The Toronto Maple Leafs were exciting to watch, with a powerhouse offense that led them to an impressive franchise record 105 point season, and there is reason for optimism going forward with franchise cornerstones Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner not even 21 years old, but the bottom line is that they are an incomplete team missing key components necessary to win a Stanley Cup and that led to their downfall in Game 7 to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday.
In prioritizing the reasons for their early exit, the ineffectiveness of Matthews in the series is not something to be glossed over, but it was not due to some perceived difficulties between the 20-year-old and head coach Mike Babcock, is is more because the Bruins matched two Hall-of-Famers and a future All-Star (Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Charlie McAvoy) up against the Calder Trophy winner for the most of the series.
Matthews was just as impressive against Washington last season as Marner was with his nine-point performance against the Bruins this year.
The up-and-down performance of Frederik Andersen was also a factor. Andersen was arguably the team MVP during the regular season and you can say the same thing that many said about James Reimer five years ago, that the Leafs would not have gotten to a seventh game without his impressive performances in Games 5 and 6, but his play early in the series and in Game 7 left much to desired.
Boston was able to bounce back from Patrick Marleau’s pair of goals with three in the first (including a Bergeron goal in the final minute) and Torey Krug’s tying goal and Jake DeBrusk’s game winner were not shining moments for the “Great Dane”.
Nazem Kadri’s three-game suspension cost the Leafs dearly. It is possible his presence in Game 4 with Bergeron out would have made a difference, but even when he was in the Toronto lineup, Kadri’s contribution was below expectations.
A general lack of team toughness was also apparent against the more aggressive Bruins. Part of the Leafs tactics was to turn the other cheek to the antics of Brad Marchand, but with Leo Komarov out since Game 2 and Kadri suspended, Toronto’s most aggressive presence was Zach Hyman, who crashed the net and absorbed the consequences from the Bruins defense.
But if there is one aspect that outweighed all others in the reasons why the Leafs season ended sooner than some thought, it was their overall defensive play, but more specifically the performance of their blueline.
Toronto was 15th of the 16 teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in goals allowed, with 28 goals against in seven games; an average of four goals per game. While the Leafs were able to get the matchups they wanted with the last change at home and limited the Bruins to just six goals at Air Canada Centre, they were completely outmatched in the four games at TD Garden, where they gave up 22 goals and lost three of four games.
Ron Hainsey played tough minutes and showed his veteran presence, while Morgan Rielly had some difficulties in his own zone but was able to counteract that with five points in the series.
Travis Dermott showed his inexperience at times, but the rookie also displayed an ability to raise his game at a key moment, scoring his first career playoff goal in Game 7. Roman Polak represented the only physicality on the Toronto blueline in the series and although slow and not the greatest stickhandler in history, the veteran was effective in increased minutes against Boston.
Nikita Zaitsev has been out of sorts ever since returning from a broken foot and that continued in the playoffs, but the poster child for the Leafs blueline dysfunction was Jake Gardiner, who registered only two assists in seven games and led Toronto defensemen in time-on-ice, in spite of him continuing to be a liability in his own zone.
That point was illustrated earlier in the series, but was hammered home with a horrific -5 outing in Game 7.
The club will hold their locker clean out and final media availability of the season on Friday, where questions will be asked about the future of free agents James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak, as well GM Lou Lamoriello, but the biggest question will be on what will be done to upgrade their defense.
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact” button at the top of the page.*******
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»