Tension In Leafs Land: Arse Fans Hitting The Panic Button

The Toronto Maple Leafs have once again found themselves at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, and things do not look like they will be improving anytime soon. With key injuries, speed issues, and imbalance within the lineup, is it too early for Leafs fans to panic?

Being bottom of the standing isn’t what Leafs fans would have been wanting at all almost a third of the way into the season. With 9 wins and 13 total losses so far, the five point gap between the wildcard spots has never looked so far away for the Leafs, and it is clear things need to change soon.

It isn’t exactly helping that some of their best players are out suffering injuries, and they aren’t just third of fourth liners either. With captain Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies, Brandon Carlo and Chris Tanev all notable injuries, as well as starting goal tender Anthony Stolarz, things don’t look good going forward, and big changes need to happen soon.

Aside from all the injury trouble the Leafs have had so far this year, the line chemistry as a whole has just never been there, the likes of Mattias Maccelli, Max Domi, and Easton Cowan really haven’t seemed to find their groove as of yet, and trouble off the ice seems to just be translating onto the ice too.

With Tanev and Carlo both absent, the top defensive pairing of Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Morgan Reilly isn’t what Toronto would have hoped it would've looked like at this point in the season, and with clear issues in terms of speed and defensive capabilities, Toronto may need to make a move quickly. One guy who has been actively shopped on the trade block is the Calgary Flames Rasmus Andersson, arguably the hottest asset on the block. For Toronto, a team who needs speed and elite defense in a time of injury issues, he is a guy who can easily turn things around, and a guy who would bring something very valuable to the team.

On the other end of the ice, speed is an even bigger concern. So far this year the Leafs have lacked explosiveness following the departure of Mitch Marner, and haven’t found a clear replacement who brings that elite speed and skating ability. If they are serious about making a splash, and bringing in a massive gap filler, Jordan Kyrou is that guy, and for what a guy like Kyrou has to offer, it wouldn’t be a crazy move.

Whether it is cleaning up defensively, or bringing some much needed speed and playmaking ability to the offense, the Leafs need to clear up these issues very quickly, and will not have a hope this year with how it's going if things don't turn around quickly.