The Toronto Maple Leafs are in danger of missing the postseason

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the more explosive teams offensively as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares are collectively four of the best players in the league.

However, they have some work to do as they are barely holding onto a playoff spot and they recently received some bad news that could set them back even further.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have to be better or they will miss the playoffs

Toronto has a record of 27-16-8 for 62 points is fourth in the Atlantic Division and is only two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings in the Wild Card race. Toronto remains 12 points out of first place, currently being held by the Boston Bruins. In their last 10 games, the Maple Leafs are 6-4.

Scoring goals is not an issue for this team as they are seventh in the league with 176 goals but are 15th on goals against with 162. If the playoffs started today, they would make it but would have to hit the road as a Wild Card winner.

They have 28 games left in the 2023-24 NHL schedule with 15 of those being on the road, where they hold a 14-6-6 record this season.

The hill to climb out of a Wild Card spot does not get any easier as the Maple Leafs have the fourth hardest schedule through the end of the season with the opponents carrying a .576 winning percentage.

They have two games remaining against the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights, and Carolina Hurricanes. They have one game left against the New York Rangers and Colorado Avalanche.

The trade deadline could be a factor in the Maple Leafs qualifying for the playoffs also. The team question marks entering the season have been defense and goaltending, which have not been fixed and have been a big reason for their struggles.

The announcement of defenseman Morgan Reilly's five-game suspension for the incident over the weekend against the Ottawa Senators leaves them more desperate to make a move. Reilly was not elite defensively but his absence will be felt in the offensive zone and on the power play.

Toronto General Manager, Brad Treliving, is wondering what moves can be made because of the Maple Leafs' projected cap space of $0 for this season, and he is handcuffed as far as how many moves he can make and who he can acquire.

He will have to get creative to make something happen because if the roster stays like this after the deadline then Toronto may be sent home earlier than they want to be.

The next two months of the Maple Leafs season are going to be critical, as both the playoffs are in question as are the jobs of the coaching staff.

If they do somehow miss the playoffs, what happens to the roster in the off-season? Does Head Coach Sheldon Keefe get fired and what about his staff? Do they make a massive change and clean house?

This may be the most intense two months they have had in a while and it could cost people their jobs if it does not result in a lengthy playoff run.