The Toronto Maple Leafs have brought in a number of new faces and they collectively look to be the perfect complement’s to the team’s overall philosophy.
After the Toronto Maple Leafs failed to progress beyond the qualifying round earlier in the summer, general manager Kyle Dubas said that changes had to be made to help get the team over the hurdle.
The Leafs have been very active since being knocked out by John Tortorella and the Columbus Blue Jackets and all of the moves that Dubas has made for the team should bring greater success once the post-season rolls around next year.
It’s difficult to do much better in the regular season than what Sheldon Keefe had the Leafs heading towards over an 82-game pace, but these recent signings certainly should give the team the best chance to do just that.
Balance At Both Ends Of The Ice
The Toronto Maple Leafs have one of the clearest philosophies in the entire NHL, one that is built around high-paced, elite offensive talent led by Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander.
The Leafs high-octane style of play saw the team score the third-highest number of goals in the shortened 70-game regular season with 238 – sitting just behind the Washington Capitals (240) and eventual Stanley Cup champions the Tampa Bay Lightning (245).
Despite this offensive prowess, it wasn’t enough to overcome Columbus and push the Leafs towards a deep run in the playoffs for the first time since the early 2000s.
For a while, the Leafs tried to have too much of a good thing with their roster. They had players with great offensive upside, including the likes of Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen as well as last summer’s addition of Tyson Barrie, but the problem they stumbled upon was that these players couldn’t play to their strengths with their limited ice time and usage.
The Leafs’ system relies heavily on their truly elite talent, and that’s something that shouldn’t change at all for many years to come, but it often left their depth trying to do things that they were best suited for – meaning the top six forwards didn’t get the support they needed in other areas.
All three aforementioned players are now elsewhere in the league and will have chances to play different roles that can suit them, while the Leafs have added players that give them exactly what the back end of their roster should.
They’ve added veteran experience and leadership in Joe Thornton, they’ve retained and even added depth offense with Jason Spezza and Jimmy Vesey while bringing in the grit and physicality of Wayne Simmonds, allowing their top six forwards to focus on what they excel at, while addressing a number of other areas along the roster.
Their defensive unit is also far more balanced now, with the big bodied Zach Bogosian likely to play the role of agitator along the blueline while TJ Brodie gives them a legitimate top two pairing that they have struggled to established outside of Morgan Rielly, who deserved more consideration for the Norris Trophy two seasons ago.
Having an elite top end for both offense and defense should see the Toronto Maple Leafs play their system to great effect, while the deeper areas of the team are now filled with players better suited to those roles, being more complementary to the elite players already leading the way.
Frederik Andersen could potentially have a career year playing behind this Leafs line-up, thanks to the additional defensive cover and overall quality that he hasn’t experienced during his entire spell in Toronto – yet he still put up above average numbers despite this.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have built a roster that teams around the league should truly be afraid of next season, with their elite talent already well established, but the deeper side to the team now fitting their roles perfectly and giving the team exactly what they need to be successful deeper into the post-season.