Suffice it is to say, it was an eventful weekend for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
It’s official: The season’s slipping away. The next five games leading into the Olympic break could very well seal Toronto’s potential post-season fate. They’re in trouble.
That’s where the conversation started on the Monday edition of Leafs Morning Take – from a snowy Toronto – as David Pagnotta filled in for Jay Rosehill. Right off the bat, we got to the William Nylander bird flip. The timing stunk. That’s it, that’s all. There’s no reason to get up in arms over the whole thing. That said, optically it wasn’t a good look. Read the room, Willy. The team is struggling, and as mentioned, the season is slipping away. It came off as immature and entitled. Simply put, it was a distraction the Leafs didn’t need right now. It’s a joke that the league reviewed it and could slap Nylander with a fine, or something. That seems a tad excessive, regardless of the fact that it took place during a Next Gen game. Meantime, we also hit on Marner’s return. For all the hype going into the game, it really failed to live up to expectation. The boos were subdued and the Leafs got caved. Dave was there, so he gave his first hand account of the night. Marner was held pointless on the night, mustering one shot on goal while logging 17:25 of ice-time.
After that, we broke down the two back-breaking losses to Vegas and Colorado, where quite frankly, the Leafs weren’t even close. With 30 games remaining, they now find themselves five points out of a playoff spot. Furthermore, they have five games remaining before the Olympic break and 11 to go until the trade deadline (March 6th). As time progresses, you wonder if Brad Treliving’s approach will change. There’s no way this team can look to buy, right? They seem fatigued, wounded, and defeated. Again, it’s astounding to think that the win over Colorado a few weeks ago seemingly broke this team, yet here we are. So, Anthony Stolarz randomly returned on Friday night. It was a weird decision. Craig Berube saying, “that’s not my call” only made it even more bizarre. Why no AHL-tune up? The guy misses over two months, doesn’t play a game in the AHL, they had to know rust was going to be a factor, right?
To finish things up, Dave McCarthy, who covers the Leafs for NHL.com, stopped by to dish on all the madness. McCarthy, who has an uncanny resemblance to Connor McDavid, hit on Nylander’s bird flip, Stolarz’s rusty return, and ultimately, where the Leafs go from here. He thinks they’re cooked and he doesn’t think this season’s salvageable. Additionally, we got into Marner’s return. McCarthy hit on the game itself, the crowd reaction, and Auston Matthews’ decision not to talk to the media on Friday. On top of that, Matthews came out on Saturday and used the word, “fun” to describe the game against his buddy. Like, read the room. Troubling times.
Jay Rosehill will be back in the mix for the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take as we preview Leafs/Sabres, the final game of Toronto’s disastrous five game homestand. Also, Matthew Barnaby, former NHLer and current HockeyFights contributor, will stop by to dish on the Maple Leafs.
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