Toronto Maple Leafs: 4 Things That Could Go Wrong

#3. Toronto Maple Leafs: Goaltending/Defence

The Toronto Maple Leafs have Frederick Andersen locked in as their starting netminder for four more seasons. The Great Dane played well for the Leafs last year, but had a few bumps along the way. Andersen had a rocky start to his season after suffering an injury in the summer. He managed to play 66 games last year, winning 33 of them and posting a 9.18 save percentage.

The Leafs acquired veteran backup Curtis McElhinney, who played 14 games with the club last season. Although he played well enough to help the Leafs get into the playoffs, he is not a great option if Andersen goes down to an extended injury. McElhinney has a career save percentage of 0.905 and has never played more than 32 games in a season. In fact, through twelve seasons he has only appeared in 168 games and has only 51 wins on his NHL resume. The Leafs could find themselves in serious trouble next year if they are forced to rely on McElhinney as anything more than a backup.

The Toronto Maple Leafs defense was widely considered to be their weak spot last season. Throughout the off-season there have been rumours that the team is looking to upgrade the back-end. So far the team has signed 36 year old Ron Hainsey and a pair of Swedish prospects. They have also lost Hunwick to free agency and have not resigned Roman Polak. If things stay status quo there will be a lot of pressure on Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly to carry the load. If either of these two players struggle this season or suffer a serious injury, the Toronto Maple Leafs defence will be a weak spot once again.