It’s official: The Toronto Maple Leafs have life.
Against all odds, especially on Tuesday night against Sheldon Keefe’s New Jersey Devils, the banged-up Maple Leafs managed to buy-in and put forth one of their most complete efforts of the season. But honestly, how many times in the Keefe era did the Leafs lose to an severely under-manned team? Suffice it is to say, it was fun to see them on the other side of things for once. Joseph Woll was magnificent making 33 stops for his first shutout of the season and third career. Meantime, both Bobby McMann and Nicolas Roy chipped in with a goal and an assist as Toronto improved to 3-0-1 since moving on from Marc Savard.
And the power play scored again, too.
Who are these guys?
Needless to say, there was plenty to talk about on the final edition of Leafs Morning Take for 2025. And yes, Rosey broke down Matthew Knies’ scrap with Devils captain Nico Hischier. We gave some major love to Jake McCabe as well. The veteran blue liner, who’s a plus-16 since November 1st, has been a tower of power back there. He’s a big part of the surging penalty kill, too. Toronto killed off 26 of 28 power plays in December. Derek Lalonde has done a nice job with that group.
After that, we continued things with SiriusXM NHL Network Radio host Steve Kouleas. As per usual, Koulie brought the passion and energy, just like the Leafs did against the Devils. Firstly, he weighed in on the impressive victory. After that, he dished on what he’s seen from the suddenly red-hot power play and what difference he thinks – in general – the Leafs need to make to get back in this thing. Kouleas looked at better zone exits specifically. That was his major discussion point when prompted about his No. 1 Leafs-related New Year’s Resolution. Furthermore, he hit on Matthew Knies, Toronto’s play without the big boys, and if this brand is sustainable over a long period of time. Kouleas thinks it will be an uphill battle for the Leafs to make the playoffs, but he does still think it’s doable.
Then, we were blasted with a bevy of injury. The big one: Chris Tanev will miss “significant time” with a groin injury. Obviously, even though we knew this was coming, our spirits were dampened considerably. Tanev is so important to this squad. Unfortunately, he’s only managed to suit up for 11 of a possible 39 games so far this season. In addition to this news, Berube says Brandon Carlo’s close, so that’s good. Anthony Stolarz has finally hit the ice for the first time, which is massive news. He didn’t have much of an update on Dakota Joshua, but he’s still in Detroit getting treatment. Yeah, that’s not promising or good.
Lastly, before wrapping, we gave our quick thoughts on Canada’s Olympic roster reveal. They made a few additions, but for the most part, the team will look very similar to the one that won Gold at the Four Nations Face-Off last February. Sam Bennett was the most noticeable snub. Meantime, Connor Bedard and Matthew Schafer were left off the initial roster. To the surprise of absolutely no one, Macklin Celebrini made it.
We’re done for the week. We’ll be back on Monday at 11 AM ET. Happy New Year!
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