Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Mired in their first five-game losing streak since April 2021, the Maple Leafs are in desperate need of a turnaround this week.

Earlier today, we dove into the coaching angle on the Leafs’ disappointing 8-9-2 start to the season. Let’s now dig into the good and bad of the individual performances, Elliotte Friedman’s report about trade talk, the Troy Stecher addition, the Jacob Quillan call-up, and much more in the Notes, Quotes, Tweets, and Five Things.

Notes

Nick Robertson, Bobby McMann, Maple Leafs
Photo: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

– A few positives to start. Nick Robertson is now at 11 points in 18 games, which is half his point total achieved in 69 games last season. In particular, he has six assists already, a year after notching seven in total. He’s also doing it while averaging what would be a career-high two shots per game. The puck movement and trusting his teammates — easier to do when playing with better players up the lineup — are the keys to his game for me.

At times in his career, Robertson has played with blinders on, often just shooting it without working with his teammates. He has a great shot — you can see why he would fall in love with it — but when playing with good players up the lineup, he needs to work with his linemates, and he’s showing real growth in finding them and making plays with the puck. It’s early yet, with just over 60 minutes together, but Robertson with John Tavares are getting the bulk of scoring chances together — nearly 60% — and are up 6-3 in their minutes together. They haven’t exactly been sheltered in the process, either. 

– It was nice to see Bobby McMann score a big goal against the LA Kings. He took exception to Nikita Zadorov steamrolling Scott Laughton and also stepped in for Nick Robertson against Carolina. We can’t say he stood around and stared at his skate laces when something happened, unlike most of his teammates. He also picked a nice assist against Carolina to give Tavares a tap-in.

For all of those contributions, McMann was rewarded with a line combination of Max Domi and Mattias Maccelli, and the trio was predictably a liability from puck drop. This happened last season with McMann a lot; he’d produce up the lineup, then be asked to carry a mediocre third line, and it would not work out. He’s a solid complementary player who can score, and that’s nice to have. But he can’t carry a line.

– Believe it or not, the Leafs‘ defense is actually tied for second in the league in production as a unit. Their 43 points are tied with Boston, seven points more than the next highest team. For all the talk about the Leafs‘ defense’s inability to move the puck, how are they producing a high-end level, then? It doesn’t add up to suggest there’s enough talent to produce, but not enough to make a five-foot pass up the wall to a winger. Systemically, they are so disorganized on breakouts. 

– It’s been a disappointing start for Nic Roy. Early on, they didn’t exactly set him up for success as he played limited minutes on a line with Steven Lorentz and Calle Jarnkrok. In November, he’s averaging 16:47 per game, has played with better linemates, and has just one assist in eight games. He has just four points in 19 games overall, a 17-point pace. His career low is 30 points, which he produced in 65 games. He’s not even close to that pace right now. 

– Last season, the Leafs were 22-4-4 in one-goal games. This season, they are 4-3-2 so far. They have almost matched last year’s loss total, and it’s not even American Thanksgiving. This isn’t an indictment of the team this season; it’s more to point out that this is a volatile stat from season to season that can’t be relied on. So far this season, reality is hitting hard and fast. 

– I don’t think it really needs to be said right now, but in 10 games, Philippe Myers is getting outscored 5-12 at five-on-five while averaging just 14:14 per game. That’s really hard to do. In his last game, he was on for two goals against in just 8:47 of ice time. That’s extremely hard to do as a defenseman.

Last season, Myers was on the ice for 18 goals against in 540 five-on-five minutes. He’s almost there already, in just 125 minutes this season. He can’t continue to dress, but one stat that does stand out is that he’s currently at 30% offensive zone starts. Last season, he was just under 52%. 

Quotes

Photo: John E. Sokolowski/Imagn Images

“For me, it is about managing the game. We are going to have to be patient in this game, and we are going to have to work for our chances. At the same time, we can’t force things and put ourselves in tough situations. Patience and managing the game are going to be important tonight.”

– Craig Berube before the Leafs played the Kings

“They three-quarter-ice’d us in the second period, and the reason for that: When we get pucks back in our own zone, we have to make a play to advance it up the ice. We didn’t do a good job of it.

