The Toronto Maple Leafs entered the season as virtual locks to make the playoffs.
Outside of the small chance every team faces of just having a really unlucky season, the Toronto Maple Leafs looked good to go, even if their off-season wasn’t great.
The Leafs have four superstars, including two of the best players alive, plus they have Morgan Rielly and Tyler Bertuzzi.
That alone should guarantee that they make the playoffs and are a Cup Contender, but unfortunately that doesn’t appear to be the case.
While Matthews has had a rough go since the Swedish trip, prior to that the team played a fifth of the season with 2 x MVP Candidates and their odds of making the playoffs – let alone being a cup contender – went way, way down since the start of the year.
Right now, the Leafs are only six points out of first place, with a game in hand. They are only in 11th overall, despite having a horrible season to date.
The fact is, they are getting really, really lucky when it comes to results.
That can be a good or a bad thing.
If they recognize their problems and address them right away, then the fact they got lucky while struggling will be a huge factor in their eventual success and will undoubtable be a good thing.
If, as is the tendency of almost all sports teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs take too much of an optimistic approach about their good luck and believe it’s real, refuse to address the problems proactively and wait until things fall apart in a way that is no longer deniable, that’s a huge problem.
If you heard Brad Treliving talk about Ryan Reaves this week, then you probably, as I do, suspect the Leafs are going to take the latter approach.
That’s not a good thing.
Here’s why: