Maple Leafs have been 'hit or miss' this season, GM says

TORONTO -- Through 19 games, there have been stretches when the Toronto Maple Leafs have looked like the team general manager Brad Treliving envisioned. 

There have also been times they have performed well below expectations, not appearing anywhere close to a group that can contend for the Stanley Cup.

"We've been hit and miss," Treliving said Monday. "There's been some inconsistency in our game, which is a little concerning. It's an area we'd like to clean up and improve upon. You want to try to put that same game on the ice, period after period, game after game."

The Maple Leafs are 10-6-3 and fifth in the Atlantic Division but two points behind three teams tied for second, the Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers visit Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, TSN4, BSFL). 

Toronto had won four in a row, including victories against the Red Wings (3-2) and Minnesota Wild (4-3 in overtime) at the 2023 NHL Global Series presented by Fastenal. They were also 1-3-2 from Oct. 28 to Nov. 8 and blew a 3-1 lead in a 4-3 OT loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday and lost 3-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.

The Blackhawks (6-13-0) are 31st in the NHL. The Penguins had lost four of five (1-4-0).

"We've been finding ways to win but obviously not the case on the weekend," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "... There's positive things happening with our group. You just maybe have to look deeper to find them sometimes."

William Nylander leads the Maple Leafs with 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists) and set a team record with a 17-game season-opening point streak that ended against the Blackhawks. The 27-year-old forward could be an unrestricted free agent after the season.

"Nothing has changed on our end," Treliving said. "Our desire and hope at the end of the day is we are going to get 'Willy' signed. There's a process you go through. Willy has had a tremendous start to the year, but I don't think this is just a hot start, I think he's a really good player. 

"I stated from Day One here, our objective was to get Auston (Matthews) signed, and we got him signed (to a four-year contract Aug. 23 beginning with the 2024-25 season). Our objective is to get Willy signed and we are working at it. He's had a great start, great for him, great for us but that doesn't change in any way. We just continue to work away at it."

Matthews and Mitchell Marner were split up at practice Monday. Nylander replaced Marner on a line with Matthews and left wing Matthew Knies, and Marner skated at right wing with center John Tavares and left wing Tyler Bertuzzi. Matthews has gone without a point in five of his past six games. Marner has not had a point in five of his past seven since consecutive four-point games Nov. 4-6.

"You don't want to affect guys who are rolling and feeling good in order to boost other groups, but I think the time is right for Willy himself since coming back from Sweden," Keefe said. "I don't think it's gone as well for him, so the time is right there."

"I wouldn't say last five or seven games (for Matthews and Marner), I think it's been kind of up and down … If you look at the way it's gone for them this season, that's the way it's been. They've had really big nights and they've had other nights where they haven't been effective at all, so you're just trying to find more consistency there."

Nylander has been about the only thing consistent about the Maple Leafs through the first quarter. Goaltending, much like the team itself, has shown spurts of quality of play but Treliving thinks Ilya Samsonov  and Joseph Woll can improve moving forward.

Samsonov is 4-1-3 with a 3.58 goals-against average and .878 save percentage. Woll is 6-5-0 with a 2.92 GAA and .910 save percentage.

"The same as our team, they can be more consistent," Treliving said. "We've seen some real good games; we've seen some games they can be better at, and some goals have gone in that you'd like to have back … I would put them in the same category as the rest of the group. There can be some more consistent play."