The Toronto Maple Leafs have played some bad hockey over the past few years, but the start to their 2015-16 season is nearing one of the worst starts for the team since the 1990-91 season. Toronto is just 2-8-4 through its first 14 games, a worse benchmark than in 2009-10, when the Leafs failed to earn a win in their first eight games of the season but still managed a 2-7-5 record through 14 games.
Terrible starts, however, mean some interesting stats, and the National Post compiled some numbers that show just how historically bad the Leafs truly are.
One of the biggest problems for the Leafs is offense, as Toronto has the third-worst goals-per-game average in the NHL (2.07 goals). According to the National Post, the Leafs' 29 goals in 14 games is the lowest goals total through that amount of time since 1997-98, when the Leafs also had 29 goals in 14 games. Toronto finished that season with the third-fewest goals-per-game in the league (2.37).
The current top two scorers for the Leafs are defenseman. Morgan Rielly leads the team in scoring with 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 14 games, and Dion Phaneuf is right behind him with nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 14 games. Toronto has never had a defenseman lead the team in scoring by the end of the season.
The Leafs do have some representation in top offensive stats in the NHL, as Nazem Kadri has the fourth-most shots in the NHL this season (60). Only one of those 60 shots has found the back of the net, however, giving Kadri a 1.7 shooting percentage, good for 427th in the league.
The scene is not so rosy on defense either. Toronto ranks fifth-to-last in goals against, allowing 42 goals against in 14 games this season.
(h/t National Post)
