very unimpressive 31% possession rating.
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Carrick was also back in, and he was fine, almost breaking even in a top-four role. You can’t expect too much from him when he rarely plays, but at least he got more minutes than Polak and Borgman, a pairing that is out-right horrible. (And I don’t blame Borgman).
In eight minutes together last night at 5v5 Borgman and Polak were constantly hemmed in their own zone and managed a sub-enforcer rating of 25% CF. Brutal.
Changes Needed
The Toronto Maple Leafs are making it increasingly clear that help is needed from outside the organization or the minor leagues. It’s entirely possible that Travis Dermott – someone who Babcock mentioned last week has earned a call – or Calle Rosen could help the team, but it’s naive to think they can step into a top four role.
And top four is where the Leafs are hurting. Zaitsev is a huge loss in the middle of the blue-line, but even with him, the Leafs D needs help.
- Jake Gardiner hasn’t built on last season’s success.
- The Coach doesn’t like and/or trust Carrick.
- Ron Hainsey is the single worst top-pairing defenseman in the NHL.
- Morgan Rielly needs a better partner.
- Only Rielly and Borgman are above 50% CF for the season.
- Borgman is a rookie.
- Polak is worse than a replacement player.
- It’s a soft group, overall.
The team has an offense worthy of the Stanley Cup, a great goalie, a a great coach and………one of the worst blue-lines in hockey.
Something’s got to be done.
Timothy Liljegren and Travis Dermott give the Leafs hope that this won’t be a long term problem, but in the meantime, there’s a perfectly good Stanley Cup to try and win this season and the current defense can’t get it done.
Ideally, the Leafs would parlay Leivo, Brown/Kapanen and picks into a legitimate core piece. Someone on the right side of 25, with an upside, and hopefully a right-handed shot. But if that can’t be done, there are plenty of veteran upgrades available.
Chris Tanev would be a great place to start, and if Vancouver falls any further back it might just happen. Either way, the Toronto Maple Leafs need an upgrade. Half the season is over, the team is in a funk and there’s no time like the present to get something done.