We got the lead in the third, and we sat back too much. Again, it’s about advancing that puck up the ice with speed, jumping, and getting into holes.

For me, it’s confidence, a little bit, and puck play. The plays are there, but we are not making them and aren’t seeing them well enough right now.

We have to pick up our pace. We have to be more confident in those plays. To me, that’s the difference in the game.”

– Craig Berube, after the Leafs were outshot 37-15 by the Kings

To me, these are mixed messages. Before puck drop, it’s about patience and working for chances. After the game, it’s about needing to make plays with the puck and playing with speed. This is a big part of the problem. 

“We’ve got to work our way through it … Things are only getting tougher & tougher within our own division, within the league. We just have to stay at it and know we’ve got a lot better in our game, a lot better individually. But the urgency has to be high.”

– John Tavares before the Leafs lost to LA and Chicago

Of course, John Tavares is right, but in how many games of late can we say the Leafs came out with any urgency, let alone sustained it? Their first period against LA was solid, and the second half of their first period against Chicago was alright as well, but they aren’t exactly coming out with their hair on fire.

“What I’m hearing is that they want to make hockey trades, roster for roster. They are exploring what on their roster has value, exactly what that value is, and can they do something that way, roster for roster… We’re not talking about the core.”

– Elliotte Friedman on the Leafs’ activity in the trade market

Obviously, trading away more of the team’s futures is a non-starter at this point. That is something the team must earn, and the 2025-26 Leafs aren’t even close yet. But player-for-player swaps are very difficult to make and come out ahead on. The GM really has to have an eye for talent or a beat on an off-ice reason as to why a player is struggling, so he can bet on a change of scenery working out. That said, it isn’t impossible. 

Just last season, the Habs were 28th in points percentage on December 19 — much deeper into the season than the Leafs are now — when they pulled off a trade for a site favourite in Alex Carrier in a one-for-one swap that sent Jordan Harris the other way. After the trade, the Habs posted the ninth-best points percentage in the league as Carrier averaged 20:50 per game. He is not the only reason why Montreal made the playoffs, but he played a big role in settling their roster. If someone told you in mid-December 2025 that the Habs would go on a massive heater and make the playoffs after acquiring Carrier, you would have looked at them sideways.

One player I’d look at is Andrei Kuzmenko, who is a right-handed shot that could give them actual options in the top six. There’s a reason he’s bounced around the way he has, but the Leafs need an injection of skill, and he has been healthy scratched twice in LA.

So it is possible, in theory. But this is Treliving’s third season with the team, and while he’s made some solid UFA signings, I can’t think of a single trade he’s definitively won.

Tweets of the Week

Brandon Carlo, Maple Leafs
Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA Today Sports/Imagn Images

The degree to which this is an outlier for Brandon Carlo is jaw-dropping and confusing. It’s not like the Leafs have possessed the puck so much that he doesn’t have opportunities to be physical, either. I wish I had a good answer here.

Carlo has never been some sort of physical weapon, but he was involved physically and at least got his body in the way. He’s also tracking for his lowest takeaway rate of his career, and while that stat can be a little faulty, he’s clearly not disrupting plays enough defensively, either with his stick or body. Everyone can see it.

He is also yet to record a primary assist as a Leaf, and he’s now played 38 games and counting with them. He’s playing 20 minutes per game, and he’s generally sawing off his minutes (goals are 17-18 at five-on-five with Carlo on the ice), but he’s clearly not involved or providing enough overall.

I like this Troy Stecher waiver claim for a number of reasons. First and foremost, his salary is under $800K and he is in the last season of his deal, so there is zero risk whatsoever attached to it. He actually makes less than both Myers and Mermis, so sending those two down and keeping Stecher would actually save them some cap dollars, and every dollar matters when accruing cap space.

In terms of the player himself, he’s a right-shot defenseman, and so the only real competition for him at the moment is Philippe Myers. Stecher has hung around the league for a quietly remarkable 566 NHL games plus another 29 playoff games. He knows how to take a shift in the league and not be a complete liability. Additionally, he has at least some mobility and the ability to play with pace and pass a puck properly. On paper, at least, it should be a lot better than some of the other options the Leafs are sending out there.

