Last Saturday, the Toronto Maple Leafs set a franchise record with 105 points in the 2017-18 regular season.
Over the course of the NHL’s history, seasons have consisted from as low as 18 games all the way to 84 games. As a result of this fluctuation over 100 years, comparing the success of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1940s to the team today by points is just about impossible.
By looking at points percentage (points recorded divided by maximum possible points), we are able to take out the variable of games played to determine what Toronto Maple Leafs team truly recorded the greatest regular season in franchise history.
Here are the best seasons in Leafs history:
#6. 2017-18: 82 games, 105 points, .640 PTS%
As previously mentioned, the 2017-18 Toronto Maple Leafs set the franchise record for points in a season. Despite setting that record, this Leafs team ranks as the sixth best regular season by points percentage.
I don’t need to go into much detail about this season based on the fact it just finished, but this was the best Maple Leafs regular season in a very long time.
Interestingly, all of the top five Leafs regular season team’s went on to make the conference finals, with three making the Stanley Cup final and two winning. Even the two teams following the 2017-18 Leafs in points percentage made the conference final.
No Toronto team that has played more than 70 games has posted a better points percentage than the 2017-18 Leafs. To put it in perspective, the NHL hasn’t had a 70 game regular season since 1966-67. If that doesn’t tell you how impressive this 2017-18 regular season was, I don’t know what would.