I haven’t written anything about the 4 Nations Face Off, but my opinion is likely in line with the majority, so I’ll keep it as short as possible.
It was great to see Mitch Marner get the opportunity to play alongside the best player in the world, Connor McDavid, as well as the best players that Canada has to offer, right out of the gate. He was 2nd among forwards in TOI/GP in Canada’s first two games, behind only McDavid, but something changed for game 3. In that game he played the 2nd fewest minutes, ahead of only Travis Konecny, who played just a single game for Canada in the tournament. At the time I found that he didn’t raise his game against their first matchup with the U.S. and assumed that he was demoted based on his inability to play an effective game against a physical opponent. However, while he started the final contest on the 3rd line, he was promoted back to McDavid’s wing, played the 5th most minutes among forwards and the rest is history. He finished the game with 2 very important assists, including the tournament winner and he gained a lot more respect from fans around the NHL. Credit where credit is due, Marner was among the best players that Canada had to offer at the tournament.
Is it possible that he simply needs somebody to score during those big games, as McDavid did, while Auston Matthews came up empty? I’m being dramatic, obviously, but it’s funny to see the captain of the U.S. team and their most prolific scorer fail to find the back of the net in the biggest games he’s ever played in his career, while his teammate, who takes the most heat for the Leafs’ playoff failures, deliver a solid game. Matthews did produce 2 assists as well in the final, courtesy of a pair of rebounds off of his stick that his teammates managed to score on. Hopefully he thanked Ottawa Senators teammates Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson for padding his stats afterwards. While many people praised Matthews for his defensive play in the tournament, it was his (and Adam Fox’s) missed coverage that allowed McDavid to be left alone with time and space in the slot in the first place. I promised to keep this short, so we’ll just say that I was very disappointed in Matthews’ tournament. He currently has the highest caphit in the NHL but he isn’t playing like he deserves it.
Lastly we’ll talk about William Nylander’s tournament and this will be short because there’s so little to talk about. He played exactly the way you’d expect him to. His edges and vision are elite, which allows him to gain the zone and give his team a chance to set up, even against the toughest competition in the world. Yet he always appears uninterested and never plays with urgency. His coach stated that “he has one more step in him, definitely” after Sweden’s first game but he never saw that extra step….. nor has Leafs Nation. This tournament helped to shape my opinion of Marner and Matthews a little more, but my opinion of Nylander is exactly the same. While so many people are applauding him for being a guy that doesn’t get rattled, I’m waiting for him to show some emotion and to prove that he actually wants to win. I won’t hold my breath.
Following the 4 Nations Face Off the Leafs came roaring out of the gate against the Carolina Hurricanes. With 4 goals in the 1st period, all they had to do was lock things down and coast to a win. However, with 3 goals in under 3 minutes late in the 3rd period, the Hurricanes made things interesting. While that reads poorly, the goals were mingled with some lucky bounces for the Hurricanes, so it’s easy to take a silver lining out of the game. The Leafs held their composure, didn’t panic and managed two empty nets markers to finish things out.
They followed that win with a Sunday evening tilt against the Chicago Blackhawks, which ended with Toronto earning two more points via a 5-2 decision. The big thing about both games was the players that produced on the scoreboard. Over the two weekend games Pontus Holmberg scored 3 goals and 4pts, Chris Tanev notched 1 goal and 4pts, while Jake McCabe (3pts), Max Domi (2pts), Nicholas Robertson (2pts), Alex Steeves (2pts), David Kampf (2pts) and Steve Lorentz (2pts) all played great as well. The bottom 6 came to play and that has been among their biggest issue throughout the season. They need more secondary scoring and while it has been there at times, it’s been very inconsistent and it needs to be addressed immediately if they want to make a deep run in the playoffs.
We’re a week and a half away from the trade deadline and, unlike in years past, there isn’t much floating around the rumour mill in terms of what the Leafs want to do. While Brad Treliving has told the media that he’d like to add a centre to the group and added that one with term would be preferable, that’s really all we have to go on.
This is in stark contrast to the Kyle Dubas era, where Nick Foligno was rumoured to be heading to Toronto for days before it happened, as were many other acquisitions. If nothing else, the curiosity is getting the better of me, I’m interested to see what they’re able to do with few assets and little cap space.
One player that appears to be on the move that I’ve spoken about before is Jake Evans. At 50% retained he’d have a caphit of $850K, which the Leafs can fit onto their roster comfortably. The Toronto native and former 7th round selection is having a career year with 27pts in 57GP and may be the best the Leafs can hope for unless they’re willing to trade their 2026 and/or 2027 1st round selection(s). It’s worth noting that Toronto has just 4 picks total in the first 4 rounds of the 2025 and 2026 NHL Entry Drafts, so they should be hesitant to deal away much more. In my humble opinion Evans isn’t the type of player that will return a 1st round pick for the Montreal Canadiens, so it’s really just a question of if the Leafs can offer a pick and/or prospect that the Habs value more than what the next team is offering. It’s also worth pointing out that Jake Evans is a pending UFA, so he doesn’t fit Treliving’s preference of a player that has term left on his contract, but he is a potential candidate to re-sign with the team if he grew up as a fan of the blue and white.
I’m still of the opinion that the Leafs are in need of one more top 4 defender, which would push Oliver Ekman-Larsson to the 3rd pair. Their depth isn’t good enough there, but players that can fill that role are hard to find and they’re even tougher to get at a caphit that can fit. Unless they’re pushing players with more than league minimum contracts out the door, it’s hard to imagine any significant moves on the blue line or up front.
They hit paydirt with Anthony Stolarz joining Joseph Woll in net. Leafs Nation feels comfortable with their goaltenders for the first time in decades.