The north-south Maple Leafs have arrived: Alberga’s Take

It’s official: The Toronto Maple Leafs finally look like a hockey team.

Sure, it’s early, but it’s difficult not to be excited about a lot of what we’ve seen in the early going here. Through four outings, the Leafs have wasted no time taking on the identity of their new head coach.

Most noticeably, with exception to the third period in Wednesday night’s laugher over the Los Angeles Kings, Toronto’s looked extremely sound defensively. The goaltending has been solid, and most importantly, as a team, they’ve done an excellent job of limiting chances against. Sure, there’s lots to clean up, but in the grand scheme of things, there’s plenty to be happy about as well.

Through four contests, the Leafs have surrendered six goals. For comparison’s sake, that’s 10 fewer than they allowed to start off 2023-24 in the same number of games. Any way you slice it, they’re proving that they’re capable of winning games even when they’re not playing firewagon hockey. It’s been refreshing to see.

Brand wise, the team has just looked different. There’s been less skill plays and more straight forwardness, which obviously is something Craig Berube has been preaching since day No. 1 on the job. Simplicity is the name of the game. The messaging has been getting through —at least early on.

Optically, this version of the Maple Leafs hasn’t been much fun to watch. And that’s okay. No one’s looking for style points, we’re merely looking for results —plain and simple. This is a process. In fact, I view it as an 82-game trial run to get this team prepared for when the games matter the most in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With that in mind, there’s no question to me that this grinding and structured approach will give this team the best opportunity to succeed come playoff time. They’re playing more like the Florida Panthers and less like Sheldon Keefe’s Maple Leafs.

In the grand scheme of things, only time will tell if lessons have been learned from past failures. For now, it’s imperative that the Leafs find a way to maintain consistency. Establishing an identity is certainly a start.