Toronto Maple Leafs Know How to Construct a Roster
Just because the Torontno Maple Leafs haven’t won a playoff round in the Auston Matthews Era doesn’t mean the team has constructed a bad roster. The team is actually getting way more out of their depth players than expected and the big-boys are still performing at a high-level.
As ridiculous as it may sound to pay to four forwards $40.489M per season, they actually performed at a $40.084M pace this year, so they’re worth every penny. Marner, Matthews and Nylander are only going to get better throughout their contract, while Tavares will continue to rack up roughly 75 points per year.
Overall, if you look at the roster right now, the team clearly knows what they’re doing. Being able to exploit talent with Entry Level Contracts and veterans is a great way to make up your roster. Especially when you have someone like Jason Spezza who’s only making $700K on-pace for 13 goals and 36 points in an 82-game regular season.
In order to win the Stanley Cup, you need to have a core of talent that can get you there. If Matthews, Tavares, Nylander and Marner don’t show up, the team isn’t going anywhere anways. However, if they play the way they’re supposed to, they have more than enough depth to get over the edge.
Their defense still needs a little help, but bringing in Bogosian and Brodie should help balance out the team and as a result, Muzzin and Rielly’s stats will only rise next year.
Like I mentioned before, this little experiment I made up isn’t perfect, but it gives you a better idea of what every goal, assist, win and shutout is worth in the NHL and how the Leafs actually have a ton of talent that is underpaid.