Howard Berger said this morning that the Maple Leafs have a leadership problem, and Saturday night's loss to the Oilers backed him up.
Toronto has dropped six straight and sits 26th in the NHL. Berger's post lands at a moment when the questions around this team are getting louder, not quieter.
Berger wrote that it is difficult to win at the highest level with no leadership on the ice and a "perceived lack of leadership behind the bench."
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He doesn't name anyone, and he doesn't have to. A team that is 8-12-2 with 18 points is a team where somebody has to stand up in the room, and right now nobody is.
Saturday's 1-0 defeat was a snapshot. Anthony Stolarz stopped 22 of 23 shots, and the Maple Leafs still lost because they couldn't score. Evan Bouchard scored the game-winner, with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each adding an assist.
When a goalie gives you that and you're held scoreless at home, there's no one to point to for a response.
The last 10 games read 2-8-0. At home Toronto is 4-9-1, which means the building has stopped being an edge. The Maple Leafs are 4-3-1 on the road, so the problem isn't only an away-game fade.
The goal differential is -7, with 69 goals for and 76 against. That is a team losing close games, and close games are where leaders usually show up.
Why John Chayka can't wait much longer
Jim Hiller is the head coach, and Berger's line about the bench points straight at him. Chayka is the one who decides whether the answer is a voice behind the bench, a voice in the room, or both.
Standing pat looks like the worst option on the board. Eighth in the Atlantic Division in mid-November is a hole, and a team that keeps losing like this doesn't climb out through patience alone.
We aren't saying the season is over, because nothing on the standings says that. But every week the losing continues, the changes Chayka has to make get bigger and harder to pull off.
Expect the pressure to follow the team to Chicago on Tuesday, where Toronto will try to end the streak.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
What should the Maple Leafs change first?
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