Toronto Maple Leafs Roundtable: Are the Leafs Contenders?
James Tanner
The Leafs were already contenders before Travis Dermott came along.
As I’ve been saying since the start of the season, the Leafs have one of the best rosters in the NHL, they have cap space and they have tradable assets. In a season where they are getting three superstar forwards for pennies on the dollar, the Leafs are easily the deepest team in hockey for scoring depth.
With Dermott stepping into the lineup and looking like an NHL top-four defenseman, they are even better. It shows they have depth and options.
I wouldn’t say, however, that Dermott personally is the difference between being contenders or not. He’s definitely going to help if he continues at this pace, but we should also keep in mind that it’s so far a very small sample size.
The Leafs forwards make them contenders. If their D holds up, they’re a top three team in hockey.
And, if they had a legit right-hand shot on the top pairing to push Ron Hainsey down the lineup where he should be playing, they’d have the best roster in the NHL.
So, while I love Dermott, the Leafs were and are contenders regardless.
Thanks for reading!