#toronto-maple-leafs

#toronto-maple-leafs

"It's a special day for me to be here," he said. "Back in October, the team came to me and said, MLSE would like to honour me and celebrate the 10-point game. I thought that's pretty cool and pretty special. Never realized it would come to the magnitude it is here today, but it means a lot to me."

On paper, the Toronto Maple Leafs' roster looks like that of a solid playoff team. But lots of things look good on paper. Talk to any professional investor, and they'll tell you that numbers on a page often look really good. But when you get down to the nuts and bolts, it turns out that a great investment really isn't great at all.

They really test you with their speed and their ability to spread you out. I think we created some looks at times, just not able to break through earlier to change the momentum of the game. And then, unfortunately, we just didn't execute as well as they did, and they just made some better plays with the puck. At times our puck play wasn't as sharp and it slowed us down a bit. Obviously, somewhere, we've got to get better.

More specifically, Blues defenceman Justin Faulk is the right-handed blueliner who Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving should have his eyes on, as it does sound like St. Louis are open to just about any type of deal ahead of this season's trade deadline. Faulk, 33, is signed through next season at a very reasonable $6.5 million AAV, and does have some say in his future, holding a 15-team no-trade clause.

Pinpointing just one area of need for the Maple Leafs seems like an impossible task but wiser people (or more connected people) are reporting that the Maple Leafs have prioritized right shot defencemen as the target. Given that things haven't gone particularly well with Brandon Carlo, Chris Tanev is potentially out for the season, and while there is nothing but great things to say about Troy Stecher, some additional help for the overachieving waivers claim might benefit the team.

If Toronto wants to turn momentum into a playoff spot, it must accomplish something it has struggled to do all season: defeat divisional opponents. It's the most direct path to securing a playoff position in a jam-packed Eastern Conference. The Atlantic Division is the strongest group in the East, with multiple teams on hot streaks, and two of them currently holding down the wild-card positions. As part of their current five-game homestand, the Maple Leafs face two divisional opponents, starting with the Detroit Red Wings.