Toronto Maple Leafs: Morgan Rielly and Other Norris Candidates

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TORONTO,ON – DECEMBER 6: Morgan Rielly #44 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates with the puck against the Detroit Red Wings during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on December 6, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Red Wings defeated the Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

The Toronto Maple Leafs are having a stellar regular season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs currently sit in fifth place in the NHL standings, and are still a relatively young, up and coming team. Both teams they are competing against for the title of Best in the NHL – Tampa and Boston – are experienced teams who’ve won or played for Cups, and who have been building around the same core for a decade.

Sure, it’d be nice for the Toronto Maple Leafs to beat them, but let’s not lose site of the fact that those are two teams we hope the Leafs can become.

Tampa build around Stamkos and Hedman, and Boston around Bergeron and Chara. If the Leafs can get anything similar after ten years of Matthews and Rielly, I think we’ll all be pretty damn satisfied.

And speaking of Tampa, they’ve got the Hart Trophy all but locked up with Nikita Kucherov and his insane season. As easily as we throw around labels like “Generational” talent, it’s crazy that Nikita Kucherov has become the best player in the NHL. If only the Leafs weren’t so keen on Stuart Percey back in 2011, he could be scoring goals for them today.

Just kidding, the draft is a crapshoot. Percey could have just as easily been a Norris Trophy winner as Kucherov a Hart Trophy winner. What can you do?

With the Hart locked up, Let’s talk about the Norris Trophy. Here is a list of your possible Norris Trophy Candidates.

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