What Is Next For The Slumping Leafs?

The Toronto Maple Leafs finish up their six-game homestand with their second and final meeting with the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night. The Leafs reached the apex of their season three weeks ago in Edmonton, throttling the Oilers 7-2. But similar to last season, when Toronto beat the top-ranked Avalanche in Colorado, a combination of injuries, complacency from some players, and a general decline in quality of play has led the Leafs to lose seven of the next eight games in regulation.

Toronto is coming off a 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild, where they played well at times, but could not maintain that level of performance against one of the NHL’s best clubs. After sitting out on Thursday for load management purposes, it is expected that Chris Tanev will return to the lineup, but surprisingly, Leafs head coach Jim Hiller will be starting Anthony Stolarz in consecutive games for the first time this season.

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Stolarz was sharp and made one of his best starts of the season in Edmonton on October 24, making 30 saves, so that was likely a factor in the decision to break with the club’s usual goalie rotation and play the oft-injured goalie more than once a week. The fact that he is starting reflects a level of desperation from the Leafs, as well and an acknowledgement that veteran Sergei Bobrovsky has been a major liability in the majority of his 13 starts.

The Leafs held an optional skate at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday morning, so it is unknown if there will be any changes to the forward lines, but based on Hiller’s frequent flailing about when it comes to lineups and line combos, it is probably that there will be some mixing on the second and third lines, which have been generally ineffective since the injury to Kirill Marchenko and the most recent injury to Colton Sissons.

Ryan Tverberg has not seemed out of place playing with John Tavares and William Nylander; in fact, Tverberg has introduced some speed and feistiness to a unit with a center that has struggled since returning from a three-week stint on injured reserve, and a winger that is not scoring, is a defensive liability, and has become the poster child for lazy entitled players.

One lineup change that could occur is the insertion of forward Brendan Brisson. The 25-year-old was leading the AHL Marlies with 17 points (8 goals, 9 assists) when called up last week, and could offer a spark to a team desperately in need of one. The question that has to be asked is if Leafs GM John Chayka will do anything if his club loses all six games of a critical homestand.