The Toronto Maple Leafs made their first major staff change of the season Monday, firing assistant coach Marc Savard as the team continues to struggle.
It’s been a rough year for the Leafs, who find themselves in last place in the Eastern Conference with a disappointing 15-15-5 record through 35 games.
The biggest problem? Their power play has been absolutely terrible.
Under Savard’s leadership, the Leafs have converted just 13.3% of their power play opportunities – dead last in the NHL. For a team loaded with offensive talent like Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, that’s pretty shocking.
“They’re frozen on the ice. The players are squeezing their sticks,” says hockey insider Jeff Marek. “I don’t think the Leafs contemplated for even one second that they would be in last place at Christmas.”
But the power play struggles are just one piece of a larger puzzle that’s got Toronto fans worried.
Marek believes the paralysis extends throughout the organization: “They’re frozen behind the bench, frozen at the general manager’s level, even frozen at ownership level. This isn’t how the season was supposed to go.”
The Savard firing feels like a desperate move to shake things up. As Marek puts it: “Every now and then the volcano wants a virgin. Every now and then you make a sacrifice to the gods.”
The big question now is whether this will be enough to turn things around for a team that entered the season with Stanley Cup aspirations. Or is this just the first of more changes to come in Toronto?
The pressure’s mounting in hockey’s most scrutinized market, and something’s got to give.
