One good game together is a fluke. Two good games together is a coincidence. Three good games together would constitute a trend, so I’ll be praying to the hockey gods that Max Domi, Nicholas Robertson and Bobby McMann continue to do what they’ve been doing during the next game, because it’s a trend I’d love to see continue. With a combined 5 goals and 10pts over the past 2 games, it will be impossible for them to keep producing at that high of a rate (it would mean they’d all be 40 goal, point-per-game players over a season), but they’re providing much needed depth scoring and have been a big part of the team earning 4pts over the past 2 games.
I heard somebody say that the trio need each other and it’s true. Both Domi and Robertson were having terrible seasons so far. For them to find chemistry together and start producing has given hope that they can cement a spot in the lineup and contribute regularly on the scoresheet. As for McMann, while he wasn’t having as bad of a season, he appears to have lost a shot at a top 6 LW spot, as Matthew Knies and Max Pacioretty have been playing well there. To find a scoring role on the 3rd line might be the most ideal situation for him right now.
Joseph Woll made 36 saves in his win over the Stars. I would have hoped that they would try to keep his workload smaller than that, at least so early after the announcement that Anthony Stolarz would miss 4-6 weeks after having a procedure on his knee. If Woll goes down the team could be in big trouble, but as it stands they’re in good hands. Woll is a very talented goalie, he just needs to stay healthy and this is an opportunity to prove that he’s capable of doing just that.
Speaking of the Stars, where was that version of Colin Blackwell when he played for the Leafs? Yes, I remember a player that brought energy to the ice but last night he looked like a top end bottom 6 forward. He scored a goal, grinded down low, drew a penalty and was a general pain in the butt all night long. It’s irritating to see former players and realize they only gave your team part of what they’re capable of.
Dennis Hildeby would, by rights, still be in the AHL developing, but getting games at the NHL level and walking away with a win, even if those wins aren’t the prettiest, has to be good for his confidence moving forward, no? He’s 2-1-0 on the season with a 0.875SV% and 3.68GAA. His loss was an incredibly ugly effort by the team in front of him against the Columbus Blue Jackets, which means that his game against the Sabres this past Sunday would stand as a bounce back effort. He has a bright future.
Matt Murray hasn’t played in the NHL since April of 2023. If he dressed this weekend it will have been about 600 days since he last faced NHL shooters. He returned from injury last night to post a shutout for the AHL, Toronto Marlies and the expectation is that he’ll be with the Leafs before their game tomorrow night. We now know that he had injuries that he never got ahead of and has since had surgery to fix those, which makes me wonder if, at the age of 30, he can return to any sort of NHL form, even if that’s nothing more than a veteran backup. If he can it will be a great story. I’m cheering for him.
Yes, we know his glove hand is bad, but he won 2 Stanley Cups with that hand.
The Leafs (20-10-2) have been winning plenty of games, but so have the Florida Panthers (20-11-2). It would be nice to win the division for a change and as they creep towards the halfway mark of the season it appears that this is the best chance they’ve had in a very long time. As of this writing, whether they land in 1st or not, it appears that their most likely 1st round opponents would be the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, or Ottawa Senators. With their 1st round track record I’d seriously wonder if another loss to Boston would be easier to swallow than being ousted by the Senators.
It seems as if Scott Laughton’s name keeps popping up as a potential fit for the Leafs every year. I don’t hate it but the price to acquire him may scare Brad Treliving away.
I’ll continue to wonder if Jake Evans is the type of addition they would also look for. His caphit is cheaper than Laughton’s, they play a similar, energy game, but Evans isn’t as good offensively. Evans is a Toronto born player and would be cheaper to acquire. He’s Laughton-lite.
Looking for defense additions is tough. The teams that project to be sellers don’t have a lot of blueliners to sell. Those things are likely connected.
One thing that nobody has been talking about is that the Leafs were projected to be over the cap ceiling heading into the season. They didn’t trade themselves out of that problem. Injuries have simply kept them cap compliant, with Calle Jarnkrok’s 2.1M going on LTIR being a big part of that. Jarnkrok is listed as month-to-month after having surgery to fix a sports hernia, but his original timeline for a return was at, or around the trade deadline. While a lot of people talk about adding players, we should keep in mind that in order to do so they will have to ship out contracts as well.
There was a lot of debate this past summer about whether or not Mitch Marner could fit into a Craig Berube system. I think that question has been answered, as he is the teams best player on a lot of nights and has brought his physical game to a level that I never would have believed existed when he played for Sheldon Keefe.
Of all the players on the team and with the core group in particular, it’s Morgan Rielly that appears to have struggled the most with adapting to the change in coaches. I know +/- is a flawed stat, but his -8 is the worst mark on the team. He’s starting 60% of his shifts in the offensive zone, yet the team is giving up more shots than they’re getting while he’s on the ice. While the stats themselves aren’t glaring, it’s the eye test that is showing him drawing far out of position, misreading plays and being generally unorganized in his own zone. While I know he’s never been a defensive stud, I don’t think we’ve ever seen him play this poorly in his own zone. What’s worse is that he is on pace for his lowest P/GP mark since the 2016/17 season. With 17pts in 32 games it’s not as if he isn’t producing at all, but for a player that has hit, or been on pace for 60pts or more for years now, his numbers have certainly regressed. Some of that can be attributed to being taken off the 1st powerplay unit for stretches this season, but if he were producing there he wouldn’t have been dropped in the first place. If there’s a silver lining it’s that he has 7pts on the powerplay and, believe it or not, he’s the ONLY defender that has produced a single point with the man advantage. That seems unbelievable to me, yet here we are.
Final thought. The featured image is AI generated and the spelling mistakes are hilarious. I’ll be continuing to use them, if for nothing else but a laugh.
Go Lalfs Go!!