The losing streak extended to six games Thursday in Seattle, thanks to a 5-2 defeat by the mediocre Kraken, and all the teams they’re chasing for a wild-card spot won.
Six teams and 10 points now stand between the Maple Leafs and any faint hope of participating in Game 83. Only one team, the long-surrendered New York Rangers, stands between the Leafs and the conference basement.
There is a familiar theme to Toronto’s skid, its longest since January 2015, months before the organization drafted a fresh-faced kid from Scottsdale, way back when they stunk on purpose.
“Similar stuff,” captain Auston Matthews said. “Costly mistakes cost us, and the puck’s in the back of our net.”
The Kraken scored on the game’s first shot. The Leafs fell behind early and looked too slow to chase the game down. Their most dynamic game-breaker, William Nylander, was stuck scrolling his cellphone in the press box. And their goaltender, a still-rusty Anthony Stolarz on this rainy Northwest evening, let in one or two he’d like back.
They’ve averaged five goals against over their past nine games and lost eight of those.
No team has allowed more goals at 5-on-5 this season (136), which is the risk you run when routinely get outshot and your goaltenders lose the ability to steal games.
It’s been 20 days since Toronto beat a team in regulation. That would be the 32nd-ranked, outwardly tanking Vancouver Canucks, whom they’ll face again Saturday.
At least coach Craig Berube and his players have sent a clear message up top as to what tact should be taken when it comes to adding or subtracting from the roster.
“I am not going to come out and make any profound statements, but we are also very cognizant of where we sit in the standings. You are looking at probabilities. You are looking at schedules ahead,” general manager Brad Treliving said Thursday, during an appearance on a Toronto radio station.
The probability? A 4.3 per cent shot to qualify for the playoffs, per MoneyPuck.com.
The schedule? Still 18 of their final 28 to be waged on the road, including another long western trip after this one.
The trade deadline and its essential decision-making looms.
“We are in a different position than we’ve been in the past,” Treliving conceded. “We will continue to evaluate and see what the best steps are for us moving forward, based on where we are at.”
There is, mercifully, a tonal shift here from an executive, who, as recently as late December, said he was not waving the white flag.
The cold splash of water that was their fruitless and punchless 0-4-1 homestand has made the brass realistic about where they sit.
The players are beginning to feel it, too.
“There’s no question. That’s not lost on anyone. Not good. I mean, our work’s cut out for us,” Morgan Rielly, a rare Leaf who lived through their last playoff whiff.
“We’re in a spot in the standings that we haven’t been, and we’re not happy. And it’s on us. It’s not on anyone else. It’s on us. And it’s performance-based, and it’s mistakes.
“We’re aware of what’s going on, and we’re doing everything we can to right the ship and to get playing better hockey here.”
To think of subtracting further from a roster whose depth is already getting exposed isn’t an option for the players or the coach.
So, they’ll point to a better effort, a power play that cashed in, a hot opposing goalie in Joey Daccord, and darn that bum luck.
“A few bounces just didn’t go our way,” Stolarz said.
Stay positive, in the face of mounting negative evidence.
“I wouldn’t say everyone’s happy, but we’re not too low,” Nick Robertson said. “We’re right in the middle. It’s kind of where you want to be. I mean, you kind of want that desperation, but also not that panic. And we have belief in this locker room.
“It’s adversity that we haven’t dealt with before, and I think it just makes us stronger, and it’s gonna make us more desperate. We have to be desperate to make the playoffs.”
We’d amend that last sentence: They had to be desperate. In October. And November. They had to sustain that desperation into the coldest spell. Too late.
The playoffs have sailed out the door, and soon it’ll be time for some Leafs to follow.
Matthews has never lived through a deadline where his room didn’t benefit from a talent injection afterward. This is fresh.
“I mean, you kind of leave that up to the management. For us, it’s about the next game. It’s about winning and starting to put ourselves in a much better position than we are now,” Matthews said.
“You got to come to the rink and put your work hat on and do whatever is necessary to help the team in whatever way possible.”
The same applies to Treliving.
• Nylander participated in Thursday’s morning skate but missed his 17th game due to injury. What’s wild is that he still leads all Leafs in scoring, with 48 points.
The club is hopeful Nylander will return from his aggravated groin injury Saturday in Vancouver.
• Treliving retroactively added Dakota Joshua (lacerated kidney) and Chris Tanev (groin) to long-term injured reserve and passed depth defenceman Dakota Mermis through waivers.
The Leafs are now under the cap and accruing space. According to PuckPedia’s calculations, they could add a player with a $1.65-million annual cap hit today or a $2.19-million hit on deadline day and stay within budget.
Moreover, they could use LTIR to add an additional $7 million worth of cap hit, if the roster remains status quo.
This bit of paperwork gives Treliving options.
He could weaponize his cap space by adding a player with “bad” money in exchange for prospects and/or draft picks. Or he could boost his return in a trade by retaining salary on a player he’s dealing away.
• According to Edmonton-based Jason Gregor, the Oilers and Maple Leafs discussed a change-of-scenery forward trade earlier this season involving Andrew Mangiapane and Matias Maccelli.
• Clever marketing move by the Kraken and American Express, making it up to the Seattle fans who got “hat tricked” (hey-oh!) Tuesday when Jared McCann’s apparent third goal got wiped off the board due to a penalty.
Seeing the puck enter the net, a bunch of poor fans had already chucked their caps on the ice in celebration of what they believed to be the first home hat trick of the season. A costly way to rejoice a two-goal night by McCann
So, the team linked up with AmEx, fired off an email to its season ticket holders, and offered to mail a brand-new hat to 1,000 fans who got “hat tricked.”
• Any takers on Shane Wright?
The 22-year-old Kraken centre popped off for two goals Thursday but has struggled to build on a decent showing in 2024-25, when he scored 19 goals and 44 points.
Still on his entry-level deal, Wright is on pace for just 14 goals and 31 points this season while winning 37.6 per cent of his faceoffs.
The Jets and Blues are two teams reportedly interested.
