Toronto Maple Leafs Poised for Stanley Cup Run

The Toronto Maple Leafs are poised for a Stanley Cup Run.

You might be asking how I can say this after the Toronto Maple Leafs recent run of games, but really, what’s a small cold streak in the middle of the season?

The Leafs entered the season as Cup Favorites and there is no reason to change that just because they had some bad luck.

They might be well behind the Lightning in the standings, but results are for suckers and you just need to dig a bit deeper to get the full picture.

Lucky you don’t have to ’cause I got you.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Cup Favorites

I see no reason to rank any team ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs.  The Lightning suffered one major injury so far this season and their back-up goalie entered and played out of his mind.

They went an entire month without losing.

No team is that good, and eventually their luck will turn.

Things will even out.

The Leafs played until December without William Nylander, and he’s only recently started to produce (though he’s been playing pretty well lately and was just snakebitten).

Frederick Andersen and Auston Matthews both missed a bunch of games.

With Tyler Ennis out with a broken ankle, the Toronto Maple Leafs technically have not had one single game this season with their best possible lineup.

Nazem Kadri and Auston Matthews went on cold streaks that were unfortunate, but not repeatable.

Oh, and they run Ron Hainsey out against top competition every night, something that will stop once they add a new defenseman to their lineup, which they 100% are going to do.  (Due to the fact they’ve got cap space, assets to trade and the motive to win).

When it’s all said and done, a healthy and fully supplemented Leafs lineup is better than what the Lightning can offer.  It’s miles better than anything the Bruins or Canadiens can bring to the table.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in seventh place overall in the NHL standings at the all-star break despite playing zero games with their optimal lineup.

Just remember, they have the second best player in the entire world, John Tavares is a top ten player, they have 3 x #1 centres, the best left-side defense in the NHL, arguably the best goalie, and no team can say that someone like Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnson are their eighth or ninth best players.

Oh, and their power-play has the best numbers in the NHL on everything but goals, which will eventually come.

While I find it amusing that the entire fan base had a complete breakdown over a small stretch of losing that included playing most of their games with a third-string goalie and no goals from players and a power-play that will score them routinely, the fact is, it wasn’t necessary.

The recent streak was just a bump in the road on the way to glory.