Maple Leafs Coach Not Happy With Team's Complete Non-Response After Brad Marchand Play That Injured Timothy Liljegren

The Toronto Maple Leafs attempted to toughen up their lineup over the offseason, but head coach Sheldon Keefe is still not happy with what he's seeing. Especially after defenseman Timothy Liljegren left Thursday night's game against the Bruins with a high-ankle sprain suffered on a controversial play involving Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand.

Take a look at the play in question. Liljegren and Marchand were headed into the boards when the Bruins captain got his stick between Liljegren's legs. He gave him a bit of a can-opener that sent him into the boards hard and awkwardly.

Looked unintentional to me, but still probably worthy of at least a minor penalty, but there was no call on the play.

Lilegren's injury is a blow to the Leafs' blueline, which proves to be one of the team's Achilles heels year after year. However, it was the lack of response to the play that got Keefe's goat.

"I hated everything about it, and I've addressed it,'' Keefe said ahead of the Leafs Saturday night meeting with the Buffalo Sabres. "It's not what we want to be about. At times we've responded very well in those situations.

"It's about consistency.''

The Leafs' Attempt To Add Sandpaper Has Completely Failed

The Leafs lost that game 3-2, and that kind of injury to a valuable teammate should have galvanized the team or lit a fire under them. Especially for the guys the team signed hoping to add some grit: Ryan Reaves, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Max Domi.

Well, this was about the extent of the response they got:

Reaves jawing from the bench while Marchand's former teammate Bertuzzi cracks up.

So you can see why Keefe isn't too pleased about it.

The newcomers in Toronto have been underwhelming so far. Bertuzzi hasn't had the hot hand he had late last season after arriving in Boston. Reaves has no points, but does have two bouts to his name this season. One was a solid heavyweight tilt against Minnesota's Marcus Foligno, but the other involved him getting dummied on opening night by Montreal's Arber Xhekaj.

I never understood why new Toronto GM Brad Treliving went this route. They have Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Johnathan Tavares on the team. Why would the focus suddenly become signing tough guys? Why not shore up the blue line or add some depth up front?

The lack of reaction to the Liljegren injury falls on the entire roster. Still, it's guys like Domi, Bertuzzi, and especially Reaves who would be expected to bring the energy.

If they're not doing that, and they're not scoring (Bertuzzi and Domi have combined for 7), then it looks like the Leafs may have made the biggest free-agency blunder this offseason.

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