The Toronto Maple Leafs went from zero to 100 real quick.
Yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs should now be viewed as a playoff threat, not just a team that barely squeaked in.
That last part is technically true although it doesn’t feel like it to Leafs fans.
Anyways, I was doing my usual morning routine, reading new articles about the Leafs from all over the place.
Some good, some bad, but not the point.
I checked one of my regular resources and stumbled upon a post from yesterday evening that I missed.
Which by the way, I don’t spend all day long scouring the Internet, I have a life outside of hockey.
One thing in the article stood out to me.
The Quote
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The piece was written by Brian La Rose of Pro Hockey Rumors and was titled, Offseason Keys: Toronto Maple Leafs.
It discussed some pretty overkilled topics, such as the summer cap space, defensive pickings, and extensions decisions.
First of all, there’s nothing wrong with those topics and secondly, I even talk about them, so it’s all good.
However, none of the above really stood out to me until I read the following.
"If Lamoriello decides not to try to keep them [speaking of Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk, and Leo Komarov] around, the next decision will be whether of not to trade them with the idea of getting something now instead of potentially losing them for nothing later. Going that route would have been easier had Toronto not made the playoffs and potentially accelerated the timetable this year.As the Leafs are now viewed as a playoff threat, it would be hard for them to take a step back by dealing one or both of the veterans without getting comparable talent in return. Even if they can’t agree on extension terms this summer, it’s hard to imagine both players not being back at least to start next season."
One line in there speaks volumes, can you guess which one?
Obviously the playoff threat line, hence the title.
I had to stop and think about the fact that for the first time in many years, the Leafs are a playoff threat.
Playoff Threat
The Leafs aren’t a threat to just knock off some bubble team, barely scraping into the playoffs, rather a team that can play with the best of them.
I think the Washington Capitals series was a great start to something amazing.
They took the best team in the league of the past two years on paper (in the regular season) and pushed nearly every game to overtime, or double.
I know that the Leafs may not be contenders yet, but they’re definitely a threat, folks.