Toronto Maple Leafs Roundtable: Player Most Likely to Surprise In the Playoffs
The Toronto Maple Leafs will face the Columbus Blue Jackets during the Stanley Cup qualifiers.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will face a tough opponent in the Columbus Blue Jackets to qualify for the NHL 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. Given there is no easy opponent when it comes to qualifying for the playoffs, the Columbus Blue Jackets are a rough one to be matched up against.
Complete opposites of one another, the matchup between Toronto and Columbus is one based on skill vs. will. The Toronto Maple Leafs are heavily loaded with skilled and elite players, on paper, one might even argue they bolster one of the most talented rosters in the league.
The Columbus Blue Jackets, however, are a more balanced team after losing almost all their star players in free agency last summer. Nonetheless, at the hand of coach John Tortorella, they’re a disciplined team capable of being competitive every night.
It’s teams like the Columbus Blue Jackets the Toronto Maple Leafs struggle against.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Playoffs
The Toronto Maple Leafs look to extend their consecutive playoff appearances to 4 straight, losing the former 3 consecutive appearances in the first round.
Heck, they haven’t won a series since 2004, when they won a series against the Ottowa Senators.
It’s why the qualifying series could be a blessing in disguise for Toronto, should they clinch a playoff spot, it could give them some momentum whilst also shaking their playoff syndrome of not winning a series for so long.
That’s why for this weeks roundtable, we asked the writing staff of Editor in Leaf the following question; “How will the Toronto Maple Leafs do in the playoffs (qualifiers) and which player will surprise the most?”
Let’s find out!
The answers to the roundtable have been written before the first game against Columbus.
Mark van der Lugt
The third line is the match up line, which will be the key.
When the Leafs need defensively responsible offensive punch to let the top six forwards have a breather. All three forwards love to go “meep meep” on the ice and it’s up to Columbus to match this line’s pace.
There aren’t many teams that can match the Leafs speed, but I’d even say no one can match this third line’s speed. Watching Robertson on Tuesday was clear to see that he has the speed to keep up in the NHL and even the brain for it.
Nick’s role with the Leafs looks to put him on the third line, flanking Alex Kerfoot on the left-wing and Kasperi Kapanen on the right-wing. This line will be the x-factor for the Leafs, you think “Oh? Not JT? Not the Matthews’ line?” No. The Kerfoot line holds the cards and judging by the exhibition game against Montreal, they are up to the task.
For Sheldon Keefe, a coach who played for Tortorella, in Tampa Bay, Keefe will be tasked with “cracking the egg” that is Columbus’ defence. Nick Robertson is the shiny new toy that Keefe gets to crack the egg with.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have the superior offensive weapons to be able to beat Columbus and they will do it in 4 games.
Philip van Riesen
I have spent plenty of time digging into the logistics of the Leafs-Blue Jackets series and it is a very interesting matchup in terms of polar opposites going head to head.
The more and more I look into the matchup I do find that the Leafs have the edge overall.
The main reason for this is the Leafs ability to score at a higher rate than most teams. With the likes of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares, the Toronto Maple Leafs are surely better at finishing their chances when they get them.
There is no world where you can look at the Blue Jackets forward group and slot them as being more effective at scoring goals. The reality is, if the Leafs are able to get the same amount of scoring chances as the Blue Jackets, they will likely come out on top with the finishing talent on the roster.
There has never been a team that has proven to stop the Leafs high powered offence, the Bruins didn’t do this last year, they just outscored the Leafs especially on special teams.
I dove into the statistics of the Blue Jackets special teams, spoiler alert, they aren’t the best.
Special teams will be another key factor to concentrate on. This brings me to my main point stating how Auston Matthews will be the guy to put them over the hump. Matthews was the Leafs most valuable player this season, and I expect him to continue his path to greatness.
Dylan Murphy
The Toronto Maple Leafs are going all the way. The naysayers will throw out reason after reason why it won’t happen- the Defense isn’t good enough, or Freddy isn’t good enough, or “you spent all your cap room on 3 players”, or some nonsense about Nylander not being elite, but really think about it for a minute.
Look at how strange the world has gotten in such a short span of time, it’s playoff hockey in August. Hell has sufficiently frozen over. It’s a jump ball, the playing field has never been weirder or even as it is right now, so why not us?
The player I think will be the biggest surprise? Alex Kerfoot.
In the exhibition game, he played as he did when the season opened, which, for my money, he was the team’s MVP among players not named Auston Matthews through the first 4 or 5 games of the season.
He’s making smarter plays than he was in March, has seemingly developed chemistry with his linemates Kapanen and Robertson. As a unit, those 3 could be a formidable force. Toronto needs their depth to shine at least half as brightly as their big stars, so far I’d say we’re off to a decent start of that.
James Tanner
I am predicting that the Toronto Maple Leafs will go very far in the playoffs this year. I’d go so far as to say that they might even win the Stanley Cup.
If the season had of ended normally, I’d say that if the Leafs didn’t go very far, I’d be pretty disappointed. At this point though, I’m just psyched to have hockey back at all.
If the Leafs go far, I think it will be because of Freddie Andersen. The Leafs are a good team, but we saw in the regular season that they aren’t good enough to overcome terrible goaltending (really though, who is?).
I predict the Leafs will make it to at least the Finals, and I think that Freddie Andersen will be the one who carries them there.
Wilbert Timmermans
I expect the Toronto Maple Leafs to have a slow start, bringing this best of 5 series to its full length, in which, ultimately, the Toronto Maple Leafs will come out on top.
Given their exceptional group of players Toronto has, they’re pretty much obliged to win this series against Columbus. That’s exactly why they will struggle, Columbus can afford to lose, no one ever expected them to be contending for a spot this year.
Make no mistake, Columbus will do everything in their power to shut down the offensive juggernaut that is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Much will come down to Keefe’s gameplan, he will need a lot from his third line, providing secondary scoring as much as defensive reliability.
While that is key for this series against Columbus and further in the playoffs, I believe William Nylander will make the difference in this one.
Among the company of Marner, Matthews, and Tavares it’s Nylander that scored the gritty goals for Toronto this year, a lot of them coming from the crease. Because of the diversity, Nylander can score goals from, he’s the biggest threat to Columbus in this series.
Leafs and Blue Jackets Special Teams Analysis. dark. Next
They can block shooting lanes, passings lanes, but they’ll need to pull out everything to stop Nylander from scoring goals, making him my pick as the biggest surprise.