The Toronto Maple Leafs have had one of their more inconsistent seasons as far as overall play in recent memory — especially under Sheldon Keefe. Conversations amongst the fan base seem to hover over the idea of the team needing better goaltending or finding a piece to sure up their back end.
The team has been rumoured to be in on players like David Savard and Chris Tanev, but not enough of the conversation has surrounding the team’s clear lack of depth scoring. Take their last few games as a prime example of what the team is lacking. As for addressing it, we won’t start the rumour mill, but THW’s own Spencer Lazary shared some good pieces that the team could look to acquire as the NHL’s Trade Deadline quickly approaches.
With that, here’s a look at how the Maple Leafs have faired offensively over the past few games.
Maple Leafs’ Core Driving the Offence
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the idea that the core four have driven the offence for this team — especially over the past few games. In fact, that’s exactly what you want when you’re paying them as much as the Maple Leafs are.
But, in that same breath, you want to see offensive production from your bottom six forwards as well, more so when it comes to postseason play. With that in mind, the Maple Leafs are 3-2-0 in their last five contests dating back to January 24 against the Winnipeg Jets.
Over that span, they’ve outscored opponents 15-14 and the majority of the scoring has come at the hands of their top four — Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares. In fact, 11 of the team’s last 15 goals – or 73 percent — have been scored by one of those four players. The only other goals were scored on a deflection by Ryan Reaves, an empty net goal by Simon Benoit from his own zone and the two latest came from Matthew Knies and Max Domi.
Even worse, eight of their last 10 goals have come from the core four players, in this sequence — Marner, Tavares, Nylander, Tavares, Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Matthews, Knies and Domi. Five of those goals came in their game against the Dallas Stars — a game they wouldn’t have won had the four not shown up offensively.
So, what exactly does this mean for the Maple Leafs? Well, the depth scoring they were hoping for from offseason acquisitions hasn’t exactly come through and heading into the home stretch of the season, the Maple Leafs need to sure up that bottom six or make a move. Oh, and they need to do it fast.
Maple Leafs’ Current Depth Struggles
For some, it’s not just goal scoring. Offensively, they’ve struggled in every aspect. Take Tyler Bertuzzi as an example. At the time of the signing, he was projected to play top-six minutes and be a replacement for Michael Bunting. So far, he has 21 points in 49 games and just six goals. He has one goal in his last 30 games dating back to November 28 and 12 points over that span.
How about Max Domi? Another acquisition that had some hype, even though his role was projected to be bottom six, he had a resurgence offensively last season. However, Domi has 25 points in 50 games and has just five goals on the season. After scoring against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, Domi has just two goals in his last 20 games and seven points over that span.
Another name that comes up, that we shouldn’t discredit too much considering it is his first season in the NHL, is Matthew Knies. I mean, sure, he’s a rookie, but he’s seeing top line minutes with some power play time to boot. Now, give him 20 points in 48 games this season, albeit nine goals which is something to talk about.
Like the others, however, he has just one goal in his last 18 games — which came against the Senators on Saturday — and he has just two goals in his last 22 games. Over that span, you guessed it, just seven points for the rookie.
So it’s pretty obvious where the team is lacking with just 32 games left in the regular season. What’s even more obvious, however, is that the time is now for Brad Treliving to address the depth scoring with his next acquisition.
Treliving Needs to Acquire Depth Scoring Now
Now, Lazary did suggest some interesting options in his afore mentioned article — the likes of Anthony Duclair and Boone Jenner. While I don’t want to be the fire starter for a conversation about a particular player at this point, I will say this — Treliving can’t wait for the deadline to make the move.
Whether it’s a package deal of some kind as has been suggested, including the Calgary Flames, where he can address depth and defence in the same trade, or a simpler deal to just get some more offence from the bottom six, Treliving has to be working the phone in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline.
Related: Ryan Reaves’ Role Important to Maple Leafs’ Success
The same way Kyle Dubas did with acquiring Noel Acciari and Ryan O’Reilly prior to the deadline last season, Treliving needs to make a similar move soon to give the team a chance to adapt to the new faces — and no, I’m not suggesting moving their 2024 first-round pick in the process if at all possible.
Whatever the case, the next move the Maple Leafs make should be to fix this obvious issue with the current roster. Otherwise it will be a matter of time before the core four can’t carry this team offensively anymore. When that happens, well, we all know what the outcome will be.
