Some early conclusions that we can draw about the Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are 13 games into the 2024-2025 regular season, which is more than enough time to form some firm opinions about what they may or may not accomplish this year.  Sporting a 6-5-2 record out of the gate, the team has been consistently inconsistent, following up great efforts with clunkers, and vice-versa.

Followers of the Toronto Maple Leafs were mostly unsure of what to expect from this season’s roster.  General Manager Brad Treliving was criticized for his relative inactivity over the summer, as all of the team’s top-end talent was brought back for one more kick at the can.

The Mitch Marner contract drama has not been resolved, no decision has been made on what to do with John Tavares past the end of this season, and the annual doubts about goaltending were not quieted by the acquisition of a career backup (Anthony Stolarz).  Most of Treliving’s moves felt like minor tinkering at best, with the franchise’s hopes being pinned once again on a group that has ultimately failed year after year.

Perhaps the biggest change was made off the ice, as new head coach Craig Berube was hired to take over from Sheldon Keefe, who was quickly snapped up by the New Jersey Devils after being fired by the Leafs in early May.  The old adage “it’s easier to fire the coach than get rid of the players” comes to mind, as Keefe has grown into a quality NHL bench boss, but was perhaps a victim of circumstance in his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto Maple Leafs Reveal Who They Are After Completing 16% Of Season

Now that we’ve seen Toronto play 13 games, we can forget all the summer speculation and confidently draw some conclusions about what this team is and where it may go in the coming months.  After all, we are Leafs fans, and this is what we do.

Starting with the goaltending, the plan was to anoint Joseph Woll as the number one goalie and see how many games his new exercise program would allow him to play this season.  So far, the answer is three, as Woll was injured before the season opener, and only recently returned to action.  Fortunately, Stolarz has stepped up provided very solid results, sporting a .919 save percentage (per NHL.com) to date. 

His play has inspired desperate followers (myself included) to think that perhaps he is the anti-Sammy, and gone would be the days of wondering whether spectacular saves or momentum-killing whiffs would be the nightly story.  Further, rookie Dennis Hildeby (don’t call him the Beast, just please don’t) showed flashes of his potential in his two starts before returning to the Toronto Marlies.

On defense, newcomers Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Chris Tanev have been added to the group of Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe, Connor Timmins, and Simon Benoit.  Individually, I don’t dislike any of these guys, but collectively, the group need not submit a photo to appear on any “defense wins championships” posters.  And there’s no help coming from the Toronto Marlies when the inevitable injuries start piling up.  Good thing the goaltending looks so good!

Up front, this year’s collection of bottom-six forwards looks pretty impressive.  I think I may have typed that sentence last season at some point.  And the season before.  And maybe in 2021 as well.  The Toronto Maple Leafs are masters of inspiring hope by acquiring a few guys every year (welcome to Steven Lorentz and Max Pacioretty) who work hard and have some good games but in all honesty are the same as the bottom-six guys on 31 other rosters.

As for the high-tax-bracket guys?  Mitch Marner has 14 points, William Neeeeelander has 13, former captain John Tavares has 11, and new captain Auston Matthews also has 11 (but “only” 5 goals).  Conclusion?  Hockey is a very random game over short periods of time.  Matthews will still score 60 goals (give or take a dozen), Marner will finally eclipse 100 points (it is a contract year, after all), Nylander will continue to improve (99 pts instead of last season’s 98) and Tavares will continue to be accused of declining while providing way above average second-line centre returns.  We know all this, because it’s already November.

Finally, it’s pretty clear that Craig Berube brings something new to the Toronto Maple Leafs bench that just may be the missing ingredient to the team’s long Stanley Cup drought.  How long is that drought?  How old am I?  Yep, 57 years, everyone. The number 57 represents the variety of ways the Leafs have found to NOT win a championship in a long time.

But back to Berube.  It’s the scowl that just may do it this year.  Berube has already ridden that scowl to a Stanley Cup ring coaching the St. Louis Blues.  The Blues weren’t even good that year.  Leafs give up goal?  Scowl.  Leafs score goal?  Scowl.  Ridiculous post-game questions from reporters?  Scowl.

It’s the consistency that matters.  Muscle memory.  Familiarity.  Conclusion?  Plan the parade.