The Toronto Maple Leafs showed little signs of pulling out of their month-long funk in a 4-1 loss to Carolina at Air Canada Center on Monday, as the Hurricanes jumped on the slumping club with a pair of goals 41 seconds apart in the first period and chased goalie Jonathan Bernier 48 seconds into the middle frame after Eric Staal’s 14th goal of the season.
The loss had somewhat of a déjà vu quality, as a 4-1 loss in Raleigh on December 18 ended the Leafs six-game winning streak and started the downslide which led to the firing of head coach Randy Carlyle, Toronto falling out of the Eastern Conference playoff race and questions regarding which direction Team President Brendan Shanahan should take with a roster that has proven over the last three seasons to have many shortcomings.
Frustration seemed to be the common thread on Monday, not only by fans expressing their disdain for the club’s current plight by throwing jerseys on the ice, but also from players showing visible signs after being continually stymied by goalie Anton Khoudobin.
With the exception of Cody Franson shattering his composite stick into a million pieces on the crossbar after Staal scored on the empty net, team captain Dion Phaneuf offered the most obvious example of boiling over, as he slammed Canes center Jordan Staal with a open ice check early in the third period and then fought with brother Eric when he came to his defense.
After going 3-13-0 over the last month, Toronto once again finds themselves in the worst position you could be in the NHL; not in range of contending for the playoffs and not positioned well for a 2015 NHL Draft that is expected to have a number of potential impact players near the top of the first round.
The Leafs are currently 21st in the standings with 47 points, which gives them a 3.5% chance of winning the Draft Lottery and selecting Connor McDavid, but if that miracle does not happen, Toronto will be on the outside looking in as teams lower in the standings select other potential impact players like Boston U.’s Jack Eichel, London Knight center Mitch Marner, Erie’s Dylan Strome or Czech center Pavel Zacha.
If Shanahan’s plan is to take the Leafs into a full rebuild, that determination has to be made prior to the March 2nd trade deadline so that players with expiring contracts can be moved for future prospects or draft picks.
In spite of the common assumption that the Toronto fan base would balk at the prospect of going through two or three years of suffering to be able to draft young cornerstone players, how is that any different from the chronic pain they have encountered in many instances since 1967.
In many ways, the Leafs are right back where they were in January 2008 after the firing of John Ferguson Jr, with a roster of players under long term deals and questions of whether ownership will give management the authority to do what is necessary to rebuild.
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The Leafs hierarchy must make better decisions than Cliff Fletcher and Brian Burke did when they moved useful young players like Alex Steen, Anton Stralman or Jiri Tlusty, traded first round picks for Kessel and not take half measures that in the end resulted in drafting Luke Schenn and Nazem Kadri instead of franchise players Steven Stamkos and John Tavares.
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The Leafs made a couple roster moves on Tuesday prior to their final game before the All-Star break in Ottawa, as they recalled forward Josh Leivo and blueliner Stuart Percy from the Toronto Marlies and demoted forwards Troy Bodie and Sam Carrick to their AHL affiliate.
Leivo scored one goal in eight NHL games and has 13 points(4 goals, 9 assists) with the Marlies, while Percy impressed in an eight-game stint with the Leafs, but struggled with injuries after being demoted in late October.
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