The Toronto Maple Leafs GM's Worst Move Is One He Didn't Make
The Toronto Maple Leafs are coming off a few pretty bad games.
After an incredible stretch that saw them as the second best team in hockey - only a couple of losses to Carolina prevented them from being best team of the last 30 games - the Toronto Maple Leafs have hit a bit of a rough patch and are 2-2-1 in their last five.
Those five games include a loss against a weak Flyers team, a coin-flip loss to Carolina in a shootout, and two very concerning games against the Edmonton Oilers and the New Jersey Devils.
Both the Jersey and Oilers games pretty much sum up this team exactly: First, the Leafs build a five-goal lead but almost blow it. Then against the Devils they have one of the best periods it's possible to have and then play two completely garbage ones.
And worst of all, the common denominator of all these games is that the goalies sucked, except for one game where Joseph Woll reminded us of his potential.
The Toronto Maple Leafs GM's Worst Move Is One He Didn't Make
As we have seen during the last couple of months - where the Leafs have been within spitting distance of being the NHL's best team - this is a team that can outscore it's troubles, and really, nothing else.
The Leafs aren't a good defensive team and they have a below average blue-line and some of the worst goaltending in hockey, at least among playoff teams.
And yet, the Leafs lead the NHL In 5v5 and total goals since January 18th, which is a period of almost 30 games and over one-third of the NHL season. During this time they are getting over 70% of the points available to them. (stats naturalstattrick.com).
But they are doing it while allowing a ton of goals. Their expected-goals percentage does not suggest they should be a top team, and during this time they've had the 13th best XGoals rating, and the15th best goaltending.
There is no way a team with those numbers should be first among the top teams in the league, but the Leafs are just outscoring everyone in their path.
But if they can do that with the 15th best goaltending *(its 22nd over the full season to date) why didn't they recognize this and go out and get a better goalie?
It makes no sense. This is a team that can be the top team in the NHL when it gets league-average goaltending. Having a better goalie would mean they could win games when the scoring goes dry.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have won 40 games this year, and just eight of those wins were when they scored 3 goals or less. It is absolutely insane that they didn't try harder to get a goalie.
Goalies who come back from high-ankle sprains do not typically return to their former status immediately. This has been well documented since Woll went down.
Goalies who get waived should not be the starting goalies on teams who in the middle of one of the limited amount of prime seasons from a Generational Player.
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The fact that the Leafs didn't get a better goalie at the trade deadline is one of the worst moves in Franchise History. This team is so good it can win with league average goaltending, as they just showed for the last 30 games.