5 Toronto Maple Leafs Storylines That Won't Go Away During 2014-15 Season

The Toronto Maple Leafs receive as much media scrutiny as any professional sports team in North America. With the team yet again falling out of playoff contention, it's challenging to focus on some of the positives.

The team continues to spin its wheels in 2014-15.

The Leafs can score goals. The team stands in the No. 11 spot in goals for. But in goals against, the Leafs are just 25th in the league, allowing 3.10 goals on a per-game basis.

Before anything else, the team's willingness to commit to better team defence trumps all as a shortcoming.

There are a number of angles to take when considering the Blue and White. Let's take a look at five Toronto Maple Leafs storylines that will not go away in 2014-15.

The Maple Leafs Can't Play Defence

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

Great team defence is oftentimes a product of hard work and will. The Leafs don't seem to exhibit enough of those two qualities on a nightly basis.

The team is giving up more than three goals per game, and that is not good enough in today's NHL. Despite getting excellent goaltending from Jonathan Bernier, the team fishes far too many pucks out of its own net.

Things have been much better under new head coach Peter Horachek, from a defensive standpoint. The club has allowed 20 goals in the last six games.

That's not been nearly good enough. It's difficult to imagine this is going to improve markedly in the final months of the season.

Phil Kessel Is Not a Leader

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Phil Kessel is a lot of things: highly skilled, speedy, great goal scorer and the Leafs' most talented skater. However, being a leader is not often mentioned in the same sentence as Phil Kessel.

Whereas the best players on most Leafs teams have been leaders—think Mats Sundin, Doug Gilmour and Darryl Sittler here. It is not the case with Kessel.

Reporter Steve Simmons talks about it at length here on TSN radio. What compounds the issue is that the Leafs do not have a lot of vocal leaders, at least not publicly. It's impossible for fans and even most close observers of the team to truly know who leads this team behind closed doors.

At this stage of his career, it seems clear that Kessel won't be leading from the front any time soon. That's always going to be big news in Toronto.

The Leafs Should Start a Complete Overhaul

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There have been murmurs and loud whispers about re-making the Leafs for a few seasons now. This has continued with several recent articles including this one from the Toronto Sun.

The biggest issue is that this could take upward of three or four years, and there are no guarantees that stripping the club down and overhauling will even work. Look no further than the Edmonton Oilers or the Buffalo Sabres for examples in rebuilding futility.

The club does have some promising youngsters, but there would be severe growing pains for at least a handful of seasons. The biggest challenge involves assessing the current roster, determining who should stay, and then trying to deal away those players deemed expendable.

It is much easier said than done in the salary cap era. It's one storyline is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

Dion Phaneuf Should Be Traded

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Former Red Deer Rebels star Dion Phaneuf has never been universally embraced in Canada's largest city. 

He's never endeared himself to fans, and while he's been the Leafs' best defender since his arrival, most fans don't see him as being in the same class as Zdeno Chara, Shea Weber, Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty and other No. 1 defenders with other NHL teams.

There has never been a shortage of speculation about trading Phanuef, with Sportsnet's Mike Johnston considering five destinations in this recent story.

Phaneuf had 48 points in 2011-12 with the Leafs, which made it his best offensive season with the club. He has 22 points in 48 games in 2014-15 and might exceed that total. If traded, at least Phaneuf has been playing some of his best offensive hockey in his Leafs tenure.

Until a trade happens, this will remain one of the biggest storylines associated with the Maple Leafs.

Tyler Bozak Is Not a No. 1 Centre

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Tyler Bozak has been the Leafs most productive centre in recent seasons. However, his 215 points in 344 games is not good enough for a true No. 1 NHL centre. 

Bozak has had two of the better offensive wingers in the game over much of that span. Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk have been excellent attacking wingers. Quite simply, Bozak does not have the skill set to match these two dynamic scorers.

The issue is that the Leafs have not really had anyone to challenge Bozak for this much-coveted role. Nazem Kadri seems on the cusp of doing this, but it's also debatable whether or not he's a true No. 1 centre.

Until Bozak is usurped from his perch, this will continue to be an ongoing issue for the Leafs.

All stats can be found on NHL.com unless noted otherwise.