The Toronto Maple Leafs are facing serious concerns after back-to-back losses exposed major problems on defense and in goal. Toronto has lost to the Carolina Hurricanes (5-4) and Boston Bruins (5-3), dropping its record to 8-7-1 this season. Currently, they are sitting sixth in the Atlantic Division, behind Montreal and Boston, which have 10 wins each.With Mitch Marner gone to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Leafs’ identity is shifting. Speaking on First Up this morning, NHL insider Carlo Colaiacovo said the Leafs' strength from last season has now become their biggest weakness."For a team like the Maple Leafs going into the season... You're starting a new era, losing one of your best players...," Colaiacovo said. "So clearly, there was going to be an identity shift without Mitch Marner. But most people felt confident ...""That they were still going to be really good because they had all their defensemen intact, and they brought back both goaltenders. And so that was supposed to be the strength of this team, ... for a large part of this season, the weakness of this team has been their defense as a whole and their goaltending."The Leafs entered the 2025-26 season defeating Montreal 5-2, but right after that, they lost two straight games to Detroit. Since then, their performance has been inconsistent. Right now, they average 3.69 goals per game but allow 3.75, one of the highest in the league.Colaiacovo also talked about the current starting goalie, Anthony Stolarz's performance (6-5-1), who allowed 4 goals out of 19 shots in Saturday's game against the Boston Bruins. He has been exposed to more workload due to goalie Joseph Woll's absence for personal reasons."Anthony Stolarz is getting pulled Saturday night," Colaiacovo said on the Bruins game. "We never see this guy get pulled. Clearly, he's fighting something, and maybe it's the workload, like he's just not used to the workload."Colaiacovo pointed to a lack of structure and trust among players as a key reason for the breakdown."I mean, [Stolarz] he's the one guy you could trust on the back end ..." Colaiacovo said. "He's the one guy, and he's not in there. So that's been a tough hole to fill.Colaiacovo also questioned the Maple Leafs' internal chemistry."They turn the puck over a lot because they don't have guys they can trust to make the right play when they need it," Colaiacovo said. "And is it because the defense doesn't trust the forwards? Maybe. Is it because the forwards don't trust the D? Maybe. Is it, the goaltenders don't trust the defense? Well, sure, looks like it."Maple Leafs' coach's comment after Sunday's lossAnthony Stolarz was pulled in Saturday’s loss, and Dennis Hildeby gave up five goals to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. The issues have left the Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube frustrated, saying turnovers and poor defensive play have cost the team games."Turnover after turnover cost us the game tonight," Craig Berube said, via NHL. "We didn’t check anybody tonight, we didn’t win any battles tonight. That’s two games in a row."To stay competitive, the Maple Leafs must rebuild trust, improve defensive discipline, and stabilize their goaltending before the season slips away.