The Toronto Maple Leafs have gone from looking dangerous to looking lost in a hurry.
A four-game winning streak, capped by a 7-2 blowout of the Edmonton Oilers, briefly made it seem like the turnaround had arrived. Instead, Toronto has fallen apart again, dropping six of its last seven. The only win in that stretch came against the last-place Vancouver Canucks.
That skid has put head coach Jim Hiller under the microscope. His choices behind the bench are drawing more and more attention, and Sergei Bobrovsky’s rough start in goal has only made the noise louder.
Bobrovsky has managed just three wins in his first 13 games. His numbers - a 3.47 goals-against average and .881 save percentage - are not what Toronto had in mind when it expected steadier play in net.
Hiller’s background made him an interesting hire from the start. His years with the Los Angeles Kings built a reputation around structure, discipline, and defense-first hockey.
The Kings usually made life hard on opponents, but offense was often another story. Once teams found ways through that system, Los Angeles frequently had trouble answering, which helped fuel four straight first-round playoff exits against Edmonton.
That history made the fit in Toronto feel a little strange.
This roster is built around high-end scoring talent like Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and first-overall pick Gavin McKenna. After the offense sputtered under Craig Berube, many expected the Leafs to lean harder into what they do best, not double down on a conservative approach.
Some of Hiller’s lineup choices have only sharpened the criticism. Against the Colorado Avalanche, Toronto recalled Ryan Tverberg and dropped him right onto the second line with John Tavares and Nylander. Tverberg was playing in just his third NHL game, yet he ended up with 15:31 of ice time and finished minus-two.
The head-scratcher was the usage. Tverberg played more than two minutes more than McKenna.
The line didn’t deliver much offensively, and it spent too much time on its heels. Tavares finished minus-three, Nylander was minus-four, and the group never really found its footing.
McKenna hasn’t been perfect, but the production is still there. He has 13 points in 20 games, even while averaging only 14:06 a night and carrying a minus-11 rating.
That makes the ice-time split hard to ignore. Giving a 24-year-old AHL call-up more run than the franchise cornerstone selected first overall just months ago is the kind of move that invites backlash when the team is losing.
The problems aren’t limited to one lineup decision, either. Toronto’s defense has been shaky all season, and the results are getting harder to dismiss. The Leafs are allowing too many dangerous chances, and whatever the root cause is - system, personnel, or both - the goals against keep piling up.
Concerns about the blue line were already there before the season started. Former NHL head coach Bruce Boudreau questioned the group openly, pointing to a lack of speed, aging players, and weak depth.
Twenty games in, those worries look justified. Toronto needs help on the back end, but it shouldn’t be this vulnerable.
One possible fit mentioned is Simon Edvinsson, though Toronto’s asset pool is not exactly deep after its controversial Matthew Knies-for-Kirill Marchenko trade. If John Chayka wants to fix the defense, he may have to get creative.
At this point, it’s hard to call it an overreaction. The Leafs have already played 20 games, which is tied for the most in the NHL, and a quarter of the season is gone. Toronto is on pace for something even worse than last year’s campaign, the one that ended with the franchise winning the draft lottery.
There is still time left, and 64 games is a long runway. Bobrovsky could settle in. Goalies do sometimes need time to adjust.
But the warning signs are real. His numbers have been sliding, and when that’s paired with Toronto’s defensive breakdowns, there isn’t an obvious fix sitting right there.
If Hiller can’t adjust his system to fit the roster in front of him, the losses are likely to keep coming. The frustration around the coaching staff is already building, and the Bobrovsky signing is getting second-guessed in a hurry.
What was supposed to be a summer of change is starting to look a lot more like the beginning of a much bigger problem.
In Other News...
Maple Leafs Suddenly Have An Oliver Ekman-Larsson Decision To Make
Oliver Ekman-Larssons first season with the Maple Leafs has not gone the way anyone in Toronto would have hoped. Through 19 games, he has managed just one assist, and the overall picture has been one of a veteran defenseman looking a step slower than the club expected when it brought him in.
That has left the Maple Leafs with a real roster question as injuries begin to settle down and younger blueliners push for more opportunity. If Toronto decides it needs to open up those minutes, Ekman-Larsson becomes the kind of movable piece that could be on the table, even if the timing and the return remain very much in flux. [Read more 🡒]
Leafs Fans Are Already Debating A Blockbuster This Team May Need
Leafs chatter has a way of turning hypothetical ideas into full-blown debates, and this latest one is no exception. On social media, fans have been tossing around the kind of blockbuster framework that instantly grabs attention because it involves two of Torontos most recognizable names and a fresh angle on how the roster might be reshaped.
The appeal is obvious on the surface, but the practical hurdles are just as clear. Morgan Riellys no-trade clause complicates any move involving him, and William Nylander remains too important to Torontos attack to be treated lightly in any serious discussion. On the other side, there are also questions about whether Dylan Larkin would even consider a move north, which leaves this as more of a fan-driven thought experiment than a deal with real traction. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Suddenly Have A Shot At An Elite Young Scorer
The Maple Leafs are suddenly in the mix for a player who would change the look of their forward group if they can find a way to make it work. Reports from Kevin Weekes and other league sources say Flyers winger Matvei Michkov is available under unusual circumstances, and with Toronto always hunting for more high-end scoring, a young talent of that caliber is the kind of name that naturally jumps to the front of the conversation.
Michkov is in the final year of his contract, which only adds to the intrigue around what Philadelphia might do next and how aggressive interested teams can afford to be. For Toronto, the challenge is obvious: any serious pursuit would come at a steep price in assets and money, but the payoff would be landing one of the leagues most gifted young scorers at a time when that kind of upside is hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]