Toronto Maple Leafs: EIL Content Roundup – July 11th

The season is officially over for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

But that doesn’t mean the content must stop. Yes, although the Maple Leafs may not be playing actual hockey games anymore, the Editor in Leaf staff have been working around the clock to ensure that every angle from every offseason topic has been covered.

With so many pieces hitting the wall all at once, it’s natural that a few may have fallen through the cracks. So, let’s take a look at some of the past week’s most intriguing pieces.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Kerfoot Will be Perfect Replacement for Kadri

Boy, it was tough seeing Nazem Kadri go. Playoff suspensions aside, this was a guy who was drafted a full decade ago, back in 2009, and somehow made it through the worst stretches in franchise history. I was in grade eight when Kadri came aboard. That is a long, long time, folks.

Perhaps it was time for Kadri to go. In adding Tyson Barrie, the Maple Leafs are undoubtedly stronger today than they were when they entered the offseason back in April, and Kadri was the key who allowed them to improve.

But it wasn’t just Barrie. No, the true steal of the deal here is none other than Alexander Kerfoot. There are a few questions swirling around the newest Leaf upon his arrival: Can he play centre? Will he continue to improve in Toronto? Is he actually as good defensively as his numbers suggest?

Can he replace Kadri?

In his latest piece, Matthew has an answer to that last one.

“Kadri has only reached 60 points once in his career. I know, his impact is far bigger than just that, but that was while he was a second line centre. Last season, while in a third line centre role, he only reached 44 points (16G, 28A). Now, this is still an excellent point total for a third line centre, but we can’t forget that Kerfoot also finished the season with 42  points (and 43 points the previous season). They both produced nearly identical numbers in similar playing roles.

As far as offence goes, Kadri wasn’t going to move back up to his 30 goal pace playing on the third line. If Kerfoot is matching him offensively, that aspect of offence is covered.”

After Canada Day Fireworks, are the Toronto Maple Leafs Any Better?

There is a very simple answer to this one: Yes.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a better hockey team after their busy July 1st. And not merely because they added Barrie, Kerfoot, Jason Spezza, Nick Shore, and Kenny Agostino, but because they managed to rid themselves of Nikita Zaitsev, Connor Brown, and Ron Hainsey. Pretty much every single one of Mike Babcock’s toys are gone now – stripped from his hands by an exasperated Kyle Dubas.

This will be a new team moving forward. And in his latest piece, James breaks down just how improved the Maple Leafs will be heading into what is looking an awful lot like a “Stanley Cup or bust” year.

“Marleau and Brown were scoring at 4th line rates.  Hainsey and Zaitsev were abjectly terrible and playing in incomprehensible lineup spots.

Kadri had a large impact, and so did Jake Gardiner.  There is no sugar coating their loss.

Coming to the team, the Leafs get Kerfoot to replace Kadri, and while he won’t score as much, he’s much, much better defensively.  The Leafs didn’t need Kadri’s scoring (they have a ton of offence) and were short on defensive forwards.  This is a downgrade if you compare the player’s overall impact, but in the context of Toronto’s lineup, it’s an upgrade.”

Toronto Maple Leafs: Projected Opening Night Roster

Fun Fact: the Toronto Maple Leafs will look markedly different when the puck drops on the 2019-20 season. From new faces behind the bench, to new faces on the ice, to a new sense of hope permeating throughout the organization, these Leafs will enter a contention season on the fly, adjusting their lineup to a swath of lingering injuries early on.

It’s always fun to tinker with what that might look like. Travis Dermott and Zach Hyman will be out until roughly some time in November, which leaves two big holes in the top six of both the forward corps and the blueline to be filled.

Who will step up? Will Babcock make the right choice? In his latest piece, Lucas tackles all those questions and more. Check it out!

“This is the team that I believe that Babcock will ice on opening night. However, once Travis Dermott and Hyman return from injury, there will be movement within the lines.

Babcock has a plethora of players to pick from, so he will certainly go with the ones he feels most comfortable with.

I think the first line of Johnsson, Matthews, Nylander is a lock. Johnsson had success on the Matthews line this past season, and the same goes for Nylander the season one before. Matthews wants to play with a playmaking winger like Nylander, unlike Kapanen, who is more of a shoot first winger.”

Thanks for reading!