Toronto Maple Leafs Sheldon Keefe In The Wake Of Loss Says His Team Lack The Chemistry And Would Be…
The Toronto Maple Leafs once again find themselves entering the regular season homestretch with seemingly little to play for aside from “sharpening up for the playoffs.”
They’re very likely to finish third in the Atlantic Division and face whoever finishes second between Boston and Florida.
At worst, Tampa could catch them and force Toronto into a wild card spot where they’d draw the Rangers or Hurricanes (or, again, Boston or Florida).
But in truth, they don’t really care which of these opponents they draw, as it’s not really in Toronto’s control and they’d be underdogs regardless. So, wins and losses are not the current focal point.
What should be, though, is the fact that the Leafs have absolutely nothing resembling cohesion within their lineup less than a month before the playoffs.
There’s not a single forward line or a defence pair where you go “well, we know that’s established, now let’s look at the rest of the lineup.
The closest thing they have to build on is that when Mitch Marner is healthy he’ll play with Auston Matthews, but even “who will be their left winger” is a question with no clear answer.
Yes, the two injuries to Marner and Calle Jarnkrok have thrown Toronto’s forward group into a blender and the trade deadline has muddled their back end, but that doesn’t change the reality that as of today, they haven’t found anything to hang their hat on even when healthy.
Even their “old reliable” defence pair of Morgan Rielly and TJ Brodie has stopped working since Brodie’s play has declined so precipitously.