Toronto Maple Leafs: Missing the Big Picture For the Small Stuff

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one win tonight away from leading the NHL in points.

This is fantastic.  This is the best Toronto Maple Leafs team that we’ve seen in years and years.  Probably the best of my life.

And while this has been said over and over – over one hundred and ten times by me alone – they are doing it without Auston Matthews and William Nylander.

Now, it’s easy enough to say that and read it, but have we actually thought about what it means?

Two of the Best in the World

When you’re watching every game, caught up in every minor storyline, having fun with your friends imagining various trade scenarios etc. you sometimes forget just how good the team actually is.

In the same way that even though the Leafs went decades without a player of Matthews’ caliber, it didn’t take long to get used to having him around, we already take for granted how good the team is.

For example, William Nylander was arguably the best player the Toronto Maple Leafs drafted in over a decade, arguably two, and we got so spoiled by the quick additions of Matthews and Marner that almost no one remembers or acknowledges that fact.

The only reason that William Nylander wasn’t a top-ten NHL scorer last season was that he played on a team so deep that he skated about a minute less than most of his peers, while being virtually the only player of his skill level (other than Matthews) to be on a team’s second power-play unit.

And had Auston Matthews been healthy, he would have led the NHL in goal scoring.  If he didn’t miss time this year, 65 goals wasn’t out of the question.  He is quite literally the best goal scorer in the NHL.

So actually think of how good this team could actually be.  You could wake up tomorrow and find that the Toronto Maple Leafs are in first place in the NHL, after having used William Nylander for zero games, and playing over half their games so far without Matthews.

The best team in the NHL will be adding the game’s best goal scorer and a potential top-ten scorer to their team, at the cost of ice time to Frederick Gauthier and Tyler Ennis.

That is insane.

They also have all their draft picks and quite a bit of cap room, so there is a 100% chance they will make moves to improve even more. The Toronto Maple Leafs are definitely cup contenders.  I think it’s more than safe to say that they have, by far, the best roster in the NHL.

We may be soon asking if they are an all-time great team.

Just wait until a lineup with Matthews-Tavares-Kadri-Nylander-Marner-Rielly and Andersen actually plays together for an extended time.

The Leafs are on the verge of being the first place team in the league almost 25% into the season.

Number of times they’ve iced their ideal lineup: Zero