Head coach Sheldon Keefe has questions about his Toronto Maple Leafs squad at the season's halfway point. To be clear, these aren't good ones either.
With his team sitting in third place in the Atlantic Division, Keefe admitted that “42 games in, I still have a lot of questions quite honestly about who is going to out and you can say for certain is going to get the job done for us,” courtesy of The Athletic's Joshua Kloke.
The Maple Leafs have now lost four consecutive games (three in regulation) to drop to 21-13-8. In other words, they've won 21 games and lost 21 games. Both the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning sit just a point away from the third Atlantic playoff spot that Toronto currently occupies.
An ugly 4-4-2 stretch has Keefe wondering how his team can put an end to the blown leads (they've done so in four straight) and bank some points in a tight divisional race.
Who can Keefe rely on?
Keefe wasn't shy about highlighting (lowlighting?) two players that need to step up for the Maple Leafs.
The fifth-year head coach admitted that defenseman TJ Brodie has “[d]efensively, …given up more and hasn’t been as consistent as we’ve come to rely upon.”
While Keefe praised Brodie's offensive skills, he also wondered if Brodie was being asked to do too much as a first-pairing defenseman.
Center John Tavares also came under scrutiny. It's now been five games since Tavares registered a point. The coach chalked Tavares' dip in production to possible fatigue, but being on the ice for zero goals for and three goals against in the last four games is a worrying stat regardless.
If Keefe's questions aren't answered soon, it could be a disappointing end to the season in Toronto.
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