Toronto Maple Leafs Are Legit Contenders

The rebuild is long over. The Toronto Maple Leafs are legitimate contenders.

This isn’t fan service. I am not a cheerleader. The Toronto Maple Leafs are objectively one of the best teams in the NHL. They are very much a Stanley Cup Contender.

Some people will say ‘too soon.’ Others will say ‘typical Leafs fans,’ and the worst, the self-hating Leafs fan will complain that I’m ruining for the rest of you. But they will all be wrong.

I’ve been critical of the Leafs. I think they made a very bad mistake in hiring Lou Lamoriello and I don’t think a lot of their recent moves are that great, especially the Patrick Marleau and Ron Hainsey signings. But I bring that stuff up just to let you know I’m not biased. This is real.

With Marner, Matthews, Nylander still on their entry-level deals, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been able to stack their team with eight other players who make $4 million or more. To have eight players beyond your core three players who make big money means that the Leafs roster is stacked, bordering on ridiculous.

Other Contenders?

Sure, you could add in a better fourth line centre or you could add to the blue-line, but every team has flaws in a cap system. The Capitals lost half their team. The Predators still have Pekke Rinne. The Penguins are built around the three most injury prone stars in the league. Tampa has a rookie goalie and recently signed Dan Girardi. The Ducks have the worst coach in hockey. The Oilers are poorly coached, poorly managed and still have a weak blue line. The Blue Jackets might have the least problematic roster, but do they have a Nylander, let alone a Matthews or a Marner? No they do not.

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As you can see, all the NHL lacks a strong favorite this year. The Leafs are one of a half a dozen or so teams that have a legit chance at calling themselves the best team in hockey.

Match-up Nightmare

Better defense would be preferable, but if you’re winning the shot-attempt battle, it’s not that big a deal. Good defense doesn’t do you any good if you can’t move the puck the other way. The Leafs defense might lack a big-name guy to anchor it, but few teams can throw three separate pairings featuring puck movers of the quality of Rielly, Gardiner and Zaisev (should the Leafs choose to). Realistically, the Leafs can have a 40 point puck mover on the ice at all times, and this should really help neutralize any defensive deficiencies the team might have.

The matchup nightmares continue with the Leafs forwards. With three lines that feature Matthews/Nyland, Kadri/Marleau or Marner/JVR the Leafs are essentially throwing three first lines at teams and daring them to ever put their third defensive pairing or their fourth line on the ice. It’s hard to get favorable match-ups in the NHL, but you’re not supposed to have a third line that features a 32 goal scoring centre and a (potential) Hall of Fame Sniper.

Not only do the Leafs get constant favorable match-ups, the new penalty crack-down will benefit them more than most teams, they have great coaching, were last year’s best special teams team, and have a solid starting goalie.

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Oh yeah, and they have a ton of tradable assets, all their draft picks and a bunch of cap space (especially if they decide to move the superfluous Bozak and his $4 million cap hit).

A healthy Toronto Maple Leafs should be the 2018 Stanley Cup Favorites.

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