Comparing Toronto Maple Leafs to Past 10 Stanley Cup Champions

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a Stanley Cup contender but how do they compare to the last decade of champions?

Winning the Stanley Cup is the hardest accomplishment in professional sports and the Toronto Maple Leafs know this far too well, having not won since 1967.

Although every Stanley Cup winning team is different, they all have similar DNA.

For example, there are eight qualities that every team needs to win a championship:

• The Leader
• Game-Breaker (Batman)
• Robin
• Veteran who’s never won
• Star Defenseman
• Unsung Hero
• Goaltender
• Adversity or Theme

Every one of these traits is necessary for a team to win. Without one of these, the championship chemistry falls apart.

You may have the best player in the world but without a supporting cast, they’re not going to be able to carry the team themselves. If this were the NBA, a team may be able to get the job done, but in the NHL, it’s a completely different beast.

Let’s look at all eight of these qualities and see how the Toronto Maple Leafs compare to the past 10 championship teams.

#1. The Leader

The leader doesn’t necessarily have to be the captain of the team, but more often than not they are.

This is what makes the captaincy so important for each individual team. It’s not just a ‘C’ on a jersey. It defines who the team is and that leader is so important to team success.

• 2018-19: Alex Pietrangelo 
• 2017-18: Alex Ovechkin
• 2016-17: Sidney Crosby
• 2015-16: Sidney Crosby
• 2014-15: Jonathan Toews
• 2013-14: Anze Kopitar
• 2012-13: Jonathan Toews
• 2011-12: Dustin Brown
• 2010-11: Zdeno Chara
• 2009-10: Jonathan Toews 

As you can see, each Stanley Cup winner had a leader who would give anything to win. That player was not only one of the best players on their team but a vocal leader you would run through a wall for.

Toronto Maple Leafs Leader: John Tavares

Tavares not only wears the captaincy, but represents everything about the Toronto Maple Leafs fan-base inside the dressing room.

All Tavares cares about is winning a Stanley Cup in his hometown and that’s exactly what you need your leader to be. He’s has a very similar demeanor to Crosby as he’s reserved off the ice, but on the ice, he’ll do anything to win.

#2. The Game-Breaker (Batman)

Although the leader can be a game-breaker too, every championship team needs a superstar who will deliver in the big moments.

The game-breaker is a superstar offensive talent and is typically deserving of the Conn Smythe Trophy when the playoffs are over.

They don’t receive the award every year but is a huge reason towards the team winning and deserves a ton of credit for success.

• 2018-19: Ryan O’Reilly
• 2017-18: Evgeny Kuznetsov
• 2016-17: Phil Kessel
• 2015-16: Evgeni Malkin
• 2014-15: Patrick Kane
• 2013-14: Justin Williams
• 2012-13: Patrick Kane
• 2011-12: Anze Kopitar
• 2010-11: Patrice Bergeron
• 2009-10: Patrick Kane

All of the individuals above are superstar offensive talents. The only player who may not fall into that category is Justin Williams, but “Mr. Game 7” is the definition of a game-breaker, as he always delivers in the biggest moments.

Toronto Maple Leafs Game-Breaker: Auston Matthews

The Toronto Maple Leafs fit another category perfectly with Matthews as their game-breaker. There is arguably no better player in the NHL 5v5, so Matthews has the ability to change a game every time he steps on the ice.

#3. Robin

The “Robin” category is critical. This player will never be Batman and could never a lead a team to a Stanley Cup by themselves, but they’re crucial to team success.

This individual is never going to get the credit they deserve throughout the Stanley Cup run, but without them, the team never would have won in the first place.

• 2018-19: Vladimir Tarasenko
• 2017-18: Nicklas Backstrom
• 2016-17: Evegni Malkin
• 2015-16: Phil Kessel
• 2014-15: Marian Hossa
• 2013-14: Jeff Carter
• 2012-13: Patrick Sharp
• 2011-12: Justin Williams
• 2010-11: Milan Lucic
• 2009-10: Patrick Sharp

Each one of these names are special NHL talents but they’re not good enough to carry a team themselves. As the best player on a team, they have the capability to get their team into the playoffs but they won’t be able to win a Stanley Cup on their own, so being “Robin” is a great place for them.

Toronto’s Robin: Mitch Marner

Marner is an exceptional talent but on a team by himself, he’s not going to win a Stanley Cup. He most likely wouldn’t end up being the Conn Smythe Trophy winner on a Leafs championship team, but would be a key piece in team success.

#4. Veteran Who’s Never Won

In order to win a Stanley Cup, every team needs a veteran to rally behind. Although it may not be a storybook ending like Ray Bourque’s swan-song in the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals, every team needs that one aging player who’s never won a championship.

