An ongoing theme over the last few seasons is that the Toronto Maple Leafs have lacked physicality and toughness. They addressed that with the acquisitions of players like Noel Acciari and Luke Schenn ahead of this year's trade deadline. After a grueling and tough series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Leafs seemingly folded and were pushed around by the Florida Panthers.
For Schenn, he doesn't believe that the Leafs have to become the Broad Street Bullies of the mid-1970s - who became that way after being pushed around in the playoffs. However in saying that, he does believe that there are several definitions to the term "toughness" and that the Leafs have to embody those going into 2023-24:
"Toughness is a broad term. Toughness could be fighting, being physical and running into guys sometimes mental toughness, too. You have to go to hard areas because you have to win battles in front of the net. It's what I've talked about all playoffs, but sometimes mentally in some circumstances, it's just finding that extra gear.
On a personal level I think it's being able to grow that through experience (two playoff rounds this year), so hopefully they translate to better things ahead.
Kyle Dubas and Sheldon Keefe have gotten some of that toughness out of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, who are now shot-blocking and throwing the body around a little more than they had in the past. Marner was a finalist for the Selke Trophy as well, showcasing the different kinds of toughness that Schenn believes this team still possesses.
The Maple Leafs have several pending UFAs and 3 of them need to be brought back at all costs in O'Reilly, Acciari, and Schenn. They were good down the stretch to end the season but were all very effective in the playoffs and showcased their intangibles on a nightly basis.
Schenn, who is aptly nicknamed the "Human Eraser" had 54 hits and 17 blocks in 11 post-season games, while Acciari registered 78 hits and 16 blocks. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to deal with the likes of Sam Bennett, Radko Gudas, Nick Cousins, and Matthew Tkachuk, among others.
Schenn believes they can learn from this as a team, however with so many pending UFAs and all the trade rumours circling their core members, how many of them will be back to avenge their disappointing defeat? If it's up to Schenn, he'd like to see himself and his teammates and GM Kyle Dubas get another kick at the can.
