"The Maple Leafs have 45 points in 41 games. Keeping up this underwhelming pace that's a 90 point season and you'd have to go back to 2018-19 to see a team with 90 points make the playoffs. The team is very much on the bubble and while a 4-0-2 record in the post-Marc Savard era shows a team is trending in the right direction,"
"but a tight schedule, the impact of the Olympics, and the approach to the trade deadline will all have impacts on what is a lineup card notably worse than last season and now coming to terms with Chris Tanev's long-term injury. Here are some numbers from the first half of the season that outline how the Leafs got here, and how they can find their way out."
"This isn't a trend limited to the first half of this season but rather the overall trend of Leafs hockey under Craig Berube. The Leafs get outshot. A lot. And while the 27.1 shots for per game isn't ideal either given the high end offensive players on the roster, it's the 31.3 shots against per game that are truly damning. This season they are the worst team in the league for shots allowed and only the Sharks and Blackhawks have a worse shot differential."
The Maple Leafs have 45 points in 41 games, pacing to roughly 90 points for the season, a total that has rarely reached the playoffs since 2018-19. The team sits on the playoff bubble despite a 4-0-2 run after the Marc Savard change, while a tight schedule, the Olympics and trade-deadline decisions all loom. The roster is noticeably worse than last season after Chris Tanev's long-term injury. The Leafs average 27.1 shots for but allow 31.3 shots against per game, the worst in the league, suggesting the club should lean into offense and play to lineup strengths in the short term.
Read at TheLeafsNation
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