Early on, the depth of the Maple Leafs has disappointed.
That would be the plea I’d make if I were Auston Matthews, or any of the Leafs’ so-called Core Four forwards for that matter. Because lost amid Toronto’s grinding, frequently unimpressive 5-4-2 start to the season has been a marked slowdown in contributions from, well, most of the rest of the roster.
The Maple Leafs are one of a handful of teams who have realized the luxury of falling into bona fide superstar talent, starting with the aforementioned Matthews, who again leads the NHL in goals (11).
Teams like Toronto (Edmonton is another great example) know they have a gift at the top of their roster: elite weaponry capable of steamrolling the opposition on most nights.
That benefit can come at the marginal cost of cap flexibility further down the lineup. With limited cap to play with across the rest of the roster, front offices need to be creative in how they build depth competency. Not everyone can build a four-line juggernaut like the defending champs in Vegas, but you should be able to dress lines and defensive pairings that can keep their head above water.
Toronto has had pockets of production from their depth players in recent years, more than enough to routinely lift this team well up the NHL regular-season standings. But this season, that hasn’t been the case. Toronto’s opening month has been marked by two distinct scenarios: their top players score and the Leafs win, or Toronto is blown off the ice in uninspiring fashion.
Consider Toronto’s offensive production over the first month of the season compared to prior periods. While you’d expect their most expensive forwards to be contributing in the manner they are, it’s the rest of the lineup that’s doing a lot of nothing. That’s a considerable change from years past, years where Toronto’s cap situation similarly skewed heavily towards their core forwards:
