3 Toronto Maple Leafs Players Who Could Alter the Course of the Playoffs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are all too familiar with 1st round exits
It has been 129 days since the NHL went on pause, and as the Toronto Maple Leafs prepare for their play-in matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets, there are a lot of uncertainties that come with such an unprecedented length of time off.
As formal training camp opened on July 13th, we got the chance to see some of the line combinations that Sheldon Keefe and company have put together, giving fans an idea of which players have an opportunity to break out throughout the playoffs.
If you’ve consistently watched the Toronto Maple Leafs this season you’ll know that, despite the overwhelming amount of talent this group has, the biggest stars haven’t always been able to get the job done on a nightly basis.
Although they faced a number of significant injuries, there were still many inexcusable stretches throughout the season where the Leafs were unable to string wins together, having to fight for their postseason appearance on multiple occasions.
This means that the Maple Leafs may need to rely on some of their depth forwards to put up points, and they have a lot of talent that they can lean on if all goes as planned.
While there aren’t many drastic changes to their forward depth from their regular season roster heading into the 2020 NHL Playoffs, Leafs fans will be happy to hear that the first player on this list has made a much anticipated return from injury, and could potentially turn some heads throughout the postseason.
Ilya Mikheyev
Ilya Mikheyev had a solid start to the 2019-20 season in top six role alongside John Tavares and Mitch Marner, a line which is now expected to reunite in anticipation for the playoffs.
Mikheyev was sidelined with a wrist laceration in late December and the Leafs were forced to mix up the lines multiple times in order to find a good fit.
Although this would eventually cause some great moments for Mitch Marner alongside Auston Matthews, the sustainability of the forward depth was significantly hurt with ‘Souperman’ on the IR.
Through 39 regular season games, the 25-year-old rookie put up 8 goals and 15 assists for 23 points and was an early candidate for the Calder Trophy.
His size and deceptive speed proved to be quite the pleasant surprise for Toronto after signing him to a one-year deal out of the KHL last spring, and those skills could potentially be a huge turning point for the Leafs offense in the coming weeks.
Jack Campbell
Frederik Andersen has had his fair share of criticism for his playoff performances in the past, and while some of it was warranted, the Leafs never really had a solid backup to rely on in the event of a poor start.
While I personally believe that this Toronto Maple Leafs team will go as far as Andersen can carry them, Jack Campbell showed some signs towards the end of the regular season where he could be a reliable option in the event of a small slump from their primary goaltender.
Throughout his six games since being acquired in early February along with Kyle Clifford, Campbell had a 3-2-1 record with a 2.63 GAA and a solid 915 SV%.
To leave a depleted LA Kings team and be forced to play in some of the most meaningful games of his career behind an injury-ridden blue line, it’s safe to say that Campbell has had a promising outing as a Maple Leaf thus far.
Like all of the teams in the play-in round, the Maple Leafs face a unique situation, where there isn’t a lot of wiggle room to drop a game early in the series.
Assuming that they initially decide to ride with Andersen, this means that Campbell’s impact may become more apparent later in the playoffs if the Leafs manage to make it out of the entry round.
With Campbell as their backup, there is no doubt that this has been the best goaltending duo that the Leafs have had heading into the playoffs in a very long time.
Morgan Rielly
No area on the Toronto Maple Leafs suffered more than their defense this season, largely due to the absence of Morgan Rielly.
Rielly was sidelined in early January after blocking a shot which resulted in a fractured foot, causing him to miss eight weeks of crucial hockey leading up to the playoffs.
After returning for what would turn out to be their final game of the regular season against the Tampa Bay Lightning, it was apparent that Rielly may have been rushed back as the Leafs were panicking to keep ahead of the Panthers in the Atlantic Division race.
He didn’t look entirely out of place, but when Morgan Rielly is at his best, he is able to put defenders on his heels with his speed and is a strong quarterback on the top power play unit. Rielly struggled this season coming off of a career high 20 goals and 72 points, where he recorded just 27 points throughout 2019-20.
Unlike Mikheyev and Campbell, Morgan Rielly has a much bigger role to fill as the Maple Leafs top defensemen.
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For the past three seasons, Rielly has been in the top three for playoff scoring on the team and if his slump from this season continues, the Toronto blue line could be in jeopardy once again.