The Toronto Maple Leafs need to part ways with head coach Mike Babcock if they want to save their season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have officially hit rock bottom. If they haven’t hit rock bottom yet, they are dangerously close to doing so. The Leafs, who were expected to be serious Stanley Cup contenders heading into this season, dropped a 4-2 game to the Vegas Golden Knights. That was their fifth straight regulation loss and sixth straight overall.
In 23 games, the Leafs have 22 points and nine wins. They have just one regulation win in their last eight games and merely two in their last 16. During their current five-game losing streak in regulation, the Leafs have been outscored 24 to 13. They’ve also been outscored 27 to 15 during their six-game winless streak.
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The Leafs are allowing the eight-most goals against per game and scoring the 13th-most goals per game. Their eight regulation and overtime wins are fewer than the Ottawa Senators, Chicago Blackhawks, and the Nashville Predators (who have just one win in the month of November). For a team with as much talent as them, that’s simply not acceptable.
Head coach Mike Babcock has lost the room. He has been outcoached in almost every game. Take, for instance, last night against the Golden Knights. What was Babcock’s response after his team took a 1-0 lead? He sent out his fourth line. Guess what happened less than 30 seconds later? The Leafs got scored on. In fact, Babcock sent out either his third or fourth lines after each goal except for one.
That strategy might have worked 20 years ago, but in today’s NHL, you’ve got to roll with your best guys. Babcock played it safe and was playing not to lose. Guess what the Leafs did? They lost. Playing conservatively in today’s NHL is admitting defeat.
While the players certainly deserve a healthy portion of the blame for the Leafs’ slow start, they aren’t being put in situations where they can succeed. That’s up to the head coach. Babcock is failing miserably in that regard. It’s easy to point to injuries, and the Leafs have been hit hard by them.
But guess what? So have a lot of teams. Take the Pittsburgh Penguins, for instance. They’ve been missing either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin in their lineup for almost the entire season. Yet somehow, the Penguins are finding ways to tread water. The Colorado Avalanche are gritting out wins without Gabriel Landeskog or Mikko Rantanen. Even with the Leafs injuries, Babcock has one of the most skilled and talented rosters in the NHL.
The Leafs are almost as close to the bottom of the standings as they are to being in a playoff spot. While Toronto is just four points shy of the Montreal Canadiens, who are in the second wild-card spot, it’s worth noting the Habs have played two fewer games than the Leafs. The Leafs have five more points than the Detroit Red Wings, who are in last place in the Eastern Conference.
If the Maple Leafs want to save their season, which might be their best and perhaps last chance to push for a Stanley Cup with this group, they have to act now. Something must change. It’s going to be very hard for them to change much about their roster, as they, like many teams, are close to the cap ceiling.
The best thing for them to change might be their coach. Let’s take a look at some recent Stanley Cup champions. The 2018-19 St. Louis Blues struggled early, much like the Leafs. When they fired Mike Yeo, they had a 7-8-3 record. Their point percentage was about .472%, which is a tad bit lower than the Leafs (.478%).
As everyone knows, the Blues were able to turn their season around and eventually win the Stanley Cup. But it took them a while to rally behind new head coach Craig Berube. And keep in mind, the Blues were a great team. Everyone expected them to be Stanley Cup contenders when the season started. They failed to live up to those expectations and they realized they needed a change. The Blues made a simple one and got rewarded for it.
Also, how about the 2015-16 Pittsburgh Penguins? When they fired then-head coach Mike Johnston, they had a 15-10-3 record through 28 games. The Penguins replaced him with Mike Sullivan and went on to win not just the 2016 Stanley Cup, but the 2017 Stanley Cup as well.
Recent history shows the Leafs are far from out of it. But they’ve got to start acting soon if they want to make changes. History suggests those who make the simple change behind the bench are often rewarded more than teams who blow their roster up. The Leafs need a spark. At this point, that might only come from firing Babcock and adding some new blood behind the bench.