• 2018-19: Jay Bouwmeester
• 2017-18: Alex Ovechkin
• 2016-17: Ron Hainsey
• 2015-16: Trevor Daley
• 2014-15: Kimmo Timonen
• 2013-14: Marian Gaborik
• 2012-13: Michal Handzus
• 2011-12: Willie Mitchell
• 2010-11: Tomas Kaberle
• 2009-10: Brian Campbell

Each team may have more than one veteran who hasn’t won a Cup but these are the most marquee players on each team who each winner rallied around.

Whenever a team wins a Stanley Cup, there’s no better feeling than seeing one of the superstar talents pass the cup to a veteran because the joy on their face makes them look like a six-year-old who got their first puppy.

Toronto’s Veteran: Jason Spezza

The Leafs once again check a crucial box towards a championship. Not only is Spezza an aging veteran without a ring, but he’s a Toronto-kid which would make it even more special.

#5. Work-Horse Defenseman

This may sound like common sense, but every team needs a defenseman who can log 30 minutes a night in the playoffs.

When playoff games get tight, the bench gets shorter which means you need a minimum of one defenseman you can rely on. That individual needs to step their game up in every situation whether it’s 5v5, power-play or penalty kill minutes. Not only do they need to be a shutdown defender, but they need to be a point-producer as well if their team is going to win.

• 2018-19: Alex Pietrangelo
• 2017-18: John Carlson
• 2016-17: Justin Schultz
• 2015-16: Kris Letang
• 2014-15: Duncan Keith
• 2013-14: Drew Doughty
• 2012-13: Duncan Keith
• 2011-12: Drew Doughty
• 2010-11: Zdeno Chara
• 2009-10: Duncan Keith

The only season where the team won without a world-class defender was the Penguins in 2016-17, but that’s only because Letang was injured for the playoffs. For the most part, the team has a Norris Trophy winning defenseman on the back-end carrying the load.

Toronto’s Work-Horse Defenseman: Morgan Rielly

Rielly is a world-class defenseman and although he just missed out on being a Finalist for the Norris Trophy during the 2018-19 season, he’s in a similar category to Carlson and Letang. At only 26-years-old, Rielly has yet to reach to the prime of his career, as he tries to help the Leafs win a Stanley Cup.

#6. Unsung Hero

In order to win, you need a random player to step in the big moment when nobody is expecting him. Whether it’s a fourth-line winger or bottom-six defenseman, each team has that one player who over-performs in critical situations.

They may have scored an overtime goal that helped the team advance a round, or had multiple big goals throughout the entire playoff run, but there’s always one player that shines unexpectedly.

• 2018-19: Pat Maroon
• 2017-18: Devante Smith-Pelly
• 2016-17: Jake Guentzel
• 2015-16: Conor Sheary
• 2014-15: Antoine Vermette 
• 2013-14: Alec Martinez 
• 2012-13: Bryan Bickell
• 2011-12: Dwight King
• 2010-11: Andrew Ference
• 2009-10: Dave Bolland

If you look through the list, all of these individuals are role players. Nobody expected a big performance by any of these players, but each one of them had a huge moment or multiple moments throughout their Stanley Cup run.

Toronto’s Unsung Hero: TBD

On the Leafs current roster there are a number of players that could take on this role. Whether it’s Pierre Engvall, Cody Ceci or Frederik Gauthier to name a few, any player at any moment has the ability to sketch themselves into NHL history during a Stanley Cup run.

#9. Final Thoughts

By evaluating the last decade of winners, it’s easy to see that the Leafs are close to assembling a championship team.

However, there is was one more main theme that came with every winner. The winning team averaged 3.6 20-plus goal scorers and the highest goal-scorer averaged 33 goals per season. The highest goal scoring player on any Cup winning team was Alex Ovechkin, who had 49 goals, which was actually a down-year for him.

On the Leafs current roster, they have eight players who can score 20 goals every year: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares, Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson, Zach Hyman and Morgan Rielly.

Although that’s not a bad thing to score a lot of goals, compared to the other Stanley Cup winners, the team has too much scoring. Obviously Matthews, Tavares, Marner and Nylander aren’t going anywhere, but Kapanen, Johnsson and Hyman are all expendable if you compare them to other championship teams.

Also, if the Toronto Maple Leafs are able to shed some offense, it should help them gain defense, which is much more valuable come playoff-time.

The Leafs have almost every category covered and are extremely close to finally winning a Stanley Cup. However, by examining the last decade, it’s clear that a few offensive pieces must be traded in order for the team to get over the hump.