What Went Wrong: 18 Years

I thought they had it. I'm totally serious right now. I thought they had this.

The Toronto Maple Leafs not only had home-ice advantage in their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, they had momentum. This was not the same Leafs team who fizzled against the Montréal Canadiens in the previous season. This team looked strong, confident, and most important of all, they looked consistent. We saw the first six games of this series. Even though the teams split those games, the Leafs played very well. They made Andrei Vasilevskiy, a perennial Vezina candidate, look very human in those six games.

Even Game Seven saw an amazing performance from the Leafs. They were all over Vasilevskiy, while also holding the Lightning at bay. They trailed 2-1 entering the third period, and it saw the Leafs get various chances, but nothing went in. Even as time was winding down, the Leafs fired on all cylinders, but when the clock reached zero, the team was in a familiar position: close, but no cigar.

The Toronto Maple Leafs suffered their fifth straight Game 7 defeat, and this loss marks their 10th straight defeat in a series clinching game, which includes the three losses to the Habs in 2021, and losing Game Five of the Qualifying Round against the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2020. Their current playoff series victory drought is now at 18 years, and with the Florida Panthers winning their first series since 1996, the Leafs' drought is now the longest one in the league--yet another dark cloud hovering over this once prominent team.

I can't really say what went wrong here, because from what I saw, the Leafs did a lot of things right. The numbers were evenly distributed in this entire series. Auston Matthews led the way with 9 points (4 G/5 A), but it wasn't by a huge margin. Mitch Marner actually showed up in the playoffs this year; two goals, six assists, eight points. William Nylander had seven points of his own (3 G/4 A), and John Tavares (who missed nearly the entire 2021 series against the Habs) and Morgan Rielly each had six points. There was no lethargy from this team this year. They were trying. They were trying very hard. It just wasn't enough.

So if the players weren't the problem this time, that means there's only one person who should get the blame: Kyle Dubas. When the Leafs clinched a playoff spot this year, I said that if they again fail to win a series after the 2021 embarrassment, then they need to fire Dubas. Dubas has been Toronto's general manager since the 2018-19 season, the season that the team acquired John Tavares, but in that time, the Leafs suffered four early playoff losses, with the first three being lethargic and shameful. They lost badly to the Bruins in Game Seven in 2019. They became only the 2nd team to lose a series to the Blue Jackets; being shutout twice in the best-of-five series (Game One and the deciding Game Five). And of course, there's 2021.

What the Leafs should not do is use the fact that they were facing off against the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup Champions as an excuse to refer to this loss as a mulligan and keep Dubas around. If they do, chances are Dubas will make some wild move that doesn't need to be made. I saw how the Leafs played in this series. This was a good performance even in defeat. They do not need any heavy-duty tinkering that could come at the expense of team chemistry. To any and all Maple Leafs fans reading this, I will say the same thing I said a year prior. Remain optimistic. Be proud of this team and what they can do. And above all else, ignore certain other fanbases who ridicule the team, because chances are, their teams haven't done much of anything in their existence.