"The stretch of hockey heading into the Olympic break was meant to be a good test for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the best way to make a decision on whether the Leafs should be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline (the answer is buyers and sellers but that's a post for another day). The stretch of hockey in late January also included the five game homestand that the Maple Leafs are just wrapping up and their last significant homestand of the season."
"The Leafs now sit five points behind the final wild card team, their biggest gap since Boxing Day. William Nylander is out. Chris Tanev is out. And while the next five games before the Olympic break could still see the Leafs hanging onto some playoff hope, the math points to the team entering the break outside of a playoff spot."
A five-game homestand and the pre-Olympic stretch were positioned as tests for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but a 0-3-1 start to that homestand severely damaged the team's season. The Leafs sit five points behind the final wild-card team, have an 8-11-3 road record, and are missing William Nylander and Chris Tanev to injury. Front-office performance under Brad Treliving faces criticism for losing and failing to replace superstars, lacking high draft capital, and producing underwhelming trade-deadline moves. Coach Berube's cautious system emphasizes defense, leads to being outshot and second to the puck, and suppresses offensive output from elite forwards.
Read at TheLeafsNation
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