Loose Leafs

Let’s talk about the additions made at the NHL trade deadline.

First, the good. Brandon Carlo has come along nicely. He started his tenure alongside Morgan Rielly, but like everybody before him he simply couldn’t withstand the onslaught of offensive chances thrown his way and has since been moved onto a pairing with Simon Benoit. The two stay-at-home defenders have done fairly well together, but it begs the question; Whatever are we to do with Morgan Rielly? He’s still atop my list of players to ask to waive their NMC this summer. The fear now is that if they wait another year he’ll have lost all of his value and they’ll be stuck with his contract as an anchor for another 5 seasons.

Second, the bad. Scott Laughton is currently playing left wing on the 4th line, alongside David Kampf and Steve Lorentz. The positive thing with this is that line, in my opinion, is fantastic for what they’re being asked to do. We’re talking about 3 veteran players that can eat minutes against very good players in defensive situations. They all have a touch of offense and physicality to their game as well, which gives them an identity and purpose. If they leave that line together for the playoffs I’d be happy, don’t get me wrong, but they didn’t give up a 1st round pick and a fan favourite prospect for a player that plays on the 4th line. For that price they should have landed a legitimate 3C, which they are still without. Suffice to say, Laughton’s time in Toronto has started poorly, but that has as much to do with the expectations placed on him by the organization and fans as it does the player.

Calle Jarnkrok has been a healthy scratch for the past 2 games and I really don’t like that decision. Over the course of 7 games he has scored 1 goal and added a pair of assists. Compare that to Laughton, who has dressed for 8 games since being acquired from Philadelphia and hasn’t registered a point yet, or Pontus Holmberg who has 1 assist over his past 10 contests and you start asking if the coaching staff even appreciates having depth scoring on the roster. Unless he has re-aggravated his injury this move makes little sense, as Jarnkrok should be allowed a run of games so he can catch up and prepare for the playoffs.

At one point during the season I felt that Anthony Stolarz had clearly won the right to start Game #1 of the playoffs, but as of late it’s looking more like Joseph Woll should be the guy that gets that honour. The last 12 games will ultimately decide who goes, because the entirety of their body of work hasn’t made it clear. They’ll have to go with the hot hand when the time comes.

Auston Matthews basically called out his team, saying that they weren’t playing with enough urgency and should be in a playoff mindset already. After that he came out with 3 dominant performances against the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche and New York Rangers, both games were won by the Leafs. It wasn’t just the captain though, as those games appeared to show a Leafs team with more intensity than we’re used to seeing from the group. Against Nashville, whatever boost his words had provided clearly wasn’t there. The urgency was gone. The fire was doused. One of my biggest concerns has been that this team can’t maintain a high level of play for more than a few games at a time and this week provided more evidence of that. After they manage to get a couple of wins under their belt it appears as if they think the train will simply stay in gear and drive itself the rest of the way. They let off the throttle and suddenly they’re being beaten handily by the 30th placed team in the league. Whatever it is that’s driving that mindset has to change. Year after year, I’m more convinced than ever that the players have the skill to win, but they don’t have the psyche to allow that skill to combine with the will to make it happen. They continually assume that it will happen on it’s own, that winning will simply come to them, rather than winning being something that they have to chase and accomplish through hard work and extreme effort.