3 Toronto Maple Leafs Records That Could Break in 2020-21
The Toronto Maple Leafs have a handful of players on their roster that could potentially break some franchise records.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are known for their offensive talent, and with that comes the possibility to break some franchise records.
We’ve seen this team break some records in the past, mainly in the 2017-18 season where they broke the record for most wins, home wins, most points etc, all in franchise history.
Now we look towards the 2020-21 season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and if somehow there is a full season , here are three records that could potentially be broken.
3. Most Points by a Maple Leafs Winger (Mitch Marner)
2019-20 stats – 59 GP – 16 G – 51 A – 67 PTS – 52.9% CF%
Career stats – 300 GP – 83 G – 208 A – 291 PTS – 52.0% CF%
Mitch Marner finished the 2018-19 season with a very impressive 94 points in 82 games and he still most likely hasn’t had his best NHL season. The current Toronto Maple Leafs record for most points by a winger in franchise history is 99 by Dave Andreychuk in 1993-94.
Marner could also break the record for most points by a Toronto Maple Leafs right winger which is 97 and currently held by Wilf Paiement from the 1980-81 season. Marner plays a very smart and high IQ game of hockey whenever he is on the ice as we all know by now. He makes his teammates and his line mates better and the same goes for them towards him as well as they all compliment each other great. When Marner finished with 94 points during the 2018-19 season he was mainly on a line with John Tavares, who also finished with 47 goals, so I guess it’s safe to say Sheldon Keefe should keep those two together on the same line for next season.
In a full season Marner has a very good chance of breaking this record. (Stats from Hockey-Reference.com)
2. Most Goals by a Maple Leafs Defensemen (Morgan Rielly)
2019-20 stats – 47 GP – 3 G – 24 A – 27 PTS – 51.5% CF%
Career stats – 517 GP – 54 G – 216 A – 270 PTS – 50.1% CF%
It shouldn’t be a surprise that I have chosen Rielly for this record as we should all know by now that he had an insane 2018-19 season putting up 72 points in 82 games and that 20 of those points were goals. He has already broken the 20 goal mark once in his career and the current Toronto Maple Leafs record is 22 goals which is currently held by not one but two defensemen, Ian Turnbull in 1976-77 and Al Iafrate in 1987-88.
Rielly was already oh so close from breaking this record back during the 2018-19 season, however he fell short by only two goals. This past season, he admitted to playing injured and he still managed to put up 27 points in 47 games, he then injured his leg against Florida in January which sidelined him for a couple months. I think it’s reasonable to say we might see a similar Morgan Rielly this coming season as we did during the 2018-19 season for more than one reason.
First of all he will be healthy, healed up and ready for the start of the new season. Second of all, he finally has someone worthy of playing on a top pairing as his partner (the newly acquired TJ Brodie). I think its okay to say he can definitely break the record of 22 goals if there is indeed a full season. With Brodie as his partner it will allow him to jump up in the rush more often now and he will more than likely get back to playing on the first power play unit now since Tyson Barrie is gone. (Stats from Hockey-Reference.com)
1. Most Goals by a Maple Leaf (Auston Matthews)
2019-20 stats – 70 GP – 47 G – 33 A – 80 PTS – 53.9% CF%
Career stats – 282 GP – 158 G – 127 A – 285 PTS – 52.6% CF%
This one is probably the most likely to happen, as Matthews is easily the best goal scorer in Toronto Maple Leafs history. As we know he had a great run this past season before it got put on pause due to COVID-19 and he was more than likely going to either get really close to the record, tie it, or even break it himself.
Now the record for most goals in a single season by a Maple Leaf is currently 54 and it is held by Rick Vaive from the 1981-82 season. Matthews finished this past season with 47 goals in 70 games and if the season continued and everyone played all 82 games, he was then on pace to finish the season with 55 goals which would obviously break the record. Matthews is more than capable of breaking this current Toronto Maple Leafs record and if he ends up breaking it, I wouldn’t be surprised if he breaks his own record down the road in his career.
Next. What Does Zach Bogosian Bring to the Leafs?. dark
Auston Matthews has been the NHL’s best goal scorer ever since he scored four in his first NHL game. For a guy who just turned 23 years old and has had four straight 34 or more goal seasons its okay to say he’s an animal and will more than likely break Rick Vaive’s record eventually.