TORONTO — Eight autumns ago, No. 8 on the Los Angeles Kings made his annual pilgrimage to his home province of Ontario and made an observation that stands true till infinity in the NHL.
“One of the best offences in the league, one of the best offensive lines in the league. They’re a good team, no doubt about it,” Drew Doughty said of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The date was Oct. 23, 2017.
“They are giving up over three goals a game, it seems like to me,” Doughty continued that day. “They can improve defensively, but that’s not just on their defence. It’s on their top forwards playing good defence, too. That’s how you create a good defensive team.
“It’s not easy to do. Defence comes down to willing to compete on both ends of the puck and willing to sacrifice your body to block shots and get in lanes and just hating to get scored on. That’s how we developed it — and that’s all it takes, really.
“I would rather not be scored on than go out there and score a goal. That’s just the way I am.”
Flash forward eight years, and the Maple Leafs rank dead-last defensively.
They are giving up more than three goals a game again (3.82, to be precise). Yet they are still thriving at the fun end of the rink; their 3.65 goals a night rate fourth-best on the circuit.
Interesting, then, to contrast Doughty’s well-aged perspective with that of Toronto’s leading scorer, William Nylander, amid the home side’s three-game losing skid.
“You know, defensively we have been struggling, and that is something that can be fixed. You can adjust, make changes, to be better at that. Pay better attention to details,” said Nylander, who has stacked 24 points in just 14 games.
“I would be more worried if we weren’t scoring goals — because that’s harder to do.”
One hack’s heading from covering that October 2017 squad — “High-scoring Maple Leafs still learning how to play without puck” — could be recycled today.
But there’s more going on, the way injuries have complicated matters for the skidding team.
Auston Matthews (lower body) will be sidelined for roughly a week after getting injured Tuesday in Boston.
The status of goaltender Anthony Stolarz (upper body) is slightly more encouraging; he’s day-to-day.
But seeing the Leafs roll out an all-prospect goalie tandem of Dennis Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov just 36 days into the season is… well, gulp.
Coach Craig Berube, his hand forced, will load up a top line of Toronto’s three most dangerous (healthy) offensive players — John Tavares centring Nylander and Matthew Knies — for Thursday’s tilt against Doughty and the Los Angeles Kings.
He’ll reluctantly deploy five left shots on the blueline (struggling righty Philippe Myers sits in favour of Dakota Mermis) and tap Hildeby (0-2, .909) for his fourth appearance in as many games.
Nifty passer Max Domi will take Matthews’ flank spot on the top power-play unit, and Tavares — whose average ice time had been moderated to a career low (17:37) — will be depended on for heavier minutes and matchups against one of the league’s best road teams. (The Kings are 7-1-2 away from L.A.)
“If we’re gonna be a good team, we’re gotta be able to win games in these situations. So, we’re facing some adversity, and that’s just going to build character.”
Truth is, no one knows if the 2025-26 Maple Leafs are gonna be a good team.
Judging by the goaltending dilemma, the piling injuries, the defensive flaws, the metrics and the mood, they aren’t. Yet.
Three straight regulation losses have the Leafs tied with Minnesota for 26th overall in points percentage (.500).
“We know that they’ve been struggling, and that their coach is pushing them,” Doughty said Thursday. “So, we expect them to come out with a tough game tonight — and we’ll be ready.”
Time for the Leafs to dig out of what Tavares describes as a “rut.” Prove that they are capable of adjusting, communicating, rallying. That they have character.
That they would rather not be scored on than to go out and score a goal.
“It’s tough stretch right now,” Berube acknowledged. “And nobody’s happy about it, obviously. But I didn’t feel there’s frustration today. I felt like we’re in the right mode to fix it.
“We got to stay positive at this point, and we got to work our way out of it.”
Nylander concurs: “I think we’re just excited to get back out there and compete again.”
Berube is projecting confidence in a turnaround. But after a disturbing 17-game sample, most of us now need to see it to believe.
“I have full trust in these guys,” Berube said. “I think they all know what they have to do, and they’ve all been through this before in their careers, in different situations, maybe different teams.
“But I feel like we have a veteran group, and we have enough talent and determination to pull through.”
One-Timers: Tavares on Hildeby’s heavy workload in relief of Stolarz: “He’s a Beast for a reason.”… L.A. will scratch Andrei Kuzmenko ($4.3 million salary) for bruising journeyman Jeff Malott… Darcy Kuemper takes the crease for the visitors…. Tentatively circle Saturday in Chicago as Joseph Woll’s return game.
Maple Leafs projected lines Thursday v. Los Angeles Kings
Knies – Tavares – Nylander
Robertson – Domi – McMann
Joshua – Roy – Maccelli
Blais – Lorentz – Järnkrok
Rielly – Carlo
Benoit – McCabe
Mermis – Ekman-Larsson
Hildeby starts
Akhtyamov
