Toronto Maple Leafs: 2017-18 Forward Grades

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a successful season.

By any measure, the 2017-18 regular season was a great one. The Toronto Maple Leafs finished third in the Atlantic Division and qualified for the playoffs for the second straight season, which is the first time that’s happened since 2002-03/ 2003-04.  How long ago was that?  Put it this way: both Doug Gilmour and Mats Sundin were on that ’04 team.

This season saw Auston Matthews – though often injured – cement himself as one of the top half-dozen or so players in the NHL, and Mitch Marner emerge as an elite scorer.  Goalie Frederik Andersen had a career year and is possibly a darkhorse to secure a Vezina Trophy nomination, as the league’s best goalie.

Once again, the Leafs were able to bring in some excellent rookies (Johnsson, Kapanen, Dermott) and once again they have one of the fastest, youngest, most exciting teams in the NHL.

Whether it’s speed, depth, scoring, coaching or goaltending, the Maple Leafs are among the best at it in the NHL, and while we’re doing our best to over hype them too much, it’s pretty clear that this is the best hockey team Toronto has had in years and year and years.

With the Playoffs on the horizon, we thought we’d look back on the individual players on the team and assign them a grade from A+ (among the best in the NHL) to F (among the worst).

The Playoffs will start in a few days, and in the meantime, here’s a look back on the season that was.

Auston Matthews 

Despite missing 20 games with a separated shoulder and a concussion, Auston Mattews continued his upward trajectory into the stratosphere of best players in the NHL.

At this point, there’s one player in the NHL you’d trade him for – Connor McDavid – and for emotional reasons, I wouldn’t even do that.  Auston Matthews, two seasons into his career, is on the path to becoming the best player in Toronto Maple Leafs history.  He’s already the most talented, now all he has to do is put up the numbers to prove it.

This season, despite his injuries, he was his usual dominant self.  He is one of several players in the NHL for which you’d tune into to watch, regardless of who’s playing.  Every time he steps on the ice, something amazing seems to happen.  No one is better at making impossible moves in situations were there isn’t room to do them.

Matthews finished the season with 32 goals and 63 points in 62 games.  Despite injuries, Matthews scored at a 45 goal pace (and three separate injuries means three separate sets of games where he’s warming up/getting his timing, not to mention the three games he left early after being injured).

Matthews finished 5th in 5v5 goal scoring, only four back of eventual champ McDavid.  But Matthews played 400 less minutes and missed 20 games.  He is easily the best goal scorer in the NHL today.

Despite the injuries, Auston Matthews is the easiest player to grade.

– James Tanner

William Nylander

William Nylander went through a prolonged slump where he couldn’t buy a goal – 18 games, no goals.  He wasn’t playing bad, he was getting unlucky.  He wasn’t even getting too many assists, and while people tend to overreact in these situations, Nylander had a solid Corsi and was producing scoring chances like a fiend.  It was a text-book luck-based slump.

So while Nylander may not have had the flashiest season, but he was pretty great overall. He finished 27th overall in individual scoring chances for. He was also 27th in the NHL in 5v5 points, despite Matthews missing 1/4 of the season.

While his point production is around the same pace as his rookie season, he matched those totals while being incredibly unlucky for the first two and a half months of the season.  He matched them while playing on the second PP unit (where success was inexplicably hard to come by) and while Matthews missed so much time.

Nylander is a franchise player on just about any other team. He’s a future Hart and Art Ross contender and is already one of the NHL’s best wingers.

Nylander  and Matthews are one of the more lethal duos in the league. But beyond that, Nylander also played some centre and his versatility is a huge asset.  He tied for the Leafs lead in 5v5 points, and was third overall, finishing with 22/39/61.  He finished with a very good 50.17% possession rating.

– Josh Tessler / James Tanner

Zach Hyman

Zach Hyman is probably one of the most underrated hockey players in the game. Few people seem to get why a coach like Mike Babcock absolutely love this guy and the game he plays. Almost everyone seems frustrated seeing Hyman on a line with Auston Matthews and William Nylander, deeming him unworthy in their minds.

Hyman may be less talented than his linemates, but he makes up for that in work ethic. He is always in service of his linemates. Should the puck rip through the netting, Hyman will be between the fans trying to dig that puck out. Hyman finished the year with 15 goals and 40 points.  This is quite an improvement over last year.

Even if Zach Hyman would only total half his point production this year, he would still be doing good. Hyman is not on the Auston Matthews line to gather points, Nylander is. Hyman is on that line to grind along the boards so Matthews and Nylander have the puck. Players like Matthews and Nylander absolutely love a guy like that, because he always gets the puck for them.

