The reality is there have been troubling signs with the 2018-19 Maple Leafs going back a few months now.



This is not about one bad week in mid-March, against the best team in hockey and three non-playoff teams. The fact the Leafs gave up 23 goals their last four games is obviously not great, but it highlighted some issues that have been longstanding.



Yes, their record is good this season, ever since a goal-fuelled 20-8 start in the opening two months. And yes, this is an undeniably talented group, with three of the NHL’s top 22 scorers (in points per game), a Norris candidate on the blue line and a Vezina candidate in goal.



But the sum of those parts just has not been consistently impressive. And some of the underlying numbers (like PDO) have been cautionary red flags for a while.



The Leafs are not going to miss the playoffs, not with a 10-point lead over the next-best team in their division and so few games to play. So when we talk about...