As the offseason moves forward, the Toronto Maple Leafs have made significant moves to strengthen their roster and address key areas of improvement. However, they still have more moves to make.
In most fans’ opinions, the Maple Leafs seem to have taken substantial steps forward. There’s a sense that they have reshaped their personality as a team. And, right now – although there are still moves to make – they seem poised to become a better team this season than they were last season.
Item One: What Do the Roster Additions Bring to the Team?
The Maple Leafs have been proactive in acquiring new players who come with different skill sets. They are tougher and grittier. The additions of Ryan Reeves, Max Domi, and Tyler Bertuzzi have brought new (and perhaps needed) elements to the team’s lineup.
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Reeves injects energy, physicality, and competitiveness into the dressing room. He enhances team dynamics. Domi is a good playmaker, but he too plays with a bit of an edge. Bertuzzi has enough of a scoring touch and playmaking skills to be an ideal fit to play alongside top-line players. He promises to bolster the team’s offensive potential. However, he too brings an edge.
How much these players can reshape the team’s on-ice personality remains to be seen. However, they are not “soft” players and would give teams who come into Scotiabank Arena more of a headache than last season’s team might have.
Item Two: What Does It Mean That the Maple Leafs’ Dressing Room Is Quiet?
One of the things new Maple Leafs’ general manager (GM) Brad Treliving set out to do was to “improve” the Maple Leafs’ dressing room environment. He noted that it was too “quiet.” What might that mean?
The concept of a “quiet” Maple Leafs’ dressing room is interesting. It’s also something that I’d not heard before. Given John Tavares’ “way,” I can see the leadership of the team leading by example rather than a rah-rah mentality. But, apparently, there’s more to it than that.
(Photo by Gavin Napier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Obviously, the Maple Leafs have taken steps to change the dynamics in the “room.” The additions of Reeves and Domi are aimed at just that – infusing life, competitiveness, and a different atmosphere into the dressing room. Perhaps it’s all about the team’s “toughness.”
Because the Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup, that team’s “battle” became a thing to be emulated by teams that would also like to gain that successful edge. Vegas created a challenging environment for opponents; it makes sense that the Maple Leafs would also strive to enhance their on-ice performance by building a tougher team with a more battling culture.
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We’ll see if, in fact, those changes will make a difference in the team’s success during the season. Will it change the Maple Leafs from a “soft” team that can win during the regular season to a tougher team that can carry that success into (and throughout) the postseason?
Item Three: Are the Maple Leafs Looking at Brian Elliott?
The Maple Leafs are rumoured to be interested in goaltender Brian Elliott. He’s a 38-year-old veteran with 16 years of NHL experience. His recent stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning saw him post a 2.96 goals-against average (GAA) and a .900 save percentage (SV%) in 41 games over two seasons. While his save percentage has only been higher than .900 once in the last four seasons, the Maple Leafs might still consider him due to their current goaltending situation.
Specifically, Joseph Woll has limited NHL experience. As well, salary-cap constraints make Matt Murray’s return unlikely. Although the team has four other goalies on NHL contracts, none of them have NHL-level experience. As a result, Elliott could potentially serve as a backup goalie for the Maple Leafs. There’s also the option that he could be waived and assigned to the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Toronto Marlies to stay ready. This move would be similar to how Wayne Simmonds was moved around by the team last season.
What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?
Could change for the sake of change actually be an improvement? That seems like a silly idea perhaps; however, the Maple Leafs are not trotting out the same lineup that they had last season. Yes, right now there have been no changes to the Core Four (or Core Five with Morgan Rielly).
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However, even if all those players return, there’s a sense that real change has been made. GM Treliving has not been tweaking around the edges. Instead, his addition of a new defenseman in John Klingberg and two perhaps top-six forwards in Bertuzzi and Domi give the team a stronger core of scorers and secondary offence.
Change, by and of itself, might be an important intangible for this particular Maple Leafs team. If the group that’s here stays – that is, if William Nylander is not traded – the team’s on-ice skills and statistics will probably continue to dominate the fans’ interests.
However, other intangibles could play a crucial role in the team’s success. Even the Maple Leafs’ appearance of being different might indicate a positive step forward. As noted here, their commitment to addressing issues in the dressing room and adding competitive and physical players to the team could contribute to a changed team narrative.
Perhaps the Maple Leafs’ culture will follow. The work on building a stronger mental attitude was obviously one of the aspects of the team that Treliving set out to change. Now they have a few more of those players with “intangibles.” But they’ve (so far) also kept the high-end talent on the roster.
The question now is whether this new roster has the potential to positively impact the team’s on-ice performance during the postseason.