Toronto Maple Leafs Fantasy Hockey Spotlight - Part 1 | In-Depth Analysis and Breaking Injury News with John Tavares, Jake McCabe and More

The Toronto Maple Leafs. Where do we even start? Are they a good team? In some ways, yes. Are they also a bad team? The answer is also yes. This hockey club seems to play at the level of whoever their matchup opponent is. 

Easily one of the most rostered teams in fantasy thanks to the “core four”, among other elite talent, only the Colorado Avalanche compares to having a comparable amount of players who are on a must roster status. This “core four” consists of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares.

Are they Make-Be-Leaf, or do you Be-Leaf? Let’s dive in.

In this two-part series, there is just way too much to unpack with the Maple Leafs for one sitting. Today we’ll take an overall look at where the team is and some key aspects that may impact your roster, including some breaking news with injuries - tomorrow, we will do a breakdown of this talent-filled roster and who should be on your radar and why.

Before we get to the breaking news with regard to two injury reports that you will need to adjust your rosters for, let’s review where the Maple Leafs sit in the standings.

Statistical Analysis

Technically, the Maple Leafs are first in the Atlantic Division. That's good enough for third in the conference, one point behind the New Jersey Devils, who they face off against tonight, and eighth in the NHL. That looks good on paper, but there is more to the story.

Right now the Maple Leafs are on a slide, losing their last three games and only scoring four goals. How is that possible with $46M held up in only four - coined the “core four” - players who are all elite or franchise talents? Well, they also let in 13 goals in those 3 games, so they are in trouble at all ends of the ice.

It’s not all bad, though. Every team and every player goes through slumps. With the Maple Leafs, it’s either this team is a dumpster fire and we better break up the “core four” and sell off assets or people are buying tickets to the Stanley Cup parade. There really is no in between.

Breaking Injury News: One Up, One Down

This morning during practice it was reported by Sportnet that former captain John Taveras was placed on injured reserve.

This has a huge impact on the team down the middle, and for the powerplay. Tavares has been having a resurgence year and for many was a Canadian snub for the Four Nations tournament coming up.

During practice this morning, Tavares got caught up with defender Christopher Tanev, who was also visibly shaken up and took a few moments to get up from the hit. This in itself is scary, especially with all of the defensive lapses the Maple Leafs have been struggling with as of late. If your league counts +/- and you have some Maple Leafs on your roster, then you know the woes. Remember that historic -6 +/- night for Matthews and Marner? I do.

But it’s not all bad, because there is some good balancing news. Jake McCabe - the Maple Leafs best defender is slated to return to the lineup tonight vs. the Devils as per David Alter. McCabe is easily the most stable defender on the Leafs, and is the partner of Tanev. Both defenders play a significant role on the penalty kill.

Injury Report - Continued

Other players of note still awaiting return is starting goaltender Anthony Stolarz. While Joseph Woll alongside tandem backup duo Dennis Hildeby and Matt Murray" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#player-pop-up" href="/nhl_player_news/Matt_Murray/">Matt Murray have been holding the crease, it is clear that while the Maple Leafs started the season intending on having a tandem of Stolarz and Woll - due to injuries to both netminders, this has not been the case. 

Neither Stolarz or Woll have ever played a full workload, and to be fair to each of them, neither were brought in to fill that role. Woll went down early in the season, forcing Stolarz to take over, and now Stolarz has been out since early December. Together they were both in the top five in the league for save percentage and goals against average.

If you have one, or both, of these goalies on your roster, then honestly it will be good for you when Stolarz returns - which is estimated to be on January 22. Yes, they will compete for starts - but with a reduced workload, they both seem to perform much much better. 

With confidence in the net being restored, it’s safe to assume that the struggling Maple Leafs will have an uptick in their offensive prowess without having to worry about defending as hard on the backcheck and can get back to doing what they do best - score goals.

A couple more injuries to note include Calle Jarnkrok and Jani Hakanpaa. Neither of them are really impactful for fantasy so we won’t touch much on them today, or in tomorrow's article, however they are worth mentioning.

Jarnkrok is a floater who could be considered a streamer at best as he has been known to fill in a middle six role, and has seen limited powerplay time. Last year he scored 10 goals, 11 assists and one powerplay point over 52 games. Nothing to write home about here.

Hakenpaa has had more hype in the media than is worth putting stock into. He was selected to play for team Finland in the upcoming Four Nations Cup as a defender, but like Jarnkrok, he has not played a game in the NHL yet this year. Peripherals would be his only fantasy asset upon his return as he stacked up 178 hits and 123 blocks last year over 62 games.

Powerplay - Lethal, but Streaky

It’s no secret that the Maple Leafs have amongst the greatest scoring talent in the league, and when they are all on the ice - every player is dangerous. But it comes with it’s defensive liabilities, and is prone to hot and cold streaks.

The Maple Leafs under new coach Craig Berube don’t operate the same way they used to, either. He tends to toss the blender in much more often. He also as moved Oliver Ekman-Larsson into the top unit replacing Morgan Rielly, before switching them back, then removing a defender out of the first powerplay unit altogether.

The powerplay mainstays consist of rotating in and out talent include: Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares. Fighting for a spot to move up from the second unit powerplay are: Rielly, Ekman-Larsson and Matthew Knies. Everyone else seems to get second powerplay minutes only, or rotates in and out completely.

Given this absolutely stacked unit, they should be producing at a much higher level - but again with lack of consistency in the crease, defensive lapses, and injuries, they have left much to be desired.

Closing Thoughts

Patience is a virtue. Yes, the Maple Leafs are in a slump, and their rostered players have not been performing to what they should. Yes, they are playing poorly right now and have had guys in and out of their roster for the better part of two months, but should you panic sell? No.

All of these guys are going to bounce back, and with the return of McCabe on the blueline and looking forward to next week with Stolarz’s return to tandem with Woll, there is hope on the horizon.

Many team managers will see a slump and panic and make roster moves that they will regret weeks down the road. Try to take advantage of this and buy low where you can. Also take advantage of those that bleed blue and white who will pay premiums on some of these players if you are dead set on selling.

To make a long story short, this slump is not going to continue. A huge test for this team will be tonight when they face big talent such as Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt in the New Jersey Devils, who are one point up in the standings. Let’s see how they play tonight, and we will pick back up tomorrow in depth, breaking down each player worth having on your team on this star studded roster. Stay tuned, and GO LEAFS GO!