Tie Goes to the Veteran Policy Is Killing the Toronto Maple Leafs

TORONTO, ON - MARCH 26: Patrick Marleau
TORONTO, ON - MARCH 26: Patrick Marleau
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GLENDALE, AZ – FEBRUARY 16: Head coach Mike Babcock of the Toronto Maple Leafs watches from the bench against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on February 16, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ – FEBRUARY 16: Head coach Mike Babcock of the Toronto Maple Leafs watches from the bench against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on February 16, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Toronto Maple Leafs just finished a week in which they allowed an incredible 23 goals against.

If you want, you can take an optimistic view: The Toronto Maple Leafs are missing two of their four best defensemen, as well as Kasperi Kapanen.  And out of those four games, they were very close to winning two of them.  One of the games followed a Western Road trip with Monday night game, short handed, against the NHL’s best team.  Another was with the back-up goalie on the second night of a back to back.

Now, nobody needs or wants excuses, but even the most pessimistic fan has to admit that it’s better than just seeing the team collapse for no reason.  Amid the negativity that surrounded this team prior to this last week’s terrible play, I was tried to point out that the Leafs were a really good team, one which had just played the previous quarter of a season at a 13-4-3, which is a 119 point pace.

I think this is a really good team that, if everything goes right, could go all the way. That said, I think our most negative friends have  a point: The Leafs issues are more than just allowing a lot of goals over a four game period.  They are a good team, no doubt, but I think they are also a team that is deeply flawed.

While some may be quick to blame rookie GM Kyle Dubas, I think almost every single issue is something that could be corrected with the existing roster, and such, most of the blame falls on coach Mike Babcock.

I will now list several things I think could easily be corrected.