Ten big questions for the Maple Leafs after 10 games

TORONTO — Mid.

That's what the cool kids would say, right? About the 2024-25 Toronto Maple Leafs through 10 games of this roller-coaster?

Despite wild highs (beating the pants off Tampa Bay, snuffing Winnipeg's perfect record in the Jets' own barn) and hideous lows (playing cannon fodder for the Blue Jackets, no-showing against coach Craig Berube's former club, St. Louis), the Maple Leafs have evened out to be one of the most average hockey teams of this young season.

Maybe the most average.

Toronto's 5-4-1 record places it 16th among the leagues' 32 teams by points percentage (.550).

The Maple Leafs' .890 save percentage is middle-of-the-pack. They rank 14th in goals per game and 17th in goals against per night.

Their goal differential is the same as it was before the puck dropped: 0.

Working in the Leafs' favour is that they aren't built to simply run in place. There is an assumption that these typically slow starters will rev up, that results will elevate toward expectations.

In the meantime, however, all we have is a 10-game sample size. And the 10 questions those games have left us with …

Where are the Maple Leafs at when it comes to buy-in?

Well, that depends on the night.

The greatest off-season change was behind the bench. And while the first handful of games would have us believe that the Berube Effect had taken hold, some bad habits popped up during last week's three-game skid.

Slow starts. Too much perimeter offence. East-west instead of north-south. Sloppy defensive details. Lack of power-play urgency and cohesion.

"It takes time sometimes," captain Auston Matthews said. "It's not going to click perfectly right away. I think you just want to take positive steps in the right direction."

Berube is trying to impose a new identity on what Tampa coach Jon Cooper called "the same cast of characters."

Will he bend them to his style? Or are the old ways too ingrained? The jury is still out.

Will the power play ever click?!

Is there an assistant coach more under the gun than Marc Savard, whom Berube hired specifically to fix a high-priced power play that went 1-for-21 in the Bruins series last spring?

Toronto's PP has long been a regular-season pillar of this team; the Leafs depend on 5-on-4 success to pile up points and keep the opposition honest.

Yet the Leafs wake up Tuesday to see themselves 29th in the category (9.38 per cent). Barf.

"It's all about results, right?" Berube said. "And we're not getting them. So, we got to try something different and a little bit more direct."

On Tuesday, Berube pulled the nuclear option: two balanced units.

"We need to get more action at the net. Good net front, strong guys at the net that can win puck battles around there and things like that," he said. "That's what we're looking for with these units."

Can Toronto find the line between aggressive and smart?

Perhaps it's a function of trying to mimic their new head coach, but the formerly safe Maple Leafs are now a top-10 team in penalty minutes per game (9.5) — and that's almost exclusively minors.

That wouldn't be as big of an issue if they were also drawing at that rate. They aren't. They rank 26th (7.7 PIM drawn per game).

That also wouldn't be such a problem if the Leafs' penalty kill was elite, not average (80.49 per cent, 13th).

Max Domi (17 PIM), Simon Benoit, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (10 PIM each) are the biggest offenders when it comes to taking penalties.

"We gotta be more disciplined," Berube said. "That's it. Stay out of the box."

Is Anthony Stolarz the best goalie of 2024-25 or the best goalie ever?

We're being tongue in cheek, of course. But the Maple Leafs' new No. 1 goaltender has been their backbone in October, as Joseph Woll battled a groin injury and Dennis Hildeby came down with a case of rookie.

"He's played extremely well," Berube said, agreeing.

The solid-looking Stolarz (4-2-1) has posted a .916 save percentage and saved 3.7 goals above average.

Woll needs to be worked into the rotation, of course, but Stolarz certainly looks poised for the heaviest workload of his career.

Is Matthew Knies the real deal?

Sure looks that way.

While we're cautious about getting ahead of ourselves, considering Knies hit a bit of rookie wall midway through 2023-24, the power forward has been consistently excellent through 10 games of his sophomore season.

