3 reasons the Toronto Maple Leafs didn't win the Stanley Cup

The Toronto Maple Leafs need more from their star players in the playoffs

Yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs have the "core four". Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares are amazing players but they haven't been good enough in the playoffs.

This trend continued into this game seven and playoff series as a whole. As mentioned before, guys like Nylander and Matthews missed some time. We still don't know why.

However, it is still fair to say that none of Toronto's top players produced enough for them. For one, what were the injuries? Are they worth missing playoff games? We'll find out soon.

Even when they did play, they didn't produce enough. Neither did the guys who played in all seven games. Despite missing two games + one period, Auston tied for the team lead in scoring with four points. Three of those points came in one game.

Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi each had four points as well. William Nylander and Mitch Marner each had three points. John Tavares had two. This is not good enough for the top guys on the Maple Leafs.

When you look at the other players making salaries similar to that of Toronto's core four, you see big playoff numbers.

Guys like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Nathan MacKinnon, and Matthew Tkachuk all make similar money and they all have 9+ points in the first round with a trip to the second round on deck.

Matthews and Nylander were out and we'll find out why soon. They were pretty good in the games they did play. Tavares and Marner need to be much better than that.

This isn't working. They have been very dynamic in the regular season and overall entertaining to watch. Now, we know they are not a good mix and changes need to be made with this group. They cannot run it back in 2024-25.