#toronto-maple-leafs

#toronto-maple-leafs

Despite the Leafs having their top players, Tavares and William Nylander, who are currently the only active members of the core four, leading the team offensively, they are still in need of some scoring from the other forwards. With Auston Matthews yet to return to the lineup and Matthew Knies, who missed the last two games, they are more than in need of depth scoring.

Through 21 games, the Toronto Maple Leafs are in a drastically different position than they were a year ago. Toronto has assembled a 9-9-3 record through 21 games, sitting second-last in the Atlantic Division. At the same point last year, despite myriad injuries, the Maple Leafs were off to a 13-6-2 start, en route to capturing the first seed in the division. What a difference a year can make.

Looking to build off their win against St. Louis, the Leafs came out and played one of their best periods of the season in the opening frame. They did everything but score. The Lorentz-Laughton-Cowan line from preseason was finally reunited and got things going early when Easton Cowan drew a penalty off a nice cycle sequence. Their much-maligned power play went to work and put together a really good two minutes, but they weren't able to bury one.

Jarnkrok specified that the forecheck is the key to getting their game going in the right direction, as it starts with getting the puck cleanly out of their zone and spending more time in the opponent's end of the rink. The veteran forward will be on the top line alongside William Nylander and John Tavares, where Jarnkrok stated his goal is to work hard to get the puck to his star linemates.

Obviously, as we sit here today, we are not where we wanted to be or where we envisioned we'd be. We have underperformed to this point, and I take full responsibility. I am in charge of the hockey department. I put the people in place on the ice and off the ice. The responsibility lies with me, and we start today - and every day - to try to get ourselves back up and going to improve where we are.

Sitting near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, the team may be inclined for a retool. If you breakdown the roster, they still have a lot of skilled players headlined by Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mathew Knies and John Tavares, but after that its slim pickings. The team's defensive-core is good when they're all intact, but one injury changes the entire landscape of this roster. Chris Tanev's injury has hurt this team tremendously, which shouldn't be the case for such an old roster.

As we approach the 20-game checkpoint of the season, the Maple Leafs currently own a record under .500, the second-worst points percentage in the Eastern Conference, and the second-worst goal differential. The 8-9-2 record has been fully earned to date, and understandably, the pitchforks are out. The Leafs haven't played well or even attempted to play a good brand of hockey.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been off to a rough start for the 2025-26 NHL season. After looking like a top-tiered team in the league for much of the past few years, the Leafs have sure taken a step backwards this season, seeing their uncharacteristic struggles with sustainable offense, sound defense and goaltending. They haven't really looked like this since the start of the Auston Matthews era in Toronto.

The only people who weren't to blame for the Maple Leafs' fourth loss in a row were Dennis Hildeby and John Tavares. The former is the owner of one of the least-deserved four-goal-against performances of all time, keeping the Maple Leafs in it at every possible opportunity until they were hemmed in to the point of no return.