The Daily Faceoff Show: Maple Leafs’ top priorities as the trade deadline approaches

Keeping the puck out of the net has been a major issue for the Toronto Maple Leafs lately.

Petr Mrazek allowed five goals to the Buffalo Sabres last Wednesday, and Jack Campbell followed that up by allowing five goals to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

With the trade deadline only two weeks away, the question in Toronto is whether Kyle Dubas will upgrade his team’s goaltending. David Alter of The Leafs Nation stopped by The Daily Faceoff Show to give his thoughts…

Frank Seravalli: “David, when you look at the Toronto Maple Leafs, it was another five-goal outing for Jack Campbell over the weekend. Give me your level of concern for the Leafs’ goaltending, in light of Kyle Dubas’ stating his lack of concern before the weekend. Do you buy it?”

David Alter: “I don’t necessarily buy it. There’s not really much the Leafs could do in terms of addressing the goaltending market with their cap hit right now and some of the other areas they need to address.

My personal level of concern is maybe at a seven out of 10 right now. It’s certainly increasing, I think it was maybe at a five a couple of weeks ago. Goaltending has certainly been a concern, and it looks like the team is just going to try to play better defensively while they figure it all out.”

Mike McKenna: “Being a part of the goalie union myself, I watch Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek, and I’m not going to make excuses for their play, but what’s going on in front of them? What’s the feeling within the coach’s office and within Toronto of the defense that the entire club is putting on the ice in front of the Leafs’ goaltenders?”

Alter: “There certainly is a concern there. When you look back at the last month, they’re playing a lot of these teams that are lower than them in the standings, and they’re giving up a lot of two-on-one chances, breakaway chances, Grade-A chances that are very difficult for goaltenders.

Over the last couple of games, it looks like they’ve been bearing back a little bit. They’re just not winning the one-on-one battles in front of the net that are leading to tip-ins in front. The Leafs do have concerns in that regard, Jake Muzzin has been on the LTIR, so they’ve been trying to tinker the lineup to play better in that regard.”

Seravalli: “If you were to take a look at goaltending, defense, help on the wings, how would you rank those priorities heading into the trade deadline?”

Alter: “I still think ‘D’ is No. 1. A top-six forward would probably be No. 2. Goaltending maybe in the depth spot is number three.

They really don’t have that much space to work with, and the cost of trying to upgrade their goaltending now will signal a real panic move from the team and, as a result, teams from across the league will ask for a very high price, and the Leafs don’t want to empty out the cupboards in a year where they’re trying to go for it.”

Seravalli: “In addition to staring down the possibility of facing the Florida Panthers in the first round, if you win a round, your lucky treat is that you get to play the Tampa Bay Lightning in round two. Should doing nothing be an option for the Leafs at the trade deadline?”

Alter: “I think it can be an option if the prices end up being too much, but, for the management, I don’t think that’s the case, because this really is a year where they have a lot at stake. I don’t know if they necessarily survive this if they don’t show some progress from a playoff standpoint to the years before.

It’s no secret that they’ve struggled to get past the first round. They elected to go with the core four forwards of John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander. They put their whole stake into this.

If they do nothing, that means they don’t have the price to mortgage the future, but the management is in a position where they have to go for it, so it’s a tricky balance. I think if it comes out that prices are way too high, perhaps they don’t do it. But I really think they have to address one of those needs in order to have success moving forward.”

You can watch the full episode here…