The pressure is already building in Toronto.
After a 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche dropped the Maple Leafs to 8-10-2, the new front office is starting to hear plenty of noise about what comes next. This was always going to be a different kind of season for the Leafs, with John Chayka taking over as general manager, more than half the roster being turned over, and Jim Hiller brought in as the new head coach. But a slow start like this has a way of shrinking the margin for patience.
The on-ice results have not matched the hope that came with the overhaul. There have been bright spots - Auston Matthews looks rejuvenated, Kirill Marchenko gave the team a boost before his injury, and rookie Gavin McKenna has flashed promise - but the wins have not followed. That’s the part that’s now hanging over the organization.
On Monday’s episode of The Leaf Report, James Mirtle said his read is that things are already getting intense around the organization. The next day, Chris Johnston backed that up on TSN’s First Up, saying the feeling inside the team is tense and that there is a lot of weight on the front office.
The bigger issue is the one sitting in plain sight: Auston Matthews. The Leafs captain said he needed to see some action in the summer and a clear direction from the team after Brad Treliving and Craig Berube drove it into the ground. Matthews is a free agent after next season, which makes this stretch especially important if Toronto wants to show him that direction is real and not just talk.
If that does not happen, the consequences could be massive. Losing Matthews would force the Leafs to essentially start over.
There is also the injury picture, which makes the record harder to judge. Colton Sissons, Morgan Rielly, Kirill Marchenko, Nick Blankenburg, and Marshall Rifai are all out.
John Tavares has just returned, and Chris Tanev is having his load managed. That kind of absences list would test almost any team, and it leaves some room to argue that Toronto still has not shown its true level yet.
Even so, the standings do not wait for explanations. Wins are wins, and the Leafs are already in a spot where early-season moves from the front office would not be a surprise.
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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 🡒]