It has been a roller coaster through the first half of the season. Even prior, the offseason carried its own sense of dread. The Toronto Maple Leafs floundered through the autumn schedule, often unable to string two strong periods together. The abyss beckoned as the Leafs looked up from the bottom of the standings. Having invested so much into the present moment, poor defensive play and an ineffective power play threatened the future of the team beyond this season.
Now, as the Leafs tread their first steps upon the second half of the season, the mood shifts. A statement road win against the Colorado Avalanche lifted the Leafs into a playoff spot, at least temporarily. The victory itself is a trophy, validation that a garish road record is not indicative of what the team has become.
How did we get here? What contributed to the turnaround? Moreover, what can we expect from the second half of the season?
What was the turning point?
There are some interesting moments from which narratives can take shape. Something inside us wants to point to one answer, one specific turning point. For the Leafs season, there are many possible answers.
Perhaps it was the arrival of Troy Stecher, who might go down as one of the best waiver claims in team history. Some might point to the hiring of assistant coach Steve Sullivan, which seems to have reinvigorated the power play. Naturally, Auston Matthews returning to form is a huge piece of the puzzle as well.
Perhaps it is a story of a larger scope. The search for a new identity was front and centre for the offseason. The Leafs lost a ton of skill and talent with Mitch Marner traded, but even prior to that, it has been a goal to transition from a high-flying, skilled team into a more hardened style of play.
The recent success offers a glimpse of a different future, perhaps even a brighter one. For supporters, the change in mood is noticeable, and undoubtedly the team can resonate with that. Interviews are looser, more relaxed. Perhaps a belief in a new team identity is truly taking hold.
Forming the Leafs identity
Dennis Hildeby has been a great story, and all of a sudden, the Leafs crease looks crowded at full health. Joseph Woll seemed to settle the team down upon his return as well. Anthony Stolarz took the brunt of the Leafs struggles before his long injury. There is a common thread that helps explain the results of all three goalies: the team’s defensive game is tightening.
It has been a bit confusing, or counterintuitive, along the way. The Leafs have spent a lot of effort under GM Brad Treliving to become a bigger, stronger, more defensive team. The Leafs came out of the gate especially poorly in this area, creating a sense that the very identity of the team was a mirage. This existential crisis even landed coach Craig Berube some doubters.
Another strange turn is that the team has turned things around without their top shutdown option, Chris Tanev. The goal for Berube and the Leafs is to start strong, and for that, some blame was due. All the same, Berube has this team coming together now. For that, credit is due.
The team is finally playing the way that Treliving and Berube had hoped. The identity is taking shape. The Leafs have overcome injury and adversity, now getting more out of each other. The team is strong defensively, sporting a solid penalty kill and four capable centres.
What is more is that the team seems to have more battles than before. Berube has spoken in the past about toughness. He often iterates the message that it is not about looking for a fight, but rather sticking up for each other. The Leafs are willing to get mean in scrums after the whistle and are ready to respond to affronts from the opposition.
The path ahead
Now that the team is taking shape, there can be greater certainty in the path ahead. For the regular season, the Leafs have a formula, a style of play that can squeeze victory from any opponent on a given night. Naturally, this level of play will need to be the baseline from here on out.
The standings will remain tight, and so losing streaks can change things much faster than a long win streak. Even now, on their best stretch of the season, the Leafs see several teams around them even hotter in the competitive Atlantic Division. This pressure might help to temper the team. It will also tempt Treliving’s deadline strategy into deeper waters. The Leafs do not have many trade assets to work with, but discerning which moves might actually help will be clearer.
Whether or not the Leafs have what it takes to make it further in the playoffs this season remains to be seen, but at the very least, their vector appears to be shifted. For fans who grew tired of the team over the past decade of playoff stagnation, there might be hope for a different outcome. The team will have to embrace their new identity in full to become something else. These hopes and beliefs will have to be strongest with the team itself, and if they continue down that road, the fans will share in it as well.
