It is hard to avoid talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs, especially as we close in on playoff time.
The team is currently stuck in no man’s land in the Atlantic Division, sitting third with 85 points, nine points behind the Florida Panthers for second, and seven ahead of the fourth-place Tampa Bay Lightning.
That said, there are concerns on how the team will match up in the opening round of the playoffs, whether they face the Panthers or Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins.
Many wonder how tough Toronto will play in the postseason, given that they are going to be the presumed underdogs. Even with the offensive talent that the Leafs have, there are still noticeable holes throughout the lineup.
On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Colby Cohen discuss why the concerns around Toronto are warranted.
Colby Cohen: I think the Toronto Maple Leafs still have massive holes in their lineup. I also think their goaltending situation is a little unsettled. I know [Ilya] Samsonov is better since the reset, and Joseph Woll is trying to find his game when he’s getting opportunities to play. I think Toronto has some of the biggest question marks heading into the playoffs. The depth on D, the strength and size, the holes, their bottom-six…they concern me.
Tyler Yaremchuk: The question for Toronto is, can they outscore their problems in the playoffs? To me, not a question of, “Are they magically gonna defend better, are they gonna magically get two weeks of unbelievable goaltending?” No, it’s “Can they win a bunch of playoff games 5-4, 5-3, and things like that?”
You can watch the full segment and the entire episode here…
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