The Toronto Maple Leafs have had two great back-to-back seasons, both ending in the first round of the playoffs.
With fantastic players like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and the rising play of Morgan Rielly, the Toronto Maple Leafs have turned things around real quick. Finishing last place just three years ago, and reaching the playoffs both years since then. This team is playing fantastic and their core stars are still really young.
Finishing the past two years in the first round, do they have it in them to make it to the second round with their current lineup?
With a young core that will continue to improve year after year, we will see some seasons with Toronto making it far. But this coming season, will they make it further than the past two?
Core Players Will Likely Be Leaving
Players like James Van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Leo Komarov, Roman Polak and Dominic Moore are likely out of Toronto. With the Leafs missing some key players for the team, it might be even harder to make the second round than it was before.
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Roman Polak and Dominic Moore probably won’t be missed too much, with their replacements already lined up. Connor Carrick and Travis Dermott will likely be blue-line regulars for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The players that will be missed most are the other three.
James Van Riemsdyk provided needed scoring every season with the team, even in the playoffs. He scored a career high 36 goals last season with 54 points on the season. He will probably be missed most out of the players likely leaving.
Tyler Bozak has been with the Toronto Maple Leafs his entire NHL career. Bozak has never been a superstar for the team, but he has always done what was expected of him and more. He was on the team’s first line for many seasons with superstar Phil Kessel. Bozak scored 43 points last season with a career high 55 points the season before.
Leo Komarov has slowly been decreasing in production for the Leafs. Getting paid almost $3 million, he isn’t worth the 19 points he scored this past season. Komarov was never acquired for his scoring touch, but it sure helps when he can score. His grit and toughness quickly turned Uncle Leo into a fan favourite. He wasn’t a big guy, but he made others feel like he was, throwing his body around laying much needed hits, especially in the playoffs.
New Additions
With some of those spots most likely filled through a player or two from the Toronto Marlies, they will probably still look to sign or trade for another forward. All three of those spots are pretty hard to fill will three new rookies. It worked out pretty well two seasons ago with many Leafs making their debuts, but these rookies aren’t at that calibre. Even though I’m sure they will turn out to be good NHL regulars.
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With a young core, missing key players and an acquisition/call-up, it’ll be hard for this team to make it past the first round right away. Players like Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner will improve vastly and help out the team on the front-end. Dubas might even look to add a defenceman to bolster the back-end of this young team.
It’ll be a tough task for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but if they play right and hard, things will work out for them.
stats from hockey-reference.com