The figurative castle is being stormed once again, and it has only taken a month this time around, compared to a full regular season of promise and an embarrassing playoff exit.
With the Toronto Maple Leafs now well past the quarter-mark of the 2025-26 NHL season, it's safe to say that things, well, aren't exactly peaches and cream.
After 22 games, the Toronto Maple Leafs have a record of 9-10-3 (good for 21 points), and find themselves in dead last in not just the Atlantic Division, but in the entire Eastern Conference. Yes, that means they're somehow behind Buffalo, a team that has played some relatively-fun hockey thus far.
In terms of the standings, however, things aren't entirely bleak just yet. The Leafs are only five points back of the Boston Bruins, who sit in one of the two Eastern Conference wild card slots as of November 24th, and they have two games in hand on their longtime rivals.
Even then, Toronto social media is, to say the least, starting to panic. I've seen a good deal of Instagram reels on my feed suggesting that a coaching change should take place in order to rejuvenate the locker room and to try and get the Leafs back on track.
If I were sitting in a room with such people, I would be telling them to hold their horses. To a degree.
Over the course of what is now ten years since the Auston Matthews period of the team began, the Leafs have had three coaches: Mike Babcock (2015-2019), Sheldon Keefe (2019-2024), and Craig Berube (2024-present).
Let's now separate these three head coaches into three distinct "eras":
The first saw Mike Babcock turn what was a young Toronto team into a playoff squad and, in the later years, a quasi-Cup-contender. After a slow start to the 2019-20 season, Mike Babcock was fired and replaced by Sheldon Keefe, who was coaching the Toronto Marlies at the time of his appointment.
Enter the Sheldon Keefe Era. Despite a very quick turnaround, Toronto could only muster a qualifying round exit against Columbus (due to the format that resulted came due to COVID).
Though the next two seasons saw the team post consecutive playoff exits (a blown 3-1 lead to Montreal in 2021 that even drew the ire of Stephen A. Smith, followed by a hard-fought-but-blown-series against Tampa Bay in 2021-22), it would be in the 2022-23 season where Sheldon Keefe would be able to help Toronto to its first playoff series victory in almost 20 years. This was followed up by a second-round shellacking by the Florida Panthers and a seven-game series loss to Boston in the following season.
Now it's the Craig Berube Era. Here, the Leafs arguably look like the best versions of themselves; a hard-fought 2024-25 season saw the team win its first division title in well over twenty years and win their second playoff series in three years. As well, Toronto was able to force the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers to seven games; even then, consecutive 6-1 blowouts on home ice did nothing to help Toronto hold onto a 2-0 series lead.
While the Mitch Marner trade did turn some heads and signal (potentially) a new culture in the Toronto locker room, that change in culture (and the supposed addition of more physicality in replacement) hasn't entirely materialized just yet.
Even then, firing Craig Berube isn't the answer.
While one could point to season-long statistics and suggest that coaches who take the reins of Toronto tend to improve the team's performance, over the last ten years, the postseason results have stayed relatively constant regardless of the head coach.
That, I think, is the big sticking point with the argument of Toronto's season-long performance. Regardless of if this Toronto team goes 82-0-0 or 0-0-82 or even barely squeaks into the playoffs, we're at a point where this squad can only be properly assessed based on its playoff performance.
And so far, that opportunity hasn't materialized. Even with Craig Berube in place.
Which to me suggests that this team's issues aren't based on coaching. They're based on the playing.
And the issues have come up in droves this year with the departure of Mitch Marner, a winger who played a massive role in the success seen in Craig Berube's first season. Marner was more than capable of finding the nifty pass for an assist and possessing the same speed that was seen as a huge asset in the defensive end of the ice alongside slower but more physical defencemen like former Dallas Star Chris Tanev.
With Marner gone, teams have been able to take advantage of a much-slower-but-still-physical Toronto defence in many different ways. From relentless Florida-esque pressure up the boards to constantly giving up breakaway attempts like it's Tom Brady throwing the ball down the field to the likes of Julian Edelman and Mike Evans, Toronto has regressed significantly in the defensive department. One can point to Marner leaving, and they would be correct, but other factors like injury and goaltending struggles have also contributed to the downturn experienced by what was a vaunted defence last year.
That's not all. With Marner gone to Vegas, the expectation was that Auston Matthews would step up and live up to the captaincy assigned to him.
You want to guess who stepped up? Not Matthews, but rather former Leafs captain John Tavares. Yes, you're not imagining that I wrote that. Johnny Toronto is currently enjoying what is shaping out to be one of his best years in the Leafs sweater; according to the Leafs' official website, he currently finds himself second in points to William Nylander while also leading the team in goals.
While an injury did contribute to Auston Matthews' decreased offensive output thus far, he's only been out of the lineup for two weeks and even then, he's only going to be on pace for just shy of 60 points, which would only contribute to what has been a relative decline in his overall performance over the last few seasons.
So we've established that coaching isn't the problem, especially given that the Leafs brought in players that fit Berube's style of play. We've also established a complete decline in the quality of play, enough bad injury luck to fill every hospital and clinic up University Avenue, and a consistent lack of full-season results from the roster as a whole; this last idea is one that has been consistent regardless of the boss behind the bench.
And with that, I guess we've therefore solved the crux of my article's question. Hooray! Let's all go watch Steve Dangle melt down about the team's shellacking at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens while also watching social media influencers and YouTubers completely tear this team apart like they're made of Lego (if the Florida Panthers could do that twice in Scotiabank Arena, such influencers are probably doing it without even breaking a sweat).
But what's the solution?
Blow it all up? Strip Matthews of the captaincy and assign it to a much-more-capable-and-more-consistent William Nylander? Trades (shopping in Calgary, anyone)?
Unfortunately, the answer might not be that simple.
But it sure isn't sending Craig Berube to the figurative guillotine that sent Sheldon Keefe and Mike Babcock packing.
Discovering the answer might require both a little soul-searching in the organization and a little more gutting-it-out for the die-hard and long-suffering fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs.