These first two Toronto Maple Leafs games have been wild, to say the least.
The Toronto Maple Leafs opened the season on Wednesday night in Winnipeg and slaughtered the Jets in their own barn. They ended up winning 7-2, led by two goals from newcomer Patrick Marleau and a goal apiece from each of the big three.
On Saturday night, they played their home opener against the New York Rangers and won 8-5. Sounds like another dominant, exciting game to watch, but it’s a known fact that the majority of Leafs nation suffered heart attacks during the game. The Leafs exploded for five goals in the first period and then, showing flashes of last season, allowed four straight goals against. It was 5-5 by the end of the second. Luckily enough, the Leafs came back and potted three in the third to secure the victory.
Now, if a fan of any other NHL team heard me say this, they would likely call me a biased moron. But putting all bias aside, I think the Leafs truly have the best offense in the NHL.
Before anybody says anything, let me present my case.
Why the Maple Leafs?
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Last season, the Maple Leafs offense made a huge jump. They finished fifth in the league in goals for/goals for per game.
They also had the second best powerplay in the league, with a percentage of 23.8.
When you look at individual stats, the Maple Leafs had six players register over 50 points. Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri both finished the season with over 30 goals, with 40 and 32 respectively and James van Riemsdyk scraped the surface with 29.
If you want to dig deeper, the Leafs had five players finish the season with over 20 goals.
Mitch Marner was almost among that group as well but just missed it after finishing the year with 19.
Comparing Against Other Teams
Through stats obtained through NHL.com, among the top of the league in offensive categories are the Penguins, Capitals, Oilers, and Lightning. Something you’ll notice by looking at these teams is that they all have two players that are capable of potting over 70 points. The Pens have Crosby and Malkin, the Capitals have Ovechkin and Kuznetsov, the Oilers have McDavid and Draisaitl and the Lightning have Stamkos and Kucherov.
The Leafs could certainly be among this group too. Of course, Matthews would be the first choice, and anyone between Marner, Nylander, or Kadri could fit the bill as well.
However, one thing you notice about these teams is that they don’t have the scoring depth that the Leafs do. I put together a little chart showing how many 20 goal scorers and 50 point players the Leafs have compared to other teams.
TEAM # OF 20 GOAL SCORERS # OF 50 POINT PLAYERS
As you can see, the Leafs had the most players over 50 points compared to everybody else and they were tied for first with five players over 20 goals.
Depth is Key
When you look at the Leafs lineup, they’ve got a 30 goal scorer on each of their top three lines. On top of all of their 20 goal scorers from last season, they added Patrick Marleau, who put up 27 last season. They also happen to have a 20 goal scorer named Connor Brown on their fourth line.
It’s also worth mentioning that three of the Leafs top five producers last season were under the age of 22. These guys are absolutely not stopping at their totals last year and there’s still room for all of them to develop.
The Leafs are also only one of two teams in the NHL to score 15 goals in the first two games, with the other being the Chicago Blackhawks, who ironically enough, face the Leafs tonight.
The Leafs defense may not have come around fully yet, however, look at the team they have. They have countless players capable of lighting the lamp and even when times come where their weakness on the back end shows, they have the offense to back it up.
All in all, I think you’ll be seeing fireworks from the Leafs this season. They’re hungry and they’re ready to score goals.