The holiday season is upon us and the Toronto Maple Leafs need to get their Christmas list finalized.

The Leafs close out the first week in December with a 16-9-2 record, good for second in the Atlantic Division, two points behind the Florida Panthers, with one game in hand. Toronto has been able to handle a slew of adversity this season, and under new head coach Craig Berube, have been able to change their style of play to a more north-south approach. New coach, new style, new outlook on life? This season certainly feels a little bit different, there’s no doubt about that.

With Christmas just a couple of weeks away, and still time to prepare a list for Santa, here’s what the Maple Leafs should be asking for this holiday season:

It started in the summer with the Jani Hakanpaa contract talks, it parlayed into Fraser Minten getting hurt before training camp, and it just snowballed terribly from there. The Maple Leafs have been banged up this season and need some health and happiness in their lives for 2025.

Kudos to everyone for stepping up, especially when captain Auston Matthews went down with a mysterious upper-body injury and missed nine games, the team could have crumbled but the likes of Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares carried the load up front.

David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok, Max Domi, Max Pacioretty, Jake McCabe, Bobby McMann, Matthews, the list goes on and on. Whatever needs to be done to ensure some good health for the rest of the hockey season needs to be considered and atop the Christmas list this year.

Yes, the next thing on the Maple Leafs’ Christmas list should be anti-venom, because most of their depth forwards are snake-bitten from scoring goals consistently this season. Toronto’s secondary scoring is a major concern heading into the holidays.

Domi hasn’t scored in 19 games, Nick Robertson has two in 23, and although injured for a few weeks, Pacioretty has just two goals in the 14 appearances he’s made. Throw in Kampf with no goals in 18 games, Pontus Holmberg with just one in 25, and just seven goals all season long from their defensemen, and the Maple Leafs have a serious secondary scoring problem which is something that needs to be addressed sooner than later.

Speaking of defensemen, while Simon Benoit, Conor Timmins and Philippe Myers have done a fine job rotating through the bottom pair, in order for the Maple Leafs to be prepared for a long Stanley Cup Playoff run, they’re going to need another impact defenseman, who can fill in among the top-four and on the bottom pair.

Jani Hakanpaa has shown his knee injury isn’t going away anytime soon, as he’s been dealing with setbacks throughout the entire season. GM Brad Treliving needs to take a serious look at finding another top-four option, that way Morgan Rielly isn’t being paired with blueliners who haven’t played NHL games on a regular basis.

For the first time in decades, the Maple Leafs have one of the best goaltending tandems in the league, with Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll pushing each other for starts. Entering Sunday’s action, the Leafs goaltending duo is ranked 5th in the NHL allowing just 2.63 goals per game.

While the best part may be the fact they make just $3.26 million combined against the cap this season, in order for the Maple Leafs to have any chance at hoisting the Stanley Cup this season, both goaltenders need to continue their strong play and provide a sense of confidence for the team.

The Leafs’ duo appear to be getting along perfectly and have formed a strong friendship, on and off the ice. It’s a great setup that could end up being what pushes them over the hump this season and beyond. Perhaps this is the year Toronto will stop getting outdueled by the opponents’ goalie during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

With all the injuries piling up throughout the year, it’s been tough to get regular linemates on the third and fourth line. Right now, it appears Fraser Minten has a leg up on the third-line centre role, with Connor Dewar doing his best to impress his new coach while Kampf is unavailable.

However, with all the mixing and matching, there hasn’t really been an established identity within either bottom two lines, and it’s something the Leafs are going to need to lean on to win down the stretch, and into the playoffs.

Robertson has struggled, to say the least, Steven Lorentz has been hit or miss, and Ryan Reaves plays a very specific role and doesn’t bring much else to the table. The top six is set once McMann gets back from injury and if Pacioretty is going to slide down with Minten on the third line, Treliving and company will need to figure out who plays on the right side of the third line, and how exactly the fourth line should be constructed, in order for the Maple Leafs to create an identity for themselves among their bottom six.

The Christmas list is finalized, it will get sent off to the North Pole, and now we all wait to see if any of these gifts appear under the Christmas tree, or if it ends up being just a big lump of coal.

Life is too short for ordinary vacations! For the first time ever, The Leafs Nation is headed on Vacation! Escape with TLN to Nashville, Tennessee, from March 20th to March 23rd, 2025, to watch the boys on the road. Click here for more info and to get your tickets!