The Toronto Maple Leafs have been one of the NHL's top regular-season teams for the last three seasons and they have put together winning records in seven straight seasons. They are an exciting, high-scoring team to watch as they are led by Auston Matthews and Mitchell Marner, and they are dangerous nearly every time they take the ice.

That's as a regular-season team. The playoffs, unfortunately, are a different story for this venerable Original Six franchise. The Leafs managed to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning in 6 games in the first round last season, and that was the teams first postseason triumph since 2004.

Unfortunately for the Leafs, they were bounced out of the playoffs by the upstart Florida Panthers in 5 games in the second round. While that loss was not as shocking as the one suffered by the record-setting Boston Bruins to the Panthers in the first round, it was still considered an upset. The fact that the Leafs were unable to build on their first-round triumph over one of the league's top powers was a major disappointment.

Still, the Leafs finally found a way to earn a series victory. They had lost in the first round in six consecutive years, and many of those defeats had been of the heartbreaking variety.

Maple Leafs address toughness issue

Something clearly has been missing from the Leafs roster, and the team parted company with general manager Kyle Dubas after the defeat to the Panthers because the makeup of the team was simply not good enough to succeed in the postseason. The organization felt a new approach was needed. They hired former Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving to take over the position, and he was able to make a couple of key free-agent moves.

The Leafs signed Tyler Bertuzzi away from the Bruins and they also brought in tough guy Ryan Reaves. Both of those moves made sense. The Leafs could be victimized by bigger and tougher teams, and the combination of Bertuzzi and Reaves should help the Leafs stand up for themselves whenever that element is needed.

However, there are other areas that still seem to be problem areas at this point. Treliving may need to address the situation before the start of the season or he may choose to wait until the trade deadline before he makes any additional changes.

Forwards look strong, but Maple Leafs may not have enough defense

The Leafs have the offensive strength to put many opponents away without a problem. The combination of Matthews and Marner is quite artistic on the ice, and the addition of Bertuzzi on that line could make it one of the most dangerous trios in the league.

John Tavares and William Nylander form the nucleus of Toronto's second line, and they are both capable of filling up the net.

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But while the Leafs have a very exciting offense that regularly puts Leafs fans on their feet, Toronto often has a difficult time stopping quality opponents.

The No. 1 defense pairing of Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie is fairly adequate, but they are not going to shut down the best offensive lines on a regular basis. Rielly is Toronto's best defenseman, and he came through with a rather pedestrian total of 4 goals and 37 assists last year. He had a minus-9 rating and that's not good enough.

The No. 2 defense pairing of Jake McCabe and John Klingberg is not going to stop many opponents. Klingberg made his name as an offensive defenseman with the Dallas Stars, but he is not going to  intimidate anyone with his physical play. Klingberg struggled last year with the Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild, and it remains to be seen how well he will fit in with the Leafs.

Goaltending continues to be an issue

Throughout their long string of playoff debacles, a lack of quality goaltending has been of the major problems faced by the team.

The Leafs are banking on Ilya Samsonov providing the answer in 2023-24. After three seasons with the Washington Capitals, Samsonov took over as the Leafs' No. 1 goalie last season and he was  adequate.

He finished the regular season with a 27-10-5 record along with a 2.33 goals against average and a .919 save percentage. He was unable to build off that in the postseason as he was 4-4 with a 3.13 GAA and an .898 save percentage.

Samsonov is still young at 26, but he has to step up for the Leafs this year. If he does not look like a shutdown goalie by midseason, Treliving should make it his business to find the kind of goalie that can come up with the big save at the key moment.