A Toronto Maple Leafs Frederik Andersen Hot Take

The Rest of the Toronto Maple Leafs

With the exception of one game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had a big issue with their compete level. Despite all the talent they have on their roster they have let other teams exploit every one of their flaws.

Toronto is 1-7-3 in their last 11 games. In their last 20 games, they’re 5-12-3. Even with their Sheldon Keefe now running things, apathy seems to have set in.

Recently, the Toronto Maple Leafs have appeared careless and on different pages. They have allowed their opponents to pin them in their own zone and look foolish with their decision making. This poor play may be best exemplified by taking a close look at the analytics, specifically, the High Danger Chances Against (HDCA).

According to Natural Stat Trick, the Toronto Maple Leafs are 20th in the league in this category. They have an HDCA per 60 minutes of 11.06 at 5-on-5. At even strength, it’s slightly worse at 11.16, which ranks the team at 21st in the league.

Power Play

Even on the powerplay, the Leafs are still giving their opponents more opportunities than they should. They’re right at the bottom of the pack on this special teams play, with the sixth-worst HDCA/60. One would expect that their High Danger Chances For (HDCF) to be strong thanks to all their talent but yet it’s not much better. They rank 22nd with 18.09 HDCF/60.

A reason the Buds are giving up so many high danger opportunities could be because of their sloppy play. The best way to track that is by examining their turnover stats.

Turnovers are tracked for both teams in a game. This allows the statistic to be measured by both giveaways and takeaways. When you subtract the takeaways from the giveaways it provides a turnover differential. For the season, the Maple Leafs have had a very poor turnover differential, especially when broken down individually.

There are only two players on the Leafs roster who have a positive double-digit turnover differential. They are Auston Matthews (28) and Ilya Mikeyev (10). Beyond that, only seven other skaters are positive in this category while 21 players are negative. That includes every single one of their defensemen. Eight players have a dash preceding double-digits. The worst of which are Justin Holl (-31), Tyson Barrie (-38), and Jake Muzzin (-39). As a whole, the team is 14th in the league.

This just helps identify that the team in front of Andersen has not been at their best. It has also meant that the goaltender faces not just more shots but more difficult ones, especially when the turnovers occur in the Leafs own end.

In a game where the team’s compete level was high, on Feb. 20 against the Penguins, the Leafs not only got a win, but Andersen had a shutout. He looks a lot better when the team in front of him competes to their potential. This is not a situation caused by him or his GM. Andersen’s teammates need to take responsibility here.