What is going on?

Yesterday's Leafs game was one frustrating game. All their passes were a little off and hit skates instead of sticks and they couldn't muscle the puck into the net. Now the Leafs are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games. Yikes. You can't pin the blame on Frederic Andersen, the goals he let in during this "slump" were mostly tip ins or laser beams. The defence HAS to step up if we have any hopes of making the playoffs and the offence HAS to be more clutch than this.

Fast forward to the possible future and they make it to the playoffs. The Stanley Cup playoffs are a totally different animal. They are physical, emotional games and require all your intensity. With a team filled with first years, how are they going to react to this kind of workload? If they can't hold on to a multi-goal lead, how are they going to play in the intense 1 goal games that are the playoffs?

We are 54 games into the season and if we want any chance of making and being competitive in the playoffs, we have to be ready to compete every night.

Then vs. Now, what's different with the Leafs?

By now you've probably heard all the talk about the Maple Leafs finally being a Cup contender since 2013. That game 7 was almost 4 years ago and it's still a touchy subject.

It's 2017 and the Maple Leafs have made some drastic changes to their team. Here's a comparison between the 2013 Leafs and the 2017 Leafs.

2013                                                                      2017
Forwards                                                             Forwards
Tyler Bozak                                                          Zach Hyman
Mike Brown                                                         Auston Matthews
Mikhail Grabovski                                               Connor Brown
Nazem Kadri                                                        James van Riemsdyk
Phil Kessel                                                           Tyler Bozak
Leo Komarov                                                       Mitch Marner
Nikolai Kulemin                                                  Leo Komarov
Joffrey Lupul                                                        Nazem Kadri
Clarke McCarthur                                           i    William Nylander
Jay McClement                                                    Matt Martin
Colton Orr                                                            Ben Smith
David Steckel                                                       Nikita Soshnikov
James Van Riemsdyk                                        
                                                                             
Defence                                                                Defence
Cody Franson                                                       Morgan Rielly
Mark Fraser                                                          Nikita Zaitsev
Jake Gardiner                                                       Jake Gardiner
Carl Gunnarson                                                    Connor Carrick
Korbinian Holzer                                                 Roman Polak
Mike Komisarek                                                   Matt Hunwick
Mike Kostika                                                        Martin Marincin
John-Michael Liles
Dion Phaneuf

Goalies                                                                Goalies 
James Reimer                                                      Frederic Andersen
Ben Scrivens                                                       Curtis McElhinney

Our team has gotten younger and way more talented. Look at the line improvements. As of now, we have 3 superstar worthy rookies playing on DIFFERENT lines and that can be changed in a heartbeat if Mike Babcock needs some quick offence.

The game against Boston where he put Matthews, Kadri, and Nylander on the same line was a perfect example of how dangerous the line combinations can be. Imagine a line with Marner, Matthews, and Nylander. THAT LINE COULD WREAK HAVOC for the other team. The fact that we can continue to win with these rookies on different lines just shows you the amount of depth this team has offensively. We certainly cannot leave out Brown, Hyman, and Soshnikov. These players are the ones who fight tooth and nail to get the puck and once they get it, they won't give it back and they compliment their centres perfectly.

4 years ago, if the JVR, Kessel, and Bozak line couldn't score, we would lose. But now, each line gets hot on different nights and spread the wealth.

Enough about the rookies.

How about the revitalized veterans?

There are 6 players (including Joffrey Lupul) who were on this team in 2013. Oh, how they have changed their image. Bozak is one of the best face off guys in the league, James van Riemsdyk is on a career goal pace, Nazem Kadri is in the conversation for a Selke, Leo Komarov continues to antagonize, and Jake Gardiner is now a veteran presence at the ripe age of 26. These players are the ones who are meant to guide the rookies but they still want to be recognized as valuable pieces to this team.

And they sure are.