Just like that we are at the twenty game point of the season. It’s amazing how fast this season is going compared to last year when twenty games in, I felt us fans were in for a long grueling season of disappointment.
This year it seems as if it was just last week that Matthews scored four goals and rallied the troops for an exciting hockey season in Toronto.
The good news is, there has been a vast improvement in the overall picture. Goaltending is much more stable and I’m sure the player feel more confident going into every game with newcomer Frederik Andersen who inked a five year deal in the off-season. Is it too early to send Lou Lamoriello a gift basket?
The offense the Maple Leafs have been icing is off the charts. We’ve been talking all off-season, pre-season and for the first quarter of the season how impressed we are with Marner, Nylander and Matthews. But what about the emergence of Connor Brown and resurgence of JVR after being hurt for a healthy portion of last season.
It’s an understatement, but things are looking up in Leafs Nation and all those years of cheering for a crummy Leafs team will soon be forgotten when the new era Buds blossom into a beast of the East.
Before that happens we know a few things will have to improve.
For starters, when Toronto get a 3-0 lead versus a team like New Jersey, or any team for that matter; they need to continue to play that style and continue to ram it down their throat. Enough of this getting a decent lead and then completely changing the way they play the remainder of the game. I’d like to see Babcock push the boys forward and get even hungrier with their fore-checking and creating offensive chances. With the speed and smarts this young team has, the forwards should have no problem skating hard all game to make life miserable for their opponents; their speed alone is some of the league’s best.
We as fans as I’m sure the coaching staff would agree that too many leads have been blown, and not just one goal leads, we’ve seen it happen one, two and even three goal leads on more than one occasion. Hopefully this is something Babcock and his coaching staff can try to inject into their players heads so they remember what’s happened in the past and learn from their mistakes.
Overall, the Leafs have been playing some good hockey and that’s what’s important. For what it’s worth, Toronto didn’t have this issue very often last year and that’s simply because they were not leading very many games.
One thing we certainly know that will help stabilize this team: Improved defense.
As the season progresses I would imagine there will be some sort of roster movements. Perhaps then we will get a chance to see some of Toronto’s defensive prospects take the ice for the Maple Leafs. Guys like Nielsen, Dermott and Valiev all have potential to make the team at some point and I’m intrigued to see what they can bring to the table, especially Nielsen who leads the Marlies defense with 11 points in 15 games.
Looking at 2017 UFA defensemen who are somewhat young and quite possibly a good fit with the Leafs:
Kevin Shattenkirk: 27 years old, right handed, may have to trade for rights and will cost a boat load of cash for many years. A bit risky but Shattenkirk is the best UFA defenseman in 2017 and has all the tools to help on the power-play and round out the top four.
Dmitry Kulikov: Certainly not the most offensive defenseman but a quality one who would bring some toughness to the blue line to go along with skill. Kulikov would be my third choice from this list but he may cost in the neighbourhood of 4.5-5 million which could be a bit much for what he brings to the table; an option nevertheless.
Michael Stone: Stone could be one that Leafs management is looking at, he is flying under the radar playing in Arizona and the Leafs would be crazy not to inquire about the 26 year old Winnipeg born defender. Stone is 6’3 and 210 and should have no issues getting 30+ points on a highly skilled Maple Leafs team. Stone would be another great fit on the power play but may cost around 6 million a year, I’d say well worth it.
Congrats to Matt Martin on his first goal as a Maple Leaf!
Matthews busting out of his slump was a relief, I’m sure he felt so too. It would be nice if just once this season the Leafs won a game that Matthews shined in!
Toronto squares off against the Washington Capitals tomorrow night and I really hope they can shut down Ovechkin and make his life miserable for the 60 minutes on the ice. Look for Andersen to man the pipes on Saturday night. Enjoy!
Thanks for reading.