Maple Leafs Lack of Early Season Success Is Mainly Due to One Major Weakness
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a rough stretch so far, but their lack of success could be due to their lack of production from any of their bottom-six players.
With Toronto now losing three in a row and looking like a shell of the team that started the year off to a fairly hot start, and are struggling to find answers as to why they have found such a downfall recently. Craig Berube has tinkered with his lineup, and while they've shown some brilliance it's not the level expected of them.
Their lack of success is due to a lack of production from their bottom-six forwards, who so far have only combined for five points this season:
It's understandable to see Ryan Reaves held off the scoresheet, as he's not typically known to score often. A big surprise is Nick Robertson, who, after a big preseason has gone ice-cold, only having one goal and looking like the complete opposite of the player the Maple Leafs saw in September. It doesn't help that Holmberg has been transparent all year but still gets time, Lorentz is capable but is focused on a more defensive style of play, and David Kampf isn't doing much either.
Toronto Desperately Needs Reinforcements
It will be a huge boost to the Maple Leafs' lineup when Calle Jarnkrok and Connor Dewar return, as clearly whatever is going on right now isn't working. Jarnkrok isn't necessarily a great scoring option, , however, would be an improvement over Kampf, Reaves and Holmberg. Dewar would offer a great scoring punch on either the third or fourth line and has shown in the past he's more than capable of scoring and playing good defense.
Toronto has a logjam on their roster and needs to shuffle some pieces in order to fit everyone in. Let's not forget that Fraser Minten is also scheduled to return soon and he could provide another boost to the lineup. Toronto should look to see if they can offload some of their pieces like Kampf and Reaves and try to recoup some of the money they've wasted. Toronto has to get the combined $3.75M contracts of Reaves and Kampf off their books, and if they can get rid of Timothy Liljegren too, they are way better off in the future.
If the bottom six of the Toronto Maple Leafs don't start picking it up and leaving the majority of the scoring to the top scorers, it won't make for a successful season. A team is only as strong as its weakest link, and right now the links holding the Maple Leafs together are crumbling quicker than ever.
