Toronto Maple Leafs: Managing Expectations
By John
Toronto Maple Leafs fans, let us not get carried away.
It feels like expectations are slowly creeping back up for the Toronto Maple Leafs. While there is a lot to be excited about with the first overall pick, the possibility of signing Stamkos, and a growing depth pool, we cannot forget we finished last this year and were ecstatic!
That’s because we managed our expectations and we can’t forget to do it again this year.
I am taking on the responsibility right now to bring Toronto Maple Leafs fans back to reality. And that reality is that we are still going to suck next year. We will be better, no doubt. We may be much much better, but we will still suck.
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While guys like Soshnikov, Hyman, Leipsic, Leivo etc. all showed great potential this past season, especially while playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, these guys are still bottom six players. May they play top six minutes for now? Sure. Maybe. But they are bottom six guys.
Our top six will likely include the love-or-hate Kadri, a young Nylander, a very young Matthews, a solid JVR, a gritty but not flashy Komarov and maybe an aging PA Paranteau or a young but talented Connor Brown.
Even if the summer goes perfect and we sign everyone we want, we still get a Stamkos that has a serious blood clot issue, and a guy that has never played a professional game in his life in Jimmy Vesey.
If Marner makes the team it’s just another guy that is undersized with zero professional experience. The potential is great, but we aren’t at a point where expectations should be anywhere close to high. We must stay excited, but not get ahead of ourselves.
Our defense is no different either.
Our defense is stacked with depth guys, which sound great, right? RIGHT? Wrong. While we have Percy, Corrado, Valiev, Loov, and Brennan (if he doesn’t sign elsewhere like the KHL), these guys are all at best 5-7 type of guys, if NHL’ers at all.
Then we have the likes of Marincin, Hunwick, Harrington which could all make cases for the 4th spot, but they wouldn’t be in the top two pairings on any playoff contender. Harrington is the only one with a chance, but not currently.
The next level of defense is Zaitsev, Carrick, Nielsen, and Dermott, but only one of these guys (Carrick) has any NHL experience and are still growing. That leaves Jake Gardiner who is a good number four defender, and Morgan Reilly who is a number two guy with number one potential.
To summarize the Toronto Maple Leafs currently have;
– Zero number 1 defenders
– 1 top pairing guy
– 1 second pairing guy
– 4 guys that could become a second pairing defenseman…one day.
– 3 guys that are third pairing defenders
– 5 guys that are borderline NHL’ers.
Next: Goals, Assists, and Penalties
You add this to a young and unproven forward core and a team that doesn’t have a number one goaltender, and reality starts to sink in. But this is good!
Toronto Maple Leafs fans, let us not forget how lost we were last year. We are so far ahead of that now, but never lose perspective. Let’s stay excited, but have realistic expectations for this upcoming year so we can enjoy it again, no matter the result. We all have waited a very long time for potential in Toronto and we now have it. Enjoy it. Don’t push it.