Maple Leafs wise to wait on clearest picture with NHL trade deadline looming

It's been a season that's gone better than most probably expected for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Piling up points at essentially the same pace throughout last year's abbreviated season where they were the class of the one-time-only North Division, the Leafs are on pace to smash the franchise's all-time record for points in a season. Powering that, they have arguably the best line in hockey with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner performing at the peak of their careers. They boast three offseason additions who collectively earn less than Zach Hyman and who are thriving in their specific roles. And if no longer stopping rubber at quite a Vezina Trophy level, Jack Campbell has at least outperformed the shadow of Frederik Andersen.

It was advertised as a season that meant nothing, but the Leafs have managed to show a measure of progression and personal development while navigating the 82-game sojourn toward their next chance to overcome their postseason demons.

But now here's the part where things get interesting.

The season has been, among other things, a test in patience for Toronto's management team. It's had no choice since spending its last round of minimal allocated summer dollars but to show self-restraint in its continued evaluation of the team. Beholden to its high-priced core and boxed in by the restraints of the salary cap, short-term solutions had to come from within; hockey ops had to know what it had before making any permanent determinations.

Real positives came from that necessitated approach. Michael Bunting, for example, rose from the depths of the lineup to provide Matthews and Marner with the exact skillset to best facilitate their booming partnership, or so it seems.

Unfortunately, not everything has been sorted out organically.

In fact, several issues, though mostly overshadowed by the positives, have persisted since the start of the season. It's been the accumulation of those things — and not one primary issue, or a general malaise, or the suddenly-slammed backlog schedule — which has contributed to the team's recent skid and string of forgettable performances with four losses in their last six games.

Serving as both reminders of past failure and harbingers of future disappointment, these problems exist across all levels for the Leafs.

Despite the significant investment in both dollars and term, Petr Mrazek hasn't provided Campbell with the insulation that he needs.

Despite the time and patience and efforts put in to help him recapture his form, Justin Holl is struggling more than ever in his second pairing role, and neither Travis Dermott or Timothy Liljegren appear capable of stepping up to hold down a 50 percent share of an efficient shutdown pair.

And despite the incredible offensive numbers and flashes of real dominance and intent at layers up front, there are pockets of inconsistencies within the forward group — with some top-end, high-paid talent included as culprits.

Patience has allowed these factors to graduate from minor concerns to full-fledged and undeniable issues.

Now Kyle Dubas has about a month to address them.

That process has started, of course, with Dubas executing a move over the weekend which serves several functions. He moved on from his only real misfire from the offseason, and in the process freed up money for this season and next, with a trade that sent winger Nick Ritchie to the Arizona Coyotes. Dubas had to include another packaged pick, either in the second or third round, in order to complete the deal, but brought back a defenseman who could help settle the blue line in Ilya Lyubushkin.

What exactly Lyubushkin can provide seems wholly undetermined, which of course means he's no sure bet to address the issue — which is Toronto's most significant. The best-case scenario is that he's one half of an effective shutdown pair, but the more likely outcome is that he manages to bring a measure of responsibility and balance to a third pair with Rasmus Sandin.

If it's indeed the latter, Toronto's most obvious and likely flaw, the uneven and unsteady performance of its second and shutdown defensive pairing, will persist.

That problem, by the way, was just compounded or made a little less rigid — depending on how you choose to look at it.

Jake Muzzin's hugely problematic on-ice issues have been secondary this season. Already with a lengthy injury history, the veteran defenceman missed a significant amount of time with a head injury before being forced from the Maple Leafs' last outing — a loss to Montreal — after slamming his head on the ice following a collision with Chris Wideman. He needed to remain in Montreal for evaluation while the rest of the team flew to Columbus.

However long, Muzzin's absence will leave the Maple Leafs without even one half of a capable shutdown pairing. Yet, in the backwards realities of the NHL, Muzzin's injury issues presents something of an opportunity. If unable to play, the money allocated to him can be used elsewhere. With uncertainly over his health and availability, let alone performance when healthy, perhaps found financial flexibility under the most unfortunate circumstances spurs Dubas to acquire a more stable second-pairing option.

Of course, that wouldn't prevent Muzzin from returning at some point with teams allowed to exceed the salary cap with the rosters they ice in the postseason.

If that is indeed the scenario that unfolds, Muzzin money could be funnelled toward a fix on defence, while the remaining capital could be used to address other needs.

Hence the opportunity.

It's been a season partly defined by management having to sit back and wait for the clearest possible picture to present itself.

For Dubas, it seems that process will have to be carried through the very last moment on March 21 when the Leafs finalize their roster for the latest most important postseason in their history.

Because a move made before that might be a move made too soon.

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