Toronto Maple Leafs Mid-Season Review: Best and Worst Storylines at the All-Star Break
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a wild first half of the NHL season
Despite facing a fair amount of adversity early on, the Toronto Maple Leafs currently sit fourth in the Atlantic division with a 25-17-7 record and are four points out of a playoff spot.
This is not exactly ideal for a team that has one of the deepest offensive rosters in the league, but as I will explain, it could have been a lot worse.
As we continue the mid-season All-Star events in St. Louis this weekend, possibly the largest of many storylines for the Maple Leafs thus far has been the abundance and severity of injuries that have plagued this extremely talented roster.
Toronto Maple Leafs Injuries
Ten regular roster players have missed games due to injury this season, and seven of those players have missed at least ten games. This list includes significant pieces such as Mitch Marner, Zach Hyman, Travis Dermott, and Andreas Johnsson to name a few:
* = Currently on Injured Reserve
- Trevor Moore – 27 games
- Zach Hyman – 19 games
- Andreas Johnsson – 15 games
- Travis Dermott – 13 games
- Mitch Marner – 11 games
- Jake Muzzin – 11 games
- Ilya Mikheyev – 10 games*
- John Tavares – 7 games
- Alexander Kerfoot – 5 games
- Morgan Rielly – 3 games*
It seems that every time that the Toronto Maple Leafs get close to playing with their ideal lineup, another injury occurs, and yet they have somehow managed to remain in the conversation for playoff contention.
While injuries are things that every team has to deal with, the Leafs defensive core is not deep enough to withstand the absence of any player, let alone their top defensemen.
These injuries seem like the ultimate sacrifice that the Leafs had to give up in exchange for a healthy Auston Matthews, who is yet to play a full 82 game season in his career, and is on pace for one of the best seasons of his career.
Auston Matthews’ Dominance
Auston Matthews has had an unbelievable first half of the season. Not only is he on pace for a ridiculous 57 goals at just 22 years old, statistically this season has put him in contention with some of the best goal scorers of all time.
The best part about this is that he can, and likely will, get significantly better within the next few seasons.
As arguably the best even strength scorer in today’s game, Matthews has been the Toronto Maple Leafs MVP thus far with 57 points in 49 games, and this tremendous first half has put him in the position where he will likely become the first 50 goal scorer for the Maple Leafs since Dave Andreychuk in 1994.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to need Matthews as well as the rest of the offensive crew to continue their goalscoring tear as the third-best team in the league in that category, especially with the defensive struggles they have experienced.
Defensive Surprises
While there have been more things to yell about than praise on the defensive end, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had some solid defenders emerge this season that should excite fans for the coming seasons while we sob about it now.
Justin Holl has developed into a solid top four defenseman this season, which prompted a well-deserved contract extension through the 2022-23 season with a $2 million AAV, and will likely be looked back as one of the best bargain deals the Leafs have made in a long time.
Travis Dermott has been given a larger role in the absence of Jake Muzzin and Morgan Rielly, which will only boost his confidence more as he is groomed to become a potential top offensive defenseman for Toronto.
While I personally would have expected more production from Dermott at this point in his career, his raw offensive talent is worth being patient with.
Rasmus Sandin has turned many heads this season after his dominant performance at the World Juniors earlier this month, where he was awarded Best Defenseman of the tournament, and will definitely earn a roster spot next season.
After firing Mike Babcock, Tyson Barrie has finally been given the opportunity to show off the offensive gift he has, especially on the powerplay. Since the change was made Barrie has put up 20 points in 26 games, but is still on pace for his worst season yet, and is still a defensive liability on a nightly basis.
With many of these defensemen, just like Barrie, their offensive skills unfortunately do not outweigh their lack of defensive accountability, which has been one of the biggest hindrances that is preventing this team from excelling.
Moving forward, Kyle Dubas may feel inclined to make a move as the trade deadline approaches in order to improve their blue line, but if not, it is on the responsibility of Sheldon Keefe and the rest of the coaching staff to prioritize their defensive zone positioning if they want to contend at all for a playoff spot.
Offensive Surprises
Probably the best surprises for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season have been Ilya Mikheyev and Pierre Engvall.
Before suffering an arterial laceration that will keep him out until April, Ilya Mikheyev was one of the top contenders for the Calder Trophy this season.
With 23 points through 39 games, Mikheyev’s intelligence and speed made him fit right in to this Toronto Maple Leafs roster with little time taken for adjustment, and has been the perfect complimentary winger to any of the Leafs top three centres.
On a one-year $925,000 deal, the Leafs will likely look to resign Mikheyev in the upcoming offseason, and the 25 year old has made a case to potentially be a strong top-six winger in this league.
Pierre Engvall was called up in relief of Trevor Moore in mid November and has also been very impressive to this point. With 14 points in 23 games with the Maple Leafs, the 2014 seventh round pick has earned himself a spot alongside John Tavares on the second line, and should receive a solid paycheque for his duties this summer.
Of course when discussing the biggest offensive surprises this season, we cannot forget one of the best players the Leafs have had, William Nylander.
William Nylander’s Resurgence
Recently named the Comeback Player of the Year by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, William Nylander is finally playing the style of hockey he was bound to succeed at.
While already being one of the most polarizing players on this roster (for no reason) Nylander had an extra amount of pressure coming into this season after contract negotiations had him out of the lineup for majority of last year, causing him to underperform on a team that was already in midseason form.
The Toronto Maple Leafs style of play this season under Sheldon Keefe values puck possession, which is something Nylander excels at.
Nylander has been able to contribute immensely on zone entries as well as maintaining possession in the offensive zone at even strength.
On top of this, the narrative of him needing to be ‘grittier’ or ‘get to the dirty areas’ have completely evaporated due to the amount of offense he has provided, and the location of his goals, which can conveniently be seen here in a goal chart courtesy of IcyData:
William Nylander’s production this season has started a new conversation surrounding the value of his contract. At this time one year ago, many fans thought that the best decision would be to trade Nylander, but it seems that he has taken full advantage of the recent coaching change and is one of the many players who is thriving under this new opportunity and environment.
Nylander’s contract has the potential to be looked back as a very good value deal for the Leafs. While his performance before re-signing may not have warranted the amount of money he is currently being paid, he is surely earning every penny right now.
dark. Next. Toronto Maple Leafs Player Grades at the All-Star Break
The Toronto Maple Leafs have 33 games left to put themselves in a position for a postseason appearance, and while there may be some managerial decisions that may need to be made with the extended absences of some of their top players, the core group of this roster is more than capable of getting it done.