Toronto Maple Leafs: This Isn’t Playoff Hockey

Upon losing yet another game while leading with under a minute remaining, the Toronto Maple Leafs are in freefall.

For one, blissful second, it seemed as if those losses were a thing of the past. In the early days of the season, we watched this same team absolutely bulldoze their opponents. Headlines proclaimed the Toronto Maple Leafs to be the NHL’s most potent and dangerous team.

Life was simpler.

Something as devastating as giving up five goals against, a deathblow to most teams, didn’t matter. We knew they’d just turn around and score eight of their own.

Now, after sitting through last night’s torturous loss, times have certainly changed.

This once mighty team has seemingly lost the ability to execute its biggest strength; scoring goals. In fact, the Leafs haven’t managed to score more than three regulation goals since Mariah Carey botched her latest New Year’s performance.

For a team loaded with such an offensive arsenal, that is shocking.

In the six-game span since 2018 began, the Leafs have lost four of them. Of those four losses, three of them came despite leading late in the third period. And, in the, lone remaining loss, the Leafs were shut out.

What’s going on here?

Playoff-Style Hockey

I’ve attempted to understand just what exactly Mike Babcock is doing when it comes to player deployment before. And, frankly, I’m equally as confused now as I was then.

The Leafs top-heavy lineup could be best described as a Lamborghini. It’s sleek, sexy (hello William Nylander), and overwhelmingly powerful. And yet, Babcock has seemingly been attempting to drive his Lamborghini like a tank.

I can actually follow his logic here.

Babcock, being the old-school “hockey man” (ugh) he is, clearly subscribes to the belief that Lambos don’t win you playoff games. Instead, he’s looking to channel his team’s offensive recklessness into a more durable vehicle.

In his mind, players of Leo Komarov and Zach Hyman‘s ilk, shutdown guys, are the horses who carry you to playoff glory. We all remember Shayne Corson shutting down Alexi Yashin in 2002, right? What about Sami Pahlsson gritting Anaheim to a Cup in 2007?

But, is that still the case?

The NHL is a far different league now than it was even three years ago. Once coveted qualities like size and grit have now taken a backseat to speed and skill. Such a change has paved the way for more vertically-challenged players, Johnny Gaudreau and Mats Zuccarello come to mind, to blossom into stars.

So, in the face of this new philosophical shift, does Babcock’s idea of “playoff hockey” still apply? Let’s take a look.

Precedent

Pittsburgh’s consecutive Stanley Cup victories did not happen through their reliance on shut-down forwards and grit.

Instead, their success came through the additions of Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin, among others, who transformed their lineup into a balanced offensive attack.

Every single one of Pittsburgh’s lines could score at a moments notice. If opponents focused their efforts on containing Sidney Crosby‘s line, they’d then get burned by Evgeni Malkin’s. Were they to then shift their eyes to Malkin’s line, Crosby or Nick Bonino‘s line would mount their attack.

In 2017, it was Jake Guentzel, a rookie with under a full season of NHL experience, who served as the x-factor. Guentzel led the entire playoffs in goals with 13, endowing Pittsburgh’s lineup with the same balance that Kessel did the year prior.

In fact, the Penguins managed to achieve Stanley Cup glory last spring despite losing their franchise defenceman for the entirety of the playoffs!

Luckily, Toronto, much like Pittsburgh, happens to possess a similarly balanced offensive attack. And frankly, with just a few internal roster moves here and there, the two could go toe to toe.

The Penguins won through an exercise of self-reflection. They came to terms with exactly the type of team they were and began playing to their recognized strengths.

If the last few games have told us anything, that’s exactly what the Leafs should do too.

For when Babcock mercifully gives up on turning his Lambo into a tank and just lets that baby loose on the open road is precisely when this team starts looking like themselves again.

And with the losses piling up, that day can only arrive sooner.

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