The Toronto Maple Leafs may be off for two weeks but they'll be back for a sprint to the finish line before we know it.
Who are the Toronto Maple Leafs this year? Are they a team that is just underperforming? Are they a team that is poorly coached and managed? Or are they just a team that got off to a bad start and their division is too good to battle back?
If they played in the Pacific Division, they'd be a playoff team but because they sit in a tough Atantic Division, their season looks lost. They only have one less point than the Edmonton Oilers, who many still believe are a Stanley Cup contender, but many experts feel the Leafs should be tanking.
We could argue about this team until we're blue (and white) in the face, but let's look at three burning questions facing this team when they return to action.
No. 1: Buyers or Sellers?
Aforementioned, the Leafs have similar points to Stanley Cup favourites, but many believe they should be sellers. However, it doesn't really matter what we (the fanbase) believe, as the only people who can make this decision is MLSE's Board of Directors.
You'd think that GM Brad Treliving will have the final say on whether or not he wants to buy or sell at the deadline, but President and CEO Keith Pelley will unfortunately be making that call. Personally, I think they need to sell off thier main assets like Bobby McMann, Scott Laughton, Matias Macelli, Nick Robertson and even Oliver Ekmann-Larsson and retool, but we'll be waiting paitentially until March 6 to see what they do.
No. 2: Goaltending
Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll are signed for a few years after this season, which would most likely suggest that they're here to stay, however Stolarz' injury status/play has made it tough. When Stolarz went out, Dennis Hildeby looked like he could be the team's back-up for the foresseable future, but now that Stolarz has returned, that question seems unanswered.
The Leafs don't have to make a decision on that status immediately, but they could look to trade Stolarz at the deadline if they really wanted to sell. Not only that, but if Stolarz or Woll gets injured again in the remaining two months of the season, the team will have to make a very hard decision on what they want to do with the future of their goaltending duo.
No 3: Leafs Core Are Winners or Losers
Auston Matthews and William Nylander are not only the core of Toronto's organization, but they are argubably the best players on their respective Olympic rosters. If Team Sweden fails to win a medal or Team USA fails to win gold, both of these players' "clutch factor' could be talked about once again, as many critics will say that they're not winners, which is fair.
However, they can silence those critics by putting their countries on their back and winning a gold medal. If Matthews or Nylander has a "golden goal" type moment it will make every Leafs fan happy (unless you're rooting for Canada) that their best players are clutch. We've yet to see that happen when they're wearing the blue and white, but they can change their entire narrative by having a big Olympics.