10 thoughts on Maple Leafs after opening night: New guys a mixed bag

TORONTO — Was the outcome of the Toronto Maple Leafs' opening game unforeseeable? It was not (in fact, I called it down to the score on Real Kyper & Bourne).

Montreal is a great team with Stanley Cup aspirations, and the Maple Leafs are a completely fresh compilation of individuals, save for a handful.

But the Maple Leafs put forth a good effort, Jakub Dobes played well, and Toronto (and its fans) learned a lot about who they are this season as the Canadiens won 3-2 on Tuesday.

The good news is, after a year of getting filled in by every underlying metric, the Leafs started off by taking the play to Montreal, spending more time in the offensive zone than their opponent, and giving themselves a fair shot.

So, here are 10 thoughts on their Night 1 performance.

1. Kirill Marchenko was as elite as advertised, and he’s got instant chemistry with Auston Matthews

Marchenko got in at 1 a.m. ET the night before his Maple Leafs debut, wasn’t familiar with anything from linemates to systems, and was excellent. He pushed the pace, created chances, ripped one-timers, and looked like the player Leafs fans hoped they were getting. A great start.

More than that, though, he and Matthews seemed eager to look for one another, and more so than most games last season, the top line found themselves circling the o-zone, passing pucks through seams and creating chances. Although they didn’t break through, they played in a way that would be fruitful over an 84-game season. Their line earned 75 per cent of the expected goals at five-on-five, and shots were 11-3 when they were out there.

Since it won’t be its own thought, I’ll add: Matthews looked fast and dangerous, which should be encouraging.

2. Gavin McKenna was about what you’d expect

McKenna played 15:19, and over those minutes against one of the best teams in the league, he looked … fine. He made some great small-area plays, he made some passes teammates didn’t expect to get, and at times he looked pressed by the speed and pressure of the game, resulting in a couple of turnovers.

I liked this little quick slip to Darren Raddysh:

The important thing for McKenna will be not to rush him, while at the same time putting him in spots to succeed, which means using his skills. For that reason I think you keep him on Lines 2 and 3, but when there are times when you need offence, it’ll be OK to give him those looks. At four-on-four, he should be an option. Down a goal, I think it’d be OK at times to swap him in alongside Matthews as we get into the year. 

But for now, I think he’s best left with an ice time total like Game 1 (15:19) while you let him find his way in the NHL. He’s a quick study, as shown in both college and pre-season, and he’ll get there.

3. Darren Raddysh had a tough debut

I just Googled the name of that children’s book “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” as it was on my mind when I started this section. Man, that was a tough one from Raddysh. 

The good news is “played bad” and “is bad” are separate things, and everything we know about Raddysh is that he “is good,” which has previously included an ability to break the puck out. But in Game 1, I’m not sure he made a pass that came within a foot of a teammate’s stick. Official turnover numbers be damned (he was assigned only a "team-leading" four), he could not make a pass and that resulted in extra time in the Leafs zone. 

I liked that he jumped into the rush after this Marchenko dash, but it’s all I got for positives:

Raddysh and Morgan Rielly didn’t show any chemistry as a pair, and are probably eager to get to Wednesday night’s game so they can flush that one.

Quick additional Rielly thought: He could make his life so much easier by just making the first easy pass that presents itself. Twice he had Marchenko open low with speed and didn't find him:

It’s a double swing set on this one below, but I still think you can just hit the front guy and move on with things.

Let’s stay on the topic of defence for a second before we turn to brighter subjects, of which there were several...

4. The Maple Leafs actively need a defenceman

If you go into the season healthy, and Troy Stecher is in your starting six, you’re probably not super deep. If Stecher is in, and Raddysh is your best defenceman (or is it maybe Jake McCabe?), you’re in trouble. To be clear, I think Stecher is an NHL calibre defenceman, but he’s probably the type that’s a No. 7 on a good team.

McCabe missed some time in the first period, which meant Stecher was above 19 minutes, and the Leafs were outshot 16-7 when he was out there.

Now, I like the middle of the Leafs blue line just fine, provided they were slotted behind a true top defenceman. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is good, Chris Tanev looked good, McCabe, Raddysh, they can all play. But if you look around the league, about half the teams have an absolute No. 1 guy: Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, Zach Werenski, Moritz Seider, Rasmus Dahlin, Miro Heiskanen, Evan Bouchard, and on and on. If you don’t have that type of guy, you have to be a rock-solid six. So, again, if Stecher is in there, you’re not solid enough.