Toronto's top line is the only one that has stayed intact since puck drop, and that's because Knies has complemented Matthews and Marner so well — putting up five goals while chipping in on special teams and seeing his minutes jump by three-and-a-half a night

The 22-year-old is realizing he's huge (six-foot-three, 227 pounds) and strong and he drives the net.

In short, he's a Berube guy. Now it's on GM Brad Treliving — who did well on the Jake McCabe extension — to strike the right deal for the pending RFA.

What happens when the players on long-term injured reserve are ready?

Watching Maple Leafs practice over the past couple weeks, Jani Hakanpää (knee) and Connor Dewar (shoulder) look like they could play a hockey game yesterday. Combined, they carry a cap hit of $2.65 million.

They'll be eligible to come off Long Term Injured Reserve following Thursday's Halloween game against Seattle. (Calle Järnkrok and his $2.1 million aren't so close to coming on to the roster, however.)

Whenever they play, another move must occur because the Leafs are maxed out on roster slots and cap space.

Maybe that's as simple as putting two depth skaters on waivers (Philippe Myers and … who else?). Maybe we see some action.

So... Robertson and Liljegren are totally getting traded, right?

Different personalities. Different positions. Similar situations.

Left-wing shooter Nick Robertson and right-shot(!) defenceman Timothy Liljegren were supposed to be the high(ish) draft picks that developed into everyday Maple Leafs with defined roles.

It hasn't happened, despite both guys in their mid-20s getting pay raises as restricted free agents over the off-season.

Liljegren has been scratched in nine of 10 games and has fallen to — what? — eighth or ninth on Berube's blueline depth chart when everyone is healthy.

And the snakebit Robertson, who was so deadly in pre-season, has found the back of the net once, during a Columbus blowout. Robertson was sat for Monday's big win over the Jets.

"He's been fine. I think Nicky's working extremely hard. He hasn't had much puck luck," Berube said. Which is true.

So, why was he a healthy scratch in Winnipeg?

"It's a pretty big team. You want some size in the lineup," Berube said.

Ouch.

You know where else you'll find big teams? The playoffs.

It's time to find a change of scenery for these NHLers, who could find better opportunity elsewhere.

What about Marner?

Mitch Marner's individual season mimics the club's as a whole: Who knows where this thing is headed?

On one hand, Marner leads all Maple Leafs (including D-men) in ice time (21:42) and points (11). Coach Berube has learned what Sheldon Keefe did before him — that Marner is trustworthy in all situations.

On the other hand, Marner's points have only come in five of the 10 games played, he's a minus-1, and his goal-to-assist ratio (1-to-10) is out of whack, even by his pass-first standards.

The dynamic winger can dazzle and dominate like he did in Saturday's three-assist show in Boston; he's also part of a power play and offence that has underwhelmed on a bunch of nights.

Overall, he's played fine and plenty in his contract campaign.

That said, a portion of the fan base feels antsy to pounce on his mistakes. On the ice and off, the whole situation is tenuous.

What's next for Matthews: an offensive explosion or louder criticism?

The most surprising Leafs stat after 10 games might be Auston Matthews ranking (triple checks notes) fourth in team goals (with four).

That stat is even more stunning when you consider that the new captain leads all NHLers in shots (47).

The much more likely outcome here is that Matthews' dismal shooting percentage (8.5) comes back to norm (16) and all is right with the world.

That said, Matthews — a Selke finalist last season as the league's top defensive forward — endured a rough patch last week: back-to-back minus-3 efforts for the first time in his career, plus a tough-looking OT giveaway that cost Toronto a point in Boston.

Who wants the Atlantic Division?

Thought by many to be the toughest division in hockey, the Atlantic is the only one with fewer than four teams with double digits in the points column.

The defending-champion Florida Panthers (7-3-1) have continued their dominance, but the rest of the pack is a mess early.

The other seven Atlantic clubs are mushed between eight and 12 standings points. Only Florida (+3) and Tampa (+8) have a positive goal differential.

That's good news for the Leafs, whose mediocre start hasn't dug them in a hole.