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Toronto Maple Leafs: Atlantic Division Power Rankings November

By Alex Hobson

TORONTO, ON - APRIL 17: Brandon Carlo #25 of the Boston Bruins chases after Kasperi Kapanen #24 of the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on April 17, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs 6-4. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - APRIL 17: Brandon Carlo #25 of the Boston Bruins chases after Kasperi Kapanen #24 of the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on April 17, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs 6-4. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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PITTSBURGH, PA - NOVEMBER 16: Andreas Johnsson #18 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG PAINTS Arena on November 16, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – NOVEMBER 16: Andreas Johnsson #18 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG PAINTS Arena on November 16, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Welcome to a new series here on Editor in Leaf.

For the rest of the season, myself and my colleague Wilbert Timmermans will be working together on a monthly segment where we rank the teams in the Atlantic Division.

I wrote about the top four teams and posed a question that Wilbert answered, and vice versa for the bottom four teams. Here’s what we came up with.

Stats for this article from NHL.com and naturalstattrick.com

Boston Bruins

Alex: No Leafs fan wants to hear it, but the Boston Bruins are a damn good hockey team.

And on paper, they shouldn’t be better than the Leafs. They have the most dominant line in hockey with Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak. They have solid secondary scoring with guys like Jake DeBrusk, David Krejci. They have a good defensive core led by young star Charlie McAvoy and stable goaltending.

But in reality, the Toronto Maple Leafs have the talent to make up for that top line and the depth to add onto it. And say what you want about their defence, a top three of Morgan Rielly, Tyson Barrie, and Jake Muzzin is not one to be tested when they’re all on top of their game.

But in the end, the Bruins are an experienced team with a core that knows what it takes to win. And they never take a shift off. They want it year after year and never seem to slow down.

With this, Wilbert, I have to ask you. Are the Bruins going to be able to remain at the top running off of one line and stable defence? Or are they simply too hot to handle?

Wilbert: “Boston is something else, that’s for sure. In 28 games, they managed to set themselves apart from the Atlantic Division, leading the second ranked Panthers by 14 points. In the spawn of those 28 games, only 3 times did the Bruins not at least pick up a point.

The season’s still long, Boston will lose games. Pastrnak’s insane goal scoring pace will cool down. The Tampa Bay Lightning might catch up with them, at least make it a tight race for first again.

Boston is curing Toronto from their first-round syndrome by qualifying as the Atlantic first seed at this pace.

To add injury to insult, the Boston Bruins are performing to their potential while Toronto stays behind under-performing, struggling even.”

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