Toronto Maple Leafs: Five Thoughts for the Final Stretch
The season has reached its final stretch but there’s still a lot to think about for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The narratives of this season have not all concluded, and there’s still time for things to end differently. Here’s a few of my thoughts to hold on to while we sit back and enjoy the last games of the 2016-17 Toronto Maple Leafs season.
1) The Calder Trophy is still at the Leafs doorstep
As the season comes to its end, the fight for the rookie of the year award is still as tight as it was in the beginning of the season.
Everyone knew the race for the Calder Memorial Trophy would be between the top two picks of this year’s draft, Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets. Laine has 32 goals and 27 assists for 59 points in 60 games this season. Auston Matthews is right behind him with 31 goals and 24 assists for 55 points in 65 games.
Surprisingly, however, the Leafs have another serious nominee for the Calder as well. Mitch Marner emerged this year as an elite rookie who can also compete for the rookie of the year award. Among these two players, the Calder is nearly within the Leafs grasp, it all just depends on how this final stretch plays out.
Toronto Maple Leafs
2) Nazem Kadri will cement himself as our #2 centre
Nazem Kadri has had a career season this season. So far he has put up 27 goals and 22 assists for 49 points in 65 games. Before this season, his career best was 20 goals and 30 assists for 50 points in the 2013-14 season.
17 games left is plenty of time for Kadri to surpass his career best by a lot. Not only that though, he’ll also finally be cementing himself as the proper second line centre that this team needs.
For years Kadri has been one of the players fans loved to doubt. Among trade rumours and slumps, Kadri stuck through it. This season under Mike Babcock, Kadri really showed that he has developed his play into a more complete game, and people have taken notice. There is no doubt Nazem Kadri has had a strong season, and we’ll only truly be able to tell how strong it’s been after these last games conclude.
3) How good of a season will Auston Matthews end with?
Of course, the player who has had the most expectations set on him since the Leafs won the draft lottery last April is Auston Matthews. The Leafs first overall pick and first line centre has definitely proved himself this season.
Many people pegged him to have a pretty good rookie season based on how other first picks’ rookie seasons have gone. I myself initially predicted him to put up somewhere around 25 goals and 25 assists for 50 points in a full 82 game season.
He has already exceeded so many of these expectations and there’s still time left. Everyone already knows he’s special . Everyone already knows he’ll be a top player in this league for years to come. These last games will be the icing on the cake.
4) The final days of Hunlack
Let’s be honest here, Matt Hunwick and Roman Polak have been the Leafs worst defenceman all season. With expiring contracts, the two are likely to walk at the end of this season
For this fact, the last games of this season can be bittersweet. The two have held down the third pairing on the blue line modestly this season, and those holes will have to be filled in the offseason. But at the same time, we all knew it was coming. This just frees up more needed room for better players to come in and help this rebuild. It will be interesting to see how our blue line shapes up going forward.
5) Playoff Push
Before we get all excited that the Leafs are in a playoff spot, let’s remember that there’s still over a month left of the season, and it’s the Leafs we’re talking about. We just got out of a bad stretch before Tuesday’s game, and things are still looking shaky on some fronts.
The Leafs still have to focus on their play and really buckle down for this last stretch. If we give up some key games, we might as well be throwing ourselves out of the playoff picture. It’s not over yet, let’s keep our eyes on the prize.