In November of 2011, then-Bruin Milan Lucic was chasing down a loose puck in Boston. Sabres goalie Ryan Miller, identifying that he could prevent a mini-breakaway, charged out and played the puck. Lucic lost the race, but he decided to plow right through Miller in open ice anyway. 

Nobody on the Sabres responded, and Lucic laughed his way to the box for a two-minute charging penalty. Legendary play-by-play announcer Rick Jeanneret exclaimed, “they outta clean his clock,” on the broadcast. After the game, Sabres player Paul Gaustad called the lack of response “embarrassing.” In one of the funniest post-game moments in league history, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff, when informed of Gaustad’s comment, responded: “He was on the ice.”

The Sabres haven’t made the playoffs since, although they will finally break the streak this spring, some 15 years later. The Lucic-Miller incident became a flashpoint in Buffalo as the organization descended into mediocrity. It really ripped the room and the team apart. Gaustad fought Lucic in the rematch, but the damage was done. 

It was hard not to sense a similar vibe watching Auston Matthews lie on the ice holding his knee while Radko Gudas went untouched on his way out of the game. Yes, the Leafs did push back in the third period, but that doesn’t excuse the lack of an immediate response. After the game, Craig Berube was unequivocal: all four Leafs should have jumped in. Morgan Rielly, who was on the ice, repeatedly took responsibility in his post-game interview.

The word “embarrassing” is thrown around liberally at times, but the truth is, this was humiliating. Berube, former player and now coach, clearly knew it. The players knew it.

This is now a big elephant in the room, and the Leafs can’t really prove anything has changed until next season. But what happens between now and next season, as far as roster and management changes, is anyone’s guess. 

With Matthews’ season over, Elliotte Friedman framed the situation in the following way on Hockey Night in Canada:

“It also allows Matthews to start the clock on how he feels. A lot has happened in a very short time in Toronto, from the time they last kind of touched base with him about how they felt about things at the beginning of February. Since he is not going to play now, he has some time to think about it. They’ll have time to talk to him about it.

Sometime over the next couple of months, we are going to get a better idea of how everybody feels about the overall future of Matthews and the Maple Leafs.”

This mess has many layers to untangle. It was a bad look for the team; there is no getting around it. If this awful season of results wasn’t enough of an indication, this should be the cherry on top to signal that a significant change must take place. 

I suspect we’ll hear more and more about the team holding conversations with Matthews and William Nylander, in particular, to gauge their feelings on the situation moving forward. On some level, it is fair to hold open dialogue with the franchise pillars. But it should be noted that Matthews let the Leafs down this season just as much as the Leafs let Matthews down.

The captain finished this season with just 53 points in 60 games as the second-highest-paid player in the game. Entering the game against Anaheim, he was second on his own team in scoring, and by the time the game ended, he was fourth. If we want to split hairs, Knies and Tavares picked up some points after Matthews left the game to officially pass him, but if we’re talking semantics in relation to a $13.25M player ranking second or fourth in team scoring, it just about sums it up, doesn’t it? 

The Leafs paid Matthews like a superstar this season, and I’d wager he wasn’t even among the top 60 players in the league. It is as big a reason as any that the Leafs’ playoff streak will end in a few weeks’ time.

There are plenty of reasons for Matthews’ down year, and some are beyond Matthews’ control. Craig Berube has insisted on deploying him in the most difficult minutes. Other top producers like Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid don’t receive anywhere near the consistently difficult matchups Matthews faces. Given there was also a revolving door of linemates on his right wing — players like Matias Maccelli and Max Domi — and centers like Nic Roy and Scott Laughton could’ve helped lighten the load, the deployment strategy made no sense across the board. Those minutes add up, and the team let Matthews down in this regard.

But Matthews let the team down, too. He wasn’t even close to good enough this season. The idea that this is all about Matthews’ feelings, as if this is a one-way street, is detached from reality.

Matthews needs to do his own introspection and come back much better next season. This is a player with three Rocket Richards and a Hart Trophy. He can drag the Leafs into the playoffs almost singlehandedly when he’s in that kind of form – and the Leafs pay him to be. If he isn’t coming to the table with awareness of his shortcomings and a burning desire to return to his previous standards, there’s almost nothing left to say. He should be frothing at the mouth to come back next season with a vengeance to re-establish himself as an elite player in the league.

The Leafs certainly shouldn’t bow to whatever Matthews has to say about the team and its future. He wasn’t good enough this season. To be fair, we also don’t know how Matthews feels at all. All he’s said publicly is that he thinks this is a one-off season. It’s hard to imagine that he believes that he held up his end of the bargain. 

But now there’s an added layer wherein his teammates stood around and watched his season end with a whimper. As captain of the team, it would behoove him to consider his own role in the culture issue underpinning those events, too. It’s a lot to repair and reconcile. It’s not impossible, but it’s a lot. We also don’t know who will be behind the bench or in management to oversee the next iteration of the team. 