That said, he finished the year with a CF% below 50 and doesn’t provide first line offense. He does, however, seem to do what is advertised:  Both Matthews and Nylander have better possession numbers with Hyman than without him.

Besides being a sidekick to his linemates, Hyman is a very trustworthy penalty killer. From the average ice time per game of 17:20 per game, he plays an average of 2:36 on the penalty kill per game. It may not seem like much, but complimentary players like Hyman are worth his weight in gold.

– Wilbert Timmermans

Patrick Marleau

It’s safe to say that the signing of Patrick Marleau has worked out better than most would have expected. Yes, there are two more years left on the contract, so it’s too early to conclude anything, but I’m rating his performance so far.

Patrick Marleau was signed to add leadership to the team. Leadership is impossible to measure, and we aren’t in the room, so that can’t be graded.

Marleau started the year on a line centered by Nazem Kadri and with Leo Komarov on the other wing. It was a borderline disaster as Kadri went on a 20 game scoring slump and didn’t fully emerge until Babcock replaced Komarov with Marner.  Marleau’s possession rating skyrocketed away from Komarov, going up to 51% whenever Marleau was on the ice without Leo.

Taking a quick look at his offensive output, there is little to complain about. He could do better in on-ice statistics of controlling the play, that’s a problem the whole team needs to work on, especially shot control.

Because Marleau was signed for his veteran presence it’s hard to rate him accurately. Veteran presence is not something that is explained in a statistic. The team seems more mature than last year, finding more ways to win games, but how much of that is thanks to good’old Marleau? Obviously, his experience and presence has done something for the team.

But mostly, it’s the 27 goals we are happy about.  For the third straight year, Marleau finished with between 25 and 27 goals, and 46 to 48 points.  As an integral part of what became one of the NHL’s best lines down the stretch, we give Marleau a B+.

-Wilbert TImmermans

Connor Brown

If I had to give Connor Brown a grade based on his performance this season it would be a C .

The Toronto Maple Leafs front office were  hopeful that Brown was going to emerge as an quality top 6 winger when they selected him in 2012.

The front office thought they found a diamond in the rough in the 6th round of the 2012 entry level draft. Brown had a spectacular year in the OHL with the Erie Otters in 2013-2014. He played alongside Connor McDavid and lead the OHL in goals with 45.

Unfortunately, Brown hasn’t be able to showcase that level of goal scoring in the NHL. Last season, Brown had 20 goals in 82 games and this season he had 14 goals in 82 games.

While Brown had a down year in terms of production, and overall was a negative possession player relative to his team, there are positive signs.  With JVR and Bozak, he had a positive possession rating, and also improved theirs.  He seemed to function much like Hyman on their line and it is definitely one of the best 3rd lines in the NHL.

Brown also provides decent defense and is a quality penalty killer who is frequently used by Mike Babcock.  Not a terrible season, lots of positives in fact, but still, a disappointment in terms of production.

– Josh Tessler

Nazem Kadri

Nazem Kadri has had yet another sensational season for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

He truly doesn’t get enough credit around the league for the job he does and he appears to be growing along with his role on the team. Kadri matched  his career high with 32 goals this ye4ar, and has accomplished another 50+ point season.

Babcock has once again put his trust in Kadri against the opposition’s best players this season. At home, Nazem Kadri ranks 1st in TOI Quality of Competition percentage in the league this year making his offensive and defensive contributions even more impressive.

He is also sporting a 49.1 CF% while having a 59% defensive zone start percentage. He has surely been one of the Leafs’ best players at even strength this season given his deployment. Kadri’s success has not been limited to even strength either, as he is close to topping a career high in powerplay goals. He has been excellent in the “hole” position of the Leafs 1-3-1 powerplay. Most of Kadri’s goals on the powerplay have been either off a rebound or a high tip from a Mitch Marner pass. The Leafs are going to need this powerplay if they plan on going far in the playoffs and Kadri is a big piece to its success.

One aspect that separates Kadri from many of his teammates is his ability to play with an edge. The Leafs are often criticized for being too soft and not good enough defensively to be a sustainable elite team in the NHL. Kadri has done a phenomenal job bridging this gap. He has once again been elite in drawing penalties and has had a lot of success putting top players out of their comfort zone. His most memorable moments have been his ongoing feud with Ristoleniin and his fight with Joe Thornton.

The craziest thing about Kadri is that at one point this season, he scored two points over a 20 games span.   That means that if he had even OK luck during that stretch, he’d probably have closer to 40 goals.  If you take away that slump – where it’s not like he was playing badly – Kadri scored 53 points in 60 games.

-Nick DeSouza

Tyler Bozak

Tyler Bozak was miscast early in his career as a top line player, but he has flourished in the role of third line centre.  By avoiding other teams best offensive players, Bozak’s defensive issues are not under as much scrutiny and he consistently provides great offense.

