Opinion: The Toronto Maple Leafs Are Awful

The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to end their losing streak on Thursday against the Minnesota Wild.

Following a fourth consecutive home loss and a sixth defeat in seven games, Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller was asked to explain what’s behind his team’s recent struggles.

“I don’t want to make excuses,” said Hiller, who doesn’t seem to have any answers these days. “Our record is what it is. It’s deserved. I think we could have a better record, but we don’t. We are what we are.”

Perhaps the reality is that the Maple Leafs simply aren’t good enough. Or maybe they’re not the team many expected them to be, following an aggressive summer retool that saw more than half the roster turned over.

The expectation was that the additions of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, defenceman Darren Raddysh, and a revamped bottom six would help lift Toronto from a bottom-five finish last season into playoff contention. But 20 games into the campaign, the Maple Leafs look no closer to being a playoff team.

Maple Leafs Are Not a Playoff Team

The Maple Leafs look remarkably similar to the team that bottomed out and landed the No. 1 overall pick. If anything, they’re worse. Toronto was 9-9-2 at this point last season. Following Tuesday’s 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, they’re now 8-10-2 and on pace for just 76 points, two fewer than their season-ending total a year ago (82 games) in an 84-game schedule.

And the schedule offers little relief. Toronto faces two major tests ahead, taking on Minnesota on Thursday before visiting Edmonton on Saturday. Central and Pacific Division leaders, respectively.

The silver lining is that Toronto’s next three opponents are the struggling Blackhawks, Kings, and Blue Jackets. The catch? If the Leafs extend their losing streak to six games, head coach Hiller may not be around to make the trip.

“Our results suck,” said Hiller. “Hey, you can write those stories. There’s no question, we deserve that. But we’ve played some good hockey at times.”

Toronto Can’t Seem to Win a Game

The last time the Maple Leafs showed any signs of consistency was nearly a month ago, when they strung together four straight wins against the Sharks, Blue Jackets, Rangers and Oilers. Since then, Toronto has gone 1-6-0, tumbling from third in the Atlantic Division to 12th in the Eastern Conference.

Injuries have undoubtedly taken a toll on Toronto, which has been without winger Kirill Marchenko for six games after previously losing John Tavares and Chris Tanev for 10 games apiece. But injuries are part of the equation for every team. Florida, for example, has had Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand available for just two games each this season, yet remains firmly in a playoff position.

The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, sit four points out of the final wild-card spot, with plenty of hockey left to play. But with the U.S. Thanksgiving benchmark approaching in two weeks, Toronto can’t afford to lose any more ground. The Atlantic Division is crowded, the competition is fierce, and the margin for error is shrinking.

Toronto can’t afford to miss the playoffs again, especially with Auston Matthews less than two years from free agency. The urgency is even greater with Matthews playing some of his best hockey in years, Jack Roslovic enjoying a career-best campaign with nine goals and 20 points in 19 games, and Easton Cowan emerging as a legitimate offensive threat with seven goals and 16 points.