One thing we know for sure is that the Leafs' front office is aware of this (there was actually some buzz on Tuesday that the Leafs aren’t done making trades), and will likely be active trying to find a solution. But until they can chase down a top guy (not easy to do, obviously), they’d do well to find even another middle-pair guy.

5. Don’t take for granted that William Nylander is a superstar

Over the past four years, Nylander had goal totals of 40, 40, and 45 while pacing for almost 40 again last season. One of those years he hit 98 points and he was on a better pace last season. And it’s funny how he kind of gets brushed over on a team that has so many compelling players, but Game 1 was an absolute display by the strong Swede. He was the most dangerous player on the ice every time he touched the puck, and his give-and-go with Easton Cowan was a reminder of the poise and patience that he has to go with his raw tools.

More on that other name here …

6. Cowan is going to be important on this team

When the Maple Leafs traded Matthews Knies, the left side of their forward group got awfully thin (again). Whether Cowan is ready or not, he’s probably their best left winger, so he needs more ice time after playing 15:58 against the Canadiens. He had a good rookie year, then a meaningful run to the Calder Cup after it, and now he’s the right mix of what the top six lacks — dogged fearlessness, hockey IQ and playmaking. 

Will he be better in two years? For sure. But they need him now, and I’d bet his role will be elevated sooner rather than later.

7. Sergei Bobrovsky was fine

His save percentage fell below .900 with a seeing-eye wrister through traffic on the third goal, but it’s tough to fault the veteran goalie for any of the pucks that went by him, and he made his share of tough saves. Bobrovsky doesn’t have to be a world-beater, but he’s also going to need better breakout passes from his defencemen so he doesn’t have to sustain those prolonged periods under siege. 

8. Jack Roslovic is going to frustrate people

Roslovic is, to my eye, exactly what people assumed he would be. He’s fast, he can make plays and he can create a little bit out there, which is hard to do in the NHL. But he’s also not a top-line forward on a good team, and he was on the hook for some absolute rally-killing turnovers when Marchenko and Matthews would get it cooking. I know Cowan can’t skate like him, but he’s got a better sense for who he is as a player (and less pressure to "make something happen" out there), and so for my money, Cowan would be a better fit getting the top-line minutes. 

The other option …

9. The Maple Leafs' power play is going to take some time to sort out

I’m still not sure how the Maple Leafs' power play will eventually shake out, but truth is I don’t love Matthews getting flank touches, and never have. It’s not a huge strength of his game. I think of Nikita Kucherov as the all-time great in that spot; you just never know what he’s going to do when he gets the puck. The Maple Leafs have a ton of options, but with Raddysh there as a right-shot threat, you can’t run it off Nylander's side (which is a shame, given he’s better at it). And so, off Matthews it shall be.

Truth is, McKenna is probably, eventually, the guy in that flank spot. He can freeze and hold people, get Raddysh some bomb-looks, and get it to the dangerous spots on the inside. Could Matthews play low and net front with Marchenko in the bumper? Is that seen as a "demotion" and something they’d be hesitant to do?

Regardless, they surely don’t want to move Matthews and put McKenna on PP1 yet — they definitely don’t, actually — so I think we’ll see some months of them working through different looks as they try out things. They’ll have some success based on their raw talent, but the team probably won't unlock its potential on the man advantage until McKenna eventually works his way on to that unit.

All that aside, it was a little rough on Night 1, and it’s possible Matthews would benefit from a better game by Raddysh as we get into things here.

10. The extras

Brandon Duhaime was fast and actively physical, good start. Teddy Blueger was a non-factor, and tough to see how he’ll ever be anything but “good penalty-kill guy who doesn’t hurt you at five-on-five.” John Tavares was exactly who you thought he was. Same with Colton Sissons.

And, finally, among the “extras” here, Nick Paul is just an adult out there (compliment). He may not impress you with flash and dash, but he just does the right things. There was a play in the third where the Montreal defence was broken down, Paul had it, and there were seams he could’ve tried to force pucks through. But they were all risky, so he held, and held, and eventually when a teammate jumped on the ice, he gave it to them and the Maple Leafs stayed on offence.

He’s just a good, solid player. Nice forecheck and set-up here:

He’s smart, reliable, and can probably spot in just about anywhere you need him in the lineup. If he stays healthy, the Maple Leafs will lean on him.