Sentimental value is a luxury afforded to good teams, and the notion of meritocracy can often be a sham. Through the opening quarter and change, the Toronto Maple Leafs are several leaps away from displaying that they are a quality team, despite the collection of some of the world’s best offensive talent. Although widespread changes to the roster were largely delivered, the new-look Maple Leafs that were promised to be tougher, or at least deeper in the aggregate, are governed by sentimental value and the frail ideals of seniority.

With a mandate to win immediately now, laughable as the notion may seem with the Leafs sporting a 9-10-3 record after Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, and there has to be an imperative to place the best roster, regardless of seniority. Max Domi committed a brutal turnover which directly led to Adam Fantilli’s overtime goal in Thursday’s loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Domi regretted the mistake at Friday’s practice, but remained in the lineup. The 30-year-old holds a -11 goal differential at 5-on-5, and his 4.71 goals against per 60 is the 8th-worst mark of any player with 100 minutes or greater at 5-on-5, via Natural Stat Trick, prior to Sunday’s games. And while we’re here, Calle Jarnkrok grades out with the third-worst goals against per 60 share too, but has remained in the lineup throughout November.

There was a notion that head coach Craig Berube would demand accountability from his players, but it’s only being wielded towards the youngest players on the roster, who are often among the team’s most impactful players.

Dakota Joshua has completely underwhelmed during the first two months of the season, being moved throughout the bottom-six, with a few top-six opportunities afforded due to a wave of injuries. Joshua is throwing hits, but doing little else, and hasn’t met the secondary scoring expectations cast upon him after being acquired from the Vancouver Canucks this summer.

Easton Cowan was sent to the Toronto Marlies after a productive 10 games with the Maple Leafs. Cowan was eventually called back up for the Maple Leafs, and has once again proved that he’s one of the team’s best players, regardless of status. The 20-year-old is extending plays, showing off his hockey intelligence, and augmenting the stars on the team. Toronto sports a plus-three goal differential when Cowan is on the ice at 5-on-5, along with a 59.8 percent share of the expected goals, and the idea of him going back to the AHL is untenable.

Sentimental value is ruling the day, and Berube elected to take Jacob Quillan out of the lineup in favour of Sammy Blais for Saturday’s game. Blais was waived by the Canadiens before playing a game over the summer, and was inserted because of his physicality, over Quillan, who impressed the entire organization with his speed and tenacity in the prior two games.

“Really motivated,” Blais said via Sportsnet’s Luke Fox on Saturday morning. “A little more of a chip on my shoulder tonight, for sure. It’s going to be an exciting one.”

It didn’t seem to matter. Blais did not record a shot in 9:39 of playing time, barely making a dent during his playing time. To be clear, Blais’ return to the lineup over Quillan isn’t the primary reason why the Maple Leafs lost, but it speaks to the idea that Berube is governed by sentiment.

Domi, Joshua, Jarnkrok and Matias Maccelli are all underperforming relative to expectations, and they shouldn’t be above reproach. They haven’t earned the benefit of the doubt, or the benefits that come with seniority, as the Maple Leafs are spiralling out of control through the first 22 games. There’s always discussion about development, at least in the abstract, but set that concept aside for a moment: the Maple Leafs need to submit their best roster based on performance and little else, sentimental value has no place for a team that habitually turns the puck over and can’t provide their goaltender with reasonable defensive zone coverage on a semi-consistent basis.