tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Downward Spiral Continues As Leafs Fall Out Of 8th

The Toronto Maple Leafs march out of playoff contention continued last night as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the San Jose Sharks at Air Canada Centre. No one can blame the goaltender on this one as James Reimer was solid in goal. But once again it took two periods for this team to play with any sense of urgency and again it was too little too late. The loss dropped the Leafs out of the final playoff spot as they are now one point behind Florida. Interestingly enough, they are 7 points out of 7th and 7 points away from last place.

A season that started out with much promise has turned sour with a terrible 1-6-1 tailspin that rivals last season's horrendous mid-October to November swoon. Being 4-4 over this eight game period would have the Leafs solidly in 8th place with 71 points and they would only be 3 points out of 4th place. With games against Washington and Florida coming up, the season can very well be determined by the end of February.

One has to wonder if a trade will make a difference for the Leafs in trying to make the playoffs and whether or not the deadline should be used to clear cap space, get more draft picks and create opportunities for kids from the Marlies to come up to the big team. It would be great if the Leafs could unload Mike Komisarek, Colby Armstrong, and Tim Connolly but its probably wishful thinking on my part.

At this point I am at a loss as to what this team needs to do. I do believe that whatever move they make before the deadline should not only be for this season. Trading young players or future assets to acquire a player that is going to help get the Leafs into the playoffs is a mistake. It's a path that this franchise has gone down before with limited success. Of course, if success is defined by winning a Stanley Cup then this strategy has been a failure. The Leafs' management team has some big decisions to make between now and 3pm February 27th. I guess that's why they get the big bucks.