Quietly the 25th all time leading scorer in franchise history, Bozak scored 43 points this season while putting up a 52.23% possession rating.  For perspective, only five teams have an overall possession rating better than that.  When Bozak is on the ice, the Leafs are a winning team. What else can you ask from a #3 centre?

This season Tyler Bozak has played in a role more suitable for his abilities and was very successful. There is a strong possibility that this is his last season in Toronto, and if so he’s had a great career as a Leaf.  Given the advantage that having a strong #3 centre gives  a team, if the Leafs are still hesitant about breaking up Nylander and Matthews, there are worse options than bringing Bozak back.

His faceoff capability gave an extra edge to the already talented third line. Starting in many offensive faceoffs, Toronto gained control of the puck in the offensive zone. No need for further explanation why that’s a luxury with James van Riemsdyk and Connor Brown on the ice.

For the first time in probably his entire Toronto Maple Leafs career, Tyler Bozak has been a good centre for them. Making it almost a shame he will leave at the end of the season,

-Wil Timmermans

James van Riemsdyk

Say what you want about James van Riemsdyk, but the one thing you absolutely can’t deny is that he’s a consistent goal scorer. The stats show it. He has been a near 30 goal pace kind of player ever since he was acquired by the Maple Leafs.

While many people expected the Leafs’ offense to be carried by the three-headed monster (Matthews, Marner, Nylander) JVR has been the farthest thing from a slouch, putting up 36 goals in 81 games this season. This is good enough for the team lead and also raises the question of if the Leafs should pay to re-sign him.

JVR scored a ton, especially given his relatively low amount of ice time, and for that he gets an A Plus.  His contract situation will definitely be one to follow heading into the offseason.

– Alex Hobson

Kasperi Kapanen

Kapanen only scored seven goals and nine points in 38 games this year, and while that might not seem like much, he was very effective when he played.  He only averaged about ten minutes per game 5v5, however.

Kapanen is a luxury player when you’re dressing him on the fourth line. Along with Johnsson he gives the Leafs some insurance when JVR and Bozak inevitably leave next year.  He might not have scored a ton in a limited role, but he’s much better than most other team’s fourth line right winger, and his positive possession rating is also advantageous.

Kapanen is among the NHL’s fastest players, he’s got 25 goal/60 point upside and can be counted on for strong defense.  It’s hard to grade a fourth line player – but he’s performed well in a limited role, so I think a B is appropriate.

-Nick DeSouza

Mitch Marner

Mitch Marner may have started off his 2017-2018 campaign in a slump, but he’s finished strong with 22 goals and 69 points.

Marner started the season in a terrible slump that saw him and anyone who played with him put up ridiculously low shooting percentages.  Despite that, and a brief demotion to the fourth line, Marner was driving possession and creating scoring chances from the first game of the season to the last game.

If he wasn’t and isn’t the Leafs best player that’s only because Auston Matthews is special even when compared to other superstars. But make no mistake, Mitch Marner is a franchise player and since Christmas was one of the NHL’s best players and top scorers.

Aside from Marner’s offensive production, his defensive skill-set has been strong as well. This season, he leads the Maple Leafs in takeaways with 82. It’s an improvement compared to the prior season where he registered 67 takeaways. Marner finished with a 51.8% possession rating and is poised to compete for the Hart Trophy next season – that’s how good he is.

-Josh Tessler / James Tanner

Leo Komarov

Defense is a notoriously tough thing to measure.  A lot of defensive players have built their reputations only to have the statistics tell a different story.  Some don’t get credit but measure out as very effective.

Komarov is somewhere in the middle.  He was  a grinder that was a fan favorite in the tradition of the Toronto sports scene. He signed a contract that was derided by the know-it-alls (such as me) and then he turned out to be a great statistical defensive presence.  The know-it-alls fell in love, and then this year it seemed everyone hates him again.

I mean, you can only miss so many open nets in a city where half it’s fanbase hates some of their greatest players (Sundin, Kaberle, Kessel, Gardiner).  Komarov’s possession stats are terrible and there’s no offense to speak of.  There are deployment related reasons for this, but also, there are players who are deployed in tough situations who put up good numbers.

Komarov has gone from being the teams’ best defensive forward, to playing on the fourth line, to being out played by Andreas Johnsson.  Has he lost a step? Are the stats just not showing his worth? I honestly don’t know.

I am a Komarov fan, but the Leafs first three lines are set-in-stone great and Johnsson has outperformed him.  I hate to give him a bad grade, but if it hurts his feelings he can take solace in the fact that he’s a multi-millionaire.