We’re just over a month into the season, so there’s plenty of time for things to change yet. But so far, if you’re Vancouver, you’ve dumped Dakota Joshua on the Leafs, taken back a fourth-round pick, seen Joshua struggle and be part of the roster squeeze that led to David Kampf’s contract termination, and then signed Kampf for one year, $1.1 million. Vancouver ends up with Kampf and a fourth-round pick, and the Leafs still have two more years left on Joshua’s deal at $3.25 million as he plays at a 22-point pace and hasn’t been a physical presence in any capacity. The big moves rightfully receive a lot of attention, but the little ones matter, too.

It’s hard to overstate how bad the Leafs’ goaltending has been so far this season. It was great to see Joseph Woll back, and hopefully, Anthony Stolarz resets, and we see the goaltending improve notably moving forward.

Five Things I Think I’d Do

Max Domi, Maple Leafs vs. Stars
Photo: John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports

1.  With Troy Stecher added and hopefully Brandon Carlo back before too long, I’d try running out McCabe-Carlo, Rielly-OEL, and Benoit-Stecher. Jake McCabe has really struggled since his move to the right side, and they really need him to lead the way with Chris Tanev out. They need Carlo to play better, too, and what he’s supposed to excel at as a matchup, shutdown defenseman. This puts both of them in their proper positions, and it’s up to them from there. The Leafs can’t hide these two.

Rielly-OEL is an offensive pairing, but at least they fill a specific role and can both chip in. On the third pair, you hope that Simon Benoit and Troy Stecher can gel. Stylistically, it makes sense, at least; it’s a righty with some mobility paired with a lefty who can stay home and defend.

2.   As much as I’d love to suggest the Leafs split the power-play units right now, I don’t think they can. Who are they splitting up — Tavares and Nylander? What’s the point?

Frankly, their power play is more than capable when they successfully set it up. The issue is that they seem to have at least one power play per game where they fail to even set the zone.

I’d look to simplify and ask the power play to soft chip the puck in and work to get it back. Give them one attempt to try it clean, and from there, generate speed through the neutral zone and work to get it back. Constantly getting stonewalled at the blue line is tough to watch.

3.  I think I’d rather call up Jacob Quillan and deploy him at center than give Max Domi even one more game there. Domi can chip in the odd offensive contribution, but he has been unplayable at center. He has been outscored 18-8 at five-on-five this season, and the team has only played 19 games. That is basically one goal against per game, and he has played center essentially all season.

For a team clearly lacking in confidence that needs something positive to happen, gifting the opponent a free goal on a nightly basis while Domi flounders at center is simply unacceptable. Quillan has 14 points in 14 games for the Marlies and is a proper center. It’s not like they would be asking a lot from him; just play 10 reasonable minutes down the middle, which Domi is seemingly incapable of right now.

4.  Even if Scott Laughton can return in the next game, I’d immediately put him in at 3C and keep Steven Lorentz at the 4C spot instead of playing Domi down the middle. There have to be some standards here.

5.   If we’re getting into trade talk, I think moving Max Domi would be my top priority at this point. We’ve talked about this a lot since the summer, but it seems that if he can’t play with Auston Matthews, Domi has no real role on this team. He can’t play with William Nylander because he struggles too much defensively, and he doesn’t make sense on the third line if it’s deployed defensively. He’s now pacing for 26 points, a season removed from a 33-point season. Most of all, though, he doesn’t bring a consistent effort on a nightly basis. There seems to be a comfort level — one bordering on audacity at this point — that his spot in the lineup is untouchable.

Domi plays about one reasonable game every week or two, and to me, it’s not worth it if the Leafs are attempting to build a program around a four-line team that works hard and forechecks (or, as Treliving has said in the past, does the “unsexy” things). Domi doesn’t do any of that, and he doesn’t produce enough to justify not doing those things. It’s not lost on me that part of Nick Robertson’s breakout is that he’s no longer Domi’s linemate. And we haven’t even mentioned Domi’s salary yet. 

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