The Leafs can’t allow this to become the ultimate inflection point that fractures the team and causes it to fall apart. Some would probably argue this happened long ago, but it doesn’t need to be the case. However, a lot of difficult, honest self-reflection and decision-making needs to happen, starting — ironically — with the player whose season ended prematurely and extending to the veterans on the ice who did nothing about it.

Notes

Easton Cowan, Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies, Toronto Maple Leafs
Photo: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

– I made a point of mentioning “veterans” above because we’ll give rookie Easton Cowan a slight pass on the Matthews incident. A 20-year-old in his first season in the league is just not held to those same standards, especially when he is a skilled player. It did feel like his third-period fight with Jackson LaCombe, though, was partly him demonstrating that he can answer the bell, that he received whatever message was sent at intermission. Good for Cowan for doing it. He is now tied with the entire Core Four in fights as a Leaf, and that one fight involved Matthews getting jumped by Steven Stamkos in a bout he wanted nothing to do with.

Commendably, Cowan just dropped his gloves and went immediately. When Calle Jarnkrok was sticked in the face, Matthew Knies came over the boards and clearly signalled to Chris Kreider that he was willing, but Kreider didn’t take the fight. If you think your teammate was wronged to the point where you’re fighting in their defense — as Knies did — you don’t ask the opponent for permission. You simply go. Somehow, Cowan, the youngest player in the lineup, is one of the few on the team who get it.

– We’ve seen Knies answer the bell when physically challenged, but we haven’t seen much of Knies springing to his teammates’ defense or regulating games physically. Even against Montreal this past week, Arber Xhekaj went out of his way to take the body, and nobody on the Leafs responded. Against Ottawa a few weeks ago, Brady Tkachuk did the same. If someone takes a run at Knies, he will answer the bell, but when other players are running around and having their way with the Leafs, he hasn’t taken the step of jumping in and putting an end to it. 

– Probably the best silver lining of this season right now: With the Leafs unequivocally out of it, Easton Cowan is receiving a boatload of ice time and an opportunity to make up for previously lost time. Since playing just 8:23 against Philadelphia, Cowan is averaging 16:19, seventh among forwards in time on ice per game. He was arguably their most dangerous player against Montreal and has shown well as a forechecker who can create turnovers and make plays. He has just three points in those seven games (and 20 in 53 overall), but his game is trending the right way, and he’s become more noticeable on a shift-by-shift basis. 

– Bo Groulx has three goals in four games, as well as an assist taken away from him on Joshua’s goal in Buffalo. All three of Groulx’s goals have been nice for different reasons, but on two in particular, he squared up the goalie and beat him clean, basically 1v1, with a great shot. Those are the types of goals you’re hoping to see from a player looking to make an impression, demonstrating the ability to beat NHL goalies from some distance with their shot. He has also shown an ability to beat NHL defensemen off the rush — namely, Noah Dobson and Logan Stanley.

Groulx is seeing a regular penalty-killing shift (one of his goals came shorthanded) and is playing center, both of which have been pleasant surprises but the jury remains out on. He’s listed at 6’2 and over 200 pounds, and he’s clearly strong on the puck with a heavy shot. Groulx has noted his work on his skating over the years, and it makes sense — the rest of his game is NHL-calibre. He is signed through next season at just $812,500.

– In March, Matthew Knies leads the team in scoring with nine points in eight games, while Matias Maccelli is tied with William Nylander for second with eight points in eight games. It was nice to see some wheels from Knies on his empty-netter against Minnesota. He needs to end the season strongly after an up-and-down campaign. 

Quotes

Photo: John E. Sokolowski/Imagn Images

“I heard that the players on the ice said they realized Matthews had been tripped, but didn’t realize how severe it was. Morgan Rielly, who is a really good human, came out publicly and said he felt terrible about it. I heard privately that he was also extremely apologetic.

There is no question that the way it happened will have ramifications on the direction of the team and roster.”

– Elliotte Friedman on the lack of response by the Leafs after what turned out to be a season-ending knee-on-knee hit

Drastic change was already required anyway, but in case there was any doubt, it should definitely come now. The only question is how far they go.

“Well, I don’t think we sat back. They just came hard. I didn’t think we checked hard enough through the neutral zone. We let them come with a lot of speed, so they entered the zone a lot. But we did a good job of blocking shots and competing around our net.

We need to advance the puck more in the third and play some hockey in the offensive zone, like we did in the second period.”

– Craig Berube, as the Leafs were out-attempted 27-8 at five-on-five in the third period vs. Minnesota

I’m struggling to follow the logic of how Berube thought the team “didn’t sit back” yet didn’t check hard enough while allowing the other team to come with speed, enter the zone, and dominate the play (also known as sitting back). As we’ve said all season, it’s extremely difficult to solve problems when they aren’t even identified correctly in the first place. They did sit back and were caved in. They have been doing it all season.

“I thought during the game we made a couple of mistakes that wound up in the back of the net, but if you look at every statistical category that would allow you to win a hockey game, we had ‘em. We just didn’t find a way to win.”

– John Hynes, after the Wild lost to the Leafs

On the flip side, this is how most opponents have felt after playing the Leafs all season, as we’ve consistently highlighted in this space.

Tweets of the Week

Artur Akhtyamov
Photo by Christian Bonin/TSGphoto.com via Toronto Marlies

This is some tidy business by the Leafs, locking in another promising goalie for the next three seasons. Next season, they have Joseph Woll, Anthony Stolarz, and Dennis Hildeby signed to NHL deals, so something already had to give. Given all three of those goalies are signed with term, and now Artur Akhtyamov will also overlap with them the following season, something will clearly need to give this offseason.

This dipped further after Bo Groulx and even Michael Pezzetta were called up, but the Leafs clearly need an injection of youth into their lineup.

It should be noted that both Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton wanted to stay in Toronto, and OEL clearly did not want to be moved, either. There has already been some speculation that it will be difficult for Toronto to attract free agents, but this is hardly ever the case in reality, and in most cases, the players want to stay. We only seem to hear about it when it goes the other way, though.

Five Things I Think I’d Do

Philippe Myers, Maple Leafs
Photo: John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports

1.  I honestly can’t believe we’re still watching Philippe Myers at all, let alone on a regular basis. While he is technically under contract next season, he’s also 29 years old, and we know exactly what he is at this point. There’s nothing more to find out. Just like we’re seeing Jacob Quillan, Bo Groulx, and Easton Cowan receive opportunities at forward, the same needs to happen on defense. Myers is by far the easiest candidate in the lineup to take out, as not only should he not be in their future plans (if they plan to compete next season), but he’s bleeding goals against (18-27 at five-on-five in limited minutes). You can justify removing him on every level at this point: current play, plans moving forward, and the options below him. I’d much rather take a real look at Henry Thrun or even William Villeneuve at this rate, both of whom are pending RFAs, by the way.

2.   At some point, I think the Leafs need to give Jacob Quillan a proper look with some skilled linemates. He has set up Calle Jarnkrok a number of times in his limited minutes and has nothing to show for it on the scoresheet so far. Quillan is playing with the exact same linemates as Scott Laughton, and Laughton — a proven NHL player — played the least productive hockey of his entire career over a season and a half under Berube. I don’t know why anyone would expect Quillan to suddenly jump into the spot and produce.

Quillan was leading the Marlies in scoring just before Christmas, when the Leafs began bringing him up and down. Bo Groulx went on a second-half heater, and now we’re seeing what he can do with proper linemates, but Groulx’s early success should, if anything, give more reason to see Quillan play up the lineup. I’d truthfully rather have him 2C Knies and Cowan for stretches than have Max Domi receive those minutes each and every night the rest of the way.

There’s a fine line between placing players in certain positions to succeed versus handing them free, unearned ice time, but at the same time, there’s a fine line between playing out the string with veterans versus actually finding out about younger players. But this is where the Leafs stand now, largely because they’ve already played the veterans a ton to get them to this point. Domi has one point in eight games in March, and it was a tap-in courtesy of Nylander.

3.  While it’s easy to focus on Marlies call-ups possibly playing their way into the conversation for next season, it shouldn’t be lost that there is a whole collection of incumbents playing for the right to remain on the team next season: Steven Lorentz, Simon Benoit, Nick Robertson, and probably even Dakota Joshua and Matias Maccelli, too. This is audition time for these players, just as it is for any Marlie. So far, Joshua and Maccelli are doing their part. I’d actually like to see them play together a bit more, perhaps with Groulx as their center, to find out if there’s something there as a unit.

4.  I think it’s hard to shake that Brandon Carlo has been on the ice for the Leafs two biggest on-ice controversies this season: Stolarz getting run over and snapping (during and after the game), and the Matthews incident. He has been a bystander both times. It’s tough to look the other way, and while I wouldn’t give him away for free because of it, it’s hard to ignore his repeated role here — to say nothing of the trade probably weighing on him at this point and it seemingly not going well in Toronto in general, although I think he’s easily worth his cap hit and has been reasonably fine when in a proper role/with the right partner.

5.  This is why it’s hard to tank: The Leafs just picked up five points in their past three games and are now outside the bottom 10 in the standings. If nothing else, their goalies can be really good. Woll probably stole a point against Buffalo. Stolarz made a five-star save to deny Minnesota a tying goal in the third period. Even their third-string option right now — Hildeby — can be really good. The best-case scenario is still finding a way to keep the pick, but it’s going to be very difficult to do that.

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