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Top 10 Worst Reasons Given for the Toronto Maple Leafs Slide

By James Tanner

TORONTO, ON - MAY 27: Shea Weber #6 of the Montreal Canadiens covers Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Five of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 27, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MAY 27: Shea Weber #6 of the Montreal Canadiens covers Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Five of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 27, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
Jake Muzzin #8 of the Toronto Maple Leafs in action using his Bauer Nexus hockey stick (Photo by Derek Leung/Getty Images) /

4.  Jake Muzzin’s “Decline”

So far this year at 5v5 the Leafs have allowed 10 goals while Muzzin is on the ice, while scoring just three.  That is bad, but it ain’t Jake’s fault.

Not only does he play the toughest minutes on the team and go out against all the NHL’s best players, but he has a 50% expected goals rating.  He plays tough minutes, and even though he’s struggling, and even though the sample size is skewed by those two games where they allowed 10 combined 5v5 goals, he’s still at 50% expected goals.

This is an example of how a narrative gets totally blown out of proportion. Jake has been fine.  His on-ice save percentage is 85% which is so bad it would be literally impossible for it to be his fault.

3. Sheldon Keefe and Staff Lack Experience

This would be number one, but the next two are perhaps even worse.  How do people get experience? They succeed enough without it to earn enough time to get it.  Keefe has one of the best wining percentages in NHL history and has won 64 out of 110 games so far in his career.

Keefe isn’t the problem, and his staff isn’t the problem.  He can’t make the Leafs score on a higher percentage of their shots.  But what he has done is guide them through 12 straight playoff games with a positive expected goals rating, which means he’s put his players in a position to succeed.

There is no reason to hang any of the Leafs problems  on Keefe.  There are two types of teams that go on bad losing streaks: teams that need a change, and teams that can’t catch a break.  The Leafs are so clearly the latter that it’s silly to even discuss a coaching change.

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