Maple Leafs have embraced accountability and desperation to find success on the road
There has been a learning curve in getting to this point and it is still early to say that the message has fully sunk in. A blowout win against the Penguins when the Leafs seemed to be at their lowest and a follow up revenge victory over the Panthers (missing Barkov, Verhaeghe, and Tkachuk) are a nice start on the path to optimism. The Leafs are no longer at the bottom of the East and have points percentage above .500 even if their winning percentage is still below. Two wins don’t fix the team but in a league rotten with parity the gentle nudges in the right direction will be all it takes for the Leafs to get on track.
Credit where credit is due and the small doses of accountability seem to be paying off. While consistency will be an ongoing battle with much of the Leafs roster throughout the season, allowing for players like Max Domi, Dakota Joshua, Matias Maccelli, and Nicolas Roy to face the same press box sentence that players like Nick Robertson, Bobby McMann, and Easton Cowan are subjected to is a step in the right direction. The Leafs have seen responses from Dakota Joshua, Scott Laughton, Bobby McMann and Nic Roy and results being required for the choice roles in the lineup or to stay in the lineup at all is the right path forward for a team that sacrificed high end talent in the name of depth.
There’s also something to said for the return of the Auston Matthews making the forward group look better and while he’s still not producing at the rate the Leafs would like him to be at, the fact that he’s drawing tougher competition away from other Leafs forwards, and forcing one more depth player onto the cusp of the press box has simultaneously lit a spark and made lives easier.
The desperation that the Leafs needed to embrace on the blueline seems to have been imported.
Troy Stecher clearly did not enjoy falling out of the bottom of the Oilers lineup and has made his case not only that he belongs in the Leafs lineup every night but that he can rise to the challenge of being Jake McCabe’s defensive partner until Chris Tanev returns. Stecher making not only himself better but getting Jake McCabe back on track is promising turn over events for a team that now has a tremendous amount of uncertainty regarding Brandon Carlo.
The Leafs being able to bring additional accountability to Dakota Mermis, Simon Benoit, and Philippe Myers as well as right size their roles in the lineup is owed largely to Troy Stecher’s speedy adjustment to the Leafs.
While the narrative here might be look at how much better the Leafs are playing now that the pressure is on, it also doesn’t hurt that Joseph Woll (and Dennis Hildeby) are giving Toronto the best goaltending they’ve had all season and much like last season what happens in net will determine the fate of the club.
And where does that leave the Leafs?
Nick Robertson has cooled to one goal in his last seven games. Matias Maccelli has gone eight games without a goal and only has one point in that span. After scoring in his first three games, Calle Jarnkrok has only one goal (no assists) in his next 15 games including a nine-game goalless/pointless streak. Before picking up two assists against the Penguins, Max Domi had a six game pointless streak and is presently on a 15-game goalless streak. Even with things improving there are no shortage of players begging for health scratches or fourth line assignments.
Jacob Quillan has shown he’s ready to push for a depth role on the Maple Leafs and Travis Boyd’s 16 points in 18 games for the Marlies could make him a more attractive depth option than some of the current Leafs group as well. Craig Berube has begun to remove underperformers from the lineup, now it might be on Brad Treliving to remove underperformers from the roster.
The defensive situation is a bit trickier thanks to the injuries to Tanev and Carlo, but with the Marlies having two young defencemen looking for a shot to prove themselves on the Marlies (Henry Thrun and William Villeneuve), the Leafs can hold Simon Benoit, Philippe Myers, and Dakota Mermis to a higher standard.
Brad Treliving doesn’t need to send a message when the team is achieving positive results on the road, but the threat of demotion might bring about a bit more desperation and urgency to the game of some Leafs, and at least at the moment, desperation seems to be working for them.