The Maple Leafs, Who Have 4 x Superstars, Bailed Out by Goalie vs Bad Team

The Toronto Maple Leafs celebrated the return of Anthony Stolarz.

NHL Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz
NHL Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz | Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

It's not that the Toronto Maple Leafs were bad last night, the problem is more that they aren't anywhere close to great, and given the ages of their superstars and how long they've been tweaking this core group, that is unacceptable.

It's made less acceptable by the fact that the Maple Leafs, for the second straight season, have let a depth issue linger and cost them games (last year it was their goalie, this year it's centre-ice), and by the fact that other teams in direct competition with them are adding superstar pieces to their lineup.

Meanwhile, the Leafs, night in and night out, look like the most mediocre team to ever dress four Franchise Players at the same time.

Last night, the Leafs won, and they didn't play badly, they just didn't play that great. They likely would have lost if not for the fantastic play of Anthony Stolarz, who had been out after having knee surgery and hadn't played since December 12th. (stats naturalstattrick.com).

The Maple Leafs, Who Have 4 x Superstars, Bailed Out by Goalie vs Bad Team

For the period covering the first game of the season to the day that Stolarz was injured, the Leafs led the NHL in 5v5 save percentage, and had a .655 points-percentage, good for sixth in the NHL.

With Stolarz out, the Leafs received the 20th best goaltending in the NHL and had just the 12th best record in the NHL, and they had to rack up wins against a lot of bad teams to even get a record that good. Only the lucky fact that Florida, Boston and Tampa all had similar records during this time allowed them to stay in the race for first place in the Atlantic.

The Leafs have now won three games in a row, but two of those games (Edmonton and Seattle) were games they likely should have lost. They could easily be in a situation where they lost five of their last six games - in fact, that probably should be the situation.

Without getting lucky results, the Leafs could easily be in a situation where they have lost eight of their last eleven games. They consistently look like an average team that wins because of great goaltending. That's not a recipe for playoff success.

Despite having four superstars and a plethora of expensive depth options, the Leafs just don't click. They don't look like a finely tuned machine that is just dispatching opponents while they wait for the playoffs. Frankly, on most nights, they don't look like a contender at all.

And while other teams load up, the Leafs mainstream analysts prepare us for the additions of Luke Schenn and Ryan O'Reilly, as if that would make a damn bit of difference at all.

This team needs a monster upgrade or a massive change.

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