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Toronto Maple Leafs: Best Team of All-Time Not Impossible Goal

By James Tanner

TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 18: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks up at an NHL game against the Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period at the Scotiabank Arena on October 18, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 18: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks up at an NHL game against the Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period at the Scotiabank Arena on October 18, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs are in second place overall in the NHL standings at the Christmas break.

The Toronto Maple Leafs record is an impressive 25-10-2, which means they are winning two games for ever game they lose – it’s impressive.

Even more impressive is that Matthews missed 15 of those games, and William Nylander has only two points and didn’t start playing until a week into December.

I’m going to state this as bluntly as possible: The Toronto Maple Leafs are the best team in the NHL.   And, in the parlance of my teenage son: “It’s not even close.”

It isn’t Close

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one fluke loss against the Lightning away from being two points out of first place.  Were a healthy Nylander and Matthews present for the entire season, they’d certainly have a few more wins under their belt.

Matthews scores a goal-a-game, pretty much, and Nylander is a point per game player (when he’s at full speed) so I don’t think it’s unrealistic to think six of their losses might have been wins.

If they were currently 31-5-1 they be something close to the pace of being the best team of all time.

If you actually look at their roster and forget for a second how used to you are by now, that isn’t as crazy as it seems.  Since expansion beyond six teams, I don’t think there is a single team that has had the equivalent of Nazem Kadri, third line centre.

I watch Kadri play night after night, and on the right team, with the right wingers and a prominent role on the power-play I think he could easily be an 80 point centre.  Is there a more under-the-radar superstar in sports today?  Or ever?

As for the depth on the wings, it’s insane. Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnson have taken a team that was deep and made it ridiculous.  They are both legitimate top-six wingers.  The line of Johnson-Tavares-Marner is an absolute embarrassment of talent and should allow the Leafs to re-unite the Hyman-Matthews-Nylander line that has worked so well in the past.

That leaves a third line that wouldn’t be a bad first line on a normal team: Marleau-Kadri-Kapanen.  It’s the Leafs third line, and if it’s not the fastest overall line in the NHL I will eat my hat.

Best Team in Hockey

The chemistry between Marleau and Kadri makes Marleau look 20 years younger.  Kapanen is just a delight to watch.

And guess what? the Toronto Maple Leafs have Cap Space, they will upgrade their defense and maybe even make a surprise forward edition that will force Hyman to the fourth line.

A healthy Toronto Maple Leafs roster is not just the favorite to win the Stanley Cup.  They are potentially the biggest favorite in recent memory.  No team in the salary cap era has come close to icing this kind of talent.

Only one thing will stop the Leafs from winning this year’s Stanley Cup: bad luck.  No team is even close to them.

Which is why Dubas needs to ask the St.Louis Blues this question: If I give you Timothy Liljegren, how many first rounders to you want for Parayko so that I don’t have to take any players off my current roster?

Next. Leafs Prospects at the World Juniors. dark

If the answer is three or less, I say pull the trigger, because then I can stop writing about how the Leafs are better than the Lightning and start talking about how they’re better than the 1984-85 Oilers.

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