Weekly Takes - Monday, February 28 Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, February 28 Edition

1. My three stars from the Maple Leafs awful, embarrassing loss to the Habs on Monday…

1. Pierre Engvall

2. Jason Spezza

3. Wayne Simmonds

Listen, this team is going to make the playoffs by a million points and they are going to get back on a heater sooner rather than later but this is the exact type of loss that is going to be in the back of everyone’s minds come playoff time.

They generated nothing offensively against a heavy team and they got abused all night long by a more physical team.

We have seen this movie so many times before.

2. I think the Leafs loss to the Habs on Monday should serve as a wake-up call for Kyle Dubas.

Yes, Simmonds, on the fourth line, gives this team a different element that they otherwise do not have up front and yes, Ilya Lubushkin, on the third pairing, gives this team a different element that they otherwise do not have on the blue line, but we are talking about a fourth-liner and third pairing defencemen.

Ideally, Dubas can find someone at the trade deadline who can bring a physical element and that player needs to be a prominent player who plays a decent amount of the game.

I would be all-in on JT Miller if I were Dubas. Bringing in a player like that would change the entire make-up of this team.

3. The issue with trying to bring in a player like Miller is that this team needs to find a starting goaltender, as they are not winning 16 playoff games with Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek at the rate they are going.

Addressing the goaltending is priority number one. Full stop. It is unfortunate but it is the reality of the situation.

Weeks ago, it looked as though this team could be quite picky about their wants at the deadline, with no glaring issues in sight.

That is no longer the case

4. My trade deadline wish list for the Leafs…

1. A starting goaltender (a must)

2. A top-four right-handed defenceman (a must)

3. A power forward left-winger (a luxury)

Giddy up.

5. My three stars from the Leafs 3-1 win over the Wild on Monday…

1. Auston Matthews

2. Mrazek

3. Travis Dermott

One of Matthews’ finest performances in the NHL. A breathtaking performance. He may win the Hart, Rocket, and Selke.

6. My three stars from the Leafs… 10-8 win over the Red Wings on Saturday…

1. Mitch Marner

2. Michael Bunting

3. Matthews

The Leafs at no point played bad in this game, which is wild to say, given they allowed eight goals. They were simply the victims of one of the worst goaltending performances in recent NHL history.

7. The fact that MLB owners are willing to lose regular-season games is truly incredible, given the league is coming out of a pandemic and has been declining in popularity for years.

They will recover just fine, just as every major league does when they resume play after a lockout. It just absolutely blows my mind, though.

8. Between the performances of Jayden Nelson, Jesus Jimenez, and Shane O’Neill, among others, TFC should be quite happy with their opening week draw against Dallas.

It is just too bad MLS’ video review system is a disaster and likely cost them three points.