The post-Olympic winless skid is now up to four games (0-3-1) for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Kudos to anyone who paid money to take in that game at Scotiabank Arena on Monday night. That was a tough watch.
At any rate, we kicked off the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take by continuing to speculate on what’s ahead this week for the Leafs and the rest of the NHL. It’s mind-numbing that this team’s in this situation, but unfortunately, it’s a reality. It goes without saying but this is an important week for Brad Treliving. He needs to get good value in the trades he’s about to make. Furthermore, we both still wonder how quickly this team will be able to turn things around. Is this an outlier season, or is this just sadly what this team has now become? Stay tuned to find out.
So, the Leafs lost 3-2 in a shootout to Philadelphia. They can’t even tank properly. Anthony Stolarz made 23 stops. He was good. So was Dan Vladar, who turned aside 29 Maple Leafs shots. That said, Toronto still lacked the jam and intensity necessary to be successful in the NHL. It felt like that they were going through the motions. In case you haven’t been watching, that’s been a theme for, oh, the past decade. Meantime, Easton Cowan played a team low 8:23. Honestly, what are they doing with him? More to come on that front. On top of all that, we did discuss Auston Matthews, who’s now goalless in eight straight and 11 of his past 12 outings. He’s scoring a 40 goal clip. Is the new norm?
To gain even more perspective, Bruce Boudreau then joined us to weigh in on his beloved Maple Leafs. For the record, the long-time NHL head coach is perplexed, too. He didn’t mince any words. Boudreau questioned the team’s compete level, jam, urgency, and life. Quite frankly, he thinks the players have tuned out Craig Berube, and obviously, that’s a big-time problem. Additionally, Boudreau hit on Easton Cowan’s deployment, who’s to blame for this season’s disaster, and where the Leafs go from here as they prepare for Friday’s trade deadline. Gabby admitted he’s not feeling great about this team right now. Can’t blame him. They stink.
David Pagnotta will be in for Jay Rosehill on the Wednesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. Join us as we preview Toronto’s visit to Newark to tangle with Sheldon Keefe’s Devils. Plus, former NHLer Aaron Ward will drop by to give his thoughts on the Leafs ahead of the deadline.