You can almost hear the sighs across Toronto. It’s October, and the Toronto Maple Leafs look, well, ordinary. Not bad, not disastrous, just… off. The kind of start that has fans checking the schedule twice, muttering “It’s early,” while quietly wondering if something deeper is going on.
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Hockey analyst Brian Lawton put it bluntly this week: the Maple Leafs look like they’ve dropped a tier in the league. That’s not a small statement. For years, Toronto has sat comfortably among the NHL’s “should contend” clubs. These are the teams that might not always win but are never far from the conversation. Now, Lawton says, they look more like a team searching for its footing than one storming toward the Cup.
The Maple Leafs Look Like a Team That’s Lost Its Bearings
Lawton didn’t sound panicked, but he did sound puzzled. The Maple Leafs, he noted, haven’t looked cohesive — more like a collection of good players than a real team. You can see it in the way their game breaks down. Defensive zone coverage gets scrambled, rushes stall, and the bench energy feels flat.
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When he said they looked “discombobulated,” that might be the best word for it. They’re still talented, still capable of scoring in bunches, but something about their rhythm is missing. There’s no real flow — no sense that one shift builds on the next. Auston Matthews looks perhaps the most “off” on the team.
(Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images)
It’s not hard to see why. Losing Mitch Marner hurts more than people want to admit. He’s the player who knits things together — the quick outlet, the clever read, the emotional spark. Without him, Toronto’s playmaking looks a little more mechanical, a little less alive.
Matthews Isn’t Quite Matthews
Speaking more about Matthews. He’s scoring, sure, but it’s been a strangely quiet kind of production. A dozen or so games in, he’s sitting on a handful of assists and a lot of near-misses. You get the feeling he’s trying to drag the team forward without quite knowing where the traction is.
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Lawton wasn’t critical of Matthews, just honest. He hasn’t had a “good start.” Maybe it’s timing, perhaps it’s chemistry, but the body language says a lot. When he’s rolling, the whole team seems to hum around him. Right now, it’s a grind.
The Core Still Believes — But the Spark Is Missing
The second line has held things together. John Tavares and William Nylander have carried their share of the load. Nylander, especially, has been playing like a man in full command of his game. But beyond that, it’s thin. Tavares seems to be driving the offence, but not every game.
The bottom six haven’t given Toronto the push a deep team needs. And the defence, while improved in spots, hasn’t found its identity either. It’s as if the Maple Leafs are still trying to figure out who they are under Craig Berube. Only this isn’t preseason anymore.
Should Maple Leafs Fans Panic? Not Yet — But Worry, Maybe
Lawton’s final point was both cautionary and hopeful. He said that by 20 games, you usually know what kind of team you have. We’re not there yet. But he also didn’t see obvious signs of a turnaround — no “just wait until” factor. That’s what makes this stretch concerning.
For general manager Brad Treliving, it’s early enough to be patient but late enough to start asking questions. The Maple Leafs aren’t a bad team; they don’t look like a great one right now. And maybe that’s the hardest thing for Toronto fans to accept. It’s not the losing, but the lack of conviction.
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The best teams know exactly who they are. The Maple Leafs, at least for now, are still figuring that out. That act seems a bit long in the tooth. If Maple Leafs fans couldn’t stand the team’s losing too early in the postseason, how will they cope with a team that can’